WETA switched from classical to news for essentially the same economic reasons that any station changes format: they thought they'd attract an audience that appealed more to sponsors / advertisers / underwriters.

Yeah, I know, public radio doesn't advertise, except for telling you that The XYZ Hour is "sponsored by" the Acme Widget Foundation, "where quality is a slogan." Have you noticed the sponsor intros getting longer and longer?

WGMS, a commercial station, had come in for great criticism from classical-music fans; the format had become CTH&W (Classical Top Hits and Warhorses). They lasted into the 21st century because the classical-music demographic, while skewing old, also skews well-to-do.

Now that WGMS can meet the crying need for another classic-rock station (nearly as dire as the crying need for another all-talk station), WETA will pick up most WGMS listeners because they don't have anywhere else to go... except their own CD collections, MP3 players, or satellite radio.

I saw in the Washington Post that satellite radio specializes in niches or narrowcasts, with a contemporary country station, a traditional, a classic, a progressive... no doubt a left-handed-artist country channel as well. At $13 for a month-to-month subscription, though, it might be worth the price to avoid the endless beg-a-thons.

The reality of public radio, particularly in a large city, is that you're a "member" in the same way that you as an individual shareholder are an "owner" of Microsoft.