WHYY Digital Television Classical Music

Listen to classical music via your TV

NOTE: Cable access to the WHYY SAP channel is dropping as the cable operators move their systems to digital. The digital cable scheme does not necessarily provide for the SAP channel. If you have digital cable, check with your provider to find out if they carry the SAP channel.

WHYY now broadcasts classical music 24 hours a day, seven days a week using advanced TV technology. This new music service is carried on TV12's Second Audio Program (SAP) channel, a feature found on most stereo television sets and VCRs sold in the last 10 years.

To enjoy this new service, listeners will essentially turn their TV sets into radios by tuning their televisions (or connected videocassette recorders) to WHYY-TV12 and turning on the SAP audio.
Here's how to do it »

WHYY's broadcasts CLASSICAL 24, a live 24-hour classical music service hosted by eight of public radio's best classical announcers. The program, produced by Public Radio International, is heard on more than 300 stations.

Music selections are drawn from the heart of the Classical and Romantic repertoires. The hosts carefully craft each broadcast, illuminating the music they present with well-researched insightful information, taking care that every program is accessible and stimulating for novices and aficionados alike.
Take a look at the program schedules »

Of course, we encourage music fans to tune to classical programming during the day on WRTI-FM (90.1) in addition to using this new service from WHYY.

WHYY-TV now uses SAP several hours each week for Descriptive Video Service, which provides descriptions of the action on TV programs for the visually impaired, and for transmission of some Delaware lottery results. Classical music will be preempted when the channel is needed for these uses.

WHYY is planning an extensive campaign to educate the public about the use of the SAP channel with messages broadcast on TV12 and 91FM. Controls for SAP vary with each brand of TV or VCR. On some, the controls are accessed from the remote control on others via knobs on the set. It is most commonly labeled "SAP," although it is also referred to as "MTS," "Audio Mode," "Second Audio," or "Second Language."

WHYY's engineering department recommends that consumers check their instruction manuals if necessary to find out how to change the settings.