NoTV: 'Takeaway' Being Taken Away

[Mark Jeffries]

Begun in 2008 as part of a major effort to make public radio audiences younger (along with NPR's flop "The Bryant Park Project"), the daily news program from NY's WNYC, Boston's WGBH and Public Radio International (now the Public Radio Exchange) started out as a slicker-sounding, very-highly-produced morning drive competitor to "Morning Edition." When WNYC replaced two hours of "ME" on their FM station with the new show, the highly calcified really old end of the public radio audience, already angered over Bob Edwards' demotion from "ME" (he had gone to Sirius XM by then) and the reduction of classical music programming on WNYC-FM after 9/11, did not like what they heard, forcing the station to move the show to their AM station until it moved to midday and was shortened from two hours to one hour a year later.  The show lost most of its attempts at "hipness" in production and became an accepted part of the schedule--but WNYC, claiming reduced station clearance and audience and rising costs, has announced that the program will go off the air in June.  Melissa Harris-Perry, the former MSNBC host who has been doing "The Takeaway" for two years (after two hosts in a row left under clouds of alleged sexual harassment) is livid, attacking WNYC on Twitter as committing "an act of institutional cruelty and abuse by the executives of @WNYC":

https://www.theroot.com/melissa-harris-perry-speaks-out-about-the-takeaway-bein-1850134755

However, since 2008 public radio has found that podcasts have become a true gateway to younger audiences who don't really listen to radio that much these days, while stations and listeners seem to have found the NPR-distributed but produced by WBUR Boston "Here and Now" a more acceptable midday news show choice.

[Kevin M.]

The NY Times produced series “The Daily” might be the worst radio program currently broadcasting today. Yes, worse than even the most vitriolic right wing radio show, because The Daily dumbs down its content to the point where even a preschooler would say it is below them. Their topics are great; they often have decent guests. But then they make it stupid.

By contrast, The Takeaway often tries to elevate the conversation. Granted, it often fails to do so, but they make a concerted effort to enlighten. And they try despite not have the best of guests to choose from. I give them an A for effort, and would greatly prefer they stay on the air instead of The Daily. Perhaps if Takeaway became a podcast instead of a broadcast, they might fare better?

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/cc845416-f8cb-497c-8872-076dbce0cfc3n%40googlegroups.com.

--

Kevin M. (RPCV)