Saturday, May 03, 2008
Seems Obvious
Joe Nocera, the business reporter for the "New York Times" writes today about a new morning show produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City that produces and broadcasts "On the Media" (which is, for my money, one of the best critical media programs in the country).
The new show, which will run head to head against NPR's "Morning Edition," is titled "The Takeaway." In order to downplay the focus on the new show as a competitor to "Morning Edition," Laura Walker, the president and CEO of WNYC claims that they are only in it to offer listeners a choice because "Morning Edition" has reached the limits of what it can do and may not be the right sort of news program for the 21st century (again, not get the false impression that The Takeaway is striving to take its place).
If "Morning Edition" has any problems, it isn't one that has anything to do with being stale, but instead everything to do with trying to mimic the kind of garbage we get on any morning television news program, with funny banter between two cookie cutter hosts and a slate of stories that mixes the serious with the fluff. If you want verification that any loss in listeners that "Morning Edition" has suffered over the course of the last few years, then look at the growth in audience size for "The Bob Edwards Show," which is broadcast by XM Radio. In fact, one of the reasons I went to XM was to be able to continue listening to Bob Edwards, who NPR, in a decision that amplified its stupidity, threw overboard in 2004 for their younger, hipper anchors who represent to me everything that is wrong with the mainstream media--particularly electronic media. NPR dumped a sure bet for two airheads that the NPR execs figured would best position them to attract younger listeners (with their disposable income). I can't believe it is a decision that has paid off.
I would expect--and hope--that more and more competition to both "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" would come from NPR affiliates all over the country. Thus "The Takeaway" should not be seen as an anomaly but rather a glimpse of things to come.
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The new show, which will run head to head against NPR's "Morning Edition," is titled "The Takeaway." In order to downplay the focus on the new show as a competitor to "Morning Edition," Laura Walker, the president and CEO of WNYC claims that they are only in it to offer listeners a choice because "Morning Edition" has reached the limits of what it can do and may not be the right sort of news program for the 21st century (again, not get the false impression that The Takeaway is striving to take its place).
If "Morning Edition" has any problems, it isn't one that has anything to do with being stale, but instead everything to do with trying to mimic the kind of garbage we get on any morning television news program, with funny banter between two cookie cutter hosts and a slate of stories that mixes the serious with the fluff. If you want verification that any loss in listeners that "Morning Edition" has suffered over the course of the last few years, then look at the growth in audience size for "The Bob Edwards Show," which is broadcast by XM Radio. In fact, one of the reasons I went to XM was to be able to continue listening to Bob Edwards, who NPR, in a decision that amplified its stupidity, threw overboard in 2004 for their younger, hipper anchors who represent to me everything that is wrong with the mainstream media--particularly electronic media. NPR dumped a sure bet for two airheads that the NPR execs figured would best position them to attract younger listeners (with their disposable income). I can't believe it is a decision that has paid off.
I would expect--and hope--that more and more competition to both "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" would come from NPR affiliates all over the country. Thus "The Takeaway" should not be seen as an anomaly but rather a glimpse of things to come.
