When will KUOW get on the bus?

The Takeaway, starts today on New York's WNYC with veteran NPR and NBC journalist John Hockenberry and co-host, Adaora Udoji, formerly of CNN.

The show, from Public Radio International, will strive to counter the staid feel and taped interviews of NPR’s venerable Morning Edition.

The New York Times wrote Sunday, "Public radio is drawing its largest audience ever, some 28 million listeners nationwide each week. But if it’s a golden era, you wouldn’t know it from the frenetic activity to remake the genre."

Activity, if you want to call it that, ain't so frenetic around here with local public stations, KUOW, and KPLU. The Takeaway will be heard in NY, Boston and Baltimore, and presumably will be available to all; but we doubt we'll be hearing it any time soon except by podcast or livestream -- despite the local stations run ME simultaneously in the the same market.

KUOW, with all their resources, cash reserves, and penny-pinching; enjoying 2nd or 3rd place in the market every book, doesn't seem much interested in investing in the future that the rest of public radio is clamoring for. 

Listeners under 45 are MIA.

With the exception of the unfortunate pre-dawn scheduling of The Bryant Park Project (m-f, 5-7a) on KUOW's stepchild KXOT has become a repository for the Boomer audience' favorite syndicated programs that won't fit in the KUOW skedge, or ones that somebody thinks interesting despite being too arcane even for KUOW. Stuff like Radio Netherlands, CBC, Radio Australia, Goatland International, or Diane Rehm in morning drive.

Can we say that again louder? DIANE REHM IN MORNING DRIVE, ferchrissakes!!!

All that esoterica is very nice -- educational and all -- but there's not even a bone thrown to the looming generations in the process of edging all us Boomers out the door and off the cliff of life.

We don't mean to raise our voice, and we like pith as well as the next guy (with our chronic insomnia, we listen to hours of BBC each night) but committing all your energy and money buttressing your hold on the Boomer listening audience is like pissing your pants to stay warm.

The New York Times:

Executives stress that the new programming won’t abandon in-depth news, just “get away from a tone that feels too clubby,” said Graham Griffith, executive producer of The Takeaway. Nor do they want to tinker with existing programs; they just want more options for more people.

 

Best not have any baby/bathwater scenarios: Morning Edition is a big deal -- second only to Rush Limbaugh in national listenership.

“A lot of the research that guided public radio’s direction in the last 30 years focused on us discovering a niche we could serve and serve well,” of highly educated, news-craving listeners, said Maxie Jackson, WNYC’s senior director for program development. But, he added, that formula “didn’t appeal to people of color.” He called it an issue of tonality.

The Takeaway,Jackson said, could be a model. It will be interactive, and multicultural, with “voices, perspectives, contributors and stories that are relevant to a wide swath of people.” Its tone, he said, “has to be more compelling, with more verve.”

Despite verve is a word we rarely hear describing public radio, it's healthier than commercial radio. Arbitron reported in spring 2007 there were 28 million weekly public radio listeners which bettered the previous high in 2004 of 27.5 million. But research also shows that there was shorter TSL -- time spent listening. That's worrisome.

Public radio “had an enormous surge in listening over about a 10-year period from the mid ’90s up through about 2003, principally driven by a huge response to public radio’s news and information programming,” said Tom Thomas, co-chief executive officer of the Station Resource Group, a public radio consortium. But since 2003 “the audience has essentially been flat,” he said.

So where do you put a new morning news if you don't want to mess with Morning Edition?

NPR's Bryant Park Project, aimed at the 18-35 demo, is a web/radio hybrid, and not meant to really compete on terrestrial stations. (and certainly won't around here what with KUOW's weird little sister, KXOT running it before breakfast).

Or you could put up an innovative station in the same market for Junior, as Chicago Public radio did 11-months ago with :Vocalo. It's a public station with no Car Talk or Garrison Keillor -- they don't even admit their relationship to CPR for fear of scaring off the youngsters. They play content (personal stories, news, music, interviews, commentary, fiction, poetry, comedy) that listeners upload to their website. They encourage submissions through community training programs, providing access to equipment, and teaching people how to use their phones to record and submit pieces to the station.

We're sure the :Vocalo model is way too crazy-pants for the risk-averse programmers at KUOW and KXOT, but why not use the latter for some innovating?

If the Mormons, stereotyped as so conservative and stodgy, will hire Luke Burbank at KIRO, give him a greenhouse, and let him grow a concept while accepting the potential losses, and risk, why in hell, won't the cultural geniuses at our most successful and powerful public radio station do something even remotely as daring?

(And by the way, putting time and money into bringing your website into the new century is not daring -- it's prudent, a word we know KUOW GM Wayne Roth loves to use).

Comments

[joanie hussein for obama]

Twenty-eight million listeners? Somebody's hungry for old-fashioned truthtelling.

I hope they all vote for Obama.

Public radio is a conundrum. Change for the sake of change? It doesn't seem to be broken. I agree that KUOW sounds like it has one foot in the grave but if people are still listening maybe that speaks for itself.

[pthom]

"The Takewaway?????" What kind of lame title is that???!!!

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
take·a·way Audio Help /ˈteɪkəˌweɪ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[teyk-uh-wey] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. something taken back or away, esp. an employee benefit that is eliminated or substantially reduced by the terms of a union contract.
–adjective 2. of or pertaining to what is or can be taken away: a list of takeaway proposals presented by management.
3. Chiefly British. takeout (def. 7).

[pthom]

...err...my typo, asking again, "The Takeaway?????"

[vTech]

him grow a concept

The operative words being "a concept", rather than "his concept" (for anyone following the pel-mel on the Burbank Show section of mynorthwest.com the last couple weeks regarding the lifting of content from various sources).

[YellowPup]

There's a reason NPR is so popular: AM is chock-full of annoying commercials and you can listen for an hour before you hear even one ting that's very new/interesting, and television news is aimed at a middle American sub-moron audience with a .5 second attention span.

It's not that all those millions tuning in to NPR are post-40 coastal, white, Democratic, wine and cheesers, that somehow still think Garrison Keillor is funny, it's that NPR is something of a last refuge for national radio news and public affairs programming!

If you're talking about news (real news, and not enter-/infotainment), the one thing it absolutely doesn't need is "VERVE."

[RadioWonkLance]

I've downloaded and listened to today's first show. This is probably the kiss of death for the show, but I liked it.

It was different in pacing than Morning Edition and certainly more conversational, but it was still substantive. They interviewed the UN ambassador from Zimbabwe, for example. I felt like I was more informed after listening.

The production values were targeted at the younger demographic, from the noises introducing the actualities to the mashup of quotes in the opening item on the presidential primary, but they were not distracting.

The use of Bob Edwards in the introduction and for the time checks was a nice touch, though it was probably lost on the intended demographic.

John Hockenberry may be a broadcast veteran, but he's eccentric enough that he just might resonate with the targeted demographic.

I think I'm going to download and listen again tomorrow.

In contrast, I found no value in the debut show of the Bryant Park Project, which struck me as banal (though it wasn't quite as bad when I tried it again in February), and I can't stand TBTL.

[RadioWonkLance]

Also, in response to pthom, the title is a nod to podcasting; it's a show that one can take away, as they call takeout food in Britain and Australia. They had several nice gimmicks with the name, including the concept of the "Takeaway point". I think it actually works rather well. It's certainly a better name than TBTL.

[Gay Gary]

In contrast, I found no value in the debut show of the Bryant Park Project

Isn't it carried by less than a dozen stations, all in minor markets? Must be nice living in the CPB subsidy-bubble, not having your job performance impacted by market forces.

"A government supported artist is an incompetent whore." - Heinlein

[EdmondsDan]

They need to get a little fired up. Maybe use that Rev Wright fellow. He KNOWS how to get attention.

[KS]

Speaking of Rev. Wright - Obama is sunk. He was torpedoed by his "hater" pastor coming out of the woodwork and telling the National Press Club and the NAACP about his doctrine of hate and spite, His association with Obama will cause shock waves. Some of you progressives who think Wright is the voice of reason or to be elevated for his candor ought to consider how the majority of people feel - and face reality which isn't good about this guy. It seems like he could have it in for Obama, just like he had it in for Oprah, when she left his church.

Thought that Barackster was good on Fox News Sunday yesterday and represented himself fairly well. Looks like the signs are pointing toward Billary - to Duffman's glee. OK, I'm off topic, but this was newsworthy.

[Corky St Clair]

They need to get a little fired up. Maybe use that Jeff Gannon fellow. He knows how to get attention.

[joanie hussein for obama]

Bart, it is broke for me. I don't listen much. It is too staid and topics are not challenged. Examined but rarely challenged. But twenty-eight million people think it's fine apparently.

I'm wondering about your kid. How different is he from you at his age? Were you listening to Cronkite or whomever the equivalent in news was at that time?

I think young people are naturally not tuned in. Perhaps I'm wrong . . . I started caring and finding my interest piqued more when I started listening to Larry King on 1090. I heard authors talking about issues and I was ready to be fascinated by expertise - political and non-political.

Also, as I aged and became aware of how politics and national/international news affects me, such things became more important.

I never have cared much for local news.

I wonder what Ron and Don's numbers are with younger people?

[pthom]

It's certainly a better name than TBTL.

...can agree with you there....!

[joanie hussein for obama]

Leave it to EdDan and KS to reduce the level of conversation to SP fare.

[pthom]

ummm...i POSTED that defintion...DUH!!

it's a show that one can take away, as they call takeout food in Britain and Australia.

3. Chiefly British. takeout (def. 7).

[TOMMY008]

Reverend Wright may very well be trying to sink Obama. Savage suspects this. To narcissistically go on a comeback campaign with three appearances in row in which you say even more outrageous things than before, shows a kind of contempt for Obama, or else, if he truly thinks he's helping Obama, a man who is so out of touch with the general public as to be a cult leader. The past week, among other inanities, this hateful old bastard said that blacks and whites have different brains, and ridiculed the way white marching bands play music, as opposed to the "cool" black marching bands. This guy is not only a racist but obviously a black supremacist- his speech was like that of a Klansman ridiculing the way blacks speak, and claiming genetic superiority because of it. This just in- latest poll has Hillary trouncing McCain and Obama merely tying him, which of course means he's 4-6 points behind McCain, due to the Bradley effect.

[KS]

Yes, I think Savage has cut through the crap going on here. Wright may cloak himself as a Christian, but he is a hater and racist and out of control - part of a cult church.

The only thing Obama can do to save his candidacy is denounce Rev. Wright's comments strongly and distance himself and announce that he is going to another church.

The Hillary over McCain phenomenon will not hold up that long - if she is actually the candidate.
Conservatives and the right will come out of the woodwork to vote against her and fewer independents would vote for her than for Obama - 50% of Americans would never vote for her under any circumstances, in multiple surveys that have yielded similar results.

[Gay Gary]

I'm absolutely so sick of all these public radio dandies thinking that because they add a blog to their tortured radio show, or a podcast, they're being "revolutionary" or on the "cutting edge" of anything. Welcome to 1999, fancy lads!

If they wanted to be revolutionary they'd try to think of something actually revolutionary, not a sprung twig off someone else's revolution. It's so amusing to see this happy band of lunatics - a shining coterie of young idiots and elderly out-of-its - trying to sell green catsup and think they're doing anything more than putting the hearse into 2nd gear.

"Let's get us a web-thang! That'll save us!" Oh Christ.

BPP / TBTL remind me of the last episode of The Office where the Ryan character announces the new social networking features on the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company web site.

RIP suicide jockeys!

(PS - And what's up with the cats that are loose in TBTLs studio? Every 7th second they randomly play some idiotic drop so I can only assume there are cats loose, prancing across the keyboards, randomly firing drops. Or is the way to appeal to youth to hearken back to talk radio circa 1994? I know radio isn't a cash cow but, seriously, can some station or network please splurge on a legit brand manager from out of the industry who can make the tough decisions? They won't because they want to save their medium and their jobs, but only one is actually salvageable ...)

[joanie hussein for obama]

oh, pthom, you're in trouble. You turned on the bold.

I'm tellin' - Michael gonna get you.

[joanie hussein for obama]

Hey, Gigi, what's the answer? You're clever - truth be told. What would you do?

Tommy, I wish you'd go back to writing riveting mysteries. Your take on politics is so superficial. You are beginning to sound like Klueless.

BTW, the sheep will vote for McCain because they have to follow the herd. We can respect Obama with or without Wright.

If I had any respect for McCriminal McCain, Hagee wouldn't even be a footnote in my thinking.

[KS]

Joanie - you have a bad case of Bush derangement syndrome. If McCain was a D instead of an R, that respect would magically appear...

[Tommy008]

this just in- Hussein wears Army boots and t-shirts that read "impeach the lying little shit" (like the bumper sticker i saw today) !

[Gay Gary]

I'll just say that I'd recognize that we're 10 years out from a paradigm shift and make the tough choices necessary to eke out a survival until then; digital delivery might survive the next convergence, the "internet" as such will not. It's a 35 year-old concept on its last legs, despite the fact that the robot voice lady who narrates the KIRO mynorthwest.com promos apparently just discovered it four months ago. The johnny-come-latelies who are talking about the internet like it's the next great thing are the same people who were trumpeting the conquest of VHS over Beta in '96, on the edge of the DVD "revolution".

What's about to deal the death blow to "gatekeeper media" is not their inability to embrace new delivery methods, it's their manic race to embrace - in a rather disjointed and ineffective way at that - a dusty old archaic idea on its way out. Too little, too late.

[joanie hussein for obama]

the next convergence which may or may not be served digitally?

Give me a hint? What kind of telepathy are we talking about? What's the power source? How structured?

Sounds intriguing. I want to know more. Sounds like you are at least knowledgeable about the elements from which this convergence may arise. Please share.

[nevets]

Adam was hanging around the garden of Eden feeling very lonely.

So, God asked him, 'What's wrong with you?'

Adam said he didn't have anyone to talk to.

God said that He was going to make Adam a companion

and that it would be a woman.

He said, 'This pretty lady will gather food for you, she will cook for you,

and when you discover clothing, she will wash it for you .

She will always agree with every decision you make and she will not nag you,

and will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you've had a disagreement.

She will praise you!

She will bear your children.

and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them.

'She will NEVER have a headache and will freely give you love and

passion whenever you need it.'

Adam asked God, 'What will a woman like this cost?'

God replied, 'An arm and a leg.'

Then Adam asked, 'What can I get for a rib?'

Of course the rest is history

[PugetSound]

Nevets, very good.
Duffman, you should be feeling good right now.
You can tell how much damage that Pastor Wright is inflicting with his most recent talk on topics such as how brains are different depending upon the race by looking at the comments and those that won't come on to defend the Comments.
The crux of the issue is how much this damages Obama come November and how much this makes Hillary look like the better nominee. Are Dems still in denial about this?

And for all those that piled on earlier and want to call Tommy 008 a racist , what say you about Pastor Wright?
Kind of phony, if you will.
And Joannie, be careful about wishing Tommy 008 to go back to writing stories as you may find yourself in a starring role. You are ripe for caricature and Tommy 008 is has proven himself well able to do so in the past.
To quote Edmonds Dan, 'now THAT would be funny.'

[PugetSound]

The Washington Post isn't in denial:
" Washington Post felt compelled to scold Wright:

THE REV. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose incendiary and controversial sound bites have knocked the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) off balance, strutted to the microphone of the National Press Club and made an audacious claim: “This is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright. It is an attack on the black church.” No. The harsh spotlight under which the Chicago pastor finds himself is exactly where it belongs. …

Yesterday, the Rev. Wright was unrepentant. He refused to disavow his oft-repeated belief in the sinister myth that the AIDS epidemic is a genocidal government plot to exterminate African Americans. He stood by his blame-America-for-Sept. 11 stance, saying, “You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back to you.”

Barrack can not be happy about this. If Hillary has her millstone, aka Bill, then this is Obama's right now.

Meanwhile, Limbaugh and his peeps press on with Operation Chaos to keep the nomination process going. Rush is illustrating his points about the Dem Party. How in the heck can the American people trust Dems with national defense when they can't even handle little ol Rush?
Howard Dean was on CNN yesterday morning and clearly is out of his element. He is not ready for primetime and needs to go back home.

[joanie hussein for obama]

You make our points, putsie. All the right can do is lie, smear and swiftboat. Issues? Smart talk? Honest debate? Solutions?

Nothing there.

We'll see if people want more of that. I believe most people are better than that.

Not you, of course.

[PugetSound]

Yeah Joanie, a few more 'victories' like that and the Dem party will be Kaput. Hey, here is another 'victory' by your definition:

"Rep. Jim McDermott has paid more than $1 million to House Minority Leader John Boehner, ending a decade-long dispute over an illegally taped telephone call.
. . .
Boehner's spokesman, Kevin Smith, said the $1.09 million payment includes $628,000 from McDermott's campaign account, and about $465,000 from McDermott's legal expense trust fund.

"Every last penny will be used to help elect Republicans," Smith said, calling it ironic that McDermott — an outspoken partisan — "is helping fund the defeat of his fellow Democrats."

Yep Joanie, you're just killing those Repubs.

[joanie hussein for obama]

More of the same? You never learn, do you?

Anybody hear Malloy last night? Riveting program about 9-11. Sometimes I think the country has been taken over by the mafia. I don't recognize our government anymore.

We have changed. Scary.

[PugetSound]

Malloy? Is he still on the air?
You know he is probably the next whack job to do a Randi and implode.

[RedmondDem]

So why is Rev. Wright singled out when Hagee has spewed his hate and not been called on it--and please don't tell me it "isn't the same" because Hagee isn't McCain's pastor. He said he "welcomed" his endorsement. Why not distance himself from hate speech? What about all the shit that Robertson and Dobson spew? The Right snuggles right up to them.
Obama has on MANY occasions said that he does not agree with much of the shit Wright says, and even Wright said that Obama was rarely there to hear his speeches. Wright is an egomaniac who is mad that he, the leader of a church doesn't get as much attention as Obama. Obama dissed him by not inviting him to some ceremonies a few years ago. He is using every opportunity to take the limelight, and the media loves the ratings it brings them.

If people are to shun what their religious leaders say and do, then why haven't Catholics left the church enmasse when the pedophile cases hit the news? Why don't Mormons leave the church as a result of the existence of the polygamist family in Texas?

You are right Joanie. It is all they have to try to build up Hillary's campaign. Why doesn't Obama point out that Hill and Bill called on Wright for spiritual guidance when the Lewinsky scandal broke??
Looking forward to reading all your excuses, Puget Sound.

[Dave (not dave ross)]

KS and TOMMY i could not agree more regarding the Rev and Obama. The more you listen to the Rev you do have to ask why is he going on this crusade to save himself and throw Obama under the bus. Even Dave Ross couldnt effectivly whitewash the Rev enough when he tried to 'splain' how it was possible to preach like that and not be racist. It took a black caller to set him straight. And to those who have called Carl Jeffers and uncle tom for supporting Hillary, he's looking pretty accurate right now in his thinking that race is still too big an issue in this country to allow obama to be elected.

[sparky]

Interesting, isn't it, how The Boner is all in favor of you and me getting our phone conversations tapped in to, but when it is him, all hell breaks loose. Ah but, It's Ok When You Are A Republican.

[PugetSound]

"So why is Rev. Wright singled out when Hagee has spewed his hate and not been called on it--and please don't tell me it "isn't the same" because Hagee isn't McCain's pastor. "

Hey RD, that is the reason. You may not like it, but it is.

Sparky, you can't tap illegally. That's the issue there 'the Boner.' The real Boner, if you will, was McDermott turning down the offer made by John Boehner for him to just pay legal fees, issue an apology, and contribute $10k to a mutually agreed upon charity. McDermott turned it down.
And hey, if you want to compare tapping a member of the House of Representatives with tapping the line of an Al Queda member, well that's your call.

[chucks]

So, is it true that Obama and family planted their butt's on the pews of Rev. Wright's church nearly every week (except when he said something controversial) and paid $500.00 per week for said preaching?
I have been looking for a similar relationship between McCain and Hagee. Have not come up with anything. Do you have anything RedDem? Please share if you have something.

[joanie hussein for obama]

So why is Rev. Wright singled out

Because Wright is all they've got. It is called a "poverty of issues and IQ." And putsie just keeps on proving it.

Dave (we can tell you're not Ross - he's smarter): I didn't know Wright was running for President. I take it you are not voting for Wright. Right?

Now, when you have something to post about Obama or McCriminal McCain, might be interesting and, then again, it might not.

[joanie hussein for obama]

Well, chucks, you're the only one I've read that get his information through his butt.

I take it you're voting for Wright as well. I wonder if anybody on the right will be left to vote for McCriminal McCain?

[chucks]

I am thinking about writing in Wright. He is the only one that seems to say what he is really thinking. Clinton and Obama are both full of crap and McCain isn't much better.

[joanie hussein for obama]

Well, I hope you do. It might actually be the first intelligent - and courageous - thing you've ever done.

I'd have more respect for you if you did.

Hmm, the only thing you all can find wrong with our warm and fuzzy smart, articulate, statesman-like, Harvard-educated Harvard-Review Editor who has done as much if not more legislatively than Clinton and probably more than McCriminal is that he's black and has a personal association with a pastor whom you respect.

McCriminal McCain however, the Keating-five gov-connection, the legacy-admitted playboy of the western world who's still playin' only with lobbyists currently and who can't seem to control his temper which is probably why he's for a hundred-years war apparently has a whole list of desirable qualities.

Yep, it takes a salesman whose brain is in his behind to think like that.

[sparky]

Tapping illegally is what Bush is all about, Puts. Where have you been? I don't diagree that what mcDermott did was wrong, but Boner is a hypocrite.

[chucks]

I guess that it has been way too long since I have shot a personal insult atcha joanie.
Hmmmmmm.
Never mind, I am still in nice guy mode. Carry on.

[joanie hussein for obama]

Why are you catching up puts? Let him look like the fool that he is.

[nevets]

"who has done as much if not more legislatively than Clinton and probably more than McCriminal"

Lets hear a few of them Joanie.

[joanie hussein for obama]

Shoot away, chucks. I don't care anymore. Everything I've said is true. Everything.

So shoot. I don't really care. You and your buddies post nothing but stupid smears. lies, character assassinations by association and other swiftboat tactics, and I don't think you could come up with a real issues-oriented debate to save your worthless lives.

I don't need your "nice guy" anything. In fact, I don't think you married up because I don't know of any worthwhile woman who would marry down to the level of you guys.

Not my need to be sucked up to or to suck up. Never has been. I am truly ashamed of the country you have turned this nation into. Call me an elitist educated woman. What does that say about you?

[joanie hussein for obama]

Do your own homework Steven. Haven't you said that often enough? Well, practice what you preach.

[nevets]

I have never said that Joanie. You got me mixed up with someone else. Not surprisng tho.

But on this subject I can't find anything that Obama has done except vote against an Illinois bill that would have put the death penalty on the table for gang related killings. Now you said he has done more, prove it.

[nevets]

Joanie says:

"Call me an elitist educated woman. What does that say about you?"

Me, I would be one who wished Adam had given his arm and leg.

[PugetSound]

Nevets

I am willing to roll the dice that anyone calls Joanie educated anything.



[joanie hussein for obama]

Well, like the rest of you, he was either too cheap or too dumb. My money's on too dumb.