I'll miss it too. It was never a must-listen for me, but I listened to a portion of the show almost every Saturday while driving.
Thile struggled in the early days when it was still APHC. But once the name was changed, he came into his own, using an eclectic Americana-based lineup of musical guests. And the name change freed him to stop pretending he was a comedian and bring in stand-up comics as guests. And Thile settled in and became a genial and charming host. (And damn, what a great musician he is.) One more connection to a past radio era is gone. Except for the Grand Ole Opry, are there any other live radio variety shows? On Tuesday, June 16, 2020 at 11:26:19 PM UTC-4, David Bruggeman wrote: > > This is a sidebar to the main point of the post, but Keillor was already > retired from hosting "A Prairie Home Companion" when the allegations and > subsequent investigation happened in 2017. Thile started hosting APHC in > 2016, and the name changed in 2017, mostly because MPR had separated from > Keillor, who retained rights to the name and the back catalog. > > Over the last 3 months the show was alternating new episodes (with artists > performing from home) with repeats, but that doesn't seem sustainable, > especially with decreased revenue. Couple that with a move from St. Paul > to NYC, and an increased effort to reach listeners/viewers online > (livestreaming of some episodes, including footage not part of the > broadcast), and it would not surprise me if the show was notably more > expensive to produce than it was 5 years ago. > > I kind of figured this could happen once the local (DC area) affiliate > moved it out of the 'live' slot. (It was really weird to listen to the > second half of the show driving home from the local venue they had just > played.) > > I'll miss the program. I think it's still pretty folky, but in a > more...modern(?) way than Keillor's version. I hope they can maintain the > archive. > > David > > > On Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 10:42:18 PM EDT, Mark Jeffries < > [email protected] <javascript:>> wrote: > > > "Live From Here," the Saturday night radio musical variety show that > American Public Media created as a successor to Garrison Kellior's "A > Prairie Home Companion" after Kellior resigned in the wake of allegations > of sexual misconduct in 2016, is going off the air as part of the letting > go of 28 employees at APM's Minnesota Public Radio--APM stated that reduced > revenue thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic was responsible: > > > https://www.startribune.com/live-from-here-successor-to-prairie-home-companion-has-been-canceled/571294402/ > > Ironically, public radio stations have been enjoying record ratings in > many markets as a result of the pandemic, with listeners turning to the NPR > news-talkers to get the latest information and then turning to public > classical music stations for escape from the news (to the consternation of > classical music hardcores who believe that their music should not be > considered the replacement for beautiful music and smooth jazz formats). > The increased news coverage caused some reduction in pledge drive hours, > but APM says most lost revenue comes from corporate underwriting (or as > commercial stations call it, ad sales--their numbers are also down thanks > to the pandemic) and various ticketed events (you don't get to attend > broadcasts of "Live From Here" or "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" for free). > In the case of "Live From Here," the audiences had gone down considerably > from Kellior's heights as Chris Thile pursued a more music-oriented and > less folky show than Kellior and some stations dropped the series--and when > APM ended Kellior's long-standing requirement that the Eastern and Central > time zones had to air the show live at 5 p.m. CT, many stations, including > WBEZ in Chicago, took advantage and moved the show away from its "Weekend > All Things Considered" lead-in (in Chicago, the old 5 p.m. time slot is now > filled by two episodes of "The Moth Radio Hour" storytelling fest > back-to-back). > > Oh yes--APM had already given 20 people, including MPR's interim news > director, voluntary buyouts a month ago. With "Live" gone, APM's > best-known national programming is the business news show "Marketplace" and > U.S. rights to that public radio overnight standby the BBC World Service. > > > -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/661ce78e-90f4-4bde-bb11-05791bf37819o%40googlegroups.com.
