The writing was on WNYC's wall when they stopped being the little station(s) that could and began to set their sights higher. The first sign of that to me was when the pledge drives were turned over to professional phone-banks, instead of continuing to have listener/volunteers answer the phones. I used to feel like I was part of something....
On Tue, Dec 26, 2017 at 12:35 AM, Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> wrote: > The NY Times had an article a few days ago which more or less laid blame > on CEO ("general manager" anywhere else--although I've seen "market > manager" nowadays on the iHeart and Cumulus listings) Laura Walker and her > faithful Indian companion "director of content" ("program director") Dean > Capello for being so overconcerned with growth (increased local > programming, a bigger news department then in the days of "Morning > Edition"/classical music/"All Things Considered"/more classical music on > the FM station (while Lopate and Brian Lehrer were only on the AM station), > taking over WQXR, self-syndicating most of their national programming > through Public Radio Exchanges, podcasts, podcasts, podcasts, the big > relatively-fancy newer digs complete with auditorium/studio, etc., and not > focused on the people employed: > > https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/nyregion/wnyc-chief- > laura-walker-firing-hosts-misconduct.html?_r=0 > > Granted, Walker's problem is that almost everywhere there are a loud group > of people not happy with the public radio station's boss, especially if > they're music buffs who remember the good old days of the 70s when NPR was > just "ATC" and it didn't recycle all through afternoon drive, DJs playing > what they wanted to play, classical music beyond (allegedly) the 500 Most > Beloved by Movie and TV Music Supervisors Classical Pieces, the jazz jock > playing John Coltrane going atonal for 15 minutes and no singers, classical > announcers who sounded more cultured than you, broadcasts of lectures, > etc. Those people, who are now rapidly aging, complained almost from the > start when Giuliani sold off the station, especially because Walker used to > work for the Children's Television Workshop--and yes, these people > considered "Sesame Street" the Enemy because it was teaching "show tunes" > and not "good music" (never mind the long list of classical musicians who > have appeared on the show over the years). They never liked WQXR > (commercials and "too cheery" announcers) and were pissed when NYC bought > the station, especially because they had to swap with Univision from the > really good 96.3 signal to the less-good 105.9 signal. And when they hired > a former MTV exec to become GM of QXR earlier this year, you would think > all culture and good taste was coming to an end. > > > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > Virus-free. > www.avg.com > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > <#m_-5924337608043020399_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > > Mark Jeffries > Saints Spotlight Editor > [email protected] > > On Sat, Dec 23, 2017 at 3:14 PM, Diner <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I have almost 300 unheard segments of Lopate's show in my podcast >> library. (BTW, the podcast was renamed at the same time as the series, so >> now all those unheard episodes, some dating back to 2012, were instantly >> relabeled as "Midday on WNYC" - a neat bit of revisionist history for the >> electronic age.) >> >> My interest in his show is based more on his eclectic guest lineup than >> his interviewing style, though I do like him as an interviewer more than >> you do. However, I've noticed that when he's had a guest host fill in - and >> the guest hosts I've heard have included such notables as Zoe Kazan and >> Martha Plimpton - the quality of the questions does not suffer. At all. >> This makes it seem like he's relying on his staff for research and question >> writing more than, say, Terry Gross is. And it's why I don't think the >> show's quality will noticeably suffer with Lopate gone. >> >> >> On Saturday, December 23, 2017 at 4:35:00 AM UTC-5, Dave Sikula wrote: >>> >>> I think that both of them had attitudes from a less-enlightened era, but >>> were also victims of WNYC overreacting to what sounds like some pretty >>> minor offenses. Suspension-worthy, yes, but maybe not of termination >>> quality. >>> >>> That said, Lopate is one of the worst interviewers I've ever heard, >>> constantly interrupting his guests, asking questions they'd just answered, >>> or making stupid jokes. I still have a number of podcast segments of his on >>> my phone, and in 90% of them, there's invariably a point where I shout >>> "Shut up, Leonard!" (That said, he's still light years ahead of our local >>> radio dummy, KQED's Michael Krasny, who never fails to make a boob of >>> himself in his desperation to let listeners know he's read books.) >>> >>> --Dave Sikula >>> >>> On Friday, December 22, 2017 at 11:05:48 AM UTC-8, Mark Jeffries wrote: >>>> >>>> The two veteran NY personalities were both fired for alleged >>>> "inappropriate comments and bullying" over the course of several >>>> years--Leonard Lopate called the decision "unjust" and Jonathan Schwartz >>>> said when the two were initially suspended that this was "the most hurtful, >>>> outrageous and saddest [incident] I’ve ever experienced [in my life] — and >>>> more"--Lopate's midday show has been renamed "Middays on WNYC" (why not the >>>> original "New York & Co." title?) with rotating guest hosts, while Paul >>>> Cavolconte of sister station WQXR will take over Schwartz's weekend shifts >>>> and run the 24/7 stream of standards, which has already been rebranded >>>> "WQXR's American Standards," which will piss off the 75-year-old classical >>>> music hardcores who do not consider Cole Porter and Gershwin worthy--if, of >>>> course, they're online to begin with)--the below link includes the report >>>> heard by "All Things Considered" listeners in NY last night: >>>> >>>> https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-public-radio-fires-hosts >>>> -lopate-schwartz >>>> >>>> Considering the ages of both Lopate and Schwartz, it's safe to say that >>>> their careers are pretty much dead, although Lopate may try podcasting and >>>> Schwartz may come crawling back to SiriusXM, where he lost his job as DJ >>>> and programmer of their "Siriusly Sinatra" standards channel after a >>>> dust-up with the Sinatra family, who licenses the use of Francis Albert's >>>> name and requires programming to be at least half the Chairman's records. >>>> >>> -- >> 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]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > 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]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. 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