"Down Memory Lane"

[DougD]

Toby Leboutillier's well-known and well-loved "Down Memory Lane" will be heard for the last time on Maine Public Radio (MPBN) Friday, November 30 from 2 to 4 P.M. (ET). The show is being discontinued after a 33-year run. "Down Memory Lane" features the top songs of the week going back 100 years , top headlines of the week from the Bangor Daily News (also going back a century), and Toby's comments on the music --- all delivered in his inimitable Down East accent. He actually retired from MPBN in the late '80s, but has kept the program going on a volunteer basis. It has been written about in several prominent newspapers and national magazines. Toby and "Down Memory Lane" are going to be very much missed by many of us in Maine, and we all wish him well.

MPBN has put out a nice press release about this: www.mpbn.net/About/PressRelease/tabid/313/ctl/Viewitcm/mid/1141/itemid/13

 

[special ed]

So Diane Rehm can croak an extra hour on Fridays? So much for LOCAL Content.

 

[Maine-i-ac]

"Down Memory Lane" will continue! OK, not on-air, but Toby announced that it will remain available through MPBN's website with new episodes produced every week to "listen on demand".

Charles Beck is going to make this a cookie cutter NPR. Local music content keeps declining, including classical on the weekend.

Oh yeah, here's a link to an article in the BDN about "Down Memory Lane": http://bangordailynews.com/2012/11/29/news/bangor/mpbn-pulls-plug-on-memory-lane-ending-30-plus-year-run/

 

[DougD]

I was delighted to hear this bit of news on today's final airwave broadcast. I'm sure Toby's show will be with us for a long time to come. He's a great guy, and a legend in Maine broadcasting --- not to mention that his record collection is astonishing.

 

[newsbot]

Let's not fool ourselves - online is their way of defusing the outrage over the firing/demotion of Toby. MPBN Radio's ultimate destiny is as a strictly talk station, with all music programming relegated to subchannels, online-only or cancelled altogether. Talk is where the big money is.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Maine Public Radio Will Probably Go All-News/Info (Was: Re: "Down Memory Lane")

Actually, for most public radio stations, news and information being "where the big money is" refers to pledge dollars from listeners.

I expect that Maine Public Radio will probably drop the rest of their music programming in May, since they are committed to carrying the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts on Saturday afternoons until then.

But once the opera broadcast season ends, look for it, as well as the late-morning and evening classical music blocks, to be replaced by more news and information programming.

Most likely come next May, Diane Rehm will be moved to mornings to allow Maine Public Radio to carry "Talk of The Nation" and "Science Friday"; while the evening classical block will likely be replaced by "As It Happens" and "Q" from CBC Radio, as well as an hour of repeats of local information programs aired live earlier in the day.