Indeed, Rox, this decision had me scratching my head as well. Do they not realize Fresh Air is a heritage show hosted by an interviewer who got her start at WBFO? PBS News Hour over Fresh Air? I’ve never been a fan of putting TV shows on the radio. Fortunately, News Hour does mostly interviews, so the impact is lessened. But when a produced video segment airs, the listening audience is missing out. And yes, Fresh Air has garnered significant listener support at 7pm — a time when fundraising dollars are harder to come by. Very puzzling!
Another casualty of the schedule-makers this year was This American Life. Again, this is a heritage program unlike any other that has aired weekends on WBFO almost from its beginnings in the 1990s. Ira Glass is unparalleled in his story telling. Unfortunately, WBFO listeners no longer have access to this gem. On the other hand, WBFO listeners are quite savvy and know This American Life is available as a podcast. In fact, when I listen to Fresh Air, I do so on the podcast. I don’t listen to the radio at 10:00 at night.
It appears to this poster that the decision-makers, suits and numerous BSDs at BTPM are focused on demographics, which is why high school football games are on the Saturday night schedule, and may be the reason
Fresh Air (or "Fresh Share," as Teri Gross has long seemed to pronounce it) has been relegated to late night. That programming alteration, along with those previously stated in this thread, is befuddling, especially to those who know that Ms. Gross began her illustrative career in Buffalo, at WBFO. But, what does this make her? Seventy something? Upper demo, to be sure.
It is here that the
demographic issue comes into play. Tom Calderone is a younger guy, but he's not the young turk he once was when he was making a name for himself with sharp elbows at WBNY, The Edge and MTV. Still, he understands that "youth shall be served." Calderone knows that upper demo listeners reach a point where their financial support can no longer be depended upon, whether for WNED-FM, WBFO or WNED-TV. As a publicly supported organization, he has to bring young ears to the radio, smart speakers and stream... so he's taking action. Personally, I find some for the changes disheartening, if not blatantly ageist. But I'm not the the one looking at the budget every month.
That noted, more than a few people intimately familiar with the inner workings of BTPM have made note of the thick, management, turf-protecting cadre at BTPM ... cutting a few chiefs and adding more trench workers would certainly help. But the fact is, many of those chiefs are (politically) connected, "members of the Saturn club" or the "right country clubs." As such, cutting their comparitively bloated salaries is more difficult than might appear. Yet another issue Calderone has to deal with. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
