I'm moving this discussion from b.a.broadcast.moderated after
one of my fellow moderators pointed out that my posting had
drifted away from a Bay Area focus. :-)

Someone else had said about the cancellation of Talk of the
Nation: "many/most NPR affiliates wanted a stronger news show
in their afternoon schedule than what TOTN was providing."

My reply follows:

Well, that's certainly NPR's party line. They said they got that
information by talking to some of their "largest stations," yet
the CEO of the largest one [KQED in San Francisco] said a couple
of months ago that they had not talked to him. Nonetheless, perhaps
he would have said that KQED wanted the same thing.

Personally, I'm not concerned about what NPR's largest stations
need or want. It's the little stations I worry about, especially
the ones in rural areas where every other talk station is filled
with either Bible-thumping preachers or right-wing blowhards.
Those are the areas that need a sane call-in show. I sure hope
that those stations can afford to pick up The Takeaway or some
other news/talk program to replace TotN.


Patty