WAMU, the Washington public radio station owned by American University, has broadcast Bluegrass music since 1967, but that will end on New Year’s Eve 2017. On Thursday afternoon the NPR affiliate announced it will stop over-the-air broadcasts of the “High Lonesome Sound” and seek a buyer for its online music service Bluegrass Country due to “tremendous demographic shifts” in the Washington DC area.
“From 1967 through the 70s and 80s, generous support from the bluegrass community allowed WAMU to expand. Today, WAMU’s Bluegrass Country is a 24/7 bluegrass music service broadcasting at 105.5 FM, HD on 88.5-2, and streaming on http://bluegrasscountry.org . Bluegrass Country’s social media includes a YouTube channel with over 4.4 million views.”
— “WAMU Seeks New Owner for Bluegrass Country,” WAMU website (links added)
Hey buddy, want to buy a radio station? Look here. If nobody buys Bluegrass Country by the end of December, the service will close, so listen while you can, right here (click on “listen live”).
More:
“WAMU Will Sell or Close Its Bluegrass Station,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian
“Bluegrass Country seeks new owners,” John Lawless, Bluegrass Today
Related:
“Washington D.C., The Bluegrass Capitol – The Story of Bluegrass in Washington, DC,” a film by G.T. Keplinger [24:27]
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“As NPR came of age in the 1980s, its audience matured with it. Three decades later, that is starting to look like a problem.
Many of the listeners who grew up with NPR are now reaching retirement age, leaving NPR with a challenge: How can it attract younger and middle-aged audiences — whose numbers are shrinking — to replace them?”
— “NPR is graying, and public radio is worried about it,” Paul Farhi, Washington Post
“Though NPR is seeing some listening gains on digital platforms, particularly with podcasts, its broadcast audience has dropped. Average–quarter-hour (AQH) listening during morning drive time has dropped 11 percent in the past five years, and afternoon drive audience has declined 6 percent. The only age bracket that has increased listening to NPR stations is the 65-plus audience.”
— “Drop in younger listeners makes dent in NPR news audience,” Tyler Falk, Current
More:
“Who Isn’t Listening to Public Radio,” Justin Fox, Bloomberg View
“WNYC is leading public radio’s transition to public podcasting,” Jack Murtha, Columbia Journalism Review
“The Million Puppet March — a political rally against Mitt Romney’s debate remarks about Big Bird and cutting funding to public television — may not have actually been a million puppets strong, but furry monsters came from far and near in a post-Halloween parade of support for PBS on Saturday.
The march to the Capitol set off from Lincoln Park shortly after 11 a.m., with the participants singing the “Sesame Street” theme song, and the Muppets’ “Mahna Mahna.” They were asked to keep to the sidewalk, but the hundreds of marchers soon spilled into the street, requiring a police escort. They chanted:
‘Power to the puppets! We can save the Muppets!’
‘Whose street? Sesame Street!’
‘What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!’
‘EL-MO! We won’t go!’
–“The Million Puppet March: Fighting for public broadcasting, with felt and fur,” Maura Judkis, Washington Post
Today is the 100th anniversary of TV chef Julia Child’s birth, and it’s like food fans have been whipped into a frothy frenzy by balloon whisks. They’ve served up a music video (above), a Google Doodle, restaurant celebrations, and events at the Smithsonian, where Julia’s kitchen is now installed. Bon appétit, et joyeux anniversaire Julia!
National Public Radio execs are on a road trip to demo web services to the network’s 268 affiliated U.S. radio stations. The roadshow is also an effort to calm stations upset by earlier indications that purchase of expensive digital services would be required of all affiliates. NPR recently bought the Public Interactive web services company from Public Radio International.
PNC Bank and public TV’s Sesame Street say they are teaming up to teach kids about money. David Sirota explains it another way: “A bailed-out financial institution teams up with PBS to teach our kids how to spend money on useless crap.”
“‘Sesame Street’: Brought to you by PNC Bank,” David Sirota, Salon
“PNC” logo and the Sesame Street logo element and creature are property of their respective trademark owners and used here under the “Parody” provisions of the “Fair Use” doctrine. Hey, if PNC hasn’t paid back all that Federal bailout money, taxpayers probably own some rights in their stuff anyway.
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Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Proof radio no longer matters: Congress finally passed the Community Radio Act authorizing broadcasting by more low power FM (LPFM) nonprofit stations. After a decade of stalling it by making proponents jump through hoops, the broadcast lobby now applauds the act’s passage. Broadcasters and publishers are simply too busy working the hyper-local Web and cell phone angles, and figure no one listens to radio if they aren’t driving anyway. Even community radio blogs seem more concerned with Net Neutrality than this long-running radio issue.
National Public Radio has announced it will now be known as NPR. The Public broadcaster joins other image-conscious nonprofits in adopting a self-referential abbreviation, chief among them AARP. “Radio” sounds so old-fashioned, just like “Colored People” and “Retired People.” The “just-call-us-NPR” network is trying to emphasize its sizeable mobile, podcast, and web presence because the NPR radio audience largely comprises … retired people.
The snow has melted, but Washington’s cherry trees are bare — except on public television. WETA is running a program called The Washington Cherry Blossoms: Beauty on the Basin, and sun-washed pink blooms wave across your TV screen, accompanied by inoffensive music.
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