Aw, damn, what am I going to listen to in the morning?

[pegkerr]

MPR's program The Morning Show is going off the air. After more than twenty-five years. I've been listening for close to twenty of them. I guess they have an excuse, because Tom Keith is retiring, but damn. The press release says that the program will replaced by programming that is consistent with the rest of the programming at the Current (the name of the station). Great. Don't count on me sticking around. I've never warmed up to the Current's programming, other than the Morning Show (which was a transplant from its original home on KSJN). I've also never quite forgiven the Current-KCMP for replacing my old college radio station, WCAL and kicking "Thistle and Shamrock" off the air.

So what the heck am I going to listen to now? I won't listen to commercial radio. After so many years of public radio, I can't bear the ads. I'd rather slit my own wrists than listen to Rob's preference, his odious sports radio KFAN. Testosterone-fueled primate posturing. UGH!!!

Comments

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

Testosterone-fueled primate posturing. UGH!!!

You say that like it's a Bad Thing... :-)

I'll put in a plug for KBEM's Saturday lineup of bluegrass/folk...

Otherwise, I've got nothing.

Morning show demise

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

I'm so heart broken over it I think I'll have to never get up before 9am, so I can pretend I just missed it.

[dreamcoat-mom.livejournal.com]

This won't help on the morning commute, but at work and at home I listen to live365 internet radio. It doesn't cost anything, it carries every genre under the sun, and it's virtually commercial free!

[flourish.livejournal.com]

Internet radio? :?

[musicbearmn.livejournal.com]

Have you thought about 88.5 KBEM? While they don't have Thisle and Shamrock (which is one of Keith's faves), they do have Celtic Nation...

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

"Testosterone-fueled primate posturing."

Oooooooooooo, dreamy!

[jbru.livejournal.com]

I am apparently the only one who could not stand The Morning Show and greeted this news with relief. I'm sorry for your disappointment, but I'm glad I'll be able to listen to the Current in the mornings now!

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

NPR.org? Not so great for the car, though.

[sraun]

I've been listening to NPR's classical station in the morning ever since the Current went live - I liked the Morning Show, but it was too much work to switch radio stations. I've been mostly listening at home on a radio that doesn't have pre-sets.

[emerdavid.livejournal.com]

Try KFAI (90.3). It's decidedly a mixed bag, as there's a different host every weekday, and some may be to your tastes and some not. But I used to set my clock radio to it (years ago) and it made for an interesting wake-up.

Apparently the traditional Morning Show, while beloved of KSJN's listeners, was not so popular with The Current's core audience.

[longstrider.livejournal.com]

In what context are you listening, at home, commuting, or at work?

At home or at work there are a plethora of internet radio morning show options from public radio stations across the country.

On the commute the only thing I can think of (not knowing your local stations) involves a subscription service to one of the satellite radio providers which I understand would not be a sensible option at the moment.

[thenines.livejournal.com]

I can't help with the radio (being in NY), but the Thistle and Shamrock is available as a podcast. If you like that, you could also check out Irish Fireside, Celt in a Twist, and the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast (you may know of that last one, as it's run by Marc Gunn).

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do listen to the Irish and Celtic music podcast faithfully. I'll check out the others, thanks.

[laurel]

Ian and Marjorie's show on FM 107.1 in the mornings is good, for talk radio, that is.

I usually alternative between KBEM for jazz and traffic, The Morning Show, and Ian & Marjorie if I'm driving around that early.

From Kira Martin

[(Anonymous)]

I love 107.1 Ian and Marjorey. Peg, they do it out of their bedroom in the morning, and have teenage kids. I also love some other shows on 107.1 like "Dishing up nutrition" on Saturdays...great and very interesting show!

Good Luck,
Kira

morning show

[(Anonymous)]

It seems strange that a show so popular and which Dale Connelly was willing to continue with a new partner can't find another home--though, clearly, it never had a very happy home either with the otherwise mostly all-classical format or the now mostly, what, middle-of-the-road alternative format of the Current. I liked it, but my spouse and daughter did not, so I rarely listened to it. (And even I found some of the schtick too much at times, and sometimes some of the music off-putting enough to make me change the channel. But that's true of any alternative as well. Now I mostly listen to mpr's news channel, though Jo Ann hates that, too. The real problem is that there's no place for their kind of music the rest of the day, and perhaps there's just not enough audience to support a compatible mostly-folky-eclectic whatever sort of station all day. But I also think that the Current would be better off--long-term--to find a way to fit a broader audience and educate their audience to a broader range of music together. Otherwise, they'll find that their rather narrow audience will only narrow further with time. And maybe, even with whatever other partner, Dale Connelly just could never appeal to even a segment of the regular Current listenership. Incidentally, I like the Current when I listen to them, they're one of the better choices around (though sometimes their DJs are awfully smug), but I'm also increasingly drawn to the news station and the classical station, and sometimes I end up listening to Cities 97 or Radio K or KBEM or 90.3 or a country station or something else, and I don't really listen to the radio that much--fortunately, my commute is short. I still miss the old KUOM, actually, though I sometimes really enjoy Radio K. --David Lenander