MPR Cancels "Live From Here"

[Kelly A]

Really, for the most part, after Keillor left I stopped listening since there was no longer much compelling reason to listen. Chris Thile is an alright musician; anybody can host a show if they want to but it takes a certain type of person to be an engaging host that people will want to listen to, not just a robot dryly going through the obligatory motions. I mean, look at the mistake Fremantle made when they hired Drew Carey as Bob Barker's replacement.

A couple little known facts: 1. Garrison Keillor actually (pardon the expression) groomed Chris Thile as a potential fill-in and replacement for PHC. When Keillor was shown the door for inappropriate behavior, they moved Chris in early. Keillor took his ball and went home.
2. Drew Carey's share has actually been equal-to, or larger than when Bob Barker hosted TPIR.

 

[TheBigA]

A couple little known facts: 1. Garrison Keillor actually (pardon the expression) groomed Chris Thile as a potential fill-in and replacement for PHC.

Terrible idea. Had it been up to me, my first choice would have been Tom Bodett. And keep Chris around for music.

The reason the new show was a failure was it diverged from the story-telling aspect, and became a music show.

 

[Kelly A]

Terrible idea. Had it been up to me, my first choice would have been Tom Bodett. And keep Chris around for music.

The reason the new show was a failure was it diverged from the story-telling aspect, and became a music show.

Maybe so, I wasn't a fan of either. It seemed like the Keillor scandal landed so quickly, that PRN was scrambling to keep the already-sold show alive. Handing over the reigns to a musician, seems that likely the show would shift toward more of a musical focus. In this case, what Thile did best; Bluegrass and Folk.

 

[Mikey Radio]

A couple little known facts: 1. Garrison Keillor actually (pardon the expression) groomed Chris Thile as a potential fill-in and replacement for PHC. When Keillor was shown the door for inappropriate behavior, they moved Chris in early.

^^^ I'm not sure this is true, unless there was a lot more behind the scenes regarding the accusations against Garrison 2 years earlier than the general public knew about them. Considering the accusations against Keillor came to light at about the same time as the "me too" movement began gaining traction and long after he'd already given up the show, I don't believe Keillor was moved out earlier than he'd planned to go. Here's the timeline:

-Thile guest hosted A Prairie Home Companion on February 7 and 14, 2015.
-Thile was named permanent host of the show in late June 2015.
-When Keillor formally announced his departure from APHC at the show's airing on July 21, 2015, he indicated Thile would succeed him as permanent host in 2016.
-Keillor's last show as host was recorded on July 1, 2016 (almost a full year after he'd announced his planned departure), and broadcast the following day.
-Thile took over as permanent host on October 15, 2016.
-On November 29, 2017 (more than a year after Keillor had last hosted the show), Minnesota Public Radio terminated its contract with Garrison because of "allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him".

 

[Kelly A]

This timeline of the circumstances behind removing Keillor, shows him reviewing scripts into 2016.

For some who lived in it, Keillor's world wasn't funny

An investigation by MPR News has learned of a yearslong pattern of behavior that left several women who worked for Keillor feeling mistreated, sexualized or belittled.

www.mprnews.org

As mentioned in my post; Thile was intended to become the host eventually when Keillor was to retire. In the lead up to the Keillor scandal, Thile was a fill-in host.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

It is interesting, and unsurprising to me, that the PDs mentioned in the Current piece provided by BigA said the ratings for "Live From Here" had tanked. It is certainly possible that, given another couple years, Chris Thile's show could have redeveloped its audience after shedding much of the cast who shared the stage with Garrison Keillor. But it was never given that chance.

If "Live From Here" was a vital part of the fundraising scheme for public radio on the weekend, it would never have been cancelled, because APM could simply have charged more for the show to make it viable.

 

[Kelly A]

It is interesting, and unsurprising to me, that the PDs mentioned in the Current piece provided by BigA said the ratings for "Live From Here" had tanked. It is certainly possible that, given another couple years, Chris Thile's show could have redeveloped its audience after shedding much of the cast who shared the stage with Garrison Keillor. But it was never given that chance.

If "Live From Here" was a vital part of the fundraising scheme for public radio on the weekend, it would never have been cancelled, because APM could simply have charged more for the show to make it viable.

As mentioned, I was never a fan of either version. That said, there are some basic listener elements combined with unfortunate timing that caused the demise of the show:

1. PHC had been an NPR/APM staple for years. It had developed an audience which grew older with the program. Keillor was familiar and relatable to the audience demographic.

2. When Keillor was talking about retirement, I'm sure there was conference room talk about making the show relatable to a younger demo. As I said earlier, Keillor was part of that process with Thile. It wasn't like the young punk kicked out the old guy. Transgressions of the old guy eventually caught up to him.

3. MPR/APM had an ongoing commitment to continuing the show, then COVID shut down live and studio production. I believe it was BigA that pointed out; that program relied heavily on a live audience. The unfortunate timing of a pandemic, brought the commitment by the MPR and AMP to a grinding halt. With no sure timeframe as to how long the show would be shelved, MPR couldn't continue paying salaries indefinitely. NPR affiliates ran as many replays of the show that they could, but with no timeline on the horizon, it was dead-show-walking.

 

[Mikey Radio]

2. When Keillor was talking about retirement, I'm sure there was conference room talk about making the show relatable to a younger demo. As I said earlier, Keillor was part of that process with Thile. It wasn't like the young punk kicked out the old guy.

All indications are that this is correct, and the stated plan was for Thile to simply take over PHC and operate it more or less in the traditional format, with some changes here and there...Obviously Thile is a musician vs. an author or storyteller, so some of the segments Garrison was best known for would be dropped. However, per one of my previous posts, the way it actually played out is that listeners heard it change over time until it simply became a bluegrass and music show from New York that no longer resembled PCH. According to at least one article, the move from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul to a theater in Manhattan greatly angered many long-time listeners, and Minnesotans in particular, as they felt that caused the show to lose any midwestern feel the show still retained.

I'd also add to PTBoardOp94's comments, that ratings for Live From Here simply weren't good, which is most likely another major reason why MPR chose to simply cut it loose and may consider another live show once the pandemic is behind us. Here are some quotes from the article TheBigA had linked to in one of his previous posts:

"Live From Here hadn’t been performing well for WSKG in Binghamton, N.Y. The station had been seeing “a dramatic drop” in cume, said Charles Compton, director of radio, news, operations and programming."

"Live From Here had a “modest” following (at WAMU) but never gained the listenership of A Prairie Home Companion, said Chief Content Officer Monna Kashfi in an email. In the last year, weekly listenership to Live From Here fell by more than half, Kashfi said."

 

[Kemosabe]

Though it was quite predictable, A Prairie Home Companion was well-written and entertaining—a sort of "comfort food" for the ears. By contrast, Live From Here sounded bland and uncompelling. (The segments with Tom Papa were especially insufferable.) I don't miss it.

 

[boombox4]

I'm actually saddened that the show is gone. It was a good musical show, and as entertaining as any of the other NPR fare. I'm not an NPR listener, really, but I kept the radio on NPR during weekend afternoons and mornings because my mom enjoyed it. So I was able to hear the programming, and I was always impressed at the Live From Here group's musicianship and upbeat banter. I never heard Prairie Home Companion, but had some friends who were into that back in the 1990s. From the way they described it, it was like a Seinfeld for radio. I.e., you had to be there to really 'get' it.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I'm actually saddened that the show is gone. It was a good musical show, and as entertaining as any of the other NPR fare. I'm not an NPR listener, really, but I kept the radio on NPR during weekend afternoons and mornings because my mom enjoyed it. So I was able to hear the programming, and I was always impressed at the Live From Here group's musicianship and upbeat banter. I never heard Prairie Home Companion, but had some friends who were into that back in the 1990s. From the way they described it, it was like a Seinfeld for radio. I.e., you had to be there to really 'get' it.

There was a lot more comedy on the original show, and my perception was that the music was better too. And the host was more pleasant to listen to. But I was in a similar situation to you. The radio was on that station after "Car Talk".