Station Dropping NPR Program Because Of Pandora

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Mike Savage (pictured) is the General Manager at WBAA in Lafayette, Indiana. Savage says, as of August, WBAA will no longer carry NPR’s This American Life because the show will be distributed on Pandora. Savage says that is inconsistent with the mission of public radio. He also says host Ira Glass is being disingenuous, and going on Pandora is all about money.

Here’s what the WBAA GM posted to his LinkedIn page. “I am all for improving the bottom line, however, we as public radio leaders must keep the balance between mission and bottom line in the forefront. If all we wanted to do was grow the audience, we could change our formats to country music and accomplish that objective. We must respect the mission. Do the ends justify the means? For a program that got its start on public radio and had some of the best on-air fundraising messages for listeners where Ira Glass says he is volunteering his time because he believes in the mission of public broadcasting, the move by This American Life to Pandora is disingenuous at best.”

After having a conversation with Ira Glass (see next story) Savage posted these additional comments. “Let me clarify. I do not fear Pandora is going to steal away our listeners. But I do believe a proliferation of other distribution platforms for core public radio program is diluting our audience on programs like TAL that make a push to listen direct to Web or app. Podcasting is complementary to public radio and is an area of significant growth for our business. However, Pandora is not complementary nor friendly to public radio. Just go for a test drive in a new car and you will see what their aggressive presentation is. In fact, I believe it’s one of Pandora’s main goals to put traditional radio out of business.”

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