WABE "SORT OF" GOES ALL-NEWS AGAIN

I recommend a fascinating article in the Atlanta paper Casual Loafing about WABE’s latest program changes. Link:

http://clatl.com/atlanta/how-wabe-responded-when-gpb-came-to-town/Content?oid=13137935

Several weeks ago I wrote that WABE had “sort of” changed to all NPR News.  The “sort of” was because WABE left blocks of classical music in the weekday schedule – a move guaranteed to satisfy no one.  And it didn’t.  WABE just announced further changes.

It is because Georgia Public Broadcasting is now competing with 14 hours of NPR News per day via an LMA with college rock station WRAS.

The Casual Loafing article is based, in part, on a series of leaked WABE internal e-mails.  Here is an excerpt from the article than shows the mood within WABE:

Mac Holladay, one board member overseeing WABE, described GPB’s deal as both a “frontal assault” and a “direct attack.” In an email to WABE CEO Milton Clipper, board member Charles E. Taylor feared that GPB would “kill” WABE in daytime news programing.

“We were too late to the party,” Taylor wrote.

“Never panic and always keep your pants on!” Clipper replied, adding that station officials would need to accelerate the rollout of their strategic plan.

Another gem from the article:

WABE officials slowly took steps to respond to GPB, which had set the ambitious goal of poaching at least 15 percent of WABE’s audience within one year, according to WABE Director of Radio Production David Barasoain.

GPB is succeeding in that goal.  Though you can’t tell how many listeners have been “poached” via Nielsen Audio PPMs, in November WRAS had almost 20% of WABE’s weekly listening. That means it is working for GPB.  Tanya Ott has the “news mojo.”

Here are the weekday schedules for WABE and WRAS:

TIME	WABE 1/12/15	WRAS
5:00am – 6:00am	Morning Edition	Morning Edition
6:00am – 7:00am	Morning Edition	Morning Edition
7:00am – 8:00am	Morning Edition	Morning Edition
8:00am – 9:00am	Morning Edition	Morning Edition
9:00am – 10:00am	Morning Edition	On Second Thought (local news & interviews)
10:00am – 11:00am	New Lois Reitzes Program	On Point
11:00am - Noon	New Lois Reitzes Program	On Point
Noon – 1:00pm	New Local News & Interview Program	The Takeaway
1:00pm – 2:00pm	New Local News & Interview Program	Here & Now
2:00pm – 3:00pm	Not yet announced	Here & Now Friday: Science Friday
3:00pm – 4:00pm	Not yet announced	Fresh Air Friday: Political Rewind (local interviews)
4:00pm – 5:00pm	All Things Considered	All Things Considered
5:00pm – 6:00pm	All Things Considered	All Things Considered
6:00pm – 7:00pm	6:00pm ATC 6:30pm Marketplace	6:00pm Marketplace 6:30pm ATC