READER COMMENTS: DISSING THE TEST KITCHEN • "WAIT AND SEE" ABOUT FUNDING FOR CPB

COMMENT ONE: DID CHRIS KIMBALL DISS AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN” BEFORE HE LEFT?

Christopher Kimball

Our report about the legal battle between Christopher Kimball and America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) on November 4^th [link] brought several comments. They were evenly divided between “Kimball fans” and “Kimball critics.” 

Here is a comment from someone who thought Kimball had started dissing ATK on-the-air even before he was out the door:

“Thank-you for posting this; I found it very interesting. I listen to ATK radio and noticed that at the time that Chris was "fired" from ATK, Chris went from saying things like "best recipe ever" to sounding doubtful about some of their cooking techniques/ideas.

He also started recommending different cooking techniques which reminded me an awful lot of the new style of Milk Street Kitchen. I wish I had more specific examples, but I haven't listened in a few months. I just remember thinking several times that he was probably not a good person to have remaining on the ATK radio show, since he was no longer trying to help ATK as a company.”

KEN SAYS:

I have no way to confirm the reader’s remarks but what he observes seems to fit the pattern described in ATK’s complaint. 

Lets review where things stand now:

• ATK’s new hosts are Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster.

• The ATK radio series distributed by PRX is over as of the end of 2016. 

• ATK will continue in radio as a contributor to American Public Media’s (APM) program The Splendid Table.

• Kimball’s new Milk Street Radio began distribution via PRX as of October 22, 2016. It is recorded in the studios of WGBH. 

• Milk Street Radio is available to all stations from PRX.org and is free for two years if picked up by July, 2017.

• Each Milk Street Radio program is 59 minutes long, is newscast compatible, and includes two, 1-minute floating ID breaks. The clock for Milk Street Radio is above.

COMMENT TWO: CPB & TRUMPLAND

Regarding our opinion column A TIME OF RECKONING published Wednesday, November 9^th [link] an anonymous reader wrote:

“Over the years, attempts to defund public broadcasting have come more frequent, and I agree that we are going into an environment where all the pieces may be in place to finally make it happen. It’s hard to have a rallying cry of, “Don’t Kill Big Bird” when he’s nesting at HBO.

Small, rural, and minority stations will be disproportionately impacted if CPB funding disappears. Now is the time to begin proactively activating public media supporters to tell their stories and build your base of vocal advocates. We pitch all the time that we have supporters from all walks of life and across the political spectrum. Let’s prove it.”

KEN SAYS:

I agree with the reader. The case for public radio should begin now. The prevailing mood in DC is “wait and see, we've been through this before.” Things are different now. De-funding CPB might wind up as a small item wrapped up in a "big deal."

An article in Current published Thursday morning [link] seems cautiously optimistic about continued funding. The operating theory is we've always won before, so lets keep our heads low.

Current quotes Patrick Butler, president of America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), saying we have important allies in the new administration such as incoming VP Mike Pence. APTS gave Pence an award in 2014 for help restoring state support to public stations in Indiana. Don’t count on Pence's goodwill on the national level.

Allies are now bending like willows in a blizzard wind. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the GOP leadership is making a lot of changes. And he promises quick, big and bold action as soon as the new Republican government is in place.

If you are concerned, start mobilizing support at home. Last Friday [link] I wrote about how Senator Larry Pressler’s (R-SD) effort to defund CPB backfired. It turns out that Pressler was “privatized” during the next election by the people of South Dakota,

COMMENT THREE: IS THE NEW FM STATION IN BOULDER A “LPFM” OR JUST A “LP” TRANSLATOR

On Thursday this week I wrote about a new FM station that has signed on in Boulder [link].  I referred to the new FM as a “LPFM” station.  Reader Aaron Read commented:

FYI Ken, KVCU's new FM repeater is not an LPFM licensee. Absent a waiver, that wouldn't be legal (LPFM licensees cannot own full-power AM/FM licenses).

98.9 appears to be just a regular FM Translator license: K255DA. Although looking at Radio Locator, it seems a bit iffy in covering the campus...often a practical necessity for any college radio station. :)

More to the point, though, KVCU has a good daytime and critical hours signal, but at night it's pretty small. Just 110 watts. That FM translator will go a long ways towards having a 24/7 audience.

KEN SAYS: Aaron knows more about this kind of thing than I do, so he is likely correct. The LPFM reference was made in Daily Camera source story and I did not double-check it. I blame sloth, perhaps my major sin.