Newspaper article on Bob and the show...

[CharlieSummers]

Check out:

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/radio/cl ... e-channels

...and I swear, the flacks at NPR continue to be self-serving and smarmy.

[RussGifford]

That's not smarmy - that's snide and scared! I think the article captured the reality of the situation well. And I think we are the winners in this deal. I hope Bob enjoys bringing his eclectic collection of conversations to us - I certainly enjoy listening to them!

On the other side, the news continues to slide at other stations. And as the CPB cuts funds to the locals, it will get harder and harder for NPR to continue. I expect to see a slide in stations in the next few years. They'll reap exactly what they sowed....Tough times . NPR's stupidity will be part and parcel of the decline, since they continue to jettison those of use that could have been helping.

I'm working to help my local station - but I couldn't care less if they stay with NPR in the long run!

But I digress! It was a very good article!

[Judygalloway]

I've cut a couple of things from that article that I feel driven to comment on:

"Andi Sporkin, named vice president for communications at NPR in April, said, "I think there's remorse about how it was handled in terms of the PR. It could be the reason I'm here. There were changes on the show they wanted to make. Obviously, they made them."

My comment: Other than firing Bob, it seemed they were smart enough not to fix other unbroken components. They only had one change in mind: dump Bob. The music is the same, Carl Cassel is there, etc.


"Morning Edition" is now hosted by Steve Inskeep on the East Coast and Ren?e Montagne on the West. Each at times reports from outside the studio while the other holds down the fort, making the broadcast, Sporkin said, "more immediate, more timely and more flexible." And, she said, it has more listeners."

"Sporkin said that despite the protests over Edwards' departure, "Morning Edition" added 800,000 early-morning listeners to the 13 million who tuned in when Edwards was there. "

My comment: Balderdash. I really can't believe they added any listeners because of Bob's leaving. I'll bet if there are more listeners it's because of all the news events: the war, the tsunami, Katrina, etc, etc.

I love Bob and I love the BES, but there's not a day that goes by when I wouldn't give a lot to hear him saying: "This is Morning Edition. I'm Bob Edwards".

[CharlieSummers]

My comment: Balderdash. I really can't believe they added any listeners because of Bob's leaving. I'll bet if there are more listeners it's because of all the news events: the war, the tsunami, Katrina, etc, etc.

That 800k number they always quote is actually fourth quarter of last year (you remember...the election?). Has anyone seen first-quarter numbers for this year? Or is NPR hiding them because they show a drop-off from the 800k?

I love Bob and I love the BES, but there's not a day that goes by when I wouldn't give a lot to hear him saying: "This is Morning Edition. I'm Bob Edwards". :(

You knew I couldn't resist...

http://www.bobedwards.info/sounds/20040 ... _is_me.mp3

This is from April 30, 2004, 128kbps CBR 44100Hz Joint Stereo file - right-click (Mac users click-and-hold) for the "Save Link Target As..." menu. I felt compelled to make an internal edit to remove the reference to the outfit for whom he used to work. (I gotta quit hanging around Danyo and Grey, trying to keep up with 'em is a bad influence on me. He, he...I remember having to do edits like this with a razor blade and splice tape back in the late 1960's; they have no idea how bloody good they have it now. I mean, wow - UNDO! ;)

While I was screwing around with the sound file, I also pulled some time-checks for those of you crazy enough to have your computer periodically announce the time:

http://www.bobedwards.info/sounds/20040430_19.mp3

http://www.bobedwards.info/sounds/20040430_29.mp3

http://www.bobedwards.info/sounds/20040430_39.mp3

http://www.bobedwards.info/sounds/20040430_49.mp3

Can't wait to get the cease-and-desist from that large unfriendly corporation who pretends to be our bestest buddy while stabbing us in the back...

[Ivy B]

Thanks Charlie! I'm a little behind in reading the messages, but hearing this clip of Bob brightened my rainy afternoon!

The time checks were even more nostalgic because my station dropped them years before Bob was dropped.

[RussGifford]

So - most of these items get a set number of views - but the one on the article gets 4 to 5 times as many? What accounts for that? Picked up on a Google search, perhaps due to the link? Hmmm. Interesting viewing patterns!

[CharlieSummers]

So - most of these items get a set number of views - but the one on the article gets 4 to 5 times as many? What accounts for that?

Possibly the links I placed to it on the Nostalgic Rumblings Blog - we have received relatively few click-throughs from search engines. Athough we have moved to sixth position on a Google search of "bob edwards show," we've only received a few handfuls of clickthroughs from there. (I note with interest there have been searches on both "chad campbell npr" and "bob edwards show tish," which imply at least some of the staff have groupies... ;)