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2/4: John Lemley’s new noon WABE-FM show City Cafe, Clark Howard TV ratings, Porsche Foxx in case of mistaken identity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Lemley has opened shop with City Cafe at noon on WABE-FM this week. The hour-long show mixes classical music with Atlanta-related arts stories, usually two to three minutes apiece.
General manager John Weatherford has been wanting to do something like this for a long time. But he was looking for the right fit as he expanded the news staff. Four years ago, WABE had a skeletal two-person news operation. Now it’s a much heftier seven, plus six freelancers. “People have so many more options,” Weatherford said. “NPR can stream any station in the country on your computer or your iPhone. We have to provide something unique.”
Alabama native Lemley, who has been with the station since 1994, was a classical music host from 1997 until 2005. Weatherford asked him to sub in temporarily as news host of “All Things Considered.” But that “temporary” gig lasted three-plus years. (“It was an arranged marriage that worked out over time,” Lemley said.)
Weatherford asked Lemley to do the show because he has a certain level of “ease and informality. I kind of coaxed John into this notion to move back to his original location and host this new program.” He feels Lemley can be a great conduit between the listener and more exposure to the Atlanta arts community.
The noon hour also includes two news breaks as well as the two feature stories. But it’s still 75% music (though the pieces will be shorter than those from 9 to noon or 1 to 3 p.m.). On first day of City Cafe, he interviewed a person from the Atlanta Public Library about the Library Lovers month. And producer Dave Barasoain chronicled the one millionth visitor of the Louvre Atlanta at the High Museum Monday.
In the future, they might repurpose pieces done for Morning Edition or All Things Considered as well.
Lemley’s soothing radio voice fits right in with that of any public radio station. And he had this quirky little “stargazer” report each evening that many ATC fans enjoyed. But he’s happy to try something new.
“It feels like I had come home,” he said, doing classical again. “Maybe somebody had rearranged the furniture but it’s new feng shui.”
Weatherford had been eyeing Denis O’Hayer (right) at WXIA-TV for a long time. He finally convinced O’Hayer to leave the glamour of broadcast TV for the not-so-glamorous life of public radio. O’Hayer started earlier this week. He has an extensive news background on TV and radio and can help do reporting as well before 3 p.m.
(disclosure: O’Hayer and I work together on the board of the Atlanta Press Club.)
-Clark Howard’s early ratings for his self-titled consumer show on HLN have not been encouraging. The show has generally underperformed those before and after it.
The show airs 6 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
I studied the Nielsen numbers from the weekend of January 24 and 25, his fourth weekend on the air. Let’s take noon on Saturday. At 11 a.m., the hour before his show, HLN drew 456,000 viewers. Clark Howard at noon? 332,000 (-27%). The HLN bounced back to 483,000 at 1 p.m. (+45%). At 3:30 p.m., a show called “Open House” brought in 230,000 viewers. Clark Howard at 4 p.m. dropped to 178,000 (-23%). A regular CNN Headline News show at 5 p.m. brought in 259,000 (+46%).
On Sunday, the pattern is the same. At 11 a.m., a CNN Headline News show attracted 223,000 viewers. Clark at noon fell to 148,000 (-34%). At 1 p.m. CNN Headline News bounced all the way up to 371,000, more than doubling Clark. (+151%) “Open House” brought in 355,000 at 3:30 p.m. Clark at 4 p.m. fell to 303,000 (-15%). CNN Headline News at 5 p.m. drew 326,000 (+8%).
I just checked this past weekend’s numbers and the patterns were similar, though there was one sign of hope: on Super Bowl Sunday, his noon number was better (251,000) than a week earlier and the Headline News Show at 1 p.m. (when the pre-show festivities started on NBC), HLN lost audience, falling to 194,000, about half its ratings a week earlier at the same time.
His best performance this past weekend was Saturday at 6 a.m. with 317,000 viewers.
-Some other person calling herself Porsche Foxx was involved in a Union City townhome fire. The Porsche Foxx we know and love, formerly of V-103, was not involved, the police sheepishly said today. Sorry, Porsche! What a media firestorm for… not much!
-I also heard former Atlantan Lance Krall’s VH1 show “Free Radio” is in production for a second season. Krall was a regular member of Whole World Theatre for many years. “Free Radio” is a semi-improvised show featuring Krall as an idiot radio DJ who interviews celebrities, who are somewhat in on the joke but have no clue what Krall will dish out. Kiefer Sutherland, Ray Romano and Tony Shalhoub have all taken the bait. I heard “Idol” winner David Cook recently shot a bit with Krall for this upcoming season, launch date to be announced.
Comments
By Jeff
February 5, 2009 1:15 PM | Link to this
John Lemley is likable enough (although I beleive he enjoys his little quips more than we do), and the noon show is fine, but letting Wanda Yang Temko go is a shame. She is a true professional, as was a wonderful host of Afternoon Classics. Couldn’t WABE simply have Wanda do this or have John pre-record the show? If you really dig down, I would wager that most of the biggest private donors to WABE are staunch supporters of classical music, so they best be careful.
By Kelly
February 6, 2009 10:24 AM | Link to this
I’m so tired of NPR station brass assuming that their listeners don’t have the attention span or intelligence to listen to “longer pieces” and that we must be fed a diet of “shorter”, “up-tempo,” “lighter” classics interspersed with shallow arts news pieces. Hello! We listen to NPR—I think we have the attention span. You want to have an hour of in-depth arts reporting that looks at process, controversy, and theory. Fine. But don’t patronize me with fluff. And bring Wanda Yang Temko back.
By Brian
February 6, 2009 10:42 AM | Link to this
Wow, I wonder how much dead air, miscues, and screwups we’ll hear in the WABE noon time slot… I guess at least All Things Considered might sound professional now!
I do hope that City Cafe won’t be just another advertisement for the Woodruff Arts Center and its associated groups; more interesting work is generally exhibited or performed elsewhere.
By Ben
February 6, 2009 11:47 AM | Link to this
I grew up in Atlanta listening to WABE, and now work for an NPR station in another part of the country. This week we had a staff meeting with a classical music programming guru (one wonders of the current management of WABE knows of the existence of such people) who encouraged us to move in the opposite direction of WABE. We’re removing all ‘fluff’ (Beatles tunes played by the Empire Brass, etc.) and playing only actual classical music. We’ll see which change works, but I agree with Kelly. If I want news, I’ll listen to a news station. If I wants sports, I’ll listen to a sports station. I’m listening to WABE during the day. I want classical music. And Wanda Yang Temko.
By Martha
February 10, 2009 1:01 AM | Link to this
I agree with the sentiments expressed above- I miss Wanda Yang Temko already. I love her and her programming, and it really is a shame to let her go for this.
By Yvonne
February 20, 2009 10:32 PM | Link to this
Yes. I miss Wanda as well. They should let her replace that Lois Reitzes woman in the AM. It’s SO distracting to listen to her take all those deep breaths when she talks. Is she on an oxygen tank or something in there? Wanda- Please come back- we love ya girl!