WABE programming shifts: Lois Reitzes, 'Fresh Air,' 'This American Life'

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015

Nine months after debuting its all-day news/talk programming, 90.1/WABE-FM is tweaking its lineup a bit starting Monday.

The schedule changes:

• Popular "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross returns to mid-afternoons at 2 p.m. with a second airing at 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.
• Lois Reitzes' two-hour local cultural arts talk program "City Lights" loses an hour. It will air from 11 a.m. to noon instead of 10 a.m. to noon. But to get her classical music hosting knowledge back on the FM dial, she will  begin hosting a special 8 p.m. hour called "Serenade," replacing "Performance Today." (She already hosts a music show on the HD classical channel.) John Haas, WABE's news director, said there will be just as much local content on the one-hour show as the two-hour one. "Our commitment to the arts is a strong as ever," he said. "I think 'City Lights" will work better as a tighter show." Plus, at night, WABE will now have a local show at 8 p.m., providing Reitzes' expertise that's already heard on the HD-2 channel.
• Instead of "BBC Outlook" at 2 p.m., WABE will air "BBC Newshour" at 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. right after "Morning Edition." "It's a real good lead-out after 'Morning Edition,' " Haas said. "We're an international city."
• The new local talk show program "Closer Look" remains from noon to 2 p.m. with Rose Scott and Denis O'Hayer as hosts from Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, it will be truncated to an hour. At 1 p.m. Friday, a weekly NPR program "Snap Judgment" with Glynn Washington will air. Haas said it's been around about five years. "Glynn is great," he said. "It's really done well and picking up stations around the country. I'd listen to it constantly when I lived in L.A. To me, it was appointment radio."
• At 2 p.m. Friday, "This American Life" with Ira Glass will air instead of "Fifth Floor." "It's one of the most respected public radio shows out there," Haas said. "It was kind of a no brainer in a better slot and energize our Friday line up."
• At 7 p.m. Friday, WABE replaces "Ask Me Another" with The Dinner Party Download with hosts Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam. It's described as "a fast and fun hour of food, culture and conversation where you'll learn everything you need to know to be engaging during a dinner party." Haas said it's been a really popular podcast and incubated from the "Marketplace" offices, where he used to work. He said "Ask Me Another" was "okay but never held my attention."
• At 10 p.m. Friday, "Blues Classics" with H. Johnson will start an hour earlier since NPR has nixed "Song Travels."
• On Sundays, "Bob Edwards Weekends" has been cancelled, opening up two hours from noon to 2 p.m. WABE will fill that time with repeats of "This American Life" and "Snap Judgment," respectively. And at 7 p.m., "Fresh Air Weekends" will air in place of "This American Life."
• Finally, at 2 p.m. Sundays, "On the Media" gets bumped in favor of an NPR show called "Bullseye" with host Jesse Thorn . It's described as a fresh approach to culture and features in-depth interviews with some of the most revered and revolutionary people in America." Haas said he caught the show on the Nashville NPR station while driving up to Kentucky and was engaged for the entire hour. He started listening to more episodes and really likes Thorn's style. He's not afraid to "geek out about things and asks really good questions and gets really interesting guests," Haas said. "On the Media," which will remain on the HD channel, was a tough decision to drop, he said.

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Denis O'Hayer and Rose Scott will be hosting a new two-hour noon show starting January 12, 2015. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Scott, by the way, is being given a “Partnership in Health Equity” award from Morehouse School of Medicine this Saturday.  She is being recognized for her service to the Atlanta community as a media partner helping to lead the way to more knowledge, growth and health awareness in the local area.