Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510130003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
An interview show produced in Philadelphia and hosted by Terry Gross, "Fresh Air" was the lead-in to NPR's popular "All Things Considered" until Sept. 11. That's when the Roanoke public radio station dropped the show.
Mills said "Fresh Air" was canned for a number of reasons, including its cost and the expansion of "All Things Considered" into the 4 p.m. time slot previously occupied by "Fresh Air."
Another factor was listener complaints about what Mills called the show's "hidden agenda to promote homosexuality, or rather to put it on a pedestal."
Mills said the station has received around 150 calls from listeners who miss the show, as well as numerous faxes and letters. Given the 110,000 people who tune in for at least 15 minutes each week, Mills doesn't think that is a very big response. He said he got more calls when the station dropped a local bluegrass music show about five years ago.
Still, it's more than he expected.
"We've been taking in on the chin," he said.
The main reason for dropping the show was the NPR's programming change. If "All Things Considered" hadn't moved to 4 p.m., Mills said, "Fresh Air" would still be on.
Leslie Peters, marketing director for NPR, said she was hard-pressed to think of another station that dropped "Fresh Air" because of the time change. It's now being fed to stations at 3 p.m.
"The program is selling well or better than last year," Peters said.
"Fresh Air" is distributed by NPR, but not produced by the network, so stations have to buy it separately. It cost WVTF $8,000 last year. Only Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" - at nearly $11,000 - costs the station more, according to Mills.
By dropping "Fresh Air" to make room for the expanded "All Things Considered," he figures, the station saved $8,000 and still has a quality program at 4 p.m. on weekdays.
And then there's his concern about the nature of the show.
Those 150 calls, Mills said, are not nearly as many as the show generated before it was dropped.
"It's the most controversial show we had on the air," he said. "Actually, I tend to use the word `offensive.'"
Mills was referring to what he sees as the show's tendency to explore the homosexuality of its guests on almost a daily basis. He said it was just too much for the conservative nature of most of his listeners.
"We got more complaints about that program than all the others put together and multiplied several times ...
"It seemed odd. In a week's time, [Terry Gross] would have maybe five major guests, and four of them would be homosexual. She'd be doing a good interview, and then out of nowhere, here comes the homosexuality again."
Danny Miller, senior producer for "Fresh Air," said he recognizes that stations have to take the heat for what's on the show. And he understands the financial aspects of Mills' decision. But he said Mills' claim that four out of five guests are homosexuals is an overestimation.
"That would mean 80 percent of our guests are gay, and that is not right."
Mills said he has no personal problems with the show, and he thinks Gross is an outstanding interviewer. But, he said, if the show "is about highlighting the achievements of homosexuals ... they should just call it that."
That isn't what the show is about, Miller said. Rather it's a show about people involved in arts, entertainment and popular culture. He said the producers don't consider homosexuality to be controversial, at least not the way it's discussed on the show. Sometimes "those other realities" just come up in an interview. They aren't discussed in a "right or wrong" context, just as a part of the life of the person being interviewed.
"Fresh Air" may yet be return to the WVTF line-up. "If we get hard evidence that we made a mistake," Mills said, "we'll correct it."
By hard evidence, he means ratings reports that show listenership has fallen off in that time slot.
Mills said he and some other station managers are trying to persuade "Fresh Air" to allow them to choose a couple of shows a week to run on weekends. And Miller said producers are trying to develop a weekend edition of "Fresh Air," a kind of "best of that week's shows" program.
There's one more possibility: Mills is thinking of putting "Fresh Air" on at 3 p.m. Peters said most stations have chosen this option.
The downside is that it would require taking an hour of classical music away from his listeners.
"I'll be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town by the classical music fans," he said. "...I don't know if I have the guts for that."
by CNB