Can Bob Edwards be Saved?

This week I will be using the Brand Autopsy pulpit to rant against the staid and lethargic Public Radio Station pledge drives. But before I go off on my pledge drive rant, I would be remiss in not mentioning the recent ouster of long-time Morning Edition host Bob Edwards.

Last week, National Public Radio (NPR) announced that Bob Edwards, after 25 years, is leaving as host of Morning Edition. NPR is positioning the change as “part of a natural evolution” and that a new host will “bring new ideas and perspectives to the show.”

Now we learn that NPR affiliates may have pushed for Edward’s ouster. The New York Times (registration required) is reporting that some public radio station managers have expressed concerns that Bob Edwards is less engaged on-air and that the Morning Edition format (a 2 hour show with regular updates) is too static to respond to breaking news.

The ouster of Edwards has rankled loyal NPR listeners to the degree that NPR has received over 17,000 calls and thousands of emails calling for Bob Edwards to remain as Morning Edition host.

And, an enterprising college kid has started an online petition at www.savebobedwards.com geared to reverse NPR’s decision to oust Edwards.

In a commentary for the Los Angeles Times (registration required), Linda Ellerbee writes that “All Things Weren’t Considered” and that NPR’s drive for a younger audience, resulting in the replacement of Bob Edwards, is an act of ageism.

With Spring Pledge Drives beginning this week at many Public Radio stations, the timing of the “Bob be gone” announcement seems awkward. In fact, the online petition at www.savebobedwards.com asks signers to withhold pledging money to NPR affiliates until NPR reinstates Bob Edwards as host of Morning Edition.

I signed the Save Bob Edwards online petition, but I might still make a financial contribution to my local NPR affiliate - KUT-FM. My contribution is contingent upon KUT-FM appealing to me in an innovatively compelling way and not in the staid and lethargic manner I have come to endure.

Forthcoming posts this week on Brand Autopsy will voice my HMOs (Hot Marketing Opinions) on the public radio pledge drive process.

Comments

[Dana VanDenHeuvel]

It's in times like these that I hope NPR has overwhelming evidence that Bob is no longer the man for the job, and is not doing this as a result of some executive decision that was unencumbered by the thought process. I am 27 and see less than nothing wrong with Bob Edwards. I've grown up with him, and can't fathom getting my news another way. However, I tend to trust what NPR does, so perhaps this is for the best?

[johnmoore (unitedstates)]

NPR is in a difficult position. Managing change is difficult, especially after 25 years without making a change. I cannot imagine listening to Morning Edition without hearing the rich, soothing sounds of Bob Edwards. One would hope that NPR would be immune to the pressures of commercial broadcasting … but it is not. NPR has to stay competitive.

The Visionary’s Handbook (from Watts Wacker and Jim Taylor) talks about how businesses must compete in the three dimensions of time in order to remain competitive in the marketplace, “… you have to compete in the future dimension without destabilizing competition in the present and without subverting the core values that have sustained your business in the past.”

As a Morning Edition listener, we tend to only listen in two dimensions of time – the past and the present. The future for us listeners is only tomorrow. The future for the NPR business is the next 25 years.

Hindsight tells us that NPR could have better managed their decision to retool Morning Edition by celebrating and revering Bob Edwards rather than unceremoniously dumping the radio icon. The timing of the announcement could have also been better managed as NPR made its plans known at the same time their member stations are asking listeners for donations in order to fund programs such as Morning Edition.

As Dana eloquently stated in his comments above, we need to trust that NPR is ultimately making the right decision by competing in the future without Bob Edwards as host of Morning Edition.

[Rob]

John, I had the same feeling about my local radio membership. What I did was write to the membership director and program director and ask that no portion of my membership monies be used for NPR programming. I explained that it was due to the decision to remove Edwards.

I've been a regular listener and member since about 1982. I can't imagine mornings without Bob.

[Walton Green]

Canning Bob Edwards is obviously a plot of Dick Cheney's to weaken NPR by depriving its listeners of REAL "fairness and balance", good taste and a lively independent mind. We can't Save Alistair Cooke, but we can Save Bob Edwards...a

[Ron Miller]

Please add your name to the "Save Bob Edwards" petition: we have over 21,600 names already! The petition will be delivered to NPR headquarters Friday, April 23; we hope to have at least 25,000 signatures by then.

To sign the petition, visit www.savebobedwards.com and click on the "Sign the Petition" link on the left side.

You can find the email addresses of NPR senior management and almost all of the NPR Board by clicking here.

[Charlie Summers]

All this time later, Bob doesn't need "saving" - if you subscribe to XM Satellite Radio, his show can be heard on XMPR Channel 133 every weekday morning at 8AM ET, with repeats at 9AM ET, 10AM ET, 8PM ET, and the next morning at 7AM ET.