KPCC Clears Out Music Shows for News-Talk Format

From German oompah to Chicano tones, from the sounds of theatrical organ music to alternative rock, a parade of music shows and hosts begins leaving KPCC-FM (89.3) tonight as the Pasadena-based public radio station moves toward its promised transformation into an all news and talk outlet.

Twenty weekend and nighttime programs will be dropped from the station’s airwaves as of Friday night as part of a new direction being implemented by Minnesota Public Radio, which has taken over management of the station.

Many of the shows are longtime fixtures. Tibor Paul’s “European Sunday Concert” with its emphasis on Germanic fare, has been on the station for 25 years; “The Sancho Show” has been on Saturdays for 16 years; and Friday evening’s “Rhapsody in Black With Bill Gardner,” for 12 years. The cuts also will eliminate some newer shows hosted by students at the station’s licensee, Pasadena City College, where the station is housed.

Craig Curtis, vice president for programming at Minnesota Public Radio, which began operating KPCC in January, said Thursday that the station is still tinkering with the lineup of replacement shows and will announce the new schedule next week.

“Minnesota Public Radio is devoted to building a news and information station at KPCC, focusing a lot on Los Angeles,” he said. “All of the current music programming is going away.”

Though the timetable was unclear, the change was not unexpected. “From the beginning, we have said that we are going to build a full-time news and information station,” Curtis noted, “and full time means seven [days a week], 24 [hours a day]. Our view of the music shows is not that they’re bad. In fact there are several of them that I like. There are several that we are hoping to find other new and more appropriate radio homes for in the Los Angeles market.”

Curtis declined to say which programs he had in mind or where he hoped to place them.

In a separate statement Thursday, KPCC General Manager Cindy Young said: “Our program hosts have given us long and valued service, and we wish them well in their future endeavors.” She added that in the months ahead KPCC would be building on its news team “as we embark on our goal of becoming the region’s premiere public radio news/information and intelligent-talk station.”

“We’re not claiming any intellectual property rights,” Young said of the shows being dropped.

After months of turmoil and uncertainty about KPCC’s future, Minnesota Public Radio, which operates about 30 public radio stations nationwide, and Pasadena City College in December agreed on a lease agreement lasting 15 years, with each side having the right of review after five years. The agreement also provided for a six-month transition during which KPCC would begin hiring 10 reporters and producers for better coverage of Los Angeles and California issues.

Young noted that the station has not done any hiring yet and is still seeking a news director.

Before the announced agreement, Minnesota had signaled its intention of building on KPCC’s news and “Intelligent Talk” weekday format, a profile long championed by Larry Mantle, KPCC’s host of the afternoon-drive show “AirTalk” from 4 to 7 p.m. and the station’s program director.

Meanwhile, weekend syndicated programming such as “Car Talk,” “Savvy Traveler” and “Prairie Home Companion With Garrison Keillor”--the latter, produced by Minnesota Public Radio--are expected to remain.

KPCC’s problems came to the forefront May 19 when Mantle, in a highly unusual move, took two hours of his show to champion an alliance with Minnesota. Mantle had threatened to quit unless he was allowed to “freely program” the station and hire needed staff.

The station, which averages 300,000 listeners each week, will see its $1.1 million budget increase to $2 million beginning July 1, then rise to $4.4 million in the fifth year, with Minnesota adding a total of $15.7 million to KPCC’s budget over the first five years.