Traditions

[sunnydale47]

Washington, DC has two public radio stations: WAMU, with a news/talk format, and WETA.

WETA went on the air in 1970, and Mary Cliff started there two years later. Very soon she was asked to take over the station's Saturday night folk music show, Traditions, and she has been hosting it ever since, playing modern and traditional folk and acoustic

Comments

[sunnydale47]

Oh no! I didn't know you didn't know, or I would have emailed you right away. Marc Fisher has been covering the whole situation intensively, and he announced it a week ago.

WAMU was late in picking her up, but once they did they didn't waste any time making room for her -- her first show was on Saturday night! It's pledge week, and they know they're going to get a lot of new members from among Mary's fans!

Mary spent the time from 10:30 to 11:00 chatting with Rob Bamberger (who hosts Hot Jazz Saturday Night), with Mary encouraging listeners to call in and pledge. Then she segued into her show at 11:00. The only thing that was different is that it was too short.

She mentioned that all the equipment was different -- some slightly different, some very different -- so she was glad she had people with her. And she said that somebody had started a pool on how long it would be before she said the wrong call letters.
After 34 years of saying "WETA," it'll be amazing if she doesn't slip at some point when she's preoccupied.

But she did fine, of course, and it was a great show. I never used to stay up to hear the whole show, but now you have to stay up to hear much of anything, and I'm not happy about that. But we'll see ... if enough of us contact WAMU to say thank you and give us more, maybe they will!

[goingdriftless]

No, no, I knew. Just saying I was glad to hear it when I did. I didn't get to listen this weekend, sadly. I agree... it will seem so... short...

[sunnydale47]

Oh good! I'm glad I had misunderstood rather than that you didn't know about it!

Now we have to persuade WAMU to expand the show! We'll never get five hours, but four -- even three -- would be better than two! Unless they tack the extra time onto the wrong end, in which case they might as well not bother. =sigh=