So in the same week I post a long-winded examination of XMPR, XM releases a press release touting the acquisition of A Prairie Home Companion and Marketplace. Now don’t misunderstand, that’s nice (a lot of people like PHC; that I am not one of them, and find it frankly annoying, isn’t the issue - although I’m terrified at what I’m going to miss during those promised, “additional encores airing throughout the week,” and while I’m ranting “encores” seems to be the only programming at which XMPR excels), but there’s a real problem.

See, like I mentioned in my earlier post, they will tout this “news” as if it is yet another reason XMPR is a well-run public radio outlet, when it is nothing more than buying a few programs that are no longer locked-up by Sirius…this does nothing to change the major problems XMPR has, those problems I noted so clearly in my previous post, yet the execs will use this program purchase as an excuse not to actually fix the problems, but rather preen as if they are actually spending some thought on the channel.

Which, I guess, makes them a whole lot more like NPR executives than I like to believe. They do what they d*mned well please, too, without worrying much about what the listeners’ want.