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Sunday-morning shocker: After 70 years, WBUR drops Marsh Chapel services
By adamg on Fri, 06/02/2023 - 9:41pm
WBUR is announcing what it calls "a fresh weekend programming lineup" that includes ditching a local religious service that its broadcast live for seven decades for some talkish non-religious thing out of New York City.
'BUR says that starting this Sunday, it is filling its 11 a.m. to noon time slot on Sunday with the New Yorker Radio Hour.
The station says the Marsh Chapel service will still be available as an online-only livestream.
H/t Ari Ofsevit
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Comments
Not as relevant since most
Not as relevant since most churches do their own live streaming now.
Sorry to hear this.
Sorry to hear this.
I could be wrong but is there
I could be wrong but is there an increase in community faith based groups popping up in the neighborhood? News of this station's canceling appears to have no effect on new groups who have a drive to join these churches.
weird
weird how people come up with their own internal statistics that are largely incorrect but they “feel” something appears to be true. I’m not even remotely religious but these “feelings” always bug me. I imagine you simply don’t know all the people required or have polled them to know this.
John Silber legacy
Many of us thought the chapel broadcast was a requirement written by then President John Silber into the station's host agreement. It never made any sense otherwise.
Like so many of Silber's
Like so many of Silber's fiats. Remember when he was Secretary of Education and candidates to become teachers were required to transcribe a dictation from the Federalist Papers?
Silber, second best governor Massachusetts never had.
Reich was the best.
Really, what did Weld get done?
Never made sense?!
You do know the background of Boston University? What doesn't make sense is dropping the broadcast.
I never listened to the broadcast, but I've been in Marsh Chapel enough times. Perhaps BU and WBUR should revisit their relationship.
It made sense years ago
Church attendance was in-person. I always thought it was for people who couldn't make it to church but still wanted to feel connected to their faith. Church is a community thing, and college stations definitely have a community component. If I encountered it of a Sunday morning I'd just tune in elsewhere.
Now many churches live stream services in a more interactive way, and that may have been a reason they are stopping the broadcast.
"The mass for shut-ins"
That's the term I remember older people calling the radio broadcast of the church service. In a pre-ADA world it was probably even more important for people of faith.
Do YOU know the background of Boston University?
They haven't had a strict religious affiliation since, what, 1869? If their audience isn't listening to the service (and I'd bet they know that a lot more than any of us), then what's the point of broadcasting it?
That loud clicking sound you heard
at 10:59 every Sunday was people changing the tuner en masse to WGBH.
Interesting that they are curtailing the 3 hours of Weekend Edition to 2. One fewer chance to catch the puzzle. But of course, that, too, can be streamed.
Now if someone will please explain to me why WGBH plays the audio of the PBS News Hour at 7 p.m. every night which seems to be … an odd choice.
It was a Methodist school when I went there
And my 30th reunion is coming up.
Ever wonder why there’s a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Marsh Plaza? It’s the same reason services were broadcast on WBUR.
Sure, there's a seminary
and there's also a physics program, so maybe they can replace the service with more reruns of Science Friday or bring back Ask Dr. Science? People might actually listen to those.
(also, Martin Luther King Jr. wasn't much of a Methodist, as far as I'm aware, but I suppose I'm not up on my theology.)
You're right about King
I don't know how it took me over 45 years of living to find out that his dad renamed him after visiting Germany, but the fact is that the School of Theology is the cornerstone of the existence of the school. Yes, the dean of the chapel happily boasted about the religious diversity of the school during my orientation "more Jews than Brandeis, more Catholics than Boston College," but at the root of the mission of the school is that it is a Methodist school, just like Syracuse, Emory, SMU, and Denver University.
Note to Young Cosmopolitan Program Directors . .
There is a device called a 'radio'. No, it's not a computer or a phone. Rather, it's a 'radio'. These radios rely on 'broadcast' signals. No, not 'streaming' - that's something different. Have you noticed how many of your older listeners refer to your employer as a 'radio station'? That's because most of your older listeners grew up listening to a 'radio' (ie a device that received signals sent through the air. Not by 'streaming'.)
So when you have to choose which of your programming is delivered via broadcast signals (ie to a radio) vs. streaming, perhaps don't kick the shows that skew towards older listeners out of your broadcast lineup - which is the only signal a 'radio' can pick up - and into a digital only stream. Especially when a significant amount of those listeners may not typically use computers or phones to gather 'radio' signals. (I know . . I know.)
And one other thing . . nobody needs more Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. Nobody.
I disagree; I think that Wait
I disagree; I think that Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (and Fresh Air) is a radio treasure!
Having the WBUR phone app is a great way to catch up on any of the shows when needed. The app used to be glitchy but it's gotten a good upgrade a few months ago.
Wait Wait We've Heard This
Wait Wait We've Heard This One Before is a great show... but it airs 4x per weekend in Boston between WBUR and WGBH.
The church broadcast? I dunno. I get the history there, but honestly I always changed the station when it came on, and I suspect research data confirms many others did the same.
Note to Crabby Old Anons
You will be highly surprised to learn that “significant” numbers of people in your age cohort have actually heard of and make use of streaming content, even if they may slip up and call it “radio” or “broadcast”. Some of that population is even cosmopolitan enough to use phones and computers to “broadcast” thoughts and opinions of their own, via all manner of social platforms.
I'm confused why
you would assume that WBUR hasn't done any kind of research about which of their programs are popular or not with their listening audience, and is instead making their decisions seemingly at random.
In a way you are right since
In a way you are right since two dying institutions belong together: radio and religion.
We want reruns and local New
We want reruns and local New York stuff?
Swapping one religion for another
Chapel of non-denom Christianity for the Chapel of High Church Liberalism.
Even though it's not my religion, I used to listen to it, because it was comforting they broadcast it.
As soon as my partner saw
As soon as my partner saw this story, we made a bet on how long it would take for someone to make a cliched Friedmanesque analogy to either the Church of Coastal Elitism or the Church of Liberalism. Congratulations! The NYT Pitchbot will be in touch.
Oh dear
I suspect this isn't the result of another one of your highly imaginative retrofit conspiracy theories coming to fruition, but a result of people finding personally-connected faith community online if they can't make it to services.
The radio preacher will never say "I see we have (person) joining us on zoom this morning! Prayers up for your speedy recovery from surgery (person)!".
Really makes U think
n/t
Old Man yells at cloud
I'm not surprised they are dropping the broadcast. Even if the church and WBUR have the same parent (BU) it probably made the station's management uncomfortable to have even mild religious programing.
But the New Yorker Radio Hour is total garbage AND it's also broadcast on WGBH unless they've dropped it in the years since I've mostly given up NPR. It bugs me to no end that Boston has two NPRs that largely share the same programming. Waste of spectrum. WGBH was better when it was mostly music outside of drive time news.
For those who want to hear a progressive religious service on the radio, WHRB still broadcasts Harvard's service on Sunday mornings.
Edit: Yup, that lousy "New Yorker" show is on WGBH on Sundays at 7am. So thank you WBUR for letting people hear it again three hours later. Clearly, Boston can't get enough.
100%
The stations are largely interchangable and it is a total waste.
With the recent WJIB coverage, I was excited to learn about this cool station, but disappointed that I was so late to the game, I can't pick it up at my house, and that such a seemingly remarkable individual had died. Perhaps WBUR could broadcast some of Bob Bittner's archived programs in this time slot. I never listen to 'BUR on the weekends but would gladly tune in all day for that.
Although this isn't the WJIB thread ....
... I will point out that the station has both an AM signal at 740 kHz and an FM signal at 101.3 mHz. If you can't get one (especially at night when AM drops to 5 watts), try the other.
.
Got it sorry
Yeah it is a shame
That BUR and GBH have so much overlap.
It wasn't *that* long ago that BUR was news and GBH was music, then mostly music, and now … this. I assume that someone at GBH is waiting for Brian O'Donovan to kick the bucket so they can kill off some more music (although they had mostly kicked Eric Jackson to the curb before he passed away).
NPR programs are pretty hit-and-miss. A lot of the worst offenders are the ones which are byproducts of other media. If I wanted to read the New Yorker, I'd read the New Yorker. So the TED Radio Hour (gag, although gag at TED in general), the New Yorker Radio Hour, any Radio Hour. Freakonomics is maybe the worst, since it is a shitty, pseudoscience book made into a shitty, pseudoscience radio show. These folks have literally been selling on a sort-of catchy name for decades. I choose not to listen.
The Moth is very hit and miss. This American Life has gotten less miss than hit but sometimes, like when they replay this … jeez. On the Media has kind of been sliding downhill. I very, very much miss Only a Game and shame on BUR for cutting that.
At least neither WBUR or WGBH has started airing Kelly Corrigan wonders, which will make you want to jump off the Tobin if you listen to more than five minutes. I don't remember what episode it was but she and her guest talked on and on about their children being in independent school and I wanted to throw my car radio into the ditch.
Wait Wait is popular (and good!) and people like to listen to it at different times. WBUR also used to play Car Talk a couple of times and with Tom's passing eventually retired it and needed to fill space. Sure it's annoying if you happen to be in the car at 10 and then 2, but … I guess you can always change the dial? At least it's different, as opposed to weekdays, when we have two public radio stations: the one we listen to and the one we listen to when the other one is doing a fund drive.
To show you how dorky I am
Sometimes I make presets for both and toggle between the two every few minutes. Makes for a Max Headroom type affect which is generally more interesting than whatever they are airing.
One station is generally delayed by about a second longer when airing national content but I forget which one "scoops" the other. (I don't want to wait an extra second for my news!)
Brian O’Donovan has already kicked the bucket.
I miss the mostly music format m on WGBH also.
Are you sure about this?
I am finding articles about his terminal diagnosis, such as this one, but no obituary.
Now I’m not so sure.
I thought I heard he died about a month or so ago and when I Googled him before posting I saw an obit listed. But rechecking it I see it was actually for another Brian O’Donovan.
My report of his demise appears to be greatly exaggerated.
My apologies!!!
Not dead, just sojourning.
Not dead, just sojourning.
You Are Such A Base Asshole
Laughing about homeless people catching on fire and now putting up a catty "I thought he died" about a wonderful person who has done great things for the area radio, cleaned up the financial mess at the Irish Cultural Center, and rightfully got rid of Alexi Lalas from the Revs. Ha Ha Ha.
You are a true POS.
NPR doesn't offer its stations market exclusivity
In the world of commercial radio, when you pay for a syndicated program, you generally get market exclusivity. If you carry Howie Carr's show, for instance, none of your competitors can have it.
It doesn't work that way with NPR. Public radio stations often pay more for NPR programs than commercial stations pay for syndicated shows, but any other public radio station in town can carry them too. Frankly, I don't know why this is tolerated, because it means wasted bandwidth when WGBH and WBUR are carrying the same program, sometimes even at the same time.
NPR's excuse is that they want as many people as possible to hear the program, and they couldn't care less about the stations. Frankly, NPR is a Frankenstein monster; originally created to serve the stations, it now threatens to make them irrelevant by offering the programs directly to listeners from npr.org.
I don't know why stations don't look for other sources of programming.
Glad to hear it.
I won’t have to be changing the channel anymore to avoid being preached at.
I'd Smite You
I'd smite you so effing hard
One problem
WFNX Jazz Brunch is long gone.
Time to stream to the "lazy sunday playlist".
That's unfortunate
The music is beautiful although I wasn't really into the sermons. It's sad that anything that made our local NPR stations unique are just going away to be replaced by a rerun of some syndicated show.
WHRB still broadcasts Memorial Church services at 11 AM
...but they're only held during the academic year, so you'll have to wait until September for the next one.
It's a good thing news never happens on weekends
I often find myself on the road Saturdays between the Boston area and New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
None -- zero -- of the public radio stations in any of these states run any news programming on Saturdays, except for one hour of All Things Considered. The rest of the day it's either music or silly game shows.
I don't see anything at all exciting about WBUR's new schedule; it's just the same stuff they've always run, in a different order.
'bout time
I remember when I was a kid and relied on the radio for most of my entertainment how annoying Sunday morning was with all the droning church services.
It's going to be nice next time I have to drive somewhere on a Sunday to have something potentially interesting to listen to on WBUR.