The Infinite Dial

I've been listening to "The Takeaway," the new morning offering from WNYC New York and Public Radio International in bits and pieces over the last few days, on Friday morning I finally got to stream an entire show. "The Takeaway" is the newest public radio attempt to co-opt a younger, more diverse audience than NPR's "Morning Edition." When I first tuned in, earlier this week, there was a story on how actors such as Terrence Howard and Morgan Freeman were bringing a new audience to Broadway -- a piece that felt metaphorical for the show's own ambitions.

The FAQs on WNYC's site promise that "The Takeaway" will differ from "other morning news shows" by being "broadcast live, rather than featuring pre-recorded interviews and long pre-produced features" with more give-and-take between hosts John Hockenberry and Adora Udoji and their guests.

The hard-news to lifestyle ratio is a little different, too: Friday's features includeded a report from the Serious Play conference on avatars and the "second life" phenomenon and a bit tying Hillary Clinton's decision whether to withdraw from the presidential race to advice on breaking off a relationship or leaving a job. The experts being interviewed were as often from the blogosphere as the print media. There was also a newscast that ended with a Gordon Ramsay actuality on the proper use of seasonal ingredients.

That said, "The Takeaway" often struck me as "Morning Edition" on Casual Fridays: less produced, more lifestyle news, but also with a lot of content that it wouldn't be impossible to imagine in the smaller number of lifestyle slots on "Morning Edition" or other NPR shows. And while Hockenberry occasionally got a little firm with his interviewees, asking one uncommitted Democratic super-delegate what further information he could conceivably still need to make a decision now, much of the interviewing is still in that expository, seemingly pre-interviewed style which guides the respondent to give the basic information of a news story instead of heading off into parts unknown. Commercial radio's morning shows can certainly be formulaic, but the best ones give you an "anything could happen" feeling that isn't yet on display here.

It remains to be seen exactly what elements will prove compelling for a new public radio audience. NPR's own effort, "The Bryant Park Project," more overtly recalls commercial radio morning shows, down to finding its own way to acknowledge "American Idol." And during his short-lived daily tenure on public radio, former Tom Joyner Morning Show commentator Tavis Smiley came over with an established fan base but also the livelier style of his previous radio home.

In that regard, Smiley's move to public radio was a lot like casting Terrence Howard and Morgan Freeman in plays by Tennessee Williams and Clifford Odets respectively. The content didn't change. The star power did. And the audience came along. As public radio looks for the right content and tone to broaden its base, it is simultaneously true that a new generation is used to a certain tenor from its radio, and that much of the appeal of public radio is the alternative from commercial radio it provides. Ultimately a balance will be struck.