"WUMB is planning to drop The Grateful Dead Hour after January 12. Please ask them to reconsider - and to move the show back to a more accessible time, too!"
The Grateful Dead, Kresge Plaza, MIT, Cambridge, MA May 6, 1970The notice is accompanied by a letter from Jay Moburg, NPR affiliate WUMB's music and program director. From Cloudsurfing.gdhour.com
Hi DavidI’m sorry to let you know that as of 1/12 we’re not going to be airing The Grateful Dead Hour. We need to streamline our programming for now.I’m sorry, if you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email.Best,Jay MobergWUMB Music and Program DirectorDavid ends the cloudsurfing post with an appeal to Boston-area deadheads, "If you’d like the station to keep carrying the Grateful Dead Hour, please let them know ASAP! Send email to [email protected]"
This decision certainly comes as no surprise, for the past 5 years or so, since WUMB drank the federal kool-aid by accepting Corporation for Public Broadcasting dollars and becoming a National Public Radio outlet (one of four in Boston, the others being WGBH, WBUR and WCRB), WUMB programming has become more and more mainstream pop AAA. Judging by its Monday through Friday programming and its member concerts, the Grateful Dead Hour and WUMB are strange bedfellows.
It will be interesteing to see how this plays out, what WUMB replaces the Greatful Dead Hour with. My money is on some NPR syndicated milquetoast program, such as World Cafe.
