The public radio program Dinner Party Download will end production Dec. 1, the show’s hosts announced on its website.
The show is going off the air after six years in part due to challenges funding its production, according to producer American Public Media.
“While the show has steadily been gaining radio listeners, it’s a complex and expensive show to produce and show-related revenue has been a challenge,” APM spokesperson Angie Andresen told Current. “Rather than compromise its distinctiveness and quality, we’ve all decided to end production and move on to other projects.”
“Alas, like all good dinner parties, our party must come to an end,” hosts Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam said in the post. “After ten years as a pioneering podcast and six years as a public radio weekend show, on December 1st, we are parting ways with American Public Media.”
The hosts said a new podcast is “in the works.” Their book Brunch is Hell: How to Save the World by Throwing a Dinner Party will be published Dec. 5. A live show in Seattle Nov. 16 will be titled “The Last Supper.”
The show aired on 183 stations as of the spring, according to APM.
Sorry to see this show go. Came to look forward to and enjoy it. Rico and Brendan are major talents — hope they continue a significant creative role in public radio.
I feel the same way as another commenter. I came to look foward to this show. It had a bright, cheerful quality and often made me laugh. I’ll miss it. We are losing too much of our favorite things on radio. WNYC just went through a purge that left many of us disturbed. We need cultural reporters, we need humor – now more than ever. Please be careful of what you cancel, you may lose your audience
So true! I have been a major NPR devotee, but less & less as my local station lets go of the fun, creative shows. My new nickname for my local affiliate is “All BBC, all the time.”