'Live from Here,' successor to 'Prairie Home' show, canceled
In this April 5, 2016 photo, Live From Here host Chris Thile gestures during an interview at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.
American Public Media Group announced Tuesday it has canceled musician Chris Thile's "Live from Here" radio show, the successor to Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion."
The media organization said it was ending national production of Thile's show while cutting 28 staffers at American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio.
American Public Media Group said the coronavirus pandemic "has created economic turmoil and uncertainty for all media organizations," and said it "is confronting a large and unexpected financial challenge resulting from a dramatic and simultaneous decline in some of our revenue sources."
Thile took over as "Prairie Home" host in 2016 after Keillor, the popular, long-running public radio show's creator and original host, retired and chose Thile — a mandolin whiz who appeared on "Prairie Home" as a teenager — as his successor. The show was later renamed "Live from Here" after MPR cut ties with Keillor in 2017 over a sexual harassment allegation that Keillor denied.
Thile tweeted that he was informed over the weekend that APM would no longer be producing the show.
"While this news fills me with sadness, I understand the decision, as my extraordinary teammates and I conceived of Live From Here as a celebration of live, collaborative audible art, and there's just no telling when it could be that again," Thile posted on Twitter.