The Lounge is No More

The Lounge is no more.

Hosted by Dirk Sutro, The Lounge aired 6 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday on KPBS (89.5 FM) and featured in-studio guests who talked about music, poetry, performance art, film, and architecture.

The last edition of The Lounge was November 16. KPBS general manager Doug Myrland said Sutro did not know about the cancellation in advance, and therefore, did not get to say goodbye to his listeners.

Local singer/songwriter Gregory Page said he was counting on the show to help announce the release of his 13th album in January. He'd been on twice before. "Being on The Lounge was a significant part of what you do locally when you try to get your music out."

Page, Cindy Lee Berryhill, A.J. Croce, and Anoushka Shankar were some of the A-list local musicians who have participated in words-and-music interviews on The Lounge.

Myrland said station resources previously used for The Lounge would be used to help make the morning show These Days "a denser show. We want to start bringing arts and culture stories to These Days." These Days historically has handled politics, local issues, and author interviews, and airs 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. weekdays on KPBS. KPBS program director John Decker said, "We are in the process of reinventing These Days."

Myrland said The Lounge producer Angela Carone and engineer Nathan Gibbs will still be employed with KPBS. Host Dirk Sutro was the only fulltime employee to lose a job over the show's cancellation.

The Lounge began in 1999 with host Adolfo Guzman-Lopez. Sutro became host in 2000. Sutro was an editor of San Diego Home/Garden magazine from 1983 to 1990. He wrote about jazz and architecture for the now-defunct San Diego edition of the Los Angeles Times from 1988 to 1992. He has published three books, including Jazz For Dummies.

Contacted at home, Sutro said he had no comment about the end of The Lounge or his future plans.

A BBC-produced world news program, The World Today, now fills the 6 to 7 p.m. slot weekdays.