Weekday Programming Change

Dear listeners,

As you may have heard by now, Talk of the Nation ended its run at the end of this month. NPR made the decision to discontinue this popular call-in show. They are moving away from the talk show format and toward magazine style shows, such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

When we heard about this decision, we were naturally upset. The show has done well on KMUW and was part of a very strong program schedule.

So the next step was to find shows to fill that spot, and after extensive research I believe we have found programs that will serve our listeners even better.

Here is a look at our new afternoon schedule.

Here & Now is already a popular show on KMUW and it has continued to increase audience size since it replaced Day to Day about four years ago. NPR is taking over the production of this show and expanding it to two hours. Here & Now should only continue to grow with the addition of Marketplace Morning Report's Jeremy Hobson as co-host and NPR's many producers and reporters. It will air from noon to 2:00 p.m.

At 2:00, we will now air PRI's The World. I've wanted to add The World to the KMUW lineup for years. Our listeners continuously tell us how much they appreciate public radio's ability to deliver the news of the day from a variety of perspectives. The World - a collaboration between BBC and Public Radio International - provides a global perspective of international and American issues with award-winning journalism, beautifully produced.

Science Friday will remain where it is on Friday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00.

While I still mourn the demise of Talk of the Nation, I am looking forward to these new programs. I think they'll provide the well-balanced and well-crafted information that we all expect from KMUW - and public radio in general.

But I really want your opinions, too. Please share them through email at info@kmuw.org or you can email me directly at stephens@kmuw.org, or give us a call at 316.978.6789. I hope to hear from you!

Lu Anne Stephens
Director of Programming and Operations