NPR is forging a new relationship with Boston-based public radio station WBUR to expand its mid-day news program “Here & Now” from a one-hour to a two-hour program updated for different time zones. The expanded program will provide a total of four hours of news programming, 12 noon- 4 p.m. ET, and serve as a bridge between NPR’s signature news offerings Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
NPR will contribute its editorial muscle to the expanded program. Here & Now’s daily lineup will include interviews with NPR’s bloggers, reporters and editors. The program will also showcase selected reporting from other NPR News programs. The expanded Here & Now also will enhance NPR’s capacity to provide breaking news every weekday from 5 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET.
Here & Now has been produced by WBUR since 1997 and became a national program in 2001. The show is currently aired on over 180 stations, including eight top-25 market news stations (WBEZ Chicago, WHYY Philadelphia, KJZZ Phoenix, KPBS San Diego, KOPB Portland, WFAE Charlotte, WESA Pittsburgh) and has had steady growth in audience and station carriage.
The show is hosted by Robin Young. When the expanded program launches 7/1, she’ll have a co-host, Jeremy Hobson, currently host of Marketplace Morning Report. Meghna Chakrabarti, co-host of WBUR’s Radio Boston, will be the program’s primary back up host.
WBUR has a long history collaborating with NPR, and is one of the more prolific producers of national programming in public radio, including Car Talk, On Point and Only A Game.
As part of the announcement NPR said that it will stop production of Talk of the Nation at the end of June and that Neal Conan will step away from the rigors of daily journalism after 35 years at NPR, including 11 years at the helm of Talk of the Nation.
