CapRadio is excited to introduce a fresh weeknight schedule that we hope will improve our listener service as the world grapples with a global pandemic and offer our audience what we know you’re looking for most during these uncertain times: the up-to-date news, context and fact-based analysis that public radio is known for.
To start with, we’re proud to join NPR in introducing a brand-new live program focused on the global coronavirus crisis. The National Conversation with All Things Considered will air each night at 6 p.m., hosted by NPR’s Ari Shapiro and Michel Martin.
It’s an opportunity for listeners across the nation to seek answers to questions about COVID-19 on CapRadio’s website and using the hashtag #nprconversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The show will turn to NPR reporters and special guest experts to answer your questions on everything to epidemiology to economics to exercising at home.
“In times of crisis, Americans need a trusted, impartial source of news,” said Sarah Gilbert, NPR's vice president for news programming. “We believe public radio is uniquely positioned to convene these types of national conversations across communities. With over 1,000 member station signals reaching nearly the entire U.S. population, NPR has served a lifeline — providing local and national news to even the most underserved areas.”
In order to air the full hour of The National Conversation with All Things Considered, CapRadio will shift our nightly rebroadcast of public radio’s flagship business show Marketplace to 7 p.m. Then, at 7:30 p.m., we will for the first time offer our listeners a radio edition of the popular podcast The Daily from The New York Times. Both shows are distributed by American Public Media.
Hosted by Michael Barbaro, The Daily focuses on just one or two stories each weekday, offering listeners a 30-minute, deep, textured portrait of the characters and human stakes driving the news. The show and podcast draw on the unrivaled quality and expertise of The New York Times’s global footprint of more than 1,450 journalists.
The schedule changes take effect Monday, March 23 on CapRadio’s news stations in Sacramento, Stockton-Modesto, Tahoe-Reno and Quincy.
Below, you’ll find some answers to questions you might have:
Q: Why are you making these changes?
A: A combination of necessity and opportunity.
Just days ago, the BBC World Service notified U.S. public radio stations that it’s replacing the live, hard news hour of programming in the 7 p.m. hour with softer, pre-recorded shows that will rotate from day to day, in an effort to focus their resources amid the coronavirus outbreak. We don’t think that suite of shows would serve our listeners well, particularly at this historic moment.
At the same time, NPR is transforming its 6 p.m. hour of All Things Considered — which normally repeats segments first broadcast at an earlier hour while updating stories to reflect the latest news — into a new show called “The National Conversation with All Things Considered.” We believe this program is an important listener service during these uncertain times and would like to bring you the entire hour rather than transitioning halfway through to Marketplace.
The confluence of these two factors offers us the chance to add The Daily to our schedule, thanks to a partnership between The New York Times and our public radio colleagues at American Public Media.
Q: What happened to the Insight rebroadcast that used to air at 7 p.m.?
A: We’re incredibly proud of CapRadio’s flagship local talk show Insight with Beth Ruyak. Over the past year, we’ve sought to make the 9 a.m. program as live and local as possible to best serve our audience as our community’s “town square.” As a result, the show sometimes became out of date by the time its rebroadcast aired in the evening.
By eliminating the 7 p.m. rebroadcast, the Insight crew can focus all its time, effort and resources on producing the strongest live show possible. In addition, the program is now available as a podcast within an hour of its conclusion. You can subscribe to Insight’s podcast here.
Q: I miss hearing Marketplace at 6:30 p.m. and the BBC at 7. Are there other ways I can find those shows?
A: If you can’t catch CapRadio’s first broadcast of Marketplace at 3 p.m. each weekday or listen a half-hour later at 7 p.m., you can find the podcast here. As for the BBC, you can listen to its 24-hour program stream here. We’ll also continue to broadcast the BBC World Service overnight. Check out CapRadio’s full weekly program schedule here.
Q: It seems like Marketplace isn’t starting right at 7 p.m., nor The Daily at precisely 7:30. Is my clock wrong?
A: Nope. In an effort to bring our listeners the latest news as you’ve come to rely on us for, we’re running NPR’s live top-of-the-hour newscast at 7:01 p.m. and starting Marketplace immediately afterwards, at 7:06. That shifts The Daily’s start time to 7:35. Fear not, our 8 pm. rebroadcast of Fresh Air will start right on time!
— Ben Adler, CapRadio Director of Programming and Audience Development
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