MTPR's new schedule starts November 17th.
Montana Public Radio is poised to move into our 50th anniversary year excited by new possibilities – with a new news director, exciting changes to our program schedule and a profound commitment to our mission: to enrich the mind and spirit, inspire a lifetime of learning, and connect communities through access to exceptional programming.
The new schedule offers...
- More news integrated throughout the day from MTPR, NPR and BBC
- Access to the very best national and MTPR programs at 7:00 p.m.
- Music from our talented MTPR producers at 8:00 p.m.
Here & Now is NPR's midday news program --- new on MTPR weekdays at 1:00 p.m.
Discover More every weekday at 7:00 p.m. with the very best of national and MTPR programs: Moth Radio Hour, This American Life, TED Radio Hour, The Write Question, Musician’s Spotlight and Radiolab.
A new approach to news
Starting November 17th, we’ll no longer group all our Montana news into a separate half-hour Montana Evening Edition program, but rather, we’ll include our Montana stories and headlines during the two hours of All Things Considered from 5:00 to 7:00pm, and during Morning Edition from 6:00 to 9:00am. News Director Eric Whitney is excited about fulfilling our local news mission each morning and evening with timely Montana newscasts at the top and bottom of the hour and longer pieces featuring the issues and voices of Montana placed within All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Whitney also plans to have more MTPR produced stories featured on NPR, Marketplace and National Native News. Rather than relying on a fixed group of commentators, he will search out many citizens’ views and voices as part of the news gathering process. Finally, as you've seen above, we are very happy to add NPR’s midday news program, Here & Now to the line-up Monday-Friday at 1:00pm.
A new evening schedule
With All Things Considered ending at 7:00 p.m., there was an opportunity to place many of our premiere programs at a more accessible time. Program Director Michael Marsolek has created a “Discover More” hour from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Monday ? Friday, featuring the very best of national and MTPR programs: Moth Radio Hour, This American Life, TED Radio Hour, The Write Question, Musician’s Spotlight and Radiolab. Marsolek follows this from 8:00pm to midnight with hand-picked music from our talented MTPR program hosts including some old favorites and some brand new programs. In this evening music block, we are investing our resources in our expert local music producers – in Montana talent and Montana jobs – staying true to our eclectic nature and service rooted in local production.
The difficult and budget driven choices
All of the changes were also crafted and evaluated from a cost and resource perspective. How do we stay true to our mission and standard of excellence with the staff and financial resources available? One of the hard decisions we made, was to end our affiliate status with Public Radio International (PRI). That means we can no longer offer Selected Shorts, Science Friday or Afropop, a very hard choice, but one that nets a savings of nearly $30,000. We also adjusted staff hours by starting local music earlier in the evening, going to the BBC World Service at midnight and eliminating a weekday news host from 5:00-6:00 a.m. That saved about another $8000. Overall, the program and staffing changes, plus the receptionist position we eliminated in early 2014, recoup the $75,000 in funding cuts from the University of Montana over the past two years.
This new schedule is designed to increase your access to our best local and national programs, to invite new listeners to try MTPR and to celebrate the talent of our Montana program producers. It reflects listener feedback received during fundraisers, in phone calls, emails, letters and audience surveys from April and October 2014.
In a few months, we'll survey again and hold a series of community listening meetings so that you can help us evaluate.
Thanks as always for your partnership in Montana Public Radio. We strive to bring you a great program service, and we trust that you will listen and offer us your counsel and advice.
Let us know what you think… contact@mtpr.org or call 243-6400.