Starting Monday, November 17th, NPR will be making adjustments to the “clocks” for Morning Edition, All Things Considered and its weekend news programs. These clocks are the detailed, second-by-second schedules for exactly what airs when during each hour of the programs, for example, when a newscast starts or a block of feature stories begins.
The changes will be most noticeable in Morning Edition, so if you time your morning schedule by what you hearing on HPPR you’ll want to take note and check the actual time. And for faithful followers of The Writer's Almanac, note that it is shifting from 8:30 am to 8:45 CT. We’ve provided some Q&A’s on the changes just below for those of you interested in knowing more.
As always, we’re most interested in hearing from you with any questions, feedback or suggestions. Email Deb Oyler, Executive Director at director@hppr.org or call 800-678-7444.
What do the “clock” changes mean for me as a listener?
- You’ll still hear the same basic program and all the same sorts of content as ever.
- Exactly when you hear the regular elements of the programs will change a bit. For example, during Morning Edition there will be three NPR newscast instead of two – one at the top of the hour and the other two around 20 and 40 minute after the hour.
- The new schedules (“clocks”) for the programs also provide a little more time for HPPR to add regional content such as weather and regional news items.
Why is the time for The Writer's Almanac changing?
- We had to move the time because the new NPR schedule (clock) does not give enough time to air this 5 minute program at its former time of 8:30. The nearest time that a 5 minute slot is available is now at 8:45 CT, which is when The Writer's Almanac will now air every Monday through Friday.
- During the old Writers Almanac time slot of 8:30 CT you will now hear short regional weather and markets.
Will HPPR be covering up any NPR content?
- No, not for the most part. Anytime you hear HPPR announcements, weather or news items NPR is just running background music. You won’t miss any of the program from NPR.
- There are two particular exceptions to this: 1.) The Writer's Almanac will now cover up a 4 minute NPR news story at about 8:45 am CT. However this story will have already aired at 6:45 am CT. (The 8:45 airing is a repeat.) and 2.) Occasionally HPPR will substitute a well-produced story of greater regional relevance and interest during Morning Edition at about 45 minutes after the hour (except at 8:45 CT when Writers Almanac will always air) and at 44 minutes after the hour during All Things Considered. An example would be an ag related story from Harvest Public Media.
Will I now hear more underwriting credits?
- NPR is not changing the number of national underwriting credits per hour. It remains at eight per hour. It is also not changing the number of “pods” or groups or credits per hour. It remains at four. NPR is, however, increasing the lengths of credits from 10 seconds to 15 seconds. As a result, the total amount of time they will devote to underwriting announcements per hour will increase by 30 seconds hour from 1:50 to 2:20.
- HPPR is not increasing the number of local underwriting credits it airs during these programs. It will remain at four or fewer per hour. The length of the credits will be a uniform 14 seconds or less. (Some credit has been running longer and are being modified to fit the 14 second limit.)
Why are these changes being made?
- Over the past year or more NPR has done a great deal of research to find out how, when and for how long listeners actually listen to their news programs. They also worked with stations on how best to structure the program to include a good mix of national and international network content along with local station content (or regional content in the case of HPPR).
- The changes that were made address the basic fact that listening to the program has become more fragmented over time – people are listening for shorter lengths of time with more “in-and-out” listening. They also create more flexibility for HPPR to work with NPR to create a program that better meets listeners’ needs for news programs that keep them abreast of a wide variety of information with a scope ranging from global to regional.