“THE DAILY” DEBUTS NEXT MONDAY (4/2) • NEW STUDS TERKEL ARCHIVES AVAILABLE SOON

The New York Times and American Public Media (APM) are in the final stages of preparation for the launch of the radio version of the podcast The Daily.  The half hour program will debut on 16 NPR News/Talk stations including Los Angeles (KPCC), San Francisco (KQED) and Houston (KUHF).

Expectations for The Daily are high, in part because of the success of program’s podcast. According to the Times, The Daily has a following of 4.5 million monthly unique listeners. It was the most-downloaded new show in 2017 on Apple Podcasts. Plus, it won the DuPont-Columbia University Award for audio excellence. This is an amazing track record considering the show is less than two years old.

Yet to be seen is where stations will schedule The Daily. The program will available at 4:00pm ET Monday through Friday. As a 29-minute, self-contained show, The Daily presents some scheduling challenges in a world where one-hour programs are the norm. Stations will likely pair it with Marketplace, also a half-hour program, or rejoin All Things Considered at the bottom of the hour.

APM is making the program clock (on the right) available to stations so they know the sequence of segments and can plan accordingly.

The Daily begins with the typical public radio entry: a one-minute billboard and funding credits followed by the insertion of a five-minute live newscast from NPR.

Things get rolling at six minutes after the top-of-hour with Segment A, roughly 10 to 12 minutes depending on the topic. The content is Segment A will likely repurpose the lead story in the podcast version.

Following a “floating cutaway” for funding credits and station business, The Daily returns with Segment B, an expanded version of material from the podcast.

The show wraps at 29:00. followed by a one minute of music bed to help stations with timing.

The Daily crew: Andy Mills, Lisa Tobin, Michael Barbaro and Theo Balcomb

Image courtesy New York Times

The launch of the radio version of The Daily means an increased workload for the people who assemble the show. Instead of having one deadline each day, they will now have two.

Yet to be seen is how The Daily performs on the radio platform.  

One of the endearing features of the podcast is the mental elbow room it gives host Michael Barbaro and contributors.

KEN SAYS: I am impressed with the effort the Times is making to get the radio version of The Daily just right. This signals that the Times is serious about being a player in radio and audio reporting.

NEW STUDS TERKEL AUDIO ARCHIVE OPENS MAY 16^th

An awesome collection of audio interviews by the late Studs Terkel will open to the public online on May 16,2018. The Studs Terkel Radio Archive [link] will showcase interviews culled from more than 5,600 of Terkel's radio programs on WFMT, Chicago.

Studs Terkel

Terkel had a long and rich association with WFMT. For over 45 years (1962 – 1997) WFMT was home-base for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. 

Terkel’s interview and oral history guests ranged from Martin Luther King Jr., to Simone de Beauvoir, to Bob Dylan, to Cesar Chavez and Toni Morrison.

The scope of Terkel’s knowledge is impressive. Topics to be featured in the Archive include Psychology, Classical and Experimental Music, the Cold War, Feminism, Latino Culture, Jazz and many more.

There is no one today quite like Terkel. His work embraced our common humanity, dreams and disappointment.  Terkel had no tolerance for bullshit but I never heard say anything unkind to a guest. (I’d love hear his take on Trumpland.)

Currently WFMT airs some of Terkel’s work in the weekly series Best of Studs Terkel Fridays from 11:00pm to Midnight. You can scan the program listings here.  

Terkel died in 2008 at age 96. Partners on the Archive include WFMT, the Chicago History Museum, the Third Coast International Audio Festival, PRX and PRX Remix.

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