Did you know that every public radio program has a clock? Broadcast clocks are set templates that stations like KCBX use to track the timing of a show's stories and interviews, newscasts, and funding credits each day.
Starting Monday, November 17, NPR is making some changes to its newsmagazine clocks, in partnership with member stations across the country. This will help align programs with the way people listen to radio today, and provide stations with more flexibility to include the local news and info that's important to their audiences.
Our local weather and traffic reports are now at 20:30 past the hour and 43:30 past the hour during Morning Edition. The traffic and weather during All Things Considered are still in the same places at 18:00 and 48:00 past each hour of the program.
Regular Morning Edition features like StoryCorps and the sports commentaries by Frank DeFord will continue, though you may hear them in different parts of the program. NPR is also adding five seconds to its national funding credits (The "Support for NPR is provided by..." messages you hear during NPR programs). There will continue to be eight scheduled credits per hour in both newsmagazines.
So how will you notice the changes? Starting November 17, you're likely to hear several more regular breaks for local news and info in Morning Edition, and a 4-minute local feature segment in each hour of All Things Considered. In both clocks, music breaks are longer, giving local stations more opportunities to share details on upcoming stories while still having time to insert our local material.
KCBX will share feedback with NPR about these changes as they roll out. If you have questions or comments, please send them to us at interact@kcbx.org.
