New programs are coming to Valley Public Radio’s lineup beginning September 14th. The changes make for a consistent news/talk lineup throughout the station’s weekday schedule, and the reintroduction of talk programming to the FM89 schedule. As a part of this change, the station is also moving midday classical music programming that is currently airing on weekdays to the station’s all-new digital channel KVPR Classical, which airs music programming 24/7.
The new lineup is anchored by what is arguably the fastest growing program in public radio 1A. Produced by member station WAMU and NPR, 1A will air Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Jenn White hosts the talk-driven program that brings an outside-the-beltway perspective to issues from current events to culture and big issues. The program also routinely produces on-the-road segments in collaboration with member stations as part of their series 1A Across America.
“A lot of listeners have asked for talk programming since Talk of the Nation stopped production in 2013,” says Valley Public Radio President and General Manager, Joe Moore. “1A features in-depth conversations and engages the audience in a fresh and unique way. There’s a reason it has proven to be so popular on public radio stations from coast to coast, and we’re thrilled to welcome it to our air. We feel it is the perfect follow-up to Morning Edition.”
The new programming lineup aims to bring greater consistency to the station's prime weekday programming, and to better serve both news and classical listeners. "Increasingly, we find that it is difficult to serve both audiences on one station, changing programming formats five times a day, as we have been, switching from news, to classical, then back to news, back to classical and back to news," says Moore. By unifying our FM89 schedule on news and information during the day, and dedicating a 24/7 digital channel to classical music, we feel we have the best of both worlds, and can better serve both audience groups."
Following 1A, Here & Nowwill remain in its current program slot from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Monday-Thursday, with Science Friday airing Fridays in the same timeslot. In the 1:00 p.m. weekday hour, Valley Public Radio will bring listeners a new California-focused talk program, Forum. Hosted by Mina Kim and produced by KQED in association with a new collaborative of California NPR stations, Forum will focus on statewide discussions of issues facing the Golden State, and will air Mondays – Thursdays from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Valley Edition will move to a new time, airing Fridays from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Following Forum/Valley Edition, FM89 listeners will hear Think with host Krys Boyd, airing from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Produced by member station KERA, Think is an hour-long exploration of issues from history, to science, technology and emerging trends, to food and wine, travel, adventure, and entertainment. From 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., listeners will continue to hear Marketplacefrom American Public Media. The number one business show on radio or television, host Kai Ryssdal goes beyond the numbers to bring listeners stories about what the economy means to their everyday lives. Marketplace is followed at 3:30 p.m. by All Things Considered. There is also a 6:30 p.m. rebroadcast of Marketplace Monday – Thursday.
Link to full broadcast schedule...
On the weekend, This American Life with host Ira Glass will now be heard from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Radiolab will move to a new time airing Mondays at 7:00 p.m., beginning September 21st. Later on Saturday afternoons, we welcome a breakout new public radio show for a new generation, It’s Been A Minute, from NPR. Each week from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. join host Sam Sanders for a fun and lively look at pop culture and contemporary events.
Moore says Sanders could be for Generation Y what Terry Gross has been for Baby Boomers, or Ira Glass for Generation X, “Sam is an incredibly charismatic host who has empathy and a great sense of humor. His show brings the dynamic of a casual conversation with a group of friends to the public radio weekend schedule, and connects pop culture to current events. It has a fresh sound and we’re excited to share it with our audience.”
Evening and weekend classical music programming will remain on FM89. Later this fall, the station will also launch several new locally-produced classical music programs and specials on the airwaves FM89, including Beethoven: Crisis and Creativity, a new series with the Fresno Philharmonic and Philip Lorenz Keyboard Concert Series celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday, with performances drawn from their archives. Later this fall the station will also have an upcoming archival broadcast from the Fresno Community Chorus Master Chorale, and the first-ever fall season of Young Artists Spotlight, with socially distant performances from the talented young musicians who call the San Joaquin Valley home.
KVPR Classical is available on KVPR.org, the KVPR App, smartphones, tablets, Amazon and Apple branded smart speakers, smart TVs, connected speakers, and in the Fresno area on HD radios at FM 89.3 HD-2. Users without HD radio in their cars can in many cases listen in-car by syncing their mobile phone via Bluetooth to their audio system, or with a simple audio cable. We have prepared a guide to help you configure your system to listen to KVPR Classical here.