Public Radio’s Midday Show to Include Local Contributions

After weeks of appeals, public radio stations nationwide have chosen their new midday programming to replace NPR’s 21-year-old call-in show “Talk of the Nation,” which signed off last week.

For the moment, NPR has lost some midday real estate. The replacement program it is offering — an expanded two-hour version of “Here & Now,” an existing newsmagazine from Boston’s WBUR-FM, which NPR will now co-produce — will be carried by 302 stations. These stations include seven of the top 10 markets and 16 of the top 25, according to NPR. “Talk of the Nation,” by contrast, attracted 3.53 million listeners weekly on 407 stations, including nine of the 10 largest markets and 21 of the top 25, NPR said. Another program that has also tried to expand its midday distribution, “The Takeaway” from WNYC and Public Radio International, will now be heard on 190 stations reaching almost 55 percent of the country, up from 82 stations two months ago, WNYC said.