West Virginia Public Radio Announces New Program Schedule

West Virginia Public Radio is making enhancements to the weekend schedule, offering several new programs and changing the times of others. Check out the full schedule here.

“It’s our aim to provide our audience with news, entertainment and music that meets their needs,” said Kristi George, director of radio. “Our audience research — both informal and formal — tells us that our listeners think our current weekend schedule is ‘all over the map’ and these changes bring consistency to the listening experience.”

George adds that the new line-up adds several positive elements: time consistency; prolonged listening enjoyment of popular genres; and room for new programs.

See our FAQ about the schedule change.

“We are particularly excited about cooking and travel shows from two to five on Sunday afternoon,” George said. “We are adding America’s Test Kitchen and Travel with Rick Steves. Both of these shows have popular counterparts on our statewide television service and we think listeners will enjoy the radio shows as well.”

Another significant change will be moving West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s flagship program, Mountain Stage, to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and the addition of Mountain Stage After Midnight, from 1-5 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Mountain Stage After Midnight will feature some of the best Mountain Stage performances from the show’s 31 years.

Several other programs will change times, including:

• Eclectopia moves to 10 p.m. on Friday with a re-broadcast at midnight on Sunday
• World Café moves to 11 p.m. on Friday
• Living on Earth, at 5 a.m. on Saturday
• Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! will now air at 11 a.m. Saturday as well as its existing time of 10 a.m. Sunday
• This American Life moves to Noon on Saturday
• Snap Judgment moves to 2 p.m. on Saturday
• TED Radio Hour moves to 4 p.m. on Saturday
• Krista Tippett On Being moves to 5 a.m. Sunday
• Bob Edwards Weekend moves to 6 a.m. on Sunday and will now feature the full two hours of the program
• Radiolab, the award-winning storytelling show, moves to 11 a.m. on Sunday
• The Splendid Table moves to 2 p.m. on Sunday
• The Thistle and Shamrock moves to 7 p.m. on Sunday
• Sidetracks moves to 8 p.m. on Sunday
• The Folk Sampler moves to 9 p.m. on Sunday
• Folk Alley moves to 10 p.m. on Sunday 

New programs to the schedule include:

• The Moth Radio Hour at 1 p.m. on Saturday
• Studio 360 at 3 p.m. on Saturday
• A Change of Tune at 10 p.m. on Saturday
• Lost Highways at 11 p.m. on Saturday
• America’s Test Kitchen at 3 p.m. on Sunday
• Travel with Rick Steves’ at 4 p.m. on Sunday

Finally, Fresh Air with Terry Gross will air Monday through Thursday at 3 p.m and 8 p.m., as well as Friday at 3 p.m. And Classical 24 will be featured from 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and overnight Monday through Friday.

“I’m excited to see how A Change of Tune and Lost Highways do,” George says. “These are new programs being produced by two of our announcers who want to stretch their wings a little bit.”

A Change of Tune, hosted by Joni Deutsch, will link the past to the present with the best new and old music including up-and-coming, classic, indie pop, blues rock and everything in between. “I promise to give you enough music headlines, backstories, and connections to get you through your weekend,” Deutsch said.

Lost Highways, hosted by Bill Lynch, features  indie rock, alternative country, Americana, rockabilly and much more. “It will be songs you love, stuff you might have missed, and fresh sounds from artists traveling down musical paths where other people don’t go – plus interviews with songwriters, performers and people with something to say about American music,” Lynch said.

Here is the PDF of our new schedule.

If you don’t have a PDF plugin for this browser, don’t worry.  You can click here to download a printable PDF version of the new schedule. You can also download it as an image file.

George invites listener feedback at feedback@wvpublic.org or by calling 888-596-9729. You can also read our FAQ about the schedule change, which helps to explain our decisions.