Weekend Edition

Weekend Edition
Genre News, analysis, commentary, interviews, special features
Running time c. 105 min
Country United States
Language(s) English
Syndicates National Public Radio (NPR)
Hosted by Scott Simon
(Saturdays)
Rachel Martin (Sundays)
Recording studio Washington, D.C.
Air dates Saturday: November 2, 1985
Sunday: January 11, 1987 to present
Audio format Stereophonic
Opening theme B.J. Leiderman[1] (composer)
Website Weekend Edition Saturday
Weekend Edition Sunday

Weekend Edition is the name given to a set of American radio news magazines produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to Morning Edition. It consists of Weekend Edition Saturday and Weekend Edition Sunday, each of which airs for two hours, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern time, with refeeds until 2 p.m. Weekend Edition Saturday is hosted by Scott Simon, while Weekend Edition Sunday is hosted by Rachel Martin, who became the interim host on January 8, 2012. Permanent Sunday host Audie Cornish, who followed the retirement of long-time host Liane Hansen in 2011, has taken a one-year assignment as co-host of All Things Considered, temporarily replacing Michele Norris.

During the broadcast on June 17, 2012, Rachel Martin announced that it would be her last show for a while because she was going on maternity leave until September. Linda Wertheimer and David Greene filled in as hosts during her leave. Rachel Martin returned to the show in autumn 2012.

In January 2013 NPR announced that Martin will continue to host the show and will become its main host, because Audie Cornish is remaining co-host of All Things Considered.[2]

The programs feature longer stories than most NPR newsmagazines and more arts and culture stories. On Saturdays the program featured an exchange between the program's host and the late commentator, Daniel Schorr, during which they discussed the events of the past week. Until February 10, 2008, on Sundays the show broadcast "Voices in the News", an audio montage of sound clips from the week's events. Sundays continue to have the "Puzzle" game with New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz. The puzzle segment usually airs approximately 40 min past the start of the first hour of the program.

Format

Weekday sibling Morning Edition breaks up each hour into five segments, none more than nine minutes long; Weekend Edition uses only three segments per hour, accommodating longer stories than could be allowed on Morning Edition.

Weekend Edition begins with a sixty-second billboard. Both Simon and Martin use the billboard as a general discussion about what's coming up in the hour, infused with soundbites from selected stories. A standard five-minute NPR newscast follows, until six past the hour. A thirty-second music bed follows the newscast, allowing local stations an opportunity to promote programming or local news/weather/traffic.

Segment A begins at 6:30 past the hour (duration 11:29). It is here that the most important news of the day is placed. Regular features (such as, before his death, Daniel Schorr's weekly news wrap-up) appear in this segment. At eighteen minutes past the hour, a two-minute station break starts. The first minute is a music bed solely for use of the member stations. The second minute, from nineteen to twenty past, is a "headlines" segment in which the NPR newscaster on staff that morning recaps the major stories of the hour. Some stations decide to use the entire two minutes for local purposes, taking the opportunity to deliver their own headlines, underwriting or events calendars.

At twenty past the hour, segment B begins, running 14:19 in length. NPR offers local stations a cutaway from the national feed at 34:20 past the hour. The cutaway is identified by the host when he or she says, "You're listening to Weekend Edition from NPR News". For stations that opt to stay with the national feed, a short interview or commentary piece is delivered, running 2:59 in length. Another two-minute station break, following the same music bed/headlines format as the first, ensues.

Segment C, the longest segment of the hour, starts at 40:00 after the hour and runs for seventeen minutes, forty-nine seconds. Weekend Edition Saturday usually slots musical performances, arts stories or interviews in segment C. Weekend Edition Sunday uses the time for its weekly puzzle segment with Will Shortz, as well as interviews and light features. At the end of the segment, Simon or Martin will read the credits and sign off for the hour. Segment C is followed by a forty-second funding credit announcement, and then ninety seconds of music.

Hosts

References

  1. ↑ "BJ Leiderman, NPR Biography". NPR. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  2. 1 2 3 "NPR HOSTING NEWS: MICHELE NORRIS TAKES ON EXPANDED NEW ROLE FOR NPR, AUDIE CORNISH APPOINTED CO-HOST OF "ALL THINGS CONSIDERED", RACHEL MARTIN NAMED TO "WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY"". NPR News. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  3. ↑ "Rachel Martin hosts "Weekend Edition Sunday"". Washington Times (via Associated Press). Retrieved 2012-01-07.
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