Beginning Monday, December 15th, you’ll have more opportunities to hear The Bob Edwards Show. The program will still be heard at 8, 9 and 10am, Eastern time and again at 8pm, Eastern. Now you’ll also be able to hear it at 4pm and again at 10pm, Eastern. In addition, there’ll be repeats of the previous day’s program at 4am and 9pm. That’s eight hours of The Bob Edwards Show every weekday (except for Monday at 4 am). If you live on the West Coast, you’ll be hearing the show at 1, 5, 6 and 7am and at 1, 5, 6 and 7pm.
For quite some time, our 8am EST program has followed a repeat of the previous day’s show, but that will no longer be the case. Our new lead-in, airing from 6-8am, is The Takeaway, a program of news and analysis hosted by Adaora Udoji and my old friend John Hockenberry. My producers and I are excited about following The Takeaway each morning. It’s a co-production of PRI (Public Radio International) and WNYC in New York, in collaboration with the BBC World Service, the New York Times and WGBH in Boston.
There are changes in XMPR’s weekend schedule, too—most notably the addition of CAR TALK. Yes, Click and Clack will soon be are now available to XM subscribers–twice on Saturdays and twice on Sundays. We on The Bob Edwards Show recognize our additional hours on air as a vote of confidence by our new bosses. We thank them and we’ll work hard to take advantage of this opportunity to reach more people at more times in the day.
Bob
Bob: I regret to inform you that lately I have been listening to fewer and fewer of your programs. I still turn you on regularly but about half the time I switch immediately to something else, usually C-span or MSNBC. Reason: increasingly frequently it is a guest who is a rock singer or guitarist or pop singer. You sound more and more like the old NPR from which I escaped years ago because could not stand all that dreck any more. — RB
So what happened to Leonard Lopate Show? I don’t see any explanation anywhere for its cancelation if it indeed had been canceled. Although Bob Edward show is wonderful and an XM flagship, wouldn’t it be an overexposure to have him seven to eight hours a day? I reactivated my XM because of Leonard Lopate Show.
I keep hearing that I should embrace change. I can’t embrace this one. I commute from 5:30am CT to 6:30am amd from 4pm to 5pm. This change effectively takes this show off my radar. For two years I listened to endless political debate with very low informational content. Now I get more opinion and debates with no new info. Please put TBES back. No offense to The Takeaway, but more "bad news of the day" is not what I need. At least put the Car Talk guys in the 7am ET slot. And since someone mentioned Leonard Lopate, put him in the 5pm ET slot.
Add me to the list ! Below my note to xm programming
My normal drive-time travels are between 6:45 and 8:15 am, and 5 and 7 pm. A year (or so) ago, I really, really liked xm because I could always get Bob Edwards in the am, and Leonard Lopate in the pm for at least an hour of those commutes.
Then you moved leonard to 3 to 5. I complained. Nothing happened. But from time to time I got out early, and liked the idea of listening to him.
Now, I see he is gone entirely.
But, I still had Bob Edwards – so I really liked xm……….until this week.
Now, Bob Edwards in the am doesn’t start until 8 am. Instead, I get the takeaway at 7. Which I wake up to at 6 am locally.
So, in my mind, there is very little to distinguish your service from NPR – at least in the Boston market – I can get the takeway and all the other NPR shows OTA. And my cable TV subscription offers me a boat load of music channels.
I’m a contemporary of Bob’s so I doubt I’m in your target demographic. But since you are going to use bandwidth for this material, why waste it on content available freely ?
I thought about an inno/nexus or other semiportable devices- but why go that route ? Most of NPR is available gratis as podcasts
So I called to cancel my xm subscription. They begged me to take 2 more months for free to see if changes will be made. I did.
Next move is yours
john
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. I too have the 7:30-8:30 Eastern commute and would hear the second half of the day’s new show the next day. I listen to a few other stations on XM, and I enjoy the service, but TBES is THE reason I pay for XM.
My preference is that they put the rebroadcast back on at 7am. Another suggestion would be to have a rebroadcast at 5pm instead of 4pm. If you work 8 to 5 or 8:30 to 5:30, you could hear the day’s show (or the conclusion of it) on the way home instead of on the way to work. This would work for me (and I think would work for a lot of folks in the East), but I realize it doesn’t help you non-East Coasters much.
Ultimate solution: 24 hours of Bob every day.
"Friendly Frank" the PD called me yesterday (nice touch, actually) after I posted a complaint on XM’s main Web site. But I want to again register my displeasure at being "Bob-less" at 7 a.m. during my morning commute. None of the other times work for me as I am toiling away trying to help keep the American auto industry afloat. I guess it will be pod-casting from now on, but it’s just not very convenient. This program is the main reason I subscribe to XM. I’ve had 2 hours of NPR Morning Edition by 7 a.m. and I need something to feed my brain. I have used a lot of material from Bob’s show as a corporate speechwriter; bought lots of new books and CDs that I would normally not have known about. Please consider going back to the 7 a.m. encore schedule.
Everyone else has said it but let it be known that we are not happy about the change in schedule. I have an hour drive to work each morning beginning at 6:30 Mountain time. I was very content listening to the second half of yesterday’s show before the first half of todays show each day. But this Monday morning when I got in my car I could not find Bob Edwards and was bored to sleep (almost) by the Takeaway. I’m sure it’s a fine show, but it’s not what I wanted. I know that Bob Edwards is available at other times or online, but this drive to work is the only time I can listen to it. Now I will only hear the first half of each show and that saddens me.
I am in agreement with everyone. I am in Arizona and wake up to you, Bob. I have been doing this for going on 30 years. Now, it is all over. I can only listen to the repeat show and then have to go to work. Please move the new show. It is in a TERRIBLE time.
Terrible move! I’ll miss the show dearly; 7:00 AM is the only time I can tune in. I’ll load up my ipod, but it’s not the same.
Bob Edwards,
My only time to listen to you is, or should I say, was, the 7 am repeat of the previous day. My morning commute to work starts at 5:30 am CST and ends at 7:15 am CST. I can not listen at work. It is not possible to catch up on the weekend reruns as I am not in my car and the XM radio I bought through the XM radio store does no work on the north side of the house. I considered the morning commute as my listening time. Now that is gone. It is back to books on CD for me.
Hey Bob et al
I love your show. It is the main reason I signed up for xm service. I am so happy to hear the variety of guests and their many new projects. I can’t tell you just what a great way it is to begin my day. Since npr has eliminated almost all "non hard news" it gives me the opportunity to begin my day with out the daily drumbeat of death & destruction. Unfortunately, I am only able to listen to it at 7 am. Since xm has seen fit to change this time I am unable to listen to your wonderful program. It is a double blow at this time of year when I am still missing your npr cooking show with all the great chefs. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen.
To Alan, Deb, Ed, and other listeners, remember that on XM Radio Online, The Bob Edwards Show is available 24/7 (weekdays the show runs from 8:00 AM EST to 7:00 AM EST the next morning, weekends the five past-week shows rotate all weekend long), and a free account at XMRO is available to all XM subscribers with "XM Everything" (what used to be a subscription to XM Satellite Radio) or higher. It’s less convenient than listening on the radio, but it’s available for your listening (or time-shifting, with the appropriate software) pleasure.
Car Talk has been available to XM subscribers for weeks now; ever since NPR Now (Channel 134) was added to the channel lineup. Since it, and other programs like Weekend America, Prairie Home Companion, et al are now available there with repeated airings, it doesn’t make any sense at all to program them on XMPR as well; instead the time should be used for other worthy PRI and APM programs not duplicated elsewhere (and the return to XMPR of the excellent From the National Press Club, which when last seen was relegated to the ghetto of the disemboweled P.O.T.U.S. channel).
(*sigh*) I’ll make my other comments on the schedule changes on my own blog after I’ve given them some time to percolate, but I only note here the complaint I have had fron the very beginning about XMPR; no warning is ever given by the PDs about programming changes or special programming airing on the channel. This has been a consistent gripe since the beginning of the channel back in September of 2004, so it’s no surprise things haven’t changed now, especially considering the massive staff cutbacks (who is the PD of XMPR nowadays, and how many other channels does he manage?). Like everyone else posting here, I was shocked to hear The Takeaway when my Inno auto-changed channels for the show this morning. Some advanced promotion by the channel would have at least prepared the listeners for this massive programming shift.
I would like to voice my opinion – I want you back at 7am et. My morning commute starts at 6:45am and ends at 8am. The Bob Edwards Show has been part of that drive for a long time. Because of the show I have heard great new musicians, interesting history, relevant current events, and political insights.
I want my Bob Edwards re-runs back at 7am!
I agree with Alan. I was very disappointed that Bob Edwards was not on this morning during my 7-8 a.m. commute. I was worried that the show had been "TakenAway" as the name of the new show implied.
I’m glad that it’s still on, but like Alan, it’s much more difficult for me to listen at other parts of the day. I’d love to see the show returned to it’s 7 a.m. slot.
This is terrible news – 7:00 is my drive time and I can’t listen to the radio at work – Bob Edwards is my favorite XM program, and now I can’t hear it during the day.