NYT: New morning radio programs from PRI and NPR

WNYC - Public Radio International - New York Times: "The New York public radio station WNYC is teaming up with the distributor Public Radio International to produce a national morning radio program that will compete with National Public Radio’s long-running and popular “Morning Edition.”

Also participating in the not-yet-named program are the BBC World Service, New York Times Radio and WGBH, the Boston public radio station. BBC correspondents and reporters and critics for The New York Times are to provide on-air reports for the live news program and take part in what is expected to be its more informal, conversational format.

The WNYC program, which is to be announced today and is intended to expand the public radio audience by focusing on a younger, more multicultural listener, will have competition when it comes to seeking affiliates around the country however. NPR itself announced in January that it was developing an alternative morning program aimed at 25- to 44-year-olds, a younger audience than public radio typically draws. That program, also unnamed, is to begin in the fall and promises many of the same elements as the new WNYC program, including more integration with a companion Web site."