GBH And WBUR Join With NPR To Make 'Consider This' First Localized News Podcast

NPR and a group of 12 public radio stations across the country announced today that they have launched the first localized daily news podcast, one that blends national stories and local reporting.

Listeners in Boston will hear a version of Consider This with reporting on their community from their community, alongside a national view from NPR to help listeners make sense of the day.

This national/local on-demand experience, a first not just for public radio but for the podcast industry as a whole, is made possible by public radio’s shared journalism and digital networks.

“This project is truly the best reflection of the public radio mission,” said Neal Carruth, NPR’s senior director for on demand programming. “Consider This is now a collaborative podcast that will know where users are and deliver them the news of the day from their community and beyond. It demonstrates what only the public radio network has the ability to do.”

“Boston has always benefited from two outstanding NPR stations in the market, ensuring listeners have access to the trusted quality journalism they have come to expect from public media,” said Pam Johnston, General Manager of News at GBH. “We are excited about collaborating with WBUR, drawing on the strengths of both stations, to bring the local news that matters most to our audiences to the NPR podcast Consider This.”

Teaming up for the first time, GBH and WBUR are sharing resources and talent to produce the local segment for Consider This. The Boston hosts of the podcast, WBUR’s Paris Alston and GBH’s Arun Rath will alternate weeks and be joined by a rotation of reporters from both stations.

“This is a thrilling moment and it demonstrates the extraordinary power of public radio — coming together to deliver an unmatched on-demand experience. One that is global, national and local. Paris and Arun will be the perfect companions to end the news day, with the most important stories in Boston and beyond,” said WBUR CEO Margaret Low. “We are delighted to be working with NPR and GBH on this new venture.”

Listeners on the NPR One app will automatically hear a localized Consider This if they have one of the 12 participating stations saved as their favorite, including GBH, WBUR, New York (WNYC), Philadelphia (WHYY), Washington, D.C. (WAMU), Chicago (WBEZ), Minneapolis/St. Paul (MPR), Dallas/Fort Worth (KERA), Los Angeles (KPCC and KCRW), San Francisco (KQED), and Portland, OR (OPB). Localization also will take place when a user downloads or plays an episode of Consider This on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts and Stitcher.

NPR is partnering with sponsorship vendor, AdsWizz, to deliver this localized news in the same way podcast publishers deliver any localized sponsorship content. Consider This will use Nielsen's industry-standard Designated Market Areas to route the appropriate local content to users if there is a participating station match.

“NPR has always partnered with our Member stations to deliver local content to users, from newscasts to radio stories. Now we are expanding that partnership to deliver an even better-blended experience by meeting users where they already are on their favorite podcasting platform,” said Stacey Goers, senior product manager of podcasts. “NPR has long supported the open ecosystem of podcasting, including experimentation and growth in podcasting technology. With Consider This, we're excited to use our sponsorship technology to deliver editorial content in a new way.”

For now, listeners outside of participating markets will continue to hear NPR’s national version of Consider This. NPR expects to add more participating member stations in 2021.

Launched in March as a coronavirus podcast and expanded in June, Consider This was NPR's fastest-growing podcast to date. Along with Up First, The Indicator from Planet Money and Short Wave, it is part of NPR’s roster of daily, short-form news podcasts.

Subscribe to the Consider This podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts!