WBUR to cancel Radio Boston, invest in morning, afternoon shows

WBUR announced plans Friday to cancel its midday talk show, Radio Boston, and to shift more resources to its flagship morning and late afternoon news programs, which draw the station's largest number of listeners.

Radio Boston has been a staple of WBUR since it launched 17 years ago as a weekly program and then became a daily show in May of 2010. The move comes just months after its host, Tiziana Dearing, was named anchor of WBUR’s Morning Edition show, where she continues to interview major newsmakers on a regular basis, including Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu.

WBUR Executive Editor Dan Mauzy acknowledged that dropping Radio Boston, the station’s sole purely local news show, will be a loss for its faithful listeners.

"I think a lot of people will really miss Radio Boston and I'm among them," said Mauzy, who got his own start at WBUR as a producer on Radio Boston 14 years ago.

WBUR managers said no jobs will be lost in the move. But the Radio Boston decision follows cost cuts at the public radio station earlier this year that included cutting staff by more than 13%. Since then, management has had to make strategic choices about how to best serve listeners and readers with a leaner staff.

"We want to make sure that we're doing everything we can with the resources that we have, and having the biggest impact with our audiences,” Mauzy said.

Producers who currently work on Radio Boston will be redeployed to Morning Edition and All Things Considered, the afternoon news show, enabling them to do more reporting and arranging of interviews with local newsmakers. Yasmin Amer, the current executive producer of Radio Boston, will continue to lead a production team and coordinate local stories across the afternoon and morning shows, which also feature national NPR feeds.

Starting Jan. 6, WBUR plans to extend Morning Edition for a fifth hour, to 10 a.m. The BBC NewsHour will shift to 10 a.m. and On Point will air at 11 a.m. (repeated at 7 p.m.). The station’s midday news magazine, Here & Now, will run for a third hour at 3 p.m.

Updated WBUR weekday schedule:

5 a.m. – 10 a.m.: Morning Edition
10 a.m. – 11 a.m.: BBC NewsHour
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.: On Point
12 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Here & Now
2 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Fresh Air
3 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Here & Now (third hour)
4 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: All Things Considered
6:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.: Marketplace

On Point and Here & Now are nationally syndicated programs distributed to hundreds of public radio stations across the country. On Point is produced by WBUR; Here & Now is co-produced by WBUR and NPR.

Like other news outlets and public radio stations, WBUR has suffered a gradual decline in on-air sponsorships as businesses have shifted advertising dollars to online sites. WBUR is looking to close a deficit over the next couple of years by stepping up fundraising and mining other sources of revenue.

Despite the revenue challenges, WBUR remains one of the top-rated radio stations in Boston, enjoying broad listenership during most hours of the day. But GBH has dominated the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. time slot, when it airs a local talk show hosted by Jim Braude and Margery Eagan.

In November, WBUR was the highest rated news station in Boston, in the prized 25-54 age group, according to Nielsen and the Radio Research Consortium. Across all radio stations, WBUR was ranked 7th in that age group, while GBH was tied for 12th.

The sunsetting of Radio Boston on Dec. 20 comes two years after the show moved to the 11 a.m. slot, competing head-to-head with rival GBH's midday talk show.

But Mauzy said ending the show is unrelated to ratings. He said as commuting habits have changed since the pandemic, WBUR has found there's greater demand for Morning Edition to continue later into the morning.

“This move is not in response to any competition," Mauzy said. "We think that this is a  smarter way for us to produce journalism."

The SAG-AFTRA union, which represents many WBUR journalists, praised management for retaining the employees on Radio Boston’s staff, but lamented the loss of the show.

“We are sad to see an important local program, which has been a springboard for so many careers, come to an end,” WBUR arts reporter and union steward Amelia Mason said in a statement on behalf of the union. “It is critical that WBUR continue to invest in the vital work of its local journalism.”

Also as part of the changes, production of The Common weekly podcast will shift from the station's podcast team to the local newsroom. Mauzy said he hopes that move will help WBUR bring more of The Common's work to broadcast and the web.

Editor’s note: WBUR’s Todd Wallack reported this story, and WBUR’s Beth Healy is the story editor. Under standard practices for reporting on WBUR, no other BU or WBUR staff were allowed to review the story before publication.

Clarifications: This story was updated to clarify that On Point is entirely produced by WBUR; Here & Now is co-produced with NPR. In addition, the new programming starts Jan.6; Radio Boston's last day is Dec. 20.