Blue Ridge Public Radio continues to respond to the tectonic changes underway in our country and community through our news coverage and programming. To better serve the whole of our community during rapidly changing events, and to bring our listeners a wider range of thoughtful and challenging content, we’re updating our broadcast schedule. It will now include a range of local and national programs that address racial justice and the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be featured during more accessible time periods. To begin these changes, a one-hour slot has been created on Friday mornings at 9:00 am and Saturday afternoons at 3:00 pm on both BPR Classic and BPR News.
Two locally-produced programs – “The Waters & Harvey Show” and “Going Deep” - are being expanded from 30-minutes to 1-hour. As a result, the “BBC News Hour” will no longer be available on BPR News on Friday mornings, along with the first hour of classical music on BPR Classic. That will start this Friday morning July 17th with a brand new Waters & Harvey Show, featuring our hosts discussing the impact of the pandemic on communities of color, as well as the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.
This scheduling window will also feature BPR and other public radio “specials” which will change on a weekly basis. Watch for programming announcements in our newsletter, web site, and social media, and listen for frequent on-air announcements.
Weekend programming will be further updated in September. The producers of “Live From Here” have cancelled the popular live music series because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are currently airing re-runs on BPR Classic Saturdays at 6:00 pm and Sundays at 11:00 am. Plans are being finalized for a replacement series with a music focus. Weekend program schedule changes will be announced later this summer.