WUFT-FM adds midday news show ‘Here & Now’

June 24, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Beginning July 1, public radio station WUFT-FM 89.1 will broadcast “Here & Now” from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday to meet growing audience demand for midday news and analysis.

A live production from NPR and WBUR, Boston, in collaboration with public radio stations across the country, “Here & Now” reflects the fluid world of news as it’s happening, with timely, in-depth news and conversation.

WUFT-FM will continue to broadcast “Science Friday” with host Ira Flatow on Fridays from 2 to 4 p.m.

“Hear and Now” replaces “Talk of the Nation,” with host Neal Conan. Conan is leaving NPR after 35 years to pursue other interests.

Robin Young, who has hosted “Here & Now” for more than a decade, will continue to host the program. A Peabody Award-winning journalist, she has reported for NBC, CBS and ABC television, and was substitute host and correspondent for “The Today Show.” She will be joined by co-host Jeremy Hobson, most recently host of “Marketplace Morning Report.” Hobson has broad producing, reporting and hosting experience at the station, program and network level. Additionally, Meghna Chakrabarti, co-host of WBUR’s “Radio Boston,” will serve as the program’s primary back-up host.

“Hear and Now” began at WBUR in 1997 and is carried today by more than 180 stations nationwide. The expanded program will serve as a bridge in midday, between NPR’s signature news magazines, “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” The program’s daily lineup will include interviews with NPR hosts, reporters, editors and bloggers as well as news from stations across the nation.

To ensure that “Here & Now” reflects what’s happening in a diverse geographic range of communities, NPR and WBUR have invited other public radio stations across the nation to contribute to the show. These contributions may be presented as feature packages, interviews or straightforward collaboration when news is unfolding in a specific market.

WUFT-FM 89.1 is simulcast on WJUF-FM 90.1 providing additional coverage to Sumter, Hernando and Citrus counties. The WUFT-FM signal covers 16 counties in North Central Florida with studios located in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication in Gainesville.