Bryant Park Project
Encyclopedia
The Bryant Park Project was a short-lived morning radio newsmagazine
from National Public Radio. The show's name was derived from Bryant Park
in New York City
, which NPR's New York studios overlook. While the Bryant Park Project (a.k.a. "the BPP") was originally a working title
, the show debuted with the name intact on October 1, 2007. The show was broadcast live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday and, at its height, was carried by 13 NPR member stations, mostly in small markets. The Sirius Satellite Radio
station NPR Now repeated the show (on tape unless breaking news necessitated live updates) from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern, 7 to 9 a.m. Pacific.
The show's host was Alison Stewart
, previously of ABC News
and MSNBC
, although Stewart went on maternity leave in April 2008. In her absence, the show was co-hosted by Rachel Martin, formerly the show's newscaster, and Mike Pesca
, until Martin left the show on June 27, 2008 to take a position as White House
correspondent for ABC News. The show's regular newscaster was Mark Garrison, although Korva Coleman often substituted from NPR's Washington bureau. The show's Executive Producer was Sharon Hoffman and the Supervising Senior Producer was Matt Martinez.
On July 14, 2008, the New York Times reported that NPR would be cancelling the Bryant Park Project as of July 25, 2008. Host Alison Stewart, who was absent on maternity leave, returned to host the final week of broadcasts.
audience. Recurring segments include a Monday morning sports wrap-up featuring Bill Wolff
(Stewart's husband and a former producer at ESPN
), political news discussions with Jim VandeHei
from the blog The Politico
, a Tuesday section on new music releases, and frequent interviews with various musicians and performers including Tegan and Sara
, Peter Bjorn and John
, Jill Sobule
, and The Pipettes
. Daily segments included "The Most" (a segment Stewart brought from her MSNBC
show of the same name, presenting and discussing the most-read, -shared and -emailed stories from various online news sources) and "The Ramble" (a brief rundown of quirky news stories, read over a music loop taken from the song "In One Ear and Out the Other" by dance music trio Fujiya and Miyagi). News headlines were read at approximately ten and forty minutes past the hour, ten minutes later than the traditional top and bottom of the hour updates. The show also had an occasional segment called "Make Me Care" in which guests had 60 seconds to argue why a subject should matter to listeners. The tone was often informal compared to the more conventional content found in other NPR newsmagazines. It was distributed online via podcast
and streaming audio
, and also could be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio
and on select NPR stations. The show also had a frequently updated blog
.
On July 14, 2008 NPR
announced via The New York Times
that "their experimental weekday morning program, designed to draw a younger audience to public radio and capture listeners who had moved online, is being canceled." The last broadcast of the program was on July 25, 2008. The Times called the show "an expensive failure — the first-year budget was more than $2 million — and [cancellation] comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting."
originally co-hosted the program with Alison Stewart. On the November 13, 2007 broadcast, Burbank announced that he was planning on leaving the show in mid-December to be closer to his daughter in Seattle. Since January 2008, Burbank has hosted the nightly talk show "Too Beautiful to Live
" on KIRO
, an AM news and talk station in Seattle. On his current show, Burbank has alluded to being unhappy with the early-morning hours necessary to produce a morning news show and has hinted at personality conflicts with NPR producers and executives. On the May 8, 2008 episode of the show, which featured pre-recorded birthday wishes for Burbank from various friends and family members, Burbank, in speaking about his time at the BPP, said, "My name is mud at NPR New York."
Note: * = more than one frequency
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
from National Public Radio. The show's name was derived from Bryant Park
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is a 9.603 acre privately managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which NPR's New York studios overlook. While the Bryant Park Project (a.k.a. "the BPP") was originally a working title
Working title
A working title, sometimes called a production title, is the temporary name of a product or project used during its development, usually used in filmmaking, television production, novel, video game, or music album.-Purpose:...
, the show debuted with the name intact on October 1, 2007. The show was broadcast live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday and, at its height, was carried by 13 NPR member stations, mostly in small markets. The Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
station NPR Now repeated the show (on tape unless breaking news necessitated live updates) from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern, 7 to 9 a.m. Pacific.
The show's host was Alison Stewart
Alison Stewart
Alison Stewart is an American radio and television journalist. She was one of the hosts of the Bryant Park Project, a morning drive news program from NPR...
, previously of ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, although Stewart went on maternity leave in April 2008. In her absence, the show was co-hosted by Rachel Martin, formerly the show's newscaster, and Mike Pesca
Mike Pesca
Mike Pesca is a Jewish American radio journalist based in New York City. He serves as a National Desk correspondent for National Public Radio , and is a panelist on Slate magazine's weekly sports podcast Hang Up and Listen....
, until Martin left the show on June 27, 2008 to take a position as White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
correspondent for ABC News. The show's regular newscaster was Mark Garrison, although Korva Coleman often substituted from NPR's Washington bureau. The show's Executive Producer was Sharon Hoffman and the Supervising Senior Producer was Matt Martinez.
On July 14, 2008, the New York Times reported that NPR would be cancelling the Bryant Park Project as of July 25, 2008. Host Alison Stewart, who was absent on maternity leave, returned to host the final week of broadcasts.
Overview
The show was meant to appeal to a younger, less-traditional NPRNPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
audience. Recurring segments include a Monday morning sports wrap-up featuring Bill Wolff
Bill Wolff
Bill Wolff is the vice-president of prime-time programming for the cable news channel MSNBC, as well as the executive producer of The Rachel Maddow Show. At MSNBC, he was previously the executive producer of The Situation with Tucker Carlson - later called Tucker - before his promotion in 2005...
(Stewart's husband and a former producer at ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
), political news discussions with Jim VandeHei
Jim VandeHei
James "Jim" VandeHei is the executive editor and co-founder of Politico. Previously, he was a national political reporter at The Washington Post, where he worked as White House correspondent....
from the blog The Politico
The Politico
The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
, a Tuesday section on new music releases, and frequent interviews with various musicians and performers including Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...
, Peter Bjorn and John
Peter Bjorn and John
Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie rock band, formed in Stockholm in 1999 and named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén , Björn Yttling and John Eriksson .They are best known for the 2006 single "Young Folks", which...
, Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule
Jill Sobule is an American singer-songwriter best known for the 1995 single "I Kissed a Girl", and "Supermodel" from the soundtrack of the 1995 film Clueless...
, and The Pipettes
The Pipettes
The Pipettes are a British indie pop girl group formed in 2003 in Brighton by "svengali" Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry. The group has released two albums, We Are the Pipettes, and Earth vs...
. Daily segments included "The Most" (a segment Stewart brought from her MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
show of the same name, presenting and discussing the most-read, -shared and -emailed stories from various online news sources) and "The Ramble" (a brief rundown of quirky news stories, read over a music loop taken from the song "In One Ear and Out the Other" by dance music trio Fujiya and Miyagi). News headlines were read at approximately ten and forty minutes past the hour, ten minutes later than the traditional top and bottom of the hour updates. The show also had an occasional segment called "Make Me Care" in which guests had 60 seconds to argue why a subject should matter to listeners. The tone was often informal compared to the more conventional content found in other NPR newsmagazines. It was distributed online via podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
and streaming audio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
, and also could be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
and on select NPR stations. The show also had a frequently updated blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
.
On July 14, 2008 NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
announced via The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that "their experimental weekday morning program, designed to draw a younger audience to public radio and capture listeners who had moved online, is being canceled." The last broadcast of the program was on July 25, 2008. The Times called the show "an expensive failure — the first-year budget was more than $2 million — and [cancellation] comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting."
History
Luke BurbankLuke Burbank
Luke Burbank is an American podcaster who currently hosts the Seattle-based former radio program and current podcast Too Beautiful to Live....
originally co-hosted the program with Alison Stewart. On the November 13, 2007 broadcast, Burbank announced that he was planning on leaving the show in mid-December to be closer to his daughter in Seattle. Since January 2008, Burbank has hosted the nightly talk show "Too Beautiful to Live
Too Beautiful to Live
Too Beautiful to Live is a podcast and a former radio show originating from Seattle, Washington. It first aired on January 7, 2008 and its final broadcast was September 11, 2009...
" on KIRO
KIRO (AM)
KIRO is a radio station based in Seattle, Washington on the shores of Lake Union with 2 towers on Maury Island, broadcasting on 710 kHz in the AM radio spectrum...
, an AM news and talk station in Seattle. On his current show, Burbank has alluded to being unhappy with the early-morning hours necessary to produce a morning news show and has hinted at personality conflicts with NPR producers and executives. On the May 8, 2008 episode of the show, which featured pre-recorded birthday wishes for Burbank from various friends and family members, Burbank, in speaking about his time at the BPP, said, "My name is mud at NPR New York."
Radio stations
The Bryant Park Project was carried on the following stations:- KBIAKBIAKBIA , is a National Public Radio-member station in Columbia, Missouri. It carries classical music, regional news coverage, locally produced news shows, original talk shows, as well as NPR news programs All Things Considered and Morning Edition.The station is owned by the University of Missouri,...
91.3 HD 3 - ColumbiaColumbia, MissouriColumbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
, MissouriMissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It... - KCPW-FM 88.3 FM - Salt Lake City, UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
- KXOT 91.7 FM - Seattle/Tacoma, WashingtonTacoma, WashingtonTacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
- WITF-FMWITF-FMWITF-FM is a public radio station based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, located on the FM dial at 89.5 MHz. Since its debut on April 1, 1971, it has aired classical music and NPR news throughout central Pennsylvania, including the Susquehanna Valley, which includes Harrisburg Lancaster, Lebanon and...
89.5 HD 2 - HarrisburgHarrisburg, PennsylvaniaHarrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to... - WLRN-FMWLRN-FMWLRN-FM is a class C1 FM station on 91.3 and is the main public radio station for South Florida and the Keys based in Miami. The station is owned-and-operated by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools and is the area's NPR member station....
91.3 HD - Miami, FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... - WPSU 91.5 HD 2 - State College, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
- WVTFWVTFWVTF is the flagship National Public Radio station for most of western Virginia. Owned and operated by Virginia Tech through its fundraising arm, the Virginia Tech Foundation, the station is licensed to Roanoke and operates a large satellite and translator network covering much of the western part...
* HD 3 - VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
: RoanokeRoanoke, VirginiaRoanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
, LynchburgLynchburg, VirginiaLynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
, BlacksburgBlacksburg, VirginiaBlacksburg is an incorporated town located in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 42,620 at the 2010 census. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford are the three principal jurisdictions of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
, and CharlottesvilleCharlottesville, VirginiaCharlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
- WFFC 89.9 HD 2 - Roanoke, Virginia
- WUKYWUKYWUKY is the flagship National Public Radio station in Lexington, Kentucky. Owned by the University of Kentucky, it is an Adult Album Alternative station that airs over 100 hours of music a week, in addition to programming from NPR, Public Radio International, the BBC, and American Public...
91.3 HD 3 - LexingtonLexington, KentuckyLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth... - WWPV 88.7 FM - BurlingtonBurlington, VermontBurlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, VermontVermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
(VPR World Channel) - WXXI-FMWXXI-FMWXXI-FM is a public radio station in Rochester, New York. The station airs a classical music format. Its programs can also be heard in Houghton on WXXY 90.3 FM....
91.5 HD 3 - RochesterRochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... - Sirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
Note: * = more than one frequency