DC Radio: NPR's Diane Rehm To Retire In 2016

Ending a run of more than 30 years on the air, talk show host Diane Rehm plans to retire, according to WAMU 88.5 FM, the NPR member station where the show is produced in Washington, D.C.

Rehm's exit from the show will not take place immediately; she is expected to remain as its host through the 2016 presidential election. A date for her exit has not been established.

Diane Rehm

"Diane, WAMU and NPR are working together closely on what comes next, and we are in active conversations about WAMU's plans for a successor program for the public radio morning audience," WAMU General Manager J.J. Yore said in a statement about the plans.

A Peabody Award winner, Rehm's show reaches more than 2.4 million on-air listeners each week. Originating from American University, it's distributed to nearly 200 public radio stations as well as through digital networks and a podcast.

Rehm, 79, began her career at WAMU as a volunteer in 1973; six years later, she took over hosting duties of its midday show, which was then called Kaleidoscope. It was renamed for its host in 1984.

For years, Rehm has hosted her show as she also fought spasmodic dysphonia, which her website describes as "a neurological voice disorder that causes strained, difficult speech." Complications and treatments for that disorder have sometimes forced her to take time off from the show.