NYT's 'The Daily' Heading To Public Radio

The New York Times will bring its popular podcast The Daily to public radio this spring through a distribution deal announced Tuesday with American Public Media.

According to Current, the Times will produce a daily 30-minute radio version of the podcast for distribution to stations starting in April. Though the podcast is released at 6 a.m. Eastern time, public radio stations will be able to air the radio version between 4 p.m. and midnight Eastern time.

“So much of what’s at the core of The Daily is shared with public radio: great reporting, genuine curiosity and a desire to help listeners better understand the world around them,” said Samantha Henig, editorial director for audio at the New York Times. “For that reason, radio feels like a natural home for the show.”

Henig said she believes public radio offers an untapped audience for The Daily that “may never open up a podcast app on their phones.”

Michael Barbaro

Hosted by Michael Barbaro, The Daily debuted in February 2017. Each episode is essentially a highly produced two-way with a Times reporter, incorporating interviews and other audio about one or two subjects in the day’s news.

The New York Times began hearing from stations and distributors “soon after launch” who said the show would be a good fit on radio, Henig said. The Times initially tabled those discussions as the podcast’s team learned to produce a daily show. But once it was ready to pursue radio, “American Public Media was one of our first calls,” she said. The network is “a well-respected and well-positioned distributor,” Henig said, “and we liked that they have a strong track record of distributing owned and third-party shows to public radio.”

While the podcast generally runs from 20 to 40 minutes, the radio broadcast will need to fit a traditional public radio clock and include spots for regional and national underwriting.