This is a news show. It is on the radio. People listen to it every day. It tells us what is happening. It helps us learn. Do you like to listen to the radio?
All Things Considered is a news show. It is on the radio. It started a long time ago in 1971.
The show tells many kinds of stories. It has news and talks with guests. Some stories are short. Other stories are long.
Many people listen to it. In 2005, millions of people heard it. It is a very popular show.
It airs on weekdays. It also has a show on the weekend. People can hear it in the United States. People can hear it in other lands too.
It is a special part of radio history. The show has won many awards. It is a famous program.
All Things Considered is a famous news show on the radio. It was the first show made by NPR. The show first aired on May 3, 1971. It began with about 90 radio stations. The first story was about protests in Washington, D.C.
This show is different from other news programs. It has many kinds of stories. Some stories are short. Other stories can last almost 23 minutes. The show uses news, interviews, and special features. It even has a theme song by Don Voegeli.
Many people listen to the show every day. In 2005, about 12 million people heard it on weekdays. It was the third most popular radio show in the United States then. The show also has a weekend version. It started in 1974.
The show is very important to history. It won many big awards. In 1993, it joined the National Radio Hall of Fame. This was the first public radio show to do so. The Library of Congress even keeps a recording of its first show. They call it a significant recording.
All Things Considered is the main news program for National Public Radio, also known as NPR. It is a special show that brings people together through stories. The program uses news, interviews, and expert analysis to explain the world. It is not just a list of facts. Instead, it uses many different styles of reporting. Some stories are short and quick. Other stories can last for almost 23 minutes.
The show follows a specific way of working each day. It begins with a theme song by Don Voegeli. A one-minute part called a billboard tells listeners which stories are coming. Then, a five-minute newscast provides the latest updates. The show is divided into segments labeled A through E. Segment A often features the most important interviews. Segment B adds more news and lighter commentary. Segment C is where you often hear long, deep feature stories.
This program has a very long history. It was the very first show made by NPR. It premiered on May 3, 1971. The first host was a man named Robert Conley. In that first week, 90 radio stations received the show. They could not play it live right away. They had to record it first. The very first story was about protests in Washington, D.C.
Many people listen to this show every single day. In 2005, it reached about 12 million listeners on weekdays. That made it the third most popular radio program in the United States. By September 2010, it had an average audience of 1.8 million people. The show has also won many big prizes. It won the Peabody Award and the DuPont Award. In 1993, it became the first public radio show in the National Radio Hall of Fame.
You might recognize the voices of the hosts on your radio. Current hosts include Ailsa Chang and Mary Louise Kelly. The show also has a podcast called Consider This. This podcast helps listeners dive deeper into a single story. You can also hear the show on weekends. The weekend version started in 1974. It is a one-hour show that airs on Saturdays and Sundays.
All Things Considered (ATC) is the flagship news program for National Public Radio (NPR). It serves as a comprehensive daily broadcast that blends news, analysis, commentary, and interviews. Unlike programs that only provide quick headlines, ATC uses a variety of lengths and styles to explore the world. This variety allows the program to cover everything from hard news to personal interest stories. It is a vital part of the American media landscape, helping millions of people understand complex global and local events.
The program follows a structured but flexible mechanism to deliver its content. Each broadcast begins with a theme song by Don Voegeli. This is followed by a one-minute "billboard," which acts as a preview of the upcoming stories. A standard five-minute NPR newscast then provides immediate updates. The show is organized into specific segments labeled A through E. Segment A typically contains major news or significant interviews. Segment B offers more news and lighter commentary. Segment C is reserved for long feature stories, which can last nearly 23 minutes. Segment D often provides a "cutaway" for local stations to insert their own content. Finally, Segment E concludes the hour, often with arts, culture, or lighter news.
There are different versions of the program tailored to different times and audiences. The weekday edition airs live from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. In the Pacific Time zone, it is recorded with updates, while in Hawaii, it is a fully recorded program. There is also a weekend counterpart called Weekend All Things Considered (WATC). This version premiered in 1974 and provides a one-hour program on Saturdays and Sundays. Additionally, NPR launched the "Consider This" podcast on June 29, 2020. This podcast serves as a companion to ATC, providing in-depth analysis of a single story each day.
ATC holds a significant place in broadcasting history as NPR's very first program. It premiered on May 3, 1971, with host Robert Conley. During its first week, the feed was sent to approximately 90 radio stations. These stations were not permitted to broadcast the feed live initially; they had to record it for later use. The very first story covered the march on Washington, D.C., and anti-Vietnam War protests. NPR chose an afternoon timeslot for the debut because many affiliate stations did not begin broadcasting until mid-morning. It took until 1979 for NPR to launch Morning Edition, once stations began broadcasting earlier in the morning.
The scale of the program's influence is reflected in its massive audience numbers. In 2005, ATC aired on more than 560 radio stations. During that year, it reached an audience of approximately 12 million listeners every weekday. This made it the third most-listened-to radio program in the United States, following The Rush Limbaugh Show and Morning Edition. By September 2010, the program maintained a strong presence with an average quarter-hour audience of 1.8 million people. These figures demonstrate the program's deep reach across the country and its importance to public radio listeners.
Throughout its history, the show has received numerous prestigious honors for its journalism. It has won the Peabody Award, the DuPont Award, and the Overseas Press Club Award. In 1993, ATC was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. This was a historic moment, as it was the first public radio program to receive that honor. Furthermore, the Library of Congress selected the very first broadcast from 1971 for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2017. This designation is reserved for recordings that are considered culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
All Things Considered connects to many different layers of communication and technology. It operates through a complex network of local and national affiliates. To manage guest appearances, NPR implemented a "dibs list" system around 2005. This system helps different NPR shows coordinate their cultural coverage so they do not compete for the same interview partners. The program also reaches an international audience. For example, ABC NewsRadio in Australia broadcasts a continuous hour of selected segments from the daily program. This connectivity shows how a single news program can link local listeners to a global conversation.
Where will your curiosity go next?
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.