Marie Antoon is the executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson. She began working at MPB on August 27, 2001 and was named to her current position in 2002. She recently spoke with Northside Sun Staff Writer Anthony Warren about the recent changes with MPB radio.

I understand that MPB radio recently changed its format. What can you tell me about that?

“A lot of our listeners told us they wanted more news and information. And a lot told us they wanted more classical music. The problem is, when you have more of one, you have less of the other.

“We recently had the opportunity to create two separate formats when we intalled our new Hybrid Digital (HD) transmitters. Our transmitters, before that, were about 25 years old and they were at the end of their life. The transmitters came equipped for HD transmission, which gave us the opportunity to broadcast two stations, HD-1 and HD-2.

“It allowed us to support a station for news and information and another for classical music.”

You mention HD-1 and HD-2. What are those?

“HD-1 is Think Radio, our FM news and information channel that is simulcast digitally. It’s the channel our listeners are used to hearing. HD-2 is our classical music channel that can only be picked up with an HD radio.”

HD radio? Is AM/FM disappearing? Do people have to buy additional equipment to tune into HD programming?

“There’s been some confusion about that, since television has to switch to digital in 2009. Analog AM/FM will not disappear. HD is much like another band.”

Do people have to buy additional equipment to pick up HD channels?What advantages do listeners with an HD radio have?

“In order to pick up HD channels, people do have to buy an HD radio or an HD adaptor for their current stereo system. Markets are already adapting to HD. Car manufacturers have HD radios in vehicles and in mid-March, a table top model HD radio will come out under $200.

“We’re still in a transition period, but in the next six months to a year, people who buy the radios will realize what a great service HD is. If you’re the type who wants pristine sound, the price for the radios or receivers is certainly worth it.”

I understand that with the format change and the addition of a different channel, programming on MPB radio has also changed. If possible, I would like to find out a little more about that.

“There’s been quite a few changes to the schedule. We’ve doubled the amount of local programming and have gotten a couple of great shows, like Mississippi Edition, our version of the national news magazine Morning Edition, that features statewide news, feature stories and community profiles.

“The next hour was a hodgepodge of shows with Diane Rehm and local shows like the Gestalt Gardner and Southern Remedy. We decided to put more local shows on in place of Rehm in the 9 o’clock hour.”

What has been the listener response to cancelling Diane Rehm? It was pretty popular wasn’t it?

“We’ve received a lot of calls and e-mails from people upset about us pulling Diane Rehm. But we have a link on our Web site to the Diane Rehm podcast for those who are missing the show.”

There were also changes to the weekend lineup as well. Tell me about the reason behind that.

“Changing the weekend schedule was an extremely difficult process. Unfortunately, Sunday was an also-ran, meaning we aired a lot of reruns, like a repeat of What Do You Know? and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. We felt we could offer more diverse programming on the weekend to reach out to more Mississippians. In order to do that, we had to do away with a lot of our repeat programming.”

What changes were made?

“We added quite a bit of new programming to the weekends as well. That’s been one of our greatest successes.”

I’ve heard a few complaints about moving shows like What Do You Know? That was a pretty popular show, wasn’t it?

“What Do You Know? had more listeners on Sunday than Saturday. We didn’t want to repeat it on the weekend, so we decided to only air it on Sunday. Wait, Wait still comes on at its regularly scheduled time.”

What are some of the new shows that MPB has added to both the HD-1 channel and HD-2?

“On Think Radio (HD-1), we added a show called Relatively Speaking, a psychiatry show about families; Money Talks; and Creature Comforts, a show we’re co-producing with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. On HD-2, we have four hours of local classical music, a program called Symphony at Six, which features a full symphony at 6 p.m. each day and Modern Classical, a show that highlights composers mainly from the 20th Century.

“HD-2 Music Radio also brings back some old favorites, like St. Paul Sunday and other shows that were dropped from the FM dial.”

Who comes up with the ideas for new programming?

“Jason Klein, our programming director, is responsible. Morning Edition is produced by our news department. Other local programs are developed by Klein and its content is created by a collaborative effort by Klein, the shows’ hosts, others and guests.”

Does it cost the station any more to produce local programs?

“Locally, there is a minimal increased cost. It costs slightly more to produce a local show than it does to pay for a national show.”

What is MPB’s target market?

“There are some segments of the population that will likely listen to public radio nationally. Nationally, the audience is educated and the studies show that our listeners look for more indepth coverage, not headlines. Mississippi audiences follow that trend. Our new programming is designed to meet as many diverse people in Mississippi as possible.”

Let me play devil’s advocate here for a minute. If you’re trying to reach more people, wouldn’t you be dumbing down the station?

“Absolutely not. We have certain shows and topics that speak to certain people. We have a diversity in topical infomation. Sometimes, on our medical show, we have to talk about bunions. There are certain things that reach across all demographics, because everyone has them. One of our basic missions is to educate.”