by Ombudsman

Can guest explain why "Talk of the Nation" hosts seem compelled to interrupt conversation to insert a program i.d. It's often awkward, frequently rude, and always irritating.

On Monday I appeared on a call-in show, Open Line with Fred Andrle on WOSU, the public radio station owned by Ohio State University in Columbus. A local listener, Robert Singleton, sent this email:

"Can guest explain why "Talk of the Nation" hosts seem compelled to interrupt conversation to insert a program i.d. It's often awkward, frequently rude, and always irritating."

Andrle's show is heard locally and doesn't have quite the same problem that the nationally distributed Talk of the Nation (TOTN) has: an absolutley unforgiving time clock.

TOTN is broadcast on 302 NPR member stations and begins each weekday from Monday to Thursday at 6 minutes and 30 seconds after the hour. The first segment runs until 19 minutes after the hour when host Neal Conan says without fail: "You are listening to Talk of the Nation from NPR News."

Then the show cuts to music — no matter what.

"Because so many stations these days are operated by computer, all program content STOPS DEAD at that second, and there's a one-minute break," said Conan in an email.

This strict time clock isn't arbitrarily set. It comes from the member stations, who in reality are NPR's bosses.

During that one-minute break, the local station can identify itself and provide traffic, weather or promote events or programs.

"Our station normally does a 30-second promo of a show on our station and then a 30-second voice track of the weather or some upcoming event," said WOSU mid-day host Amy Juravich.

But Juravich isn't doing WOSU's local announcements at the breaks live.

"Our computer shuts off NPR and turns on the station computer that airs promos," said Juravich. "Some stations do have a live voice for that minute. Or they just play NPR's music."

Juravich noticed Monday that Conan's guest kept talking at one break and was automatically cut off. "Neal missed and went over the 2:19 break by one second," she said. "So our automation cut Neal off because he talked over and into the break. That happens sometimes. When a guest is long-winded, you can hear Neal trying to get them to finish or hold their thought."

TOTN comes back at exactly 20 minutes after the hour.

There are three so-called "hard posts" or "hard breaks" in one TOTN hour: 2:19, 2:39 and 2:59 if the show is heard on the East Coast. They are called 'hard' because they are going to happen no matter how frustrating it is for the listener — and sometimes even for the host.

"There are inevitably moments when I have to interrupt a funny or heartbreaking story to go to the break," said Conan. "From time to time, I ask a caller, to hold that thought while we go to a break...but it's always awkward to do so. Most of the time, it's my fault, for taking a call too late in the segment, or not juggling things properly."

Take a look at TOTN's time clock.