Edwards Leaves NPR to Host Satellite Radio Show

NPR

Bob Edwards

Former NPR Morning Edition host Bob Edwards will host a new morning show to be distributed on the XM Satellite Radio system.

Sources tell NPR's Rick Karr on condition of anonymity that by early next week, Edwards will be named host of a new morning program. NPR erred in reporting earlier that Edwards' program would involve Public Radio International.

In March, Edwards was forced out of the host's chair he'd occupied for 24-and-a-half years. The move ignited an explosive, negative response: thousands of e-mails, a statement on the Senate floor, an editorial in The Chicago Tribune and an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times.

In recent weeks, Edwards has hinted in published reports that he might not stay in the senior correspondent position that the network had offered him.

Edwards -- who's on tour promoting his book about journalist Edward R. Murrow -- didn't return calls for comment. NPR issued a statement thanking him for his contributions and wishing him the best of luck.