News Release

BBC World Service Newshour to air live Monday (Jan. 30)
from North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC Durham studio

CHAPEL HILL – Fans of the BBC World Service Newshour will on Monday (Jan. 30) have the chance to be a part of a major "first": The show will broadcast live from North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC’s studio in Durham for two hour-long broadcasts, at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.

This is the first time the show has originated from a local radio station anywhere in the world.

The public is invited to see and hear the live broadcasts and have breakfast with the North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC staff in Bay Seven, which has windows into the studios and a projection screen. Seating is limited; those interested in attending should RSVP to (919) 966-5454 or email rsvp@wunc.org by 5 p.m. Friday (Jan. 27) and specify either the 7 a.m. or 9 a.m. broadcast.

WUNC is the public radio service licensed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is heard at 91.5 FM in the Triangle and Triad regions, at 90.9 FM in Rocky Mount/Wilson, and at 88.9 FM on the Outer Banks. WUNC serves more than 250,000 listeners each week.

The Newshour team has spent the past week in North Carolina and the South, gathering stories of worldwide interest, including the role of N.C. military bases in the war in Iraq, local perceptions on the war and the U.S. response to rural poverty.

Newshour presenter and anchor Robin Lustig and his team will interview state and regional experts live and air taped interviews with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and former vice presidential candidate and senator John Edwards, who directs the UNC School of Law’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.

The BBC World Service Newshour is heard daily in more than 100 countries by an estimated 5 million listeners, with 1 million in the United States alone.

North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC’s new studios are located at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus, home of the historic Lucky Strike chimney and water tower, at 324 Blackwell St. Capitol Broadcasting, the owner of the campus and for-profit Triangle television and radio stations including WRAL and WRAZ, donated the space for WUNC’s new 8,400-square-foot studio and provided funding to help outfit it.

The new studio supplements WUNC’s Chapel Hill headquarters and its bureau in Raleigh.

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Note: Lustig is available for interviews by phone before the day of the live broadcast and in person on Monday. To arrange an interview, contact Bryan Gilmer at (919) 683-2312, (919) 451-0236 or bgilmer@webbpatterson.com

UNC News Services contacts: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093 or lisa_katz@unc.edu; and Karen Moon, (919) 962-8595 or karen_moon@unc.edu

North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC contact: Joan Siefert Rose, (919) 445-9100 or jsrose@wunc.org.