KPCC adds Madeleine Brand, new 9 a.m. show

Brand, the former host of "Day to Day" on National Public Radio, will host a news magazine show in the old DTD slot at 9 a.m. on KPCC's daily schedule. From the release:

Brand is a native of Los Angeles and was a journalist for National Public Radio for 12 years. She is best known for her work as a co-host of the NPR news magazine Day to Day as well as a west coast contributor to Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

SCPR will immediately begin building a staff for this currently unnamed program. The staff will include producer/reporters, online, technical and support staff. The program itself will cover a wide range of topics, but all with a distinctive Southern California perspective. This will be the first time KPCC has developed a new program with a significant online component from the outset. President of SCPR, Bill Davis says, “Madeleine is an amazing journalist, interviewer and field reporter. She has tremendous intellectual bandwidth, but doesn’t take herself too seriously”. Davis continues, “Adding her to our weekday line-up strengthens SCPR’s position as the broadcast news leader in Southern California; and we can’t wait to hear her on the air again at 9:00 AM.”

The Madeleine Brand hosted show will air Monday through Friday from 9-10am, replacing BBC Newshour. Brand says, “I look forward to working with all the excellent journalists at KPCC, and I'm honored to be in the lineup with Larry and Pat. Even though I'm part British and love the BBC, I think we need a little more California in that 9 am hour, and I'm excited to bring it."

This will give KPCC three locally produced news and talk shows on weekdays, including those hosted by Larry Mantle and Patt Morrison.