The following describes the program format effective August 13, 2018.[19]
Morning Edition begins each hour with a sixty-second "billboard" highlighting stories to be covered in the hour. At least one birthday or anniversary of a major event is announced as well. Some stations replace this billboard with a localized version, with a similar format, but with emphasis on local stories and read by a local announcer.
The standard NPR newscast follows for five minutes. Stations have the option to cut into the newscast at three minutes (4:00 past the hour) to deliver a local newscast. A twenty-second funding announcement is followed by a ninety-second music bed, which is typically covered by all stations to deliver news, traffic, weather, or funding credits.
The first segment, "A" (duration 11:29), highlights the most important stories of the day. Usually the "A" segments differ between hours, although when the topic is extraordinary, the "A" segment will cover the same topic, but in a different format between the first and second hour. Segment A ends at nineteen minutes past the hour, and is followed by a ninety-second break, a promotion for Fresh Air and a funding announcement before the start of Segment "B".
Between each segment, one- to three-minute breaks occur. These breaks are filled at the local station level with promotions for other programs, sponsorship credits, and station-provided content such as local traffic and weather reports.
Returning from the break at 21:50 past the hour, the second segment, or "B" segment, generally contains features, commentaries, or long form interviews. Interviews can sometimes take up the entire segment. Segment "B" ends at 29:00 past the hour, and a promotion for All Things Considered and a short music bed lead into a second full-length newscast at half past the hour. A one-minute music bed follows for a station break.
The "C" segment follows at 34:35 and is sometimes covered by stations with local reports as well. This segment features news or cultural reports, generally running the segment length.
At 42:30 past the hour a two-minute music bed is played which most stations cover with news updates or "modules" from other independent radio producers.
At 44:30, a short humorous news item is introduced. These segments are called "returns", because many stations that air local news or announcements return to the national feed at this point. The return lasts thirty seconds, and ends with the tagline "It's Morning Edition, from NPR News," or some variation thereon.[20]
At 45:35 past the hour, the "D" segment (duration 4:00) is typically composed of two to three stories focusing on health news, international events, or short updates on national stories. At 49:35 past the hour the segment ends, and another two-minute station break begins.
The "E" segment begins at 51:30 (duration 7:29) and differs between hours. Originally in the first hour, the "E" segment was dedicated to stories and features from the world of business, while in the second hour, segment "E" included a cultural feature, remembrance, or softer news story, usually taking the entire segment length. Beginning in November 2014, Morning Edition moved the second hour "E" features to the first hour "E" segment, dropping the dedicated business segment to allow many NPR stations to insert broadcasts of the Marketplace Morning Report, which is separately produced and distributed by American Public Media (prior to this change, many stations would already cover one or both "E" segments with Marketplace Morning Report).[21] However, some stations continue to air Marketplace Morning Report in place of the "E" segment for the first hour. Segment "E" ends at 59:00 after the hour, and leads into a music bed that takes the listener into the next hour, or the end of the program, depending on the hour and the station's program schedule. (Every other hour during the "E" segment, KQED pre-empts Marketplace Morning Report to air its own production, The California Report,[22] featuring news stories of statewide regional interest; The California Report, which has a companion 30-minute weekend edition, is syndicated to other NPR member stations in California, including KCRW and KXJZ.)
Stations receive over their computers the daily rundown of stories before each program which allows them to plan their coverage and decide what stories they wish to replace with local content. The rundown is updated as necessary until the feed ends at noon Eastern time.
NPR experimented with a modified clock from 2014 through 2018, which notably replaced the standard-length newscast at half past with two shorter newscasts at 19 and 42 past.[23] Member stations complained the clock was "choppy" and "disjointed", that it did not have as many opportunities to insert local content, and that the placement of the humorous return after the half-past local news break was awkward.[19]
