Network Information and Resources
Met Radio Station Hotline: 212.870.4143
The Met's 2024-25 Saturday Matinee radio broadcast season begins on December 7, 2024 and runs through June 7, 2025. On this page you will find details about broadcast schedules and timings, delivery of audio files, and live transmissions.
2024-25 Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcast Schedule with cast info and air times (the latest updates will be emailed to stations)
Pre-Taped (Archival) Broadcasts
2024-25 Season Press Photo Gallery (password: MetOpera2020)
Technical info regarding Content Depot, Comrex, delayed feeds, accessing the Met's FTP server, Met backup streams, and sun outages
Current Promos and Features
Promos announcing the 2024-25 radio season are below. Other links will be refreshed each Saturday with promos for the following week's broadcast. Promos are also emailed to stations every Thursday. Special features will be posted as available.
Hansel and Gretel Promos (Broadcast 2024-12-28)
Promos can also be downloaded from the Met’s FTP server manually or using automation. Promos are uploaded to the server each Thursday – 9 days in advance of the broadcast – and replaced the following Thursday. Please schedule promos only after the prior week’s broadcast has aired.
Immediately following each Saturday broadcast, a Saturday Matinee Preview for the following week’s broadcast will also be available via FTP.
Weekly Station Emails
Stations receive all information about Saturday broadcasts via weekly emails. These are typically sent on Thursdays and include:
- A final timing rundown and cue sheet for that week’s Saturday broadcast and a draft cue sheet for the following week’s broadcast
- A Hightail link to 30 and 60 sec promos for both upcoming broadcasts
- Promo copy for both upcoming broadcasts
- Links to preview features and artist interviews, as available
- Instructions on accessing promos and audio files via the Met’s FTP server
To receive the Met’s weekly emails, please write to metoperaradio@metopera.org and include the name, title, and email address of each staff member to be added to the distribution list.
Pre-Taped (Archival) Broadcasts
Audio files for all pre-taped broadcasts will be emailed to stations and uploaded to the FTP server on the Tuesday before the scheduled air date. Pre-taped broadcasts will not be transmitted via Content Depot or Comrex.
We provide pre-taped broadcasts in two ways: the entire program in a single file with 1:17 of silence embedded at each intermission for station ID breaks, and the program broken into segments with no silences embedded for stations that wish to insert their own breaks between segments.
2024-25 Season Pre-Taped Broadcasts
December 14, 2024: Grounded
December 28, 2024: Hansel and Gretel
January 4, 2025: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
January 18, 2025: Tosca
February 1, 2025: La Traviata
February 8, 2025: Der Fliegende Holländer
February 15, 2025: Ariadne auf Naxos
February 22, 2025: Falstaff
March 1, 2025: Carmen
March 22, 2025: L’Enfant et les Sortilèges / Les Mamelles de Tirésias
April 5, 2025: Ainadamar
April 19, 2025: L’Assedio di Corinto
May 3, 2025: Il Trovatore
May 10, 2025: Listeners’ Choice – Broadcast TBD
Station ID/Ad Breaks and Cues
2024-25 Radio Broadcast Station Breakaway Schedule
Timings and cues for all breaks are indicated in the timing rundowns and cue sheets emailed to stations the Thursday before each broadcast.
Station breaks are 1:15 in duration (silence) and occur toward the beginning of each intermission. Stations have 15 seconds for a station ID and a full minute to run local underwriting credits, station promos, or commercials. Two additional seconds are provided for re-joining the broadcast. Station breaks begin with a contact closure.
Commercial station ad breakaways are provided during live broadcasts* and are 2:00 or 3:00 in duration as explained below. For stations that do not break away, we air special stand-alone features during these windows. Ad breaks do not include a contact closure.
- For live broadcasts with one intermission, a 2:00 commercial ad breakaway immediately follows the 1:15 station break and a 3:00 ad breakaway occurs later in the intermission
- For live broadcasts with two intermissions:
- During the first intermission a 2:00 commercial ad breakaway immediately follows the 1:15 station break and another 2:00 ad breakaway occurs later in the intermission
- During the second intermission a 2:00 commercial ad breakaway immediately follows the 1:15 station break and no other breakaway is provided
- For live broadcasts with NO intermissions, a 2:00 commercial ad breakaway is provided during the opening of the broadcast
*Pre-taped broadcasts do not include 2:00 commercial ad breakaway segments following the station ID break. Commercial stations may download audio files for pre-taped broadcasts that are broken into segments at each intermission, where they may insert a 1:15 station ID break followed by up to 2:00 additional minutes of ad time - and/or they may take the optional breakaway provided later in the intermission, not exceeding the total maximum ad times listed in the ad breakaway schedule. For pre-taped broadcasts with no intermission, commercial stations may insert 2:00 of ad time immediately following the funding credit at the top of the broadcast.
Station Break and Closing Cues
Content Depot subscribers:
- For each 1:15 station break Cue #3 (Station ID) will be sent
- For end of broadcast Cue #4 (End of Show) will be sent
Comrex stations:
- Contact Closure #1 indicates a 1:15 (one minute and 15 second) station break. This will occur at the beginning of the station break(s) in the first intermission and second intermission.
- Contact Closure #2 indicates the end of the transmission.
Technical Procedures & Delayed Feeds
Met Radio Station Hotline: 212.870.4143
NPR Help Desk (Content Depot subscribers): 800.971.7677 or prsshelp@npr.org
Backup Streams (Live and Delayed)
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/network-news/backuplive/
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/network-news/delayedstream/
NPR Stations - Content Depot
Radio stations using Content Depot will continue to receive our live broadcasts in the same manner as previous seasons. Audio files for all 2024-25 archival broadcasts will only be delivered via weekly station emails (FTP and Hightail links). When subscribing to Met broadcasts, note that you will have to subscribe to performances one-at-a-time. If you have any questions, please contact the NPR distribution services Help Desk.
Comrex Access Stations
In most cases, your weekly connection to the Met will continue to be managed from the Metropolitan Opera distribution site so you will not need to adjust any settings. We will continue to provide audio test sequences each week prior to the broadcast. If you experience any problems during the audio sequence tests, please call us IMMEDIATELY at 212.870.4143.
Again please note: 2024-25 archival broadcasts will not be delivered over Comrex but only via weekly station emails (FTP and Hightail links).
Delayed Feeds
One Saturday matinee this season has a scheduled curtain time before 1 PM ET. The Met will transmit this performance live and also feed a delayed signal at 1 PM ET via Content Depot. Choose either the live or delayed feed when subscribing for the opera. Please address any questions to NPR distribution services: 202.513.2624 or 800.971.7677 or visit nprds.org/contact.
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On-Air/Off-Air (ET) |
Delayed Start/End (ET) |
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January 25, 2025 |
Aida |
12:30 pm/4:10 pm |
1:00 pm/4:40 pm |
Met Opera Back Up Streams (Live and Delayed)
If you experience any transmission problems during the broadcast, you can use our streaming service for either the live or delayed feed. Please test these links and be ready to use them in the event you have any problems. This system requires the audio output of your computer to be an available source that can be routed to your transmission path. Call us immediately at 212.870.4143 if you need assistance with any transmission problems.
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/network-news/backuplive/
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/network-news/delayedstream/
Sun Outages Information for Content Depot Subscribers
Spring solar outages occur from late February through mid-March. A solar or sun transit outage is an electromagnetic phenomenon wherein a station downlink is temporarily unable to receive a satellite signal due to interference from the sun as it passes behind the satellite. Solar outages occur on a predictable schedule and affect downlinks in the U.S. for about five consecutive days, for as much as six minutes a day. Content Depot users can call NPR distribution at 202.513.2600 to arrange for an ISDN back-up. A telephone number will be provided to connect to an ISDN line. This must be arranged during the week before the broadcast, not the day of the broadcast.
Find sun outage information by state here (scroll to bottom of page).
Accessing the Met’s FTP Server
The FTP server address is metopera.hostedftp.com/radio. Note that in many ftp clients you may need to enter "metopera.hostedftp.com" as the address and then either navigate to "/Radio" or enter "/Radio" as the default folder.
The FTP username is "radiostations"
The FTP password is "Audi0Clips" (case sensitive, that is a zero)
Inside the main /Radio folder, you will find five main folders:
/Weekly_Promos
/Saturday_Matinee_Preview
/Archival_Broadcasts
/Special_Features
/Generic_Season_Promos
Inside these folders, you will find labeled subfolders with the promos, broadcasts and features rendered in various file formats. We hope you will be able to easily find the versions you prefer.
Please note the following for all archival broadcasts:
- Files labeled "CompletePGM" contain the entire broadcast, with a 1:17 silence embedded during each intermission for your local station break.
- Files labeled "Seg1of2" etc. are the complete show broken into segments. These files do not have any station break silences attached or embedded.
Files in folders labeled "indexed" are intended for retrieval by automation systems. These filename numbers will not change week to week. Thus:
- The first segment of an archival broadcast will ALWAYS have the filename "20201.wav" (or mp3), the second will ALWAYS be "20202.wav" etc.
- The "Join Us Saturday" :30 promo will have the filename "2001.wav" or "2001.mp3”
- The "Join Us Today" :30 promo will have the filename "2002.wav" or "2002.mp3"
- The "Join Us Saturday" :60 promo will have the filename "2003.wav" or "2003.mp3”
- The "Saturday Matinee Preview" feature will have the filename "2000.wav" or "2000.mp3”