Weekly Procedures
Promos for each opera
A set of 30 and 60 second promos for each opera will be posted at least nine days in advance of each broadcast, generally by the end of day Thursday; however, because of the Thanksgiving holiday, we will begin on (Mon) November 25, 2019, by posting draft Akhnaten information in Content Depot and on our protected radio network website:
Generic Promos
Now available on Content Depot and at www.metopera.org/network-news. On our network news site they are available in WAV and MP3 formats.
Station/Ad Breaks
Station Break Time 1:15
The station breaks will again be ONE MINUTE AND FIFTEEN SECONDS. This is to enable stations to have a full minute to run commercials, local underwriting credits, or station promos, leaving 15 seconds for the station ID (see below for further information).
Schedule for Ad Breaks
Two and Three Minute Features / Ad Breaks
- Operas with one intermission will have a two- minute ad break following the station break and later in the intermission a three-minute ad break.
- Operas with two intermissions:
- For the first intermission there will be a two-minute ad break following the station break and later in the intermission, a two-minute ad break.
- In the second intermission there will only be a two-minute ad break following the station break. There will not be a second break later in the second intermission.
- One minute of the 1:15 station break can be used for advertising in each intermission
- Operas with NO intermissions:
- There will be a two-minute ad break in the opening of the broadcast.
We will allow about one second of silence between the end of the one minute-fifteen second Station ID and the following two-minute feature/Ad break for stations to rejoin our broadcast before the feature starts. Therefore, stations that are breaking away can combine the Station ID and the following two-minute feature. There will be about three seconds of ambience at the end of each feature. If your station breaks away, they should not plan to rejoin the program until the end of the two-minute or, in the case of a one-intermission opera, three-minute period.
For those stations not breaking for advertising or underwriting, there will be continuous programming, in the form of two-minute features for operas with two intermissions, and in the case of one intermission operas, one three-minute feature. If you are not carrying ads or underwriting in any of the ad breaks, we hope that you will carry these interesting features.
We will email all stations and post a new format/timing rundown each week on both the Content Depot and www.metopera.org/network-news which will include the cues for all of the breaks.
Delayed Feeds
The Met is pleased to offer a delayed feed for all the broadcasts this season that have a start time prior to 1:00 p.m. The Met will still transmit live from the Opera House at the originally scheduled time, and will also feed a delayed signal via the NPR Content Depot. See the broadcast schedule for the times of the delayed feeds.
For Content Depot subscribers, both the live and delayed feeds are available in the Content Depot and one or the other must be chosen when subscribing for the opera. The delayed feeds are labeled by the title of the opera followed by "(Delayed Feed)." If you have any questions, please be in touch with Iris Washington in the NPR distribution services department. Her direct phone number is 202-513-2622 or you can email her at iwashington@npr.org.