Big changes are coming to Midday.
After hosting the program for the past 10 years, Tom decided it is time to step down from the host chair and transition into a new role here at WYPR.
Here is his on-air statement from today's episode:
I want to let you know about some changes here at Midday that will take place in the next couple of months. It has been my great honor and privilege to host this program for the past 10 years. I have decided that now is the time for me to step down as the host of the show, and transition into a new role here at WYPR.
This will, I hope, accomplish two things. First, it will create an opportunity for another voice, a different perspective, and a new take on the issues of the day. I don’t own Midday. I’ve been its steward for the last decade, and I think it’s important that I make room for others to step forward and be heard.
Second, it will allow me the opportunity to do some different things and to serve listeners in a new way. I’ve been on the air at WYPR for more than 22 years, and my roles have changed from time to time. In the new year, my role will change again, when I’ll become WYPR’s Senior News Analyst.
It’s a position last held here by my dear friend and mentor, Fraser Smith, who died four years ago. Like Fraser, I hope to deliver commentaries, report on critical issues, and offer my perspective on Midday, in special projects, and on other shows that WYPR may develop in the future.
In the immediate future, in January, I’ll begin hosting Midday three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
And when the WYPR management chooses a new host, I’ll explore other ways to continue the conversation that you and I have been having all these years. It’s a conversation I’ve been honored to have, and which I am very excited about continuing.
I am proud and humbled to be part of the history of Midday, a history that my friends Marc Steiner, Dan Rodricks and Sheilah Kast created and sustained. Whoever takes the reins of Midday to continue that history will do so with my support and encouragement.
And I will offer that support with deep gratitude to you, for what you and all the people who listen to this show bring, each and every day, to the Midday community.
Thank you for your interest and attention throughout my tenure as the Midday host, and thank you for sticking with Midday, and with me, as together, we navigate the future.
I’m Tom Hall. I’ll be back with you tomorrow. Thanks for listening. Have a great day.
