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Downloading WPR Programs


Wcast is a new member benefit for Wisconsin Public Radio listeners. To become a member, contribute online now or call 800-383-9772. Here's a list of "Frequently Asked Questions" about this feature.
 What WPR programs are available for downloading through Wcast?

Here's the current list of series and programs available for downloading as well as when they become available:

Program Title Initial Airtime Downloads Usually Available File Size
Joy Cardin (Hour 1) 6am Weekdays by 9am same day 19MB
Joy Cardin (Hour 2) 7am Weekdays by 10am same day 19MB
Joy Cardin (Hour 3) 8am Weekdays by 10am same day 23MB
Kathleen Dunn/Veronica Rueckert*1 (Hour 1) 9am Weekdays by 11pm same day 23MB
Kathleen Dunn/Veronica Rueckert*1 (Hour 2) 10am Weekdays by 12pm same day 23MB
Larry Meiller*2 11am Weekdays by 1pm same day 34MB*2
Here On Earth 3pm Weekdays by 5pm same day 24MB
At Issue with Ben Merens (Hour 1) 4pm Weekdays by 6pm same day 21MB
At Issue with Ben Merens (Hour 2) 5pm Weekdays by 9am the following day*3 21MB
Calling All Pets 7am Saturdays by 3pm the previous day 24MB
Zorba Paster on your Health 8am Saturdays by 12pm the previous day 24MB
To The Best Of Our Knowledge (Hour 1) 9am Saturdays Following Monday by 12pm 24MB
To The Best Of Our Knowledge (Hour 2) 9am Sundays Following day by 1pm 24MB
Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? (Hour 1) 10am Saturdays by 12pm same day 54MB*4
Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know? (Hour 2) 11am Saturdays by 1pm same day 54MB*4
University of the Air 4pm Sundays Following day by 9am 25MB
Notes:   *1Kathleen's programs air Monday-Thursday and Veronica's airs Friday.
*2 If Larry has two topics, the show is usually broken into two 40 minute (17MB) files.
*3 Friday's 5pm Ben Merens program may not be available until Saturday afternoon.
*4 Whad'ya Know? is recorded and made available in stereo so the file size is doubled.


 Why are some programs not available for downloading?

There are several reasons why a program might not be available.

  • The program is more than six months old.
  • The program is not produced by Wisconsin Public Radio.
  • The program contains significant amounts of copyrighted music or other material.



 I just called and made a pledge. How soon will I be able to download programs?

Thanks for your pledge! Downloading WPR programs is a benefit of membership so you need to be a current member or have a paid pledge to log into Wcast. There may be some processing delays depending on how you make your contribution. You should be able to download programs if:

  • You're a WPR Member who has contributed in the past 11 months.
  • You've just made an online contribution by credit card - allow 2 hours.
  • You've just phoned in a pledge contribution using a credit card - allow 4 hours.
  • You've received a pledge packet and returned it with your payment by mail - allow 4-5 days.



 I've only got a 56k dialup connection. Can I still download WPR programs?

Yes, but an hour WPR program will take nearly an hour to download with a dialup connection! Of course, you can be doing other things on your PC while the file is downloading in the background. Here's a table that may help.

ESTIMATED DOWNLOAD TIME
FOR A ONE-HOUR PROGRAM
ConnectionSpeedEst Time
Dial-Up50 kbps50 Minutes
DSL Line250 kbps10 Minutes
Cable Modem500 kbps5 Minutes
High Speed Cable2000 kbps75 Seconds
Corporate LAN5000 kbps30 Seconds


 Can I see what other WPR members are downloading?

Yes, See our Wcast Top-Ten List. Statistics are aggregated over several days.



 What format does WPR use for their downloadable program files?

We used the MP3 format which is playable on almost every computer and portable player made. We encoded the MP3 file at 64kbps with 44.1KHz sampling. This is the accepted standard for monaural talk programming.



 Once I download a program, can I burn it to a CD so I can listen to it in my car or portable CD player?

Yes. Most CD buring software (Nero, Roxio, etc) can create a "music CD" directly from an MP3 file. We suggest you save the file on your hard drive before attempting to burn the CD however.



 Do WPR's MP3 files have any copyright restrictions I should be aware of?

You can download to your PC or MP3 player and burn the programs to CDs. You cannot edit the content of the program in any way. We understand that some CD software will change or "normalize" the recorded audio levels during the burning process, and this is acceptable. All WPR programming is © Copyright University of Wisconsin-Extension.



 When I play your MP3 files on my iPod®, sometimes it will hang or Reboot. Why?

We've heard from a few iPod owners that have this issue. These iPods have been "cured" by downloading the latest iPod / iTunes update from Apple. Plug your iPod into your computer and launch iTunes. If a software update is available, it will usually alert you. Otherwise, update your iTunes/iPod software at http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/.



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