Public Radio: Could NPR find another program that provides it with the same interest as Car Talk?

With all due respect to David Hood’s answer, Car Talk has certainly not been taken off the air. The show continues to be heard on literally hundreds of public radio stations from coast to coast. Here in the Bay Area, for example, Car Talk airs on KQED every Saturday morning, just as it has for years. Also, it’s not entirely accurate to say that the show is now in re-runs, which implies that old Car Talk shows are now being aired. What’s happened with the program is this: Starting in late 2012, Tom and Ray Magliozzi stopped recording new episodes of their show. However, the show continued (and continues) to air, cobbled together from recorded material that had never aired in the past combined with some material that had, in fact, aired before. So, yes, in some sense, the show is in re-runs, but in another sense it’s not, because we are hearing fresh material (e.g., listener calls) that is airing for the very first time.Granted, there are some high-profile public radio station like WBEZ in Chicago and WNYC in New York City that recently decided to no longer air Car Talk, but again, the show continues to air (under the title The Best of Car Talk) on hundreds of radio stations, including in big, influential markets such as Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco.Now, to the fascinating question of whether NPR could find another show as popular as Car Talk. The short answer is that they already have found such a show in Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me! From what I’ve read, Car Talk is by all measures the most successful show (e.g., more listeners than any other show on public radio) ever produced by NPR. However, Wait, Wait is hugely successful, too — and some are predicting that it will eventually go on to surpass Car Talk in popularity.