PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Radio broadcast

How to Cite a Radio Broadcast in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for a radio broadcast starts with the show's host, last name first, followed by host. Then come the segment title in quotation marks, the program's name in italics, the network or station, the air date (28 Sept. 2015), and the URL. The in-text citation is the host's last name, plus the time in the recording when you quote: (Gross).

The format

Last Name, First Name, host. "Title of the Segment." Name of the Program, Network or Station, Day Mon. Year, www.url.com. Radio series episode.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 30, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Choose Podcasts & Radio, then A single podcast or radio episode, and pick A radio broadcast from the menu that asks what kind. Add the show's host in the Host box, type the segment title in Episode Title, type the program, like Morning Edition or Fresh Air, in Series Title, and pick the day it aired in Episode Date. Then type the network or station in Production Company and paste the URL. PERRLA handles the title case, the quotation marks, the italics, and the date order, and ends the entry with Radio series episode.

Citing the whole show instead of one segment? Choose An entire podcast or radio series, add the hosts, and in Years the Series Aired type the year the show started, a hyphen, and present for a show that's still on the air (1975-present). Then pick the day you visited the show's page in Retrieval Date. PERRLA writes the en dash and ends the entry with Accessed and that date.

Found an old interview in an online radio archive? Choose A radio interview in a digital archive. Add each person interviewed as an Interviewee and the interviewer in Host or Interviewer, then fill in the Interview Title, the Episode Date, the Archive Name, the Archive Institution (without an opening The), and the URL.

Pasting an NPR story link into PERRLA's reference search brings back the written story as a webpage. That's the right entry if you read the story. If you listened to it, build it with Podcasts & Radio instead.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Host

Start with the host of the show, last name first, followed by a comma and host. The guest isn't the author; name them in your sentence.

Gross, Terry, host.

For an archived radio interview, the people interviewed come first, and the interviewer goes after the title. If no one is named at all, start with the segment title.

2. Segment title

Put the segment or interview title in quotation marks and title case, with the period inside the closing quotation mark.

"A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients."

An archived interview that names its interviewer adds Interview by and the interviewer's name right after the title.

"Discussing Medical Ethics with Physician Dr. Quentin Young and Theologian and Medical School Professor Dr. Kenneth Vaux." Interview by Studs Terkel.

3. Program

The program the segment aired on is the container, so its name goes in italics and title case, followed by a comma. Radio programs, like podcasts, are the containers of their episodes and segments.

Fresh Air,

For an archived interview, the archive's website takes this spot: Studs Terkel Radio Archive.

4. Network or station

Next, name the network or station responsible for the program. MLA treats it as the publisher. For a story on npr.org, that's NPR. An archived interview names the institution that holds the archive, without an opening The.

NPR,

Some shows are made by one station and carried by a network. Fresh Air is produced at WHYY and distributed by NPR, so either can go here: MLA says to name the one shown most prominently, or the one you know is mainly responsible for the show.

Don't italicize a network or station name, in the entry or in your sentences. The program's name is what goes in italics.

5. Air date

Give the full date the segment aired, written day, month, year, with the month abbreviated if it's longer than four letters. Use the air date the station lists, not the day you listened.

28 Sept. 2015,

A whole radio series gets the years it has aired instead. For a show that's still on the air, PERRLA gives the year it started, an en dash, and present, then ends the entry with the day you accessed the show's page: WHYY, 1975–present, and, at the end, Accessed 30 Oct. 2026, radio series.

6. URL

End with the link to the page where the broadcast can be played, without the https://, and a period.

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/28/443468965/a-nurse-reflects-on-the-privilege-of-caring-for-dying-patients.

PERRLA adds the description Radio series episode after the URL of a segment. MLA allows a short description like this at the end, and it tells your reader the source is a broadcast. An archived interview needs none, since Interview by already says what it is.

Examples

An interview segment from a radio show

Terry Gross's Fresh Air interview with palliative care nurse Theresa Brown about her book The Shift, which aired September 28, 2015. Gross hosts the show, so she starts the entry, followed by host; Brown belongs in your sentence.

  • In-text citation(Gross)
  • Narrative citationSpeaking with Gross, Theresa Brown describes …

A radio interview in an online archive

A 1987 WFMT broadcast in which Studs Terkel talks medical ethics with physician Quentin Young and theologian Kenneth Vaux, now in the Studs Terkel Radio Archive. The people interviewed start the entry, and MLA adds Interview by Studs Terkel after the title, since the interviewer is named.

  • In-text citation(Young and Vaux)
  • Narrative citationYoung and Vaux tell Terkel that …

A whole radio series

Fresh Air as a whole show, for when you discuss the program itself rather than one interview. Terry Gross has hosted it since 1975 and Tonya Mosley became co-host in 2023, so both are listed. WHYY, the Philadelphia station that produces it, is the publisher. It's still on the air, so the entry gives the year it started and present, and ends with the day the show's page was accessed.

  • In-text citation(Gross and Mosley)
  • Narrative citationGross and Mosley's Fresh Air has long …

In-text citations

An MLA in-text citation for a radio broadcast starts with whoever starts the Works Cited entry.

  • A show segment: the host, with the guest named in your sentence: Palliative care nurse Theresa Brown calls being present for dying patients a privilege (Gross).
  • Two people interviewed: both last names joined by and: (Young and Vaux)
  • A whole series: the hosts: (Gross and Mosley)
  • No one named: a shortened segment title in quotation marks, the first noun and any words before it, without a leading A, An, or The.
  • A quote: a broadcast has no page numbers, so add the time where the quote starts in the recording after the name, in hours, minutes, and seconds separated by colons, with no comma before it.
  • Name in your sentence: give only the time in parentheses, or leave the parentheses off when there's no time.

A transcript can help you find the words, but the time stamp comes from the recording's player.

Common mistakes

  • NPR. "A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients."Gross, Terry, host. "A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients."When a host presents the segment, the host starts the entry, followed by host. The network goes after the program as the publisher.
  • Gross, T. (2015, September 28). A nurse reflects on the privilege of caring for dying patients [Radio broadcast]. NPR.Gross, Terry, host. "A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients." Fresh Air, NPR, 28 Sept. 2015,That's APA. MLA spells out the first name, adds host, puts the segment title in quotation marks and title case, names the program, and moves the date after the network.
  • Gross, Terry, host. "A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients." Fresh Air, NPR, 2015,Gross, Terry, host. "A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients." Fresh Air, NPR, 28 Sept. 2015,A broadcast gets the full air date, written day, month, year.
  • Terkel, Studs, host. "Discussing Medical Ethics …"Young, Quentin, and Kenneth Vaux. "Discussing Medical Ethics …" Interview by Studs Terkel.For an archived interview, the people interviewed start the entry. The interviewer, however famous, goes after the title.
  • "A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients." Fresh Air, NPR, 28 Sept. 2015,"A Nurse Reflects on the Privilege of Caring for Dying Patients." Fresh Air, NPR, 28 Sept. 2015,The program's name goes in italics. The network or station is the publisher, so it stays in regular type.

Quick checklist

  • The host, with host after the name
  • Segment title in quotation marks and title case
  • The program in italics, then the network or station
  • The full air date: day, abbreviated month, year
  • Archived interview: interviewees first, Interview by after the title
  • Whole series still on the air: the year it started and present, then Accessed and the date
  • The URL without https://, and a time stamp when you quote

Questions students ask

Is it a radio broadcast or a podcast episode?

Cite the version you actually used. If you heard it on the radio or played it from the station's website, cite it as a radio broadcast. If you listened in a podcast app, cite it as a podcast episode. Many public radio shows are both, so let your source decide.

Who goes first in an MLA radio citation?

The person who presents the piece. For a segment on a show, that's the host, followed by host, and the guest goes in your sentence. For an interview in a radio archive, the people interviewed go first.

What if I read the NPR story instead of listening to it?

Then cite what you read. A written story on a network's website is a page on a news site: the reporter, the headline in quotation marks, NPR as the website, the date, and the URL. Our online news article guide walks through it.

How do I cite a radio transcript in MLA?

Cite the broadcast the same way, end with the transcript page's URL, and add Transcript at the very end, so your reader knows you quoted the written version rather than the audio.

What if I heard it live and can't find a recording?

Look first: most stations post their stories, with audio, on their websites within a day or so, and that's the version to cite. For a live broadcast with no recording, start with the segment title, then the program in italics, hosted by and the host's name, the station, and the date you heard it.

Do I italicize the station's name?

No. Network and station names, like NPR or WHYY, stay in regular type when they're the publisher in the entry and when you name them in your sentences. The program's name, like Fresh Air, is what goes in italics. The one exception is a network's website cited as a website, like NPR for a story you read on npr.org.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), sections 2.107 and 2.109 (italics for radio programs, quotation marks for episodes), 5.31 (radio programs as the containers of episodes), 5.40 and 5.44 (a host in the author spot, with a label), 5.58 and 5.64 (networks and producers as publishers, no opening The), 5.107 (Interview by after the title), 5.111 (access dates), 5.112 (Transcript as a final element), 6.10 (shortened titles), 6.28 (time stamps), and the Handbook's sample entries for a live radio broadcast and for interviews, plus the MLA Style Center's posts on podcast episodes from news programs, broadcasters in entries, and italics for radio stations. The examples are the ones verified for the APA 7 page; the Fresh Air story page and freshairarchive.org/about (Gross host since 1975, co-host Mosley since 2023, produced at WHYY) were re-checked October 29 and 30, 2026.

Fill in the details from the station's page, and PERRLA builds the radio entry, with the segment in quotation marks and the program in italics, plus its in-text citation.

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