Minnesota Public Radio announced today the launch of four new HD program channels available to listeners in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Starting today, all three Minnesota Public Radio services—Classical, News & Information and The Current—will begin multicasting in the Twin Cities metropolitan area with the following public service programming on HD Radio:

• Classical 24® is a nationally syndicated, 24-hour, seven-day-a-week live-hosted classical music service produced by American Public Media and distributed by Public Radio International.

• BBC News and More is the BBC World Service, an international news service produced by the BBC in London, and additional programming. The BBC World Service is the world's leading international News broadcaster, attracting global audiences of at least 150 million listeners each week. It aims to be the best known and most respected voice in international radio news broadcasting. Its values of accuracy, impartiality, objectivity, trust and internationalism are respected globally. The BBC World Service marks its 75th anniversary this year.

Additional programming on BBC News and More will include popular regional and national programming broadcast on HD during overnight hours for those who missed them on KNOW 91.1 FM earlier in the day or want to listen again.

• BBC Mundo is the BBC's Spanish-language service. BBC Mundo is broadcast by more than 300 stations to almost 6 million people in Latin America and features the interactive radio and online show, BBC Mundo Hoy.

• Wonderground Radio™ is a brand new place for kids and parents to enjoy music together. Instead of "kids' music," Wonderground Radio features great music that appeals to both children and adults. Wonderground Radio is designed for families with children under the age of 10. It is a non-commercial haven—programming for children that isn't overrun with advertising or marketing. Wonderground Radio will also be streamed online at www.wondergroundradio.org.

"By providing another vehicle for delivering quality programming, HD Radio increases our ability to expand and diversify our offerings to our listeners," said Sarah Lutman, senior vice president for Content and Media. "It is also a unique opportunity to explore new and innovative content, test new ideas and gather feedback from listeners. If you have an HD radio, let us know what you think of these initial offerings."

About HD Radio®
HD Radio® has a clear signal and has a cleaner, deeper, more textured sound than analog. Multicasting also gives Minnesota Public Radio the option of having multiple channels per frequency.  Each channel has the potential to broadcast completely different content. For listeners, that will mean more options for news, music and entertainment programming from Minnesota Public Radio.  More information on HD radio can be found at www.ibiquity.com.

How listeners can access Minnesota Public Radio's HD Radio offerings
Listeners will need a radio capable of picking up the digital radio signal. As stations across the country add HD broadcast capability, HD-ready receivers are becoming more available and increasingly affordable.  HD radio receivers for the home and car are sold at Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, The Sharper Image and Wal-Mart and average about $150–200 in price.

Minnesota Public Radio® operates a 37-station radio network serving virtually all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states and produces programming for radio, Internet and face-to-face audiences. Programs produced by Minnesota Public Radio, operating as American Public Media,™ reach more than 15 million listeners nationwide each week. Of those, more than 800,000 listen regionally, in Minnesota and surrounding states. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be obtained at www.mpr.org and www.americanpublicmedia.org.

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Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc., Nationwide and PSA data. Arbitron data are estimates only. Fall 2006/Spring 2007 average