Minnesota Public Radio: A History

MPR Acquires Marketplace Productions

• MPR: An Overview

• MPR History

• MPR Commitment to Minnesota

• MPR National Program List

• Marketplace: An Overview

• Marketplace History

• Complete set of above documents in PDF format (Readable with the free Acrobat Reader.)

• MPR's National Program Data (PDF format)

• U.S. Map of MPR Programs (PDF format)

1967 - 1987

• 1967 - Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) began in Collegeville, Minnesota, after becoming a separate operation from St. John's University.
• 1969 - Served as incorporator and founding station for the start-up of National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington, DC.
• 1969 - Helped to establish the Radio Talking Book, the nation's first closed-circuit reading network for the blind and vision-impaired.
• 1974 - Began A Prairie Home Companion, one of public radio's most beloved and celebrated programs, now heard on 486 stations across the US.
• 1980 - Became one of the nation's most successful public radio stations, producing more programs for national distribution than any other public radio station in the United States.
• 1980 - Provided the corporate umbrella and leadership for the formation of Public Radio International (PRI).
• 1980 - Built the most sophisticated public radio production and satellite distribution center in the United States.
• 1980 - Became the nation's importer for news broadcasts from the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
• 1987 - Created one of the most effective corporate structures for a nonprofit organization, which diversified MPR's revenue base under the leadership of the for-profit Greenspring Company. This structure led to the creation of the highly successful Rivertown Trading Company.

1995 - Present

• Became the most complete statewide public radio network in the United States, covering 98% of the state's geography as well as reaching bordering communities in seven states and Canadian provinces.
• Created Classical 24, the nation's most-listened-to classical music radio source.
• Sold Rivertown Trading Company to the Target Corporation, allowing MPR to add $85.6 million to its permanent endowment.
• Developed the largest membership base (more than 87,000) of any public radio station in the United States.
• Engaged the largest staff (233 employees) of any public radio station in the country. The next largest is WNYC in New York with 110 employees.
• Developed American RadioWorks, in a partnership with National Public Radio, for one-hour-long, in-depth news specials.
• Built an audience that represents the largest market share of any public radio station in a major market.
• Produced the largest number of national programs for public radio.
• Created a new nonprofit organization, Southern California Public Radio, through a lease agreement with Pasadena City College, to operate KPCC-FM in Pasadena, which serves the Los Angeles basin.
• Acquired Marketplace Productions, producer of The Savvy Traveler, Marketplace Morning Report, and Marketplace, which is public radio's most successful business news program, with a national audience of 3.7 million weekly listeners. This gives MPR programs a total weekly listenership of approximately 7.6 million people.