Minnesota Public Radio
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| Type | Public radio network |
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| Country |  United States |
| First air date | January 1967 |
| Availability | Global |
| Founded | American Public Media Group |
| Key people | Bill Kling, President |
| Launch date | 1967 |
| Former names | Saint John's University Broadcasting Minnesota Educational Radio |
| Affiliation | National Public Radio Public Radio International American Public Media |
| Website www.mpr.org |
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Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), a 501(c)(3) organization, is one of the nation's premier public radio stations producing programming for radio, Internet and face-to-face audiences. With its three services, News & Information, Classical Music and The Current, MPR operates a 37-station regional radio network serving a regional population of 5 million people. MPR has 94,000 members and more than 800,000 listeners each week, the largest audience of any regional public radio network.
Minnesota Public Radio has won more than 875 journalism awards, including the Peabody Award, several Edward R. Murrow awards and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Gold Baton Award.
Minnesota Public Radio, operating as American Public Media, is the nation's second-largest producer and distributor of national public radio programs, reaching 14.6 million listeners nationwide each week. It is the largest producer and distributor of classical music programming in the country.
Minnesota Public Radio uses its regional network to deliver vital public services throughout Minnesota. With assistance from the State of Minnesota, MPR maintains and improves the technical infrastructure to the state's Emergency Alert System (EAS) by providing signals to all other radio, television and cable stations in Minnesota.
MPR distributes the state's AMBER Alert System (the child abduction warning system) to all other broadcasting stations in Minnesota.
Supported by the Minnesota State Services for the Blind, MPR supplies the special sub-carrier signals that provide the Radio Talking Book, a reading service for the blind and visually handicapped.
Minnesota Public Radio's 998-seat Fitzgerald Theater and 100-seat UBS Forum provide a venue for live remote broadcasts, discussion forums, political debates, cultural programming and more.
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[edit] Services
Minnesota Public Radio originally offered a mix of news radio and music programming on a single service. Beginning in 1980, MPR's programming split in two, forming separate news and classical music services (although one station in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan still carries a combination of those two services). The 2005 acquisition of WCAL in Northfield, Minnesota, which covers the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, provided the opportunity to launch another music service, The Current.
[edit] News and information
MPR's news and information service includes a mix of locally-produced programs and national/international shows.
The MPR newsroom has garnered international acclaim, most recently earning the inaugural Knight News Innovation EPpy Award in 2008. MPR's newsroom is known for its Public Insight Network, a database of citizen sources who contribute their expertise on a wide array of topics. The Public Insight Network grew to 20,000 regional members in 2007, and has been recognized as a potential antidote to the challenges currently facing commerical news outlets, such as lack of diversity amongst journalistic staff.
As of 2008, 27 transmitters carry MPR's News and Information service. The Twin Cities flagship station for news and information is KNOW 91.1 FM.
[edit] Classical music
Like its news and information service, MPR's classical music service is distributed via a statewide network of 37 stations. MPR's classical music library consists of over 50,000 compact discs.
MPR's classical music service features several online initiatives, such as the popular "Classical Love Notes," which allow listeners to send romantic classical music selected by MPR on-air hosts to their loved ones.
In the fall of 2006, MPR's classical music service reached an all-time listener high with over 375,000 weekly listeners.
There are 27 transmitters broadcasting the classical music service, including one station in Sun Valley, Idaho. The network's flagship station is KSJN 99.5 FM in the Twin Cities.
[edit] The Current
MPR's third service, 89.3 The Current, debuted on January 24, 2005, and airs a free-form eclectic music format.
While The Current's on-air hosts select much of the music that is played, listeners are invited to select 100% of the day's music playlist during an annual tradition known as Radio Free Current.
Several people on The Current's initial staff are well known in the area for previous work at stations that highlight music from Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Many of the staffers and on-air personalities came from other similar stations, such as the University of Minnesota's KUOM, community-oriented KFAI, and commercial alternative rock outlets REV 105 and Cincinnati, Ohio's WOXY.
Programming on The Current is mostly locally-produced, including Musicheads with Bill DeVille. The Current also airs nationally-produced shows such as Sound Opinions with Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, Sounds Eclectic with Nic Harcourt and American Routes with Nick Spitzer. In July 2007, The Current created a one-hour program of music hosted by Mark Wheat called "The Current Rotation." The program airs exclusively on WNYE 91.5 FM in New York.[1]
The Current is carried on three transmitters, serving roughly half of the state's population. The main transmitter is KCMP 89.3 FM, located near Rosemount, Minnesota on the southeastern periphery of the Twin Cities, though the signal covers most of the Minneapolis - Saint Paul metro area. A lower-power station serves Rochester, Minnesota, and a KCMP translator serving Hinckley, Minnesota, just north of the Twin Cities. In addition, the station is broadcast on a HD Radio sideband channel to listeners of KPCC in Los Angeles.
[edit] Additional services
Subsidiary Communications Authority (SCA's) are used to transmit a Minnesota version of the Radio Talking Book Network to disabled listeners around the state, in cooperation with Minnesota State Services for the Blind. MPR also serves as the radio backbone for the radio portion of the state's Emergency Broadcasting System, and as the backbone for the state's AMBER Alert System.
Plans are in place to add the digital HD Radio system across all of MPR's transmitters, with rollout likely to happen in 2005. Special receivers are required to decode these broadcasts. They will enable the main channel on each frequency to be broadcast with digital quality and to reduce the multipath interference that sometimes affects FM analog broadcasting. This move will also make additional digital channels possible.
[edit] Programs
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Minnesota Public Radio regional programs:
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American Public Media programs heard on Minnesota Public Radio:
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Other programs heard on Minnesota Public Radio:
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[edit] History
Founded in January of 1967, Minnesota Public Radio began as a single signal station broadcasting out of Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. The Director of Broadcasting for the station was William H. Kling, a graduate of Saint John's. Forty-one years later, Kling remains the president and CEO of MPR.
The station went through a series a name changes, first becoming Saint John's University Broadcasting, then Minnesota Educational Radio, and finally Minnesota Public Radio.[2]
In 1969 and 1970, MPR assisted in the formation of National Public Radio as a founding member of the organization.
In 1974, MPR began live broadcasting of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, one of the best-known programs on public radio.
In 1983, MPR assisted in the formation of American Public Radio (now known as Public Radio International).
In 1991, MPR began offering a full-time classical music service after purchasing WLOL (99.5 FM) in the Twin Cities.
In 2000, MPR acquired Marketplace Productions, which produces Marketplace, "Marketplace Morning Report" and "Marketplace Money" from studios in Los Angeles, in association with the University of Southern California. Also in 2000, MPR founded Southern California Public Radio, which entered into a public service operating agreement with Pasadena City College for the operation of KPCC in Pasadena, California.
In 2004, MPR announced it would buy the classical music station operated by St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. WCAL (89.3 FM) (and a repeater station, KMSE near Rochester), were sold in a deal valued at $10.5 million, which was approved by the Federal Communications Commission in 2004.
In 2005, WCAL was transformed into MPR's third service, 89.3 The Current.
Today, MPR serves a regional audience of 850,000 listeners through 37 stations presenting three broadcast network services.
[edit] Funding
Minnesota Public Radio is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization and relies on contributions from listeners, foundations, educational partners and corporations for its general operations. It also receives support through underwriting on the air and on the Web.
Listener contributions, corporations, foundations and educational partners account for approximately 60 percent of MPR’s total budget. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (8 percent). The State of Minnesota provides modest capital grants to upgrade infrastructure and equipment in greater Minnesota, but does not provide operating funding to the organization. MPR also receives operating funding through the sale of on-air and online underwriting.
Like other large nonprofit organizations with similar business models, additional funding for MPR comes from the for-profit Greenspring Media, a subsidiary of the parent nonprofit American Public Media Group (APMG), through sales of the magazine Minnesota Monthly and other ventures. APMG also owns and operates the Lake Wobegon USA store at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. and the Pretty Good Goods catalog. The for-profit Rivertown Trading Company, once a subsidiary of MPR’s parent company, was sold in 1998 for $124 million. Profits went toward creating MPR’s endowment, a percentage of which contributes to MPR's overall annual budget.
[edit] Broadcast coverage
Minnesota Public Radio broadcasts on 37 stations that serve Minnesota and its neighboring communities and 26 translators providing additional local coverage.
Most areas are served by both a classical music station and a news and information station. One location is covered by a single station that combines both services. Two locations are served by a classical music station, a news and information station, and The Current.
MPR's newest service, The Current, is currently only available in the Twin Cities, Rochester and Hinckley.
Minnesota Public Radio also broadcasts all three of its services—News, Classical and The Current—on HD Radio in several communities throughout the state of Minnesota. In the Twin Cities, MPR multicasts Classical 24®, BBC News and More, a Spanish language service from Radio Netherlands called Ahora, and Wonderground Radio™, a service specifically geared towards children.
| Market | Frequency/Call sign | Power (Class) | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Lea | 103.9 K280EB (KGAC) | 10W (D) | Classical |
| Alexandria | 90.9 K215BL (KSJR) | 18 (D) | Classical |
| Appleton | 88.5 KNCM | 34,000 (C2) | News |
| 91.3 KRSU | 75,000 (C) | Classical | |
| Austin | 90.1 KNSE | 6,000 (A) | News |
| 103.3 K277AD (KLSE) | 100 (D) | Classical | |
| Bemidji | 91.3 KNBJ | 65,000 (C1) | News |
| 88.5 KCRB | 83,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| Brainerd | 88.3 KBPN | 5,000 (C3) | News |
| 90.7 KBPR | 34,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| Decorah, IA | 88.7 KLNI | 100 (A) | News |
| 89.5 KLCD | 100 (A) | Classical | |
| Duluth-Superior | 100.5 WSCN | 97,000 (C1) | News |
| 92.9 WSCD | 70,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| Ely | 101.7 W269AC (WSCN) | 31 (D) | News |
| 89.5 K208CR (WIRR) | 23 (D) | Classical | |
| Fargo-Moorhead | 90.3 KCCD | 100,000 (C1) | News |
| 91.1 KCCM | 67,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| Fergus Falls | 91.5 KNWF | 2,700 (A) | News |
| 89.7 KCMF | 2,700 (A) | Classical | |
| Grand Marais | 89.7 WLSN | 6,000 (C3) | News |
| 88.7 WMLS | 6,000 (C3) | Classical | |
| Thief River Falls/Grand Forks, ND | 102.7 KNTN | 100,000 (C1) | News |
| 91.5 KQMN | 84,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| Grand Rapids | 107.3 K297AD (WSCN) | 250 (D) | News |
| 104.1 K281AB (KCRB) | 250 (D) | Classical | |
| Hibbing-Virginia | 92.5 WIRN | 26,000 (C2) | News |
| 90.9 WIRR | 21,000 (C2) | Classical | |
| Hinckley | 93.1 W226AY (WSCN) 106.5 W293AV (KNOW) |
55 (D) | News |
| 104.5 K283AN (KSJN) | 55 (D) | Classical | |
| 97.5 W248AS (KCMP) | 55 (D) | The Current | |
| Houghton, MI | 91.1 WGGL-FM | 100,000 (C1) | Mixed news/classical |
| 92.7 W224AO (WGGL) | 20 (D) | Mixed news/classical | |
| International Falls | 88.1 K201CN (KNBJ) | 7 (D) | News |
| 97.7 K249BK (KCRB) | 8 (D) | Classical | |
| La Crosse-La Crescent | 91.1 KXLC | 230 (A) | News |
| 88.1 K201BW (KLSE) | 18 (D) | Classical | |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | 91.1 KNOW | 100,000 (C) | News |
| 99.5 KSJN | 100,000 (C) | Classical | |
| 89.3 KCMP | 100,000 (C1) | The Current | |
| Owatonna | 103.9 K280EC (KNGA) | 205 (D) | News |
| 105.7 K289AE (KGAC) | 170 (D) | Classical | |
| Rochester | 90.7 KZSE | 1,100 (C3) | News |
| 91.7 KLSE | 94,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| 88.7 KMSE | 250 (A) | The Current | |
| Roseau | 100.7 K264AR (KNTN) | 250 (D) | News |
| 90.9 W215AI (KQMN) | 37 (D) | Classical | |
| Collegeville/St. Cloud | 88.9 KNSR | 100,000 (C1) | News |
| 90.1 KSJR | 100,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| St. Peter-Mankato | 91.5 KNGA | 8,500 (C2) | News |
| 90.5 KGAC | 75,000 (C1) | Classical | |
| Sioux Falls, SD | 88.1 KRSD | 2,000 (A) | Classical |
| Sun Valley, ID | 91.9 KWRV | 100 (A) | Classical |
| Winona | 107.3 K297AH (KZSE) | 95 (D) | News |
| 101.9 K270AB (KLSE) | 8 (D) | Classical | |
| Worthington-Marshall | 91.7 KNSW | 99,000 (C1) | News |
| 89.3 KRSW | 100,000 (C1) | Classical |
[edit] See also
- American Public Media
- Public Insight Journalism (a newsgathering and networking initiative founded by MPR)
- In the Loop (radio show)
- Independent Public Radio (another public radio network in Minnesota, also known as AMPERS)
[edit] External links
- Minnesota Public Radio Web site, including history and list of stations
- Minnewiki: The Minnesota Music Encyclopedia – Wiki operated by Minnesota Public Radio
- American Public Media website
[edit] References
- ^ MPR: Programs: The Current Rotation with Mark Wheat
- ^ Founding Minnesota Public Radio — Saint John's of Collegeville
- Terry Fiedler and Deborah Caulfield Rybak (October 24, 2004). MPR chief 'sings his own song' in creating a national powerhouse. Star Tribune. Accessed November 18, 2004.
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