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American Public Media Group, formerly the Minnesota Communications Group, is the
non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
parent organization of
Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...
,
American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...
, and Southern California Public Radio. Jean Taylor is APMG's
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
.


History


Minnesota Communications Group

In the second quarter 1998, Minnesota Communications Group and Greenspring Company approved the sale of Greenspring's catalog sales business, Rivertown Trading, to
Dayton Hudson Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compo ...
for $120 million. $90 million of the sale price would go into MPR's endowment fund, which then totaled only $19 million. Greenspring President Bill Kling and two other top executives received $7.3 million of proceeds via a "value participation unit" plan. Rivertown Trading started with a Prairie Home Companion–inspired "Powder milk Biscuit" poster order form in 1981.


American Public Media Group

American Public Media Group sold Greenspring Media Group, a for-profit publishing company, to Hour Media LLC in July 2013 as Greenspring was losing money. On August 27, 2014, APMG launched its podcasting network, Infinite Guest, with 12 shows, three existing APM programs, a MPR Classical program, two independent podcasts and six new ones. It is now called APM Podcasts APMG began a series of radio station acquisition in Florida that ended up being its
Classical South Florida Classical South Florida was a radio network serving South Florida, owned by the American Public Media Group. Its stations carried classical music programming from American Public Media's Classical 24 service, as well as programs such as '' Performa ...
(CSF) station group costing $30 million which was mostly paid for using bonds. APMG purchased WKCP in 2007 from Trinity International Foundation for $20 million. From
Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Miami ...
in 2011, APMG purchased WPBI-FM in
West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
for $4 million. With in a year, Way Media sold WNPS-FM in Fort Myers to APMG for $4.3 million. The subsidiary was losing $1 million per year.
Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...
offered $21.7 million in May 2015 for the stations. A large number of CSF's board directors resigned at APMG's acceptance of the offer before consulting the CSF board and that other purchaser could have been found for the stations. The sale closed in July 2015 leaving APMG with $8 million in bond debt over the sale price. The classical music on CSF was moved online to YourClassical.org the week of July 14, 2015, with CSF ceasing broadcasting. Educational Media Foundation's Christian programming began broadcasting while awaiting
FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
approval.


Subsidiaries

The American Public Media Group operates several sub-organizations, including: *
Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), is a public radio network for the state of Minnesota. With its three services, News & Information, YourClassical MPR and The Current, MPR operates a 46-station regional radio network in the upper Midwest. MPR ha ...
(MPR), a
public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
network in
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
*
American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...
(APM), program producer and distributor * Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a
public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
network in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
* Public Radio Market, an
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
affiliate


Finances

American Public Media Group receives substantial financial support from the
Lumina Foundation Lumina Foundation is a private, Indianapolis-based foundation with about $1.4 billion in assets. Since its founding in August 2000, Lumina has made grants totaling more than $250 million. History Lumina Foundation is a conversion foundation crea ...
to provide coverage of education-related issues that are of interest to the Lumina Foundation and its frequent partner in education policy initiatives, the
Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...
. Critics have suggested that this funding may lead to biased coverage and have noted the Lumina Foundation's connections to the private student loan company Sallie Mae. Lumina-funding of the American Public Media Group is not always disclosed in education press coverage or in coverage of white papers, articles, or editorials by other Lumina or
Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...
grantees, such as the
New America Foundation New America, formerly the New America Foundation, is a think tank in the United States founded in 1999. It focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security studies, technology, asset building, health, gender, energy, educa ...
.Jennifer Ruark, "In the Foundation 'Echo Chamber'", The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 14, 2013
/ref> In 2004, the combined revenue of APMG and MPR was
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
84.9 million, making it the largest non-profit in Minnesota's arts and culture sector.


References


External links


American Public Media GroupPretty Good Goods CatalogPublic Radio Market
{{Authority control Public radio in the United States Companies based in Saint Paul, Minnesota