American Public Media (APM) is an American nonprofit company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second-largest producer of national public radio programming after NPR. Founded in August 2004 and headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, it is best known for producing and distributing the national financial news program Marketplace. Its nonprofit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota and California under the Minnesota Public Radio and Southern California Public Radio brands.
Founding and Origins
American Public Media was launched in August 2004 as the national production and distribution arm of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). According to MPR's own history, the new arm was created "to better serve audiences across the country and to better reflect its place as the industry's second-largest producer of national programming," with its programs heard on some 700 stations at launch. APM was founded in Collegeville, Minnesota, and is headquartered in Saint Paul.
The creation of APM marked a decisive break with Public Radio International (PRI). Much of MPR's national programming had previously been distributed through PRI, which had itself been named American Public Radio (APR) until July 1, 1994. APR had been formed in 1983 by four stations — the Minnesota Public Radio network, WGBH in Boston, WNYC in New York, and KUSC in Los Angeles — chiefly to distribute A Prairie Home Companion. Relations cooled after MPR lost a partnership with WGBH to produce the global news program The World, and after MPR acquired Marketplace and moved to distribute it through its own channels. APM became the third national radio network to receive founding support from MPR.
Corporate Structure and Parent Organization
American Public Media is the production and distribution division of the nonprofit American Public Media Group, which also owns Minnesota Public Radio and Southern California Public Radio (SCPR). The group employs roughly 477 people. MPR, the group's founding station operation, traces its roots to 1967 and operates a statewide network in Minnesota with three program services: news and information, classical music, and The Current, a music service launched in 2005.
Southern California Public Radio was established in 2000, when American Public Media Group entered a public service operating agreement to run 89.3 KPCC in Pasadena, California, as a professional news and information station serving the Los Angeles region. Until July 2015, the group also operated Classical South Florida, which was sold to the Educational Media Foundation.
Marketplace: The Flagship Program
APM is best known as the producer and distributor of Marketplace, the daily national program covering business and economic news. Marketplace was created in 1989 at the University of Southern California's radio station and acquired by Minnesota Public Radio in 2000; the acquisition was the subject of a lawsuit by PRI, which said it had not approved the sale as required. Since 2005 the program has been hosted by Kai Ryssdal, following earlier host David Brancaccio.
Marketplace reaches upwards of 12 million listeners, with an audience whose average household income was reported at $101,000 as of 2014. The program is produced from APM's Frank Stanton Studios in Los Angeles. Its companion, the Marketplace Morning Report, is a seven-and-a-half-minute business news segment — hosted by David Brancaccio since 2013 — that replaces the business segment of NPR's Morning Edition on subscribing stations. Because of the segment's popularity, NPR struck a deal with APM to incorporate it into the second hour of Morning Edition for all listeners.
Other Programs and Podcasts
Beyond Marketplace, APM produces and distributes a roster of nationally heard programs. A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor's long-running variety show, was distributed by APM for years before ending its original run. Other APM-distributed programs have included The Splendid Table, On Being, American Routes, Performance Today, Pipedreams, Saying It In Song, and seasonal specials including Christmas programming and the BBC Proms broadcasts from Royal Albert Hall in London.
In contrast to PRI, which distributed programming from many outside sources, APM has predominantly distributed content it owns and produces itself. Exceptions have included the distribution of the BBC World Service to U.S. stations and The Story with Dick Gordon, which ended production in October 2013. The Marketplace brand has also generated podcasts including Make Me Smart, The Uncertain Hour, This Is Uncomfortable, Million Bazillion, and How We Survive. The money-advice program Sound Money was renamed Marketplace Money in 2005, replaced by Marketplace Weekend in 2014, which was cancelled in 2018.
Reach and Distribution
At its founding, APM's programs were heard on about 700 stations across the country. The organization distributes programming via the Public Radio Satellite System, managed by NPR, which carries content from multiple national producers. APM's national shows air on hundreds of public radio stations, and its digital platforms — including americanpublicmedia.org and marketplace.org — extend its journalism to online and podcast audiences.
The group's station brands give it a direct broadcast footprint in two of the country's largest markets: Minnesota Public Radio's statewide Minnesota network and Southern California Public Radio's KPCC serving Los Angeles. This combination of station ownership and national program production is unusual in public media and gives APM both a laboratory for programming and a guaranteed carriage base.
Funding and Business Model
As a nonprofit, American Public Media is funded through a mix of station carriage fees, corporate underwriting, foundation grants, and individual philanthropy. Its parent organization built a substantial endowment in part from the 1998 sale of the Rivertown Trading Company to the Dayton Hudson Corporation, which established what MPR described as a major permanent endowment. The group's capital campaigns have funded expanded headquarters and programming initiatives.
APM's station operations receive listener contributions through on-air fund drives, a staple of American public radio. Like NPR, the group's stations historically received federal support indirectly through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a funding stream that Congress rescinded in 2025, prompting public media organizations nationwide to seek replacement revenue.
Journalism and Editorial Standards
APM's news programming, particularly Marketplace and Minnesota Public Radio News, operates under standard public media editorial guidelines emphasizing accuracy, fairness, and independence from funders. Minnesota Public Radio's newsroom has won top honors in broadcast journalism, including a duPont-Columbia Gold Baton — broadcast journalism's highest honor — for a documentary on Bosnian Serb war crimes in 2001, the organization's first such award.
Marketplace's approach to economic journalism is deliberately accessible: the program explains markets, policy, and personal finance in plain language, a style that has earned it a loyal audience among listeners who do not follow business news elsewhere. Its reporters cover beats including trade, labor, technology, and the Federal Reserve from bureaus in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, and London.
Relationship With Other Public Media Networks
APM occupies a distinctive position alongside NPR and PRX as one of the three national distributors of public radio programming. While NPR is a membership organization owned by stations, APM is a station-based producer owned by a single nonprofit group — a structure more akin to a commercial network affiliate model, but nonprofit and mission-driven. Its split from PRI in 2004 reshaped the industry's distribution landscape, and the 2018 merger of PRI with PRX further consolidated the field.
Competition among the networks is generally collegial but real: stations choose which distributors' programs to carry, and carriage fees are a significant revenue source. APM's strength in business and economic programming gives it a niche that neither NPR nor PRX duplicates at the same scale.
Awards and Recognition
Programs produced and distributed by American Public Media have won numerous national honors. Minnesota Public Radio News has received duPont-Columbia awards, Peabody Awards, and Edward R. Murrow Awards. Marketplace has been honored with Peabody, duPont-Columbia, and Gerald Loeb awards for distinguished business journalism. The organization's classical music programming, including Performance Today and Pipedreams, has also earned national recognition.
Contact and Access
American Public Media is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with Marketplace produced from its Frank Stanton Studios in Los Angeles. Its programming is available through hundreds of public radio stations nationwide, at americanpublicmedia.org and marketplace.org, and on all major podcast platforms. The parent organization, American Public Media Group, also operates Minnesota Public Radio (mpr.org) and Southern California Public Radio's KPCC (laist.com).
