Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
In FY25, MPR continued to advance its public service mission through excellence in public media and played a unique role as a force multiplier of arts, music, culture, and history in our state. Here are examples across our three services. MPR News, YourClassical MPR, and The Current reached nearly 1M listeners each week. MPR News launched Reverb, an initiative to make news more approachable for 20– to 30-year-olds through multiplatform coverage. Carbon Sound reached 161,298 people on Instagram and gained 1,559 new followers. The Current hosted 10 summer Happy Hours across the state including one in Fargo/Moorhead. The Current’s total YouTube views were 20.1 million. YourClassical commissioned 30 pieces, 24 Justin Holland pieces for guitar were commissioned, and 177 stations across the country carried Justin Holland: The Guitar’s Black Pioneer. YourClassical’s Reclaiming the Sound Waves with Connor Chee had 180,800 listeners. In additional, MPR News received awards, including 2025 Gracie Allen Awards, 2025 Public Media Journalists Association Awards, 2025 Indigenous Journalists Association Indigenous Media Awards, among many others. The Current was featured in the Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Best of the Twin Cities list and voted best radios station.
Current Goals
Our initiatives in FY26 are the following to help us create the future of public media. We will prioritize: MPR will increase MPR brand awareness and increase statewide awareness to 66%; grow APMG’s digital audiences to 11 million users; Boost membership and add 110,000 Friends to the membership pipeline; Increase revenue and grow digital media revenue to $4.48 million and raise $67.7 million in campaign; Foster organizational culture develop talent through the promotion of inclusion, encouraging collaboration, and achieving 5+ in our Culture Health index; Invest in our future through the launch of Project Sparks.
Community or Constituency Served
MPR proudly serves a culturally rich and diverse state, reaching curious audiences seeking to be informed and inspired. Our programming strengthens communities, fosters dialogue, and celebrates the creativity and diversity that make Minnesota civic-minded and culturally vibrant. Each week, MPR connects with nearly 1 million listeners across 45 stations and 41 translators statewide through our core regional services: MPR News, YourClassical MPR, and The Current. We produce content for radio, digital platforms, and live audiences. Reaching global audiences and digitally connecting with our community, MPR’s web pages receive an average of 3 million monthly website visitors and there are 10.7 million monthly users across MPR | APM platforms. Additionally, MPR News’ Reverb team reaches younger audiences via TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. MPR also engages global audiences through our digital presence, with an average of 3 million monthly visitors to our web pages and 10.7 million users across MPR | APM platforms. Additionally, tens of thousands of Minnesotans connect with MPR at live events and forums, including the Minnesota State Fair, the Rock the Cradle family event at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Children’s Theatre Company, and various concerts, policy discussions, sing-alongs, and events throughout the state. Programs produced by MPR’s national programming brand, American Public Media (APM), reach more than 15 million listeners weekly via approximately 1,000 public radio stations and nearly 400 commercial stations nationwide each week. Among its portfolio are such public radio staples as the BBC World Service, Marketplace, The Splendid Table, and Performance Today. APM Studios offers a diverse array of podcasts featuring the best in food, culture, entertainment, business, and investigative journalism. Across these podcasts we have over 18 million downloads every month. APM is the largest producer and distributor of classical music programming in the country.
Geographic Area Served
MPR serves nearly all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states and operates a 45-station terrestrial radio network. MPR uses its network to deliver vital public services throughout the state, including maintaining the technical infrastructure for Minnesota’s Emergency Alert System (EAS), distributing Minnesota’s AMBER Alert System to all broadcasters in the state, and special signals for Radio Talking Book, a reading service for the blind and visually impaired. Our radio broadcast services are shared at no cost to the public through our vast network of stations. APM, MPR’s national programming brand, is the largest station-based public radio organization in the U.S., combining multi-regional station operations, national content creation and distribution in one organization.
