Minnesota Public Radio Buys ‘Marketplace’

Minnesota Public Radio, which took over operation of Pasadena station KPCC-FM (89.3) in January, is announcing today the acquisition from KUSC-FM (91.5) of Marketplace Productions--producers of the signature “Marketplace,” public radio’s highly successful show about business, finance and the global economy.

According to Bill Kling, president of MPR, the acquisition is part of its plan to establish Los Angeles as a new creative center for the development of public radio programming.

In addition to “Marketplace,” the 11-year-old half-hour weeknight show hosted by David Brancaccio, the company produces its spinoff, the “Marketplace Morning Report” with Cheryl Glaser, and “The Savvy Traveler,” the 3-year-old weekend magazine hosted by Rudy Maxa. These programs reach 3.7 million weekly listeners on more than 290 public stations.

To oversee program development, Kling has named Jim Russell, 54, vice president and general manager of Marketplace Productions and whom he has known for nearly 30 years, as senior vice president for national production for MPR. Russell’s operation will eventually be based in new studios on Bunker Hill.

“I want the doors to be open to the creative community,” Kling said in an interview from headquarters in St. Paul. “I want Marketplace Productions under Jim Russell’s leadership to be a hothouse to incubate new ideas based on Los Angeles talent, cultural resources, ideas.”

He allowed that the production company’s name might evolve into something like Los Angeles Public Radio Productions.

Russell, a broadcasting and journalism veteran whose public radio career began as executive producer of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” in 1971, called the change “a terrific opportunity. Obviously the first mandate is to make sure that ‘Marketplace’ and ‘Savvy Traveler’ continue to prosper and to grow. But the main reason in doing this was developing programs that tap into L.A. resources and have a Western sensibility.”

The amount of the sale is being withheld at the request of USC, both parties said.

Martha Harris, president of USC Radio and vice president of public relations for the university, said that, after intensive study, the university determined it could not meet the production company’s needs in terms of technological changes or competition for talent. “We decided it was time for [them] to be in an environment where the production of national programming for public radio is the central mission of the organization. MPR has the resources and expertise to invest in Marketplace Productions. We believe this will secure Marketplace Productions over the long term and better serve our international audience.”

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Meanwhile, KUSC General Manager Brenda Pennell said that by May, the station will have dropped all three programs, including “Marketplace.” The decision, she said, was solely KUSC’s. While not immediately disclosing what would replace the shows, she noted that the change would allow the station, which is operated by USC, to focus on its classical niche.

Still, “Marketplace” will continue to be carried widely in the Southland--on KCRW-FM (89.9) at 2 p.m.; on KPCC at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.; and on Cal State Northridge’s KCSN-FM (88.5) Monday-Thursday at 6:30 p.m. “Savvy Traveler” will now be heard only on KPCC Saturday at 11 a.m. (repeated Sunday at 6 p.m.). The “Morning Report” segment--on KPCC at 4:50, 5:50 and 6:50 a.m.--is duplicated in part on KCSN at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.

With a budget of nearly $6 million and a current staff of 35, Marketplace Productions will receive up to another $2 million from MPR in the coming year. A lease for new studios is expected to be signed by the end of the week, and construction on a new all-digital facility downtown will begin. Until completion in about six months, Marketplace will stay at USC. Harris said that, as part of the deal, USC required that the company be located within five miles of the campus. “We want to have an ongoing relationship with Marketplace through the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the USC Marshall School of Business,” she said.

The purchase strengthens the L.A. presence for MPR, which has already allocated an additional $1.9 million in start-up money for KPCC’s transformation into a news and talk outlet, which has drawn a mixed reaction from Los Angeles listeners. In its initial deal with licensee Pasadena City College, MPR agreed to kick in another $15.7 million over the next five years.

Kling noted the acquisition is part of the network’s long-term strategy to strengthen the core Marketplace programming as well as development of all sorts of national programming, from drama to the arts to issues talk, producing content for public radio as well as the Internet.

Moreover, there would be synergy with KPCC. The station, which recently adjusted its transmitter to improve its signal, would become the outlet through which new programming is initially heard, Kling said. “When you take a program from zero to national, you always try it out and work on it. . . . You hear so much out of New York--the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Philharmonic--and yet the talent base [here] is as strong, if not stronger, than anywhere in the country.”

As for “Marketplace,” Russell envisions a weekend version with callers, as well as expanded bureaus in Japan and London, and by next year a new bureau in Beijing. “Marketplace” has seven domestic bureaus including Los Angeles and the two foreign bureaus.

With its trio of acquisitions, MPR now produces 14 national public radio programs--including “A Prairie Home Companion,” “St. Paul Sunday” and “American RadioWorks,” co-produced with National Public Radio. It is the largest public radio network producer of nationally distributed programs.