American Public Media seeks to reassure member stations

A Prairie Home Companion is not just a big money-maker for Minnesota Public Radio; MPR's parent company American Public Media sells the show to public radio stations across the country. In turn, those stations use the show to draw in listeners, and garner both membership and underwriting support.

So as soon as word hit that Garrison Keillor is proposing "spring 2013" as his retirement date, American Public Media reached out to its many clients with the following message:

Hello Colleagues,

You may have seen today an AARP online interview regarding Garrison's new book "Good Poems: American Places". In it, Garrison discusses his future and retirement in two years:

http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/books/info-03-2011/author-speaks-garrison-keillor.1.html

Garrison has been open in talking about his own future and in working out ways for A Prairie Home Companion to continue for many years to come. Both Garrison Keillor and APM are very committed to the success of the program now and to planning and preparing for the next phase of APHC. APM is supportive of Garrison's plans for the program in the near and longer term and we will keep stations informed as planning unfolds. We know this is important to you. APHC is continuing in its present form for the foreseeable future.

Stay tuned - soon I'll have one radio station manager's response to the situation.

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