MPR parent company confirms sale of Florida stations

Minnesota Public Radio's parent company is selling a network of classical music stations in southern Florida to a nonprofit Christian broadcaster.

American Public Media Group confirmed Tuesday that it has agreed to sell WKCP in Miami, WPBI in West Palm Beach and WNPS in Naples to the Educational Media Foundation for $21.7 million. The pending sale and the price were first reported last week by Current, a public media trade newspaper that said it had acquired the purchase agreement.

The stations are expected to change over to a Christian contemporary format sometime this week, according to a statement from American Public Media Group. The sale needs approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

The company has been steadily losing money on the stations since it began to acquire them in 2008. APMG President and CEO Jon McTaggart said in a statement that the Classical South Florida stations had "not succeeded in providing the distinctive value that motivates a sustainable level of support."

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"We are proud of the classical music service we've provided to hundreds of thousands of South Floridians on FM radio," McTaggart said. "As audience expectations and needs have changed, along with changes in media technology and the music economy, it's clear we must change the ways we deliver and sustain our services."

The report last week in Current suggested that the sale price of the stations represented a loss of about $8 million for American Public Media Group.

APMG has subsidized the Florida stations at a cost of more than $1 million a year, a company spokesperson told MPR News last week, although she said no Minnesota Public Radio funds were used to prop up the stations.

Classical South Florida's president resigned in May and five other positions at the station were eliminated, according to a company spokesperson. Eight employees will be affected by the sale.

American Public Media Group was approached about the sale in mid-May, according to the company. The Educational Media Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company runs dozens of radio stations around the country through the K-Love and Air1 radio networks.