Jon McTaggart has been named the new president and chief executive officer of American Public Media Group, the parent company of Minnesota Public Radio and its program distribution arm, American Public Media.
McTaggart, 50, joined the company in 1983; he will be only the second CEO of MPR in its 44-year history. He succeeds founder and CEO Bill Kling on July 1.
McTaggart is APMG’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. APMG Chairman Randy Hogan made the announcement along with Ian Friendly, chair of the board’s succession committee and COO of U.S. retail for General Mills.
Kling announced last year he would step down as head of St. Paul-based MPR, the organization that grew from a single classical music station that Kling started in Collegeville, Minn., in 1967.
MPR is now a 42-radio station network. Its distribution arm, American Public Media, produces and distributes programs like “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Marketplace.” APMG also is the parent of Southern California Public Radio in Los Angeles and Classical South Florida in Miami, the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul and the Greenspring Company in Minneapolis, which publishes Minnesota Monthly.
