(St. Paul, Minn.) July 29, 2004 - American Public Media, the nation's second-largest producer of national public radio programs, announced today that it has agreed to supply a package of programs to XM Public Radio, a new channel that will be launched by XM Satellite Radio on September 1.

The package will include the following American Public Media programs:

• Two Garrison Keillor productions -- The Writer's Almanac, a daily five-minute program of poetry and history, and Pop Vultures, a weekly half-hour program that focuses on the pop music scene.
• Speaking of Faith, a weekly hour-long program that is public radio's premiere national conversation about belief, meaning, ethics and ideas.
• Reports from American RadioWorks, American Public Media's national documentary unit.
• Future Tense, a daily five-minute "journal of the digital age."
• American Mavericks, a 13-part series on musical innovation in the 20th century, hosted by Suzanne Vega.
• Composers Datebook, a daily two-minute program about composers of the past and present.

American Public Media has also agreed to supply:

• Air Talk, a daily talk show produced by Los Angeles station KPCC, which is operated by Southern California Public Radio.
• As It Happens, a daily hour-long news and interview program produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and distributed by American Public Media in the United States.

"American Public Media is committed to ensuring public radio listeners can enjoy their favorite programs on multiple media platforms, including terrestrial radio stations, the Internet and satellite radio, " said Jon McTaggart, American Public Media chief operating officer. "With more than 2.1 million current subscribers, XM Radio is one of the nation's fastest-growing entertainment media. This relationship will offer an additional option for current listeners and present some of the best of public radio programming to new audiences."

The new XM channel will also include programming from Public Radio International and WBUR, including This American Life, Whad'Ya Know?, On Point and Only a Game. It will also feature a new morning interview program hosted by Bob Edwards.

Detailed information about XM Public Radio is available on XM's Web site.

American Public Media(tm) is the national production and distribution arm of Minnesota Public Radio. It is the nation's second-biggest producer of national public radio programs, reaching 11.9 million listeners nationwide each week. National programs include A Prairie Home Companion®, Saint Paul Sunday®, Marketplace®, Sound Money®, The Splendid Table®, Speaking of Faith® and special reports produced by its national documentary unit, American RadioWorks®. Minnesota Public Radio, along with its sister company Southern California Public Radio, belongs to a larger family of companies within American Public Media Group, a national nonprofit organization whose purpose is to develop resources, services and systems to support public media for public service. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be obtained at www.americanpublicradio.org.

XM is America's #1 satellite radio service with more than 2.1 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, D.C., New York City and Nashville, Tenn., at the Country Music Hall of Fame, XM's 2004 lineup includes more than 120 digital channels offering music, sports, talk, comedy, children's and entertainment programming, as well as traffic and weather information for major metropolitan areas nationwide.

89.3 KPCC is the flagship station of Southern California Public Radio. In the past three years KPCC has won more awards for excellence in journalism than any other radio station in Southern California. KPCC is also the fastest-growing public radio station in the country, airing the signature public radio news and talk programs from NPR, along with Air Talk weekdays from 10 a.m.-noon, and Talk of the City with Kitty Felde weekdays from 2-3 p.m.