American Public Media(TM) and Chicago Public Radio(R) to Produce and Distribute 'The World's Only Rock 'n' Roll Talk Show'

American Public Media(TM) and Chicago Public Radio(R) to Produce and Distribute 'The World's Only Rock 'n' Roll Talk Show'

ST. PAUL, Minn., June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- American Public Media(TM) and Chicago Public Radio(R) today announced the production and planned September nationwide distribution of Sound Opinions(SM), a new program about contemporary music and its place in American culture. The program is produced in Chicago by Chicago Public Radio and co-produced and distributed by American Public Media. Sound Opinions airs now on Chicago Public Radio and on Minnesota Public Radio's The Current.

Billed as "the world's only rock 'n' roll talk show," Sound Opinions was created and is hosted by two of the nation's most influential music critics, Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune. Each week, DeRogatis and Kot debate the latest music, talk to artists, air live performances and deliver pop culture insights.

An earlier version of the program aired in Chicago for more than seven years at Infinity's adult rock station, commercial WXRT-FM.

"We're thrilled that a long-successful commercial radio show has made the big leap to public radio," said Torey Malatia, Chicago Public Radio's president and general manager. "Chicago is a creative capital known for its eclectic and innovative musicians and artists who work in a broad range of genres. Sound Opinions is steeped in this tradition and offers it all up in a sensibility that is unmistakably 'Chicago.' This is what makes the show so irresistible and so engaging for audiences."

"The program's audience is very broad and includes any and all who look to music as a major ingredient of our evolving culture," said Jim Russell, American Public Media's senior vice president and general manager of new program development.

"In a word, Sound Opinions rocks," said Sarah Lutman, American Public Media's senior vice president of content and media. "Chicago Public Radio launched a show with so much spunk and intelligence. We couldn't be happier for this opportunity to co-produce and distribute Sound Opinions."

For Chicago Public Radio, the managing producer of Sound Opinions is Todd Bachman, producer is Matt Spiegel and the executive producer is Torey Malatia. For American Public Media, the executive in charge is Jim Russell. Creative consultant is Steve Nelson, program director for The Current.

About the hosts

Jim DeRogatis has been the pop music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times since 1997. He has also worked as an editor at several music magazines, including Rolling Stone, and is the author of five books about rock 'n' roll, including Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic and Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips. People living in the Twin Cities will also remember DeRogatis as a former critic for the alternative weeklies Twin Cities Reader and City Pages.

Greg Kot is the pop music critic at the Chicago Tribune and the author of the acclaimed biography, Wilco: Learning How to Die. He has also contributed music criticism to numerous books and magazines, including the Encyclopedia Britannica, Rolling Stone and a dozen other national publications.

American Public Media(TM) is the nation's second-biggest producer of public radio programs, reaching 14.2 million listeners nationwide each week. National programs include A Prairie Home Companion(R), Weekend America(R), Saint Paul Sunday(R), Marketplace(R), Marketplace Money(R), The Splendid Table(R), Speaking of Faith(R) and special reports produced by its national documentary unit, American RadioWorks(R). American Public Media is the national production and distribution division of Minnesota Public Radio(R). 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 http://www.americanpublicmedia.org/ .

Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc. Arbitron data are estimates only. Spring 2005/Fall 2005 average

Chicago Public Radio is a community-supported, non-commercial public service broadcasting institution, broadcasting throughout Chicago and surrounding regions at WBEZ 91.5 FM Chicago, WBEQ 90.7 FM Morris and WBEW 89.5 FM Chesterton, Indiana. Each week, more than 600,000 listeners tune in to the station for eclectic and innovative programming, including Chicago Public Radio's original productions like This American Life, the Third Coast International Audio Festival, Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!(R), among others. From news and public affairs to music and arts, the station's distinctive selection of internationally, nationally and locally produced programs reflects the diversity of the community it serves. Chicago Public Radio is on the web at http://chicagopublicradio.org/ , streaming live webcasts and offering podcasts.

Source: American Public Media

CONTACT: Brad Robideau of American Public Media, +1-651-290-1113,
brobideau@americanpublicmedia.org , or Cindy Hansen of Chicago Public Radio,
+1-312-893-2950, chansen@chicagopublicradio.org

Web site: http://www.americanpublicmedia.org/
http://chicagopublicradio.org/

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