Marketplace (radio program)

Marketplace is an American radio program that focuses on business, the economy, and events that influence them. The program was first broadcast on January 2, 1989. Hosted by Kai Ryssdal since 2005, the show is produced and distributed by American Public Media. Marketplace is produced in Los Angeles with bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., Portland, Baltimore, London, and Shanghai. It won a Peabody Award in 2000.

Besides the flagship daytime half-hour program, Marketplace also produces a companion show, the seven-and-a-half-minute-long Marketplace Morning Report, hosted by David Brancaccio, which airs on many public radio stations during the last segment of the NPR program Morning Edition. The Marketplace team produces a number of podcasts, including Make Me Smart, This Is Uncomfortable, The Uncertain Hour, How We Survive, and Million Bazillion, as well as podcast versions of the radio broadcast and extended podcasts built around regular segments from the radio show.

Marketplace was founded in 1989 by James Russell in Long Beach, California. It was initially affiliated with KLON-FM at Cal State—Long Beach and distributed by American Public Radio, later renamed Public Radio International. The show nearly ran out of funding its first year, which Russell described, saying, "We were within three days of laying off our small staff and closing down." The program survived through the help of the University of Southern California (USC), which acquired the show, and later, in 1990, with the underwriting of General Electric. USC became the only university in the U.S. at the time to produce a daily news program distributed nationally.

In 2000, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) acquired Marketplace Productions from USC. This acquisition was the subject of a lawsuit by Public Radio International, which said it had not given its contractually required approval for the sale.

In 2004, American Public Media was founded as the production and distribution arm of MPR, and is currently the producer and distributor of Marketplace.

As of 2014, Marketplace's programs reached upwards of 12 million listeners with an average income of $101,000.

The Marketplace Morning Report is a seven-minute, thirty-second broadcasts that replace the business news-oriented "E" segment of NPR's Morning Edition on subscribing public radio stations. The show has been hosted by David Brancaccio since 2013. There are seven feeds of the Marketplace Morning Report from 5:51:30 a.m. ET to 11:51:30 a.m. ET, updated as news develops.

Because of the popularity of the Marketplace Morning Report, NPR struck a deal with APM to incorporate the segment into the second hour of Morning Edition, bringing the segment to all listeners, even if the station doesn't subscribe to Marketplace.