Rev 105's demise has happened elsewhere too

douglas hanbury

unread,

Mar 19, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/19/97

to

Get used to it.

I'm in Des Moines, Iowa (that dead town):-) Anyway, we had a
station like Rev 105, called KFMG. It went under, i.e. it was sold
and became an ass-kicker Hard Rock station. That happened in 1996.
The sad fact was, that despite the loud fanfare and its loud local
fans, KFMG was just not making it. KFMG's actual shares were as low
as several of our low-killowatt AM stations, the ones that play
basketball games and do religion. Advertisers were deflecting, and
the market shares were just not there. A person at KFMG said that
they never were there, and at no time were they even in the black.

When KFMG demised (and it was sudden, with no announcement),there
were loud moans and complaints in all quarters. The hype and
yelling, at times, drowned out even such media-circuses as the O.J.
Simpson trial here! Our alternative paper "City View" squawked about
KFMG's demise for months. The Des Moines Register did likewise.
Letters-to-the-editors filled newspapers and columns for atleast
three months. It was a far bigger deal here (times 50) than the Gov.
of Minnesota's comments about Des Moines being "a dead town".

The people who lamented the loudest seemed to be female Yuppies,
various Diversity Types, and Journalism Types. The people who
welcomed the change were: males under 21, mostly.

So there are two sides to everything. I'm not under 21, and I can't
stand Hard Rock. However, I couldn't stand KFMG (or Rev-105) for
that matter, either. To me, much of alternative just sounds like Bar
Bands (atleast in my opinion), like something you'd get at a
roadhouse outside of Willmar on a Saturday night, when Rock is on the
venue.

I am more of a KDWB type of person: I like Top 40 and Dancey stuff.
But I suggest that you people roll with the changes, like they did in
Omaha when "The Cat" (THE BEST ALTERNATIVE STATION ON THIS PLANET,
BAR NONE) died in 1992, and changed to Country (yuck!). Accept it.
Sure, you can write your Congressman, picket the place, take off your
clothes and scream your lungs out on 7th & Hennepin, raise Holy hell
on the Net.............but in the end, it all amounts to only one
thing:

Dollars. Dinero. Moolah. Green. Master Card or Visa.

Can you put your money where your Net postings are? I rather doubt
it, actually.

KFMG wasn't making it because, well, I talked to some of the people
there in private about it. It seems that their actual demographics
were "Adults, age 45-54". In other words, burnt-out Woodstock types.
Their ads were aimed at these geezers, and although many young
people listened, in actuality they listened to 3 or 4 other stations
as well.

I suspect that even though Rev-105 aims for a younger audience, the
sad fact is that alot of those same burnt-out Woodstock Era types
were the ones who did the most listening.

Alot of U students might've listened also, but the dollars are not in
Dinkytown and West Bank: they're in Apple Valley, Eden Prairie, and
Plymouth. And where those suburban dollars are, are suburban
teen-aged kids (males), who work part-time at Red Owl and have more
economic say than do Art of Psych Majors in near-south Minneapolis.
One bagger at SuperValu speaks louder, economically, than ten grad
students do grading papers.

The "chattering classes" do miss Rev-105, but the "buying classes"
want something else.

That, then, leaves the other age group who likes Rev-105: the older
crowd. Marketers generally ignore all those over 45, because
"They're too set in their ways to change brands". That leaves, then,
marketing to those under 45, i.e.: the prime age group for buying
things, adults 25-45,along with teen-aged males (because many of them
work part-time).

And what do adults 25-45 like? Well, marketers seem to think that:

the women like Pop
the men like Hard Rock and Talk Radio

Hence the change. Unless you can show the people at Rev-105 that
you're willing to buy a Lexus, along with your Smashing Pumpkins,
Seed, and Marilyn Manson CD's, you stand less chance than a palm tree
in Fridley.

So, as I say, you can do one of two things:

1. get used to it
2. move (but not to Des Moines; all we have are Adult Standards).
Actually, we have one "alternative station", but it is very Top 40,
and it's their Alanis Morrissette and Madonna selections that keep
them afloat, sorry to say.

-----------Dougg...@msn.com and SixFi...@aol.com

Will Vervair

unread,

Mar 19, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/19/97

to

CARRIER LOST (dr...@visi.com) wrote:
: Aliens and the CIA forced douglas hanbury (dougg...@msn.com) to write:
: > Get used to it.
:
: kook.

Pot, Kettle, Black. :-)

Seen any black helocopters this week?

--
Will Vervair
Personal email to wi...@visi.com
Finger for PGP key

DEMesserly

unread,

Mar 19, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/19/97

to

In article <00004137...@msn.com>, dougg...@msn.com (douglas
hanbury) wrote:

> Get used to it.

...

> The people who lamented the loudest seemed to be female Yuppies,
> various Diversity Types, and Journalism Types. The people who
> welcomed the change were: males under 21, mostly.
>
> So there are two sides to everything. I'm not under 21, and I can't
> stand Hard Rock. However, I couldn't stand KFMG (or Rev-105) for
> that matter, either. To me, much of alternative just sounds like Bar
> Bands (atleast in my opinion), like something you'd get at a
> roadhouse outside of Willmar on a Saturday night, when Rock is on the
> venue.
>
> I am more of a KDWB type of person: I like Top 40 and Dancey stuff.
> But I suggest that you people roll with the changes, like they did in
> Omaha when "The Cat" (THE BEST ALTERNATIVE STATION ON THIS PLANET,
> BAR NONE) died in 1992, and changed to Country (yuck!). Accept it.
> Sure, you can write your Congressman, picket the place, take off your
> clothes and scream your lungs out on 7th & Hennepin, raise Holy hell
> on the Net.............but in the end, it all amounts to only one
> thing:
>
> Dollars. Dinero. Moolah. Green. Master Card or Visa.
>
> Can you put your money where your Net postings are? I rather doubt
> it, actually.
>

I was almost willing to forgive the fact that you are unable to verbalize
yourself beyond stereotypes ("female Yuppies, various Diversity Types, and
Journalism Types") and that you are so obviously full of your own
mock-insightfulness, until you mentioned that you are a KDWB fan, at which
point I realized that you are part of the problem, and are therefore unable
and probably unwilling to understand all the real issues surrounding
REV105's demise.

Perhaps it's because I'm part of the large audience of REV105 listeners who
are professional and educated people with significant household incomes
that I disagree with your overall premise ... but geeeeez, I'd give it all
up for 'adult standards'. You sad fool .....

Steve Sheldon

unread,

Mar 20, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/20/97

to

On 19 Mar 97 00:49:37 -0800, dougg...@msn.com (douglas hanbury)
wrote:

>KFMG wasn't making it because, well, I talked to some of the people
>there in private about it. It seems that their actual demographics
>were "Adults, age 45-54". In other words, burnt-out Woodstock types.
> Their ads were aimed at these geezers, and although many young
>people listened, in actuality they listened to 3 or 4 other stations
>as well.

I actually listened to KFMG occasionally while I was living in Iowa.
I must have moved out of Iowa before KFMG disappeared, but I was there
when 107.5 appeared, which I think it closer to REV-105 in content.
KGGO is actually a cross between our EDGE and KQRS, and is the most
popular station in Des Moines.

KFMG was around for quite a while, I recall starting to listen to it
back in 1987 or so. It was fairly decent at times, they played some
good jazz and blues, etc.

DaVinci

unread,

Mar 21, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/21/97

to

douglas hanbury wrote:
>
> Get used to it.

no, I personaly, won't stand for Disney to crush are music, yes, are
music, they played local music, will anyone commerical do that... no!
you putz!

I personaly think that there are to many people out there like you,
programed not to care, not to make waves. What are country needs is
waves to wake up the american public, think about this, this is one,
small station, and just because there ratings went up a point last
quarter, they bought them... Is this right.... Its like the Starbucks
chains buying out small coffee shops because they have style.

Not only that, but if i remember right the radio waves are ours... am i
not correct???

for more info on what you/we can do goto http://radparker.com/radio
visit, read, post, activate your self!

David Bryan
aka DaVinci

Matthew J. Frahm

unread,

Mar 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/22/97

to

she...@visi.com (Steve Sheldon) writes:

>On Fri, 21 Mar 1997 23:28:11 -0600, DaVinci <vide...@visi.com> wrote:

>>no, I personaly, won't stand for Disney to crush are music, yes, are
>>music, they played local music, will anyone commerical do that... no!
>>you putz!

> Soul Asylum, Husker Du, Replacements, Prince

> I know at least Soul Asylum and Prince still get air time on
>commercial stations occasionally. :)

Yabut I haven't heard anything off _The Gold Experience_ on the radio.
What's up with that? (Ok... I think I did hear something off of
Emancipation... but only one song)

> I'm sure there are other local bands that have hit the big time as
>well. :)

>>I personaly think that there are to many people out there like you,
>>programed not to care, not to make waves. What are country needs is
>>waves to wake up the american public, think about this, this is one,
>>small station, and just because there ratings went up a point last
>>quarter, they bought them... Is this right.... Its like the Starbucks
>>chains buying out small coffee shops because they have style.

> You will be assimilated, resistance is futile.

>>Not only that, but if i remember right the radio waves are ours... am i
>>not correct???

> To some extent, they are regulated by the FCC.

>>for more info on what you/we can do goto http://radparker.com/radio
>>visit, read, post, activate your self!

> Heh
>
--
Matthew J. Frahm____________________________mailto:mfr...@visi.com
Stillwater, Minnesota / Winona, Minnesota http://www.visi.com/~mfrahm/

Steve Sheldon

unread,

Mar 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/22/97

to

On Fri, 21 Mar 1997 23:28:11 -0600, DaVinci <vide...@visi.com> wrote:

>no, I personaly, won't stand for Disney to crush are music, yes, are
>music, they played local music, will anyone commerical do that... no!
>you putz!

Soul Asylum, Husker Du, Replacements, Prince

I know at least Soul Asylum and Prince still get air time on
commercial stations occasionally. :)

I'm sure there are other local bands that have hit the big time as

Charles Robinson

unread,

Mar 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/24/97

to

Steve Sheldon (she...@visi.com) wrote:
:
: Soul Asylum, Husker Du, Replacements, Prince

:
: I know at least Soul Asylum and Prince still get air time on
: commercial stations occasionally. :)
:
: I'm sure there are other local bands that have hit the big time as
: well. :)

That's just it... only "local bands that have hit the big time" get local
airplay now. Where are you going to hear the latest local "not yet
big-time" music? You probably aren't.

I agree that all this net-activism doesn't seem destined to change much,
but you can't fault people for trying. For now I'm avoiding anything with
a Disney tinge to it (harder and harder to do these days!) as my own
personal protest..

-Charles

--
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+
| Charles Robinson Mpls, Minnesota | "You can't have everything... |
| email: char...@visi.com | where would you put it?" |
| http://www.visi.com/~charlesr | |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+

Highgrove CU

unread,

Mar 26, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/26/97

to

Charles Robinson wrote:
>
> Steve Sheldon (she...@visi.com) wrote:
> :
> : Soul Asylum, Husker Du, Replacements, Prince
> :
> : I know at least Soul Asylum and Prince still get air time on
> : commercial stations occasionally. :)
> :
> : I'm sure there are other local bands that have hit the big time as
> : well. :)
>
> That's just it... only "local bands that have hit the big time" get local
> airplay now. Where are you going to hear the latest local "not yet
> big-time" music? You probably aren't.
>
> I agree that all this net-activism doesn't seem destined to change much,
> but you can't fault people for trying. For now I'm avoiding anything with
> a Disney tinge to it (harder and harder to do these days!) as my own
> personal protest..
>
> -Charles

Where are you going to hear the latest "not-yet-bigtime" local music?
Where you've ALWAYS heard it (or apparently not...) - on community
radio,
namely Radio K and KFAI. Including the latest Prince.