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An Outsider's Review of Omaha Radio

A

amfmxm

Just got back from a family reunion in Omaha, my hometown. Am a "Sweet 98" grad (early 80's vintage), now managing a 6-station cluster on the East Coast. Hadn't been in O/CB in a decade, so was interested to hear how the radio dial had developed. Here are some quick observations:

KFAB--Solid local morning news act; too bad about all the plug-n-play network stuff.
KEZO, KXKT, KQCH--All sound very good, if not all that different from anywhere else
KQKQ--They've reinvented themselves nicely, even if all my relatives still call 'em "Sweet 98!"
KXSP--What the hell is wrong with these people? No wonder they have a 1 share! (With one of America's best AM signals)! With major surgery 590 can be a top 5 station in both Omaha & Lincoln. What a shame.
KOIL--A waste of great call-letters.

In a couple of decades, Omaha has gone from an under-radioed market to being one with a few too many sticks--and Three Eagles wants to squeeze KFRX into the mix? Crazy.
 
Gotta agree with you on various things...

KFAB, right on the money, same with Sweet..err...Q98-5 and 590/KOIL, both ultra sad there.

KEZO, solid, Kat Kountry, solid, KQCH (Channel)..okay, certainly not as good on a general basis as others in similar sized markets..but okay for O-town.

My family is there too, I've worked all over country as well, Sweet alum (later years), currently program Top 100...always interesting to hear fellow views from folks from other parts of the country.
 
rufus said:
KQCH (Channel)..okay, certainly not as good on a general basis as others in similar sized markets..but okay for O-town.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's what 3E hears that makes them think there's room for KFRX. In truth I just punched "Channel" up for a couple of breaks. Not my cup of tea--out of the demo, both age & gender (even though I've got a top-ranked CHR). They seemed to be playing the right music.

But I couldn't stop salivating over 590. You know, the "If I had MY hands on that baby" stuff. Maybe that's what happens when you've got 5 FM sticks--the AMs get lost, even if they're better properties...
 
KFRX sounds better than KQCH on many levels on a general basis, outside of the music..that could be interesting..

The waste of 590 is amazing and baffling..I believe you and I are among MANY that feel the same way...AM's sadly do get lost in the shuffle in many clusters!
 
Did about a minute-and-a-half on 'FRX back during the Tracy Johnson era and even then they sounded great. It's amazing that there's so much room on the FM dial--spacing requirements being what they are--that Three Eagles can move it as a full Class C fifty miles into a Top 100 market. As fast as Lincoln is growing, it would seem to make more sense to move it halfway (al la WLTQ) but I'm sure they have their reasons.

One more note regarding current Omaha sticks. Listened some to KIWR/River since one of my nieces is an alum, and it has to be the most blatantly illegal non-commercial licensee in the 88.1-91.9 band anywhere in America. Sounded pretty good, but there is NO way all those concert spots and promotional activity can be interpreted as anything but commercial. I gather that it's been going on for years and they've made a ton of money doing it--and probably scored a bunch of hallucinogenic swag from promoters along the way. But that bad boy at 89.7 is about as far from non-commercial as KFAB.
 
Wow..I also was at KFRX during the Tracy Johnson era too...small world!

About KIWR..REAL GOOD point there..I have to give Sophia John (PD) credit there for what they are able to accomplish as a "non-comm"...but a great point made there!
 
rufus said:
Wow..I also was at KFRX during the Tracy Johnson era too...small world!

About KIWR..REAL GOOD point there..I have to give Sophia John (PD) credit there for what they are able to accomplish as a "non-comm"...but a great point made there!
Click to expand...

Sweet 98/KFRX? Well, back then there weren't many places for us CHR-types to work! I just did a couple weekends in Lincoln til I snagged a gig away from the Corn Desert.

My niece had nice things to say about Sophia, too. I'm just concerned that nobody at Iowa Western has the vaguest understanding about the real differences between commercial & non-commercial licenses--and what is permissable & what is a major frigging violation.

My niece, for instance, thought that since they avoid a "call to action" (like "Come in today!") everything was hunky-dory, which is far from the case. Non-comms have to avoid ANY kind of language or activity falling into the realm of "qualitative, comparative or promotional" references to for-profit "underwriters." As an example, the very fact that they do PROMOTIONS for concerts, promoters & retailers--and they do a ton of them--could cost them that 100,000-watt FM license of theirs. Never mind the commercials they run.

If the rules were as loose as IWCC thinks they are, people would be doing this everywhere. They're not.

Probably the biggest risk is that one of those mega-religious outfits will turn them into the commission, then swoop in and grab the license. Out with "education." In with religion. Just what Omaha needs more of...
 
KIWR's been walking that line for close to 10 years now and crossing it for awhile now.

I'm really surprised that the religious types haven't turned them in already...go figure.
 
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