A History Lesson
Perhaps this is a long overdue answer to this question, so here goes.
I’ve seen suggestion around here on RI a few times that says KEOM should allow the students to pick the music, and to let them play Rock (or whatever). I suspect that the few people who have suggested this, are not fully aware that in KEOM’s early days, there was a time when this was allowed. The program was called the Student Triple Take, and essentially for half hour blocks on Friday afternoon, each of the three high schools had a couple of students who basically delivered school news about their school and played (more or less) whatever music they wanted.
In those days KEOM was only broadcasting with an ERP of 3 kW, so the coverage area was quite small. However, moving to the current tower brought many changes. One of the most important changes was the increase in ERP power to 61 kW. Thus KEOM’s coverage area increased and KEOM could be heard over much of Dallas County (roughly 60 to 80 miles North, East and South of the tower… somewhat less coverage to the West, to protect 88.7 FM).
Since KEOM’s coverage area increased, it was felt that the station needed a more consistent format. Among other things this meant eliminating dayparted programming such as the Student Triple Take. This was a change executed well over 10 years ago, and personally I don’t think that type of free-form programming will ever return. Suffice it to say, been there, done that.
As was noted in a few threads below, Mesquite ISD is the license holder of KEOM. The target audience is primarily parents of students in the district. KEOM began and still remains a “Community Service” station. Dr. Ralph Poteet envisioned KEOM as being a way to communicate Mesquite ISD related information to the city, and that’s what KEOM does. History buffs may recall one of the original slogans, “Voice of the Mesquite Schools and Community”.
KEOM is a Community Service station, not a small time College FM’er meant for free-form programming. KEOM teaches the students “what to expect” in commercial radio. Granted I don’t like the fact that commercial radio is liner card reader driven anymore than the rest of you. But that is the reality of radio today.
There is a lot of behind the scenes instruction given to the students, in addition to basic board operator skills. They write and produce quite a bit of material, they learn about broadcast journalism, they study FCC rules and now with a Radio II class some of them will even learn about and become involved with other areas such as Sports Reporting and General Station Programming.
So yes, KEOM is a very hands-on learning laboratory for the students. But the students are not the target demo. Their parents are. Besides, the music on KEOM is meant to serve as a hook to keep people tuned in between the Community Service programming, which is and will always be KEOM’s first priority.
I know some of you want a rock station in DFW. But I highly doubt KEOM’s target demo (let alone the MISD School Board) wants that. Yes, I personally agree the music format needs to evolve. Yes, I agree Jack, Sunny, et al are likely chipping away some of our target demo. But Jack, Sunny, et al do not emphasis Community Service. I hear so many people say that K104’s success revolves around the Dallas Community. Even though it’s non-commercial, KEOM does the exact same thing for Mesquite.
R
> Caller than requested some indie rock on the weekends and
> breaks from the students that they didn't have to read
> first. Caller was also puzzled why a high school station
> plays 70's cheese that predates it's student body by 30
> years.
>
> Don't get me wrong...KEOM was great, before it's format
> could be heard on 4 or so commercial stations.
