Right, wrong or indifferent, I am not a fan of corporate people running small town businesses.
You know the type. The outsiders that believe they can run a railroad, bank, convenience store or newspaper better than the local folks.
Gee, even radio stations.
Part of the reason I left KCOW Radio ten years ago was that too many decisions were being made by outsiders concerning KCOW’s programming.
Including its music.
If I was going to work for a company that treated me like they were the government, then I may as well work for the government.
I really don’t care what type of music the Kansas people want to program on Double Q Country (97.5 FM and 105.9 FM). And if they want to program skull-cracking music that pollutes the airwaves via 94.7 FM, fine. But leave small town KCOW’s music programming up the local people who live here and understand the pulse of the community.
So, I drafted the following letter and submitted it to the big boys and girls who run the show in Hays, Kansas.
Eagle Communications
Corporate Offices
2703 Hall Street
Hays, KS 67601
March 2, 2024
To Whom It May Concern:
Please find enclosed a copy a story I wrote for the Alliance Times-Herald newspaper saluting KCOW Radio in Alliance, NE on their 75th anniversary.
Read it well, because I no longer can offer positive words about this radio station.
Well, I will take that back, I admire the hard work and creativity of Jason Wentworth and the rest of the staff – from general manager Olivia to their newest employee, whomever that may be.
However, the Eagle Communications programming personnel, whoever they may be and wherever they may be from (I know that they are not in Alliance, NE) leave a lot to be desired.
It has become obvious to me, that whoever has shoved the music programming down the throat of Jason Wentworth, does not understand the culture of Alliance and Box Butte County, Nebraska.
Simply put, the music programmed on KCOW radio resembles music that which should be targeted to an audience on North 24th Street in Omaha or the Bronzeville district of south Chicago.
You know who I am talking about.
It blows my mind that for six weeks I enjoy KCOW’s Reindeer Radio with wonderful music offered by the Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Barry Manilow, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Amy Grant, Taylor Swift and many others, and then when Reindeer Radio ends the north Omaha and south Chicago music reappears.
Please review the enclosed demographics sheet I downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau. Box Butte County has a MEDIAN age of nearly 41. Its potential radio audience is dominated by people aged 40 and over.
89.5 percent of our population is white.
I have lived in Alliance for 38 years. 24 years were spent with KCOW, mostly in news. I am approaching 65 years of age. My current job as the Box Butte County Clerk of the District Court offers the chance to see dozens of people every day. And I hear their loud complaints about KCOW’s music. When they criticize the KCOW employees, I am quick to remind them that programming decisions no longer are made by the local staff, but by out-of-touch corporate people in some other town.
Please reconsider your music programming options for KCOW.
I miss my radio station. In early February, due to continued technical issues with local basketball broadcasts and the unfavorable music, I shut the switch off.
I now listen to music provided by internet services, or I listen to classic country offered by KSDZ radio in nearby Gordon, NE. Many mornings I also tune to KFAB radio in Omaha via my cell phone.
Eagle Communications can do better for the listeners of KCOW radio in Alliance, Nebraska.
Right now, YOU are failing US miserably.
Kevin Horn
As of this writing, I have not received a response.
If you agree or disagree with me, you can share your feelings with a letter to Eagle Communications at the above address.