Media in Minneapolis-St. Paul - Radio

Radio

For decades, WCCO radio was the best-known and most popular broadcaster in the region, with an all-day talk format. WCCO was eventually pushed out of the top spot by KQRS, a classic rock station with a popular morning show. Non-commercial KTIS 98.5 has leaped onto the morning show scene with its clean (no raunch) Christian format. Recent ratings have put the KTIS morning show at number 2 with over 250,000 listeners, and the station is number 5 overall in the Twin Cities market. KSTP also has some fairly popular radio stations, with pop music format on FM and a talk format on AM. Both operate on clear channel frequencies, allowing their signals to be heard across much of North America. K102 is the major area country music outlet, and often appears at third place in local ratings. WLTE and KDWB are also among the area's top performers in the ratings books.

Radio K, on the other hand, is still largely an "AM daytimer" and must shut down at night to make way for two other stations situated in New York and New Mexico. However, the station is believed to be the oldest in the state. It first received a license for the call sign WLB in January 1922.

Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is also a major force in the state and across the country, best known across the U.S. for the variety show A Prairie Home Companion. Based in St. Paul, MPR is reportedly the nation's second-most powerful public radio organization behind National Public Radio (of which MPR is an affiliate).

Cities 97 is notable for its yearly compilation of live recordings, the Cities Sampler, which is now so popular that people camp out at local Target stores overnight when it is to be released. The last few volumes of the CD have sold out within a few hours.

Many area residents feel that the overall quality of radio in the region is poor, particularly considering the area's appetite for the arts. Radio K and community radio station KFAI are often said to be the best area stations by media and music critics—especially because they focus on local music (Minnesota has a major local music scene, see music of Minnesota). However, many listeners find their formats to be disjointed and uncomfortable. Both are hampered by relatively weak or low-fidelity signals, but attempt to compensate with Internet radio streaming. Music aficionados in the northwestern suburbs sometimes tune in to the St. Cloud station KVSC, which is also well-regarded.

A few pirate radio stations have been found on the local dial from time to time. The most famous of these is Beat Radio 97.7 from 1996, which was co-created by area programmer and DJ Alan Freed. Freed went on to broadcast the Beat Radio dance music format from a number of different area stations (and nationally), and now works at three electronic music channels of XM Satellite Radio. Frustration with the offerings of local radio may have reached a tipping point in 2004. That year, the Walker Art Center sponsored a "Radio Re-Volt" and helped aspiring local artists to create miniature radio transmitters that could reach nearby FM receivers under Part 15 regulations. On October 28, all of the transmitters were operating, and people driving around town could hear signals fade in and out (particularly on major thoroughfares) on the frequency of 97.7 MHz. There are a collection of pirate radio recordings (airchecks) of Minneapolis and St. Paul pirate radio stations at Rick Burnett's TwinCitiesRadioAirchecks.com. This site's guestbook shows comments from Twin Cities former and current broadcasters, and includes recordings of both pirate stations from the 1970s and some historical airchecks of commercial radio stations from the 1950s, 60s and 70s as well. Two Twin Cities radio history resources often referenced on RedandNater.com are the free aircheck websites RadioTapes.com and Rick Burnett's TwinCitiesRadioAirchecks.com

MPR's KCMP, which broadcasts under the moniker "89.3 The Current," is a new addition as of 2005 and competes somewhat with KFAI and Radio K because of its eclectic format. Regardless, it quickly became a welcome addition to the region's radio dial as it has a high-power FM transmitter and highly-respected disc jockeys that play a large amount of local music. That KCMP had previously been known as WCAL and was one of two major classical music stations in the area—a unique condition for the early 21st century, where most markets find it difficult to support even one classical outlet.

Most of the major TV and radio transmitters are located in Shoreview, Minnesota, and backup facilities are maintained atop the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis (though a few low-power broadcasters use the setup continuously).