MPR announces "diverse" musical format for old WCAL. Steve Nelson, program director for 89.3 KCMP, discusses the new program and plans for KCMP 89.3, formally known as WCAL 89.3.
MPR announces "diverse" musical format for old WCAL. Steve Nelson, program director for 89.3 KCMP, discusses the new program and plans for KCMP 89.3, formally known as WCAL 89.3.
DAVID MOLPUS: This is all things considered, I'm David Molpus. Since the purchase of WCAL Radio by Minnesota Public Radio was announced in August, there has been considerable speculation about what the acquisition might mean for Twin Cities radio listeners. WCAL was a classical music station owned and operated by St. Olaf College in Northfield.
The sale to MPR was approved by the FCC in November over the protest of some classical music fans. This afternoon, Minnesota Public Radio shed some light on its plans for what it's calling its third service, the new 89.3 with the new call letters, KCMP, will present a diverse mix of music. Steve Nelson is the program director of the new station. He joins us now. Welcome.
STEVE NELSON: Hello.
DAVID MOLPUS: How do you describe the new format?
STEVE NELSON: Well, it's kind of like having a friend that has just an incredible music collection. There's going to be a really wide variety of music that we're going to be playing, local music like The Replacements or Mason Jennings to great national acts like The Postal Service or Lucinda Williams or Johnny Cash or Chet Baker. It's going to be really a broad and diverse mix of music.
DAVID MOLPUS: How is that going to make it different from anything else that's available now in the Twin Cities area?
STEVE NELSON: Well, one of the ways it's going to be different is it's really going to be serving the local community here. Minneapolis is an incredible music town. The Twin Cities are an incredible music cities, and they deserve an incredible music station. And we think that we're going to be really filling a void here for all kinds of great music.
DAVID MOLPUS: Alternative music stations have been tried. REV105 comes to mind. They've not been terribly successful commercially. There are some community-based services that feature a more eclectic format, Radio K, KFAI. What makes you think this will be successful?
STEVE NELSON: Our measurement for measuring success for this station is going to be how the community reacts to it. We think that the Twin Cities really want to hear a station with a music format like this, and that's how we're going to judge our success.
DAVID MOLPUS: Where does news programming fit in on the new station?
STEVE NELSON: Well, one of the things we're trying to do is-- Minnesota Public Radio has, as you know, has an incredible newsroom. And we're going to be using the resources of the Minnesota Public Radio newsroom as part of this new station. It's mainly a music station, but there are going to be news updates and movie reviews, maybe a commentary. It's all a work in progress. We're still piloting and testing and figuring out what's going to sound good and the best way that we can really serve the community.
DAVID MOLPUS: Minnesota Public Radio, as you know, because you've been involved in it for quite a while, is heavily involved in fund drives, stretching for more and more giving and often saying the budget's very tight. Can MPR afford a new radio service with 24 hours of new programming?
STEVE NELSON: I think they can. I mean, I think that that's actually you're probably better to ask someone else that question. We're really focusing on the programming and how we can serve the community. But I think that it can.
DAVID MOLPUS: Are you looking for a younger demographic here?
STEVE NELSON: We're looking to serve a different audience that isn't listening to public radio right now or maybe even isn't listening to radio right now. If you look at MPR's current services right now, there's a classical service, and you can think of that as being generally in the range of 50-year-olds. And then the news, the middle, median age is around in the 40s. And this will be serving kind of a different group of people, which isn't to say that someone that's 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 wouldn't want to listen to this, but that's kind of the goal.
DAVID MOLPUS: When will the new format be on the air?
STEVE NELSON: After the first of the year.
DAVID MOLPUS: Right after?
STEVE NELSON: After the first of the year. OK.
DAVID MOLPUS: Well, thanks, Steve.
STEVE NELSON: Thank you, David.
DAVID MOLPUS: That's Steve Nelson, program director for the new KCMP Radio.
Digitization made possible by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, approved by voters in 2008.
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