by James Kurdziel
Director of Content & Programming / 92KQRS
On April 4, 2025 we decided to effectively reboot 92KQRS and now that we’re more than 6 months into the project I thought I’d share some of what we’ve learned (and unlearned).
It’s scary to do something that isn’t often done; to have no roadmap or precedent because what we’re doing is actually what will be followed, or become the cautionary tale.
The reason for the change was simple: it was time. Over months and even years the calls to do something different got louder. It wasn’t the usual kind of stuff where you knew a format was dead and you would just flip it to something else. This was more subtle, indirect, and nuanced. People love KQ. I mean REALLY love KQ, and that’s clear. When talking with people I kept hearing “but.” “I love KQ, but…” “Some of it’s great but it’s getting too old.” “They’re my favorite bands but I’m sick of those songs.” “I love the music but I’m into newer stuff.” On and on.
This is the part where I know you’re thinking we sat in some big corporate tower and waited for a computer to spit out a new plan. That’s not what happened. A bunch of people got together in Minneapolis and asked ourselves “what would we like?” We’re a bunch of Gen-Xers and Millennials (yes I know the boomers hate us and let me know that every chance they get). We realized there isn’t anything in modern radio that’s intended just for us. So we made something we thought would sound cool and hoped you would like it. We made the KQ you hear now. Just people. No algorithms, no national rankers, no consultants. Ok, “some” consultants, but cool ones.
When you listen, it’s hard to define and that’s on purpose. Is it no longer classic rock? Or are we changing what classic rock means? The answer is yes to both. We’re still all about The Stones, Zeppelin, and Petty but notice the titles we play. Not the usual suspects. We’ve also added a ton of music from the alternative 80s and 90s like The Cure, R.E.M., and U2. The two biggest changes though were making grunge our signature sound and going all in on Minnesota icons like The Replacements, Soul Asylum, and Prince. We play this music not tucked away on Sunday night, but all the time because we’re proud of it. We are proud of what we’ve become.
Making changes like this also requires you to change the talent around the music; to add new curation so that our commitment to what we’re doing as affirmed. That was the hardest part for me because I’ve never been though it before to be honest. The feelings are mixed; both good and bad, exciting and sad. Change is hard but also exciting. We started to feel the enthusiasm. We needed to rebuild what we were doing around Steve Gorman. We already had Ryder in place as the show’s Executive Producer and she’s got a wide set of skills. We needed someone from Minnesota who loves music, is fun, and lives the lifestyle of who we’re entertaining.
Enter Paul Fletcher. I’ve known Paul since I first moved to Minneapolis and for years we’d joke “we’re going to work together someday.” His chemistry with Steve and Ryder was instant. The only surprise was just how much he loves the music we play. So much that he insisted on staying after the morning show to make playlists and talk with people during the work day. It’s been really good. On his first day, we laughed and said “hey we work together!” It was pretty awesome actually.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, was hiring Jade. Jade embodies everything we wanted KQ to become. She lives and breathes music, she’s intimately involved in her community, and frankly she’s super cool. We knew if we could get her, this would work. She works so hard every day to create original content that exists within this iconic music and she delivers over and over. She’s interesting, original, and fun. She also blows the whole thing up at 6pm every weekday and if you haven’t heard Breaking KQ yet, you should. Objectively, it’s the best concept on the radio pretty much anywhere. You’ll be happy you heard it.
So what’s happened so far with all of this? Well, our total audience has nearly tripled. The majority of our listeners have become younger Gen-X and millennial types who now feel like something belongs to them. Meeting people who are new to KQ and into it is incredibly rewarding for me. The morning show has grown new and larger audiences as we continue to benefit from Steve Gorman’s wit and incomparable storytelling. The rest of the day is delivering ratings we haven’t seen within key demographics that we haven’t been competitive in years. Our weekend numbers are eye popping even to me. We have a group of personalities (Lisa Miller, Gunner, James, Jordan, Chris Nelson) who are as good as anyone you could hear.
We’ve built a new and passionate streaming audience through various platforms that demonstrates how dynamic we’ve become. I still hear from people sometimes who resent what we’ve done and honestly I get it. I wish I had a better answer but how many radio stations still play The Everly Brothers, you know? Things change and the truth is if we stayed the way we were, we would have just faded away.
Radio in 2025 still matters very much but it’s not easy at all. To wait for things to happen is to wait to fail. Meanwhile, in front of us was the opportunity to take a chance and try something different and we went for it. I have so much respect for everything that came before; for the people who’ve listened to KQ since its early days. At the same time, I won’t pretend it isn’t exciting to build something for a new audience of Minnesotans who love all kinds of rock music and like to be entertained by people who live here. It actually feels pretty great to see it working.
For those who are still unsure, please give us a chance. We care about you and what you think. If we can win you over, we will try very hard to do so. For those who just aren’t getting what they want from KQ anymore, I understand. You can’t make the changes we made without leaving something behind and I’m grateful for all the notes and interactions I’ve had with a lot of people. For those who’ve found a new favorite radio station because of what we did with KQ, I thank you. Our bet was on you and I hope we continue to be something you’re proud to call your favorite.
I’ll write again in 6 months or so. I hope. 🙂
I appreciate you taking the time and feel free to email me at PD@92KQRS.com – I would love to hear your thoughts!
-James
