Tom Barnard taking time off for treatment

[toughguy]

I heard this morning he's taking a few weeks off to enter rehab for pills and wine. I don't listen very regularly by he's been acting kind of strange on twitter the last few weeks. Throwing tantrums about Zepp and the sales staff.

[toughguy]

Now I guess he's not taking time off. Working through it.

[knoppers]

he needs to go away, I hate KQ

many many years ago, a new radio station came out, that played great music, and passed KQ for number one. what does KQ do, they buy out this station, then change the programming to play absolute garbage. ever since that day, I will not listen to that channel ever in my lifetime. KQ has there heads up there own (###) and think we should have to listen to there own stupid music.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I don't remember them buying the other station, what station was it?

All in all, wish him well

[Dave S]

Not a fan of KQ because of Tom Barnard. I don't care to listen to 93X anymore either. The repitition from day to day is terrible. Someone's radio at work is going to get smashed if I have to listen to Avenged Sevenfold or Volbeat one more time.

[highlife4me]

I like listening to KQ except for ....... Tom Barnard! I don't like arrogant people and Barnard is at the top of the list. Maybe he should have sought treatment years ago.

And about the other station - about 20 years ago there was a new station 93X that was great until KQ bought them and the dj's played nothing but ITS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT for several days straight. 93X became 93 the edge. KQ's alternative rock station.

[IceHawk]

Cant stand kQ anymore swithced over to 101.7 and the lex and terry show and couldnt be happier.

[Dave S]

And about the other station - about 20 years ago there was a new station 93X that was great until KQ bought them and the dj's played nothing but ITS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT for several days straight. 93X became 93 the edge. KQ's alternative rock station.

That wasn't 93X that played the REM song marathon. That was Hot Rockin' 104 in Eden Prairie. But there was a buyout and change of format similar to what happened to (I think it was WLOL) and then played classical.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Thats right, I forgot about the 93 the edge...

[highlife4me]

93X played it 1st in 1994. Then in 1997 93X came back and The Edge moved to 104 - 105 and were to become "The Zone" then the Edge played it in their final days too.

Back to OP I still don't care for Barnard.

[ThunderLund78]

Love him or hate him, he built and maintained quite an audience. I mainly listen to KFAN these days but switch over to the Q from time-to-time. You could tell he was on the edge of something lately. He's got a lot of controversial opinions, many I agree with, but he lacks tact. At any rate, I wish him well and hopes he can at least find peace with himself...

[Dave S]

93X played it 1st in 1994. Then in 1997 93X came back and The Edge moved to 104 - 105 and were to become "The Zone" then the Edge played it in their final days too.

Back to OP I still don't care for Barnard.

Hot Rockin' 104 went out in the late 80's .

Tom Barnard is (if I can steal a famous quote out of Sillytown) a hypocrite and fraud.

[Canon Guy]

I wish Tom luck dealing with his issues, however he had anger issues long before his success at KQRS.

[knoppers]

I like listening to KQ except for ....... Tom Barnard! I don't like arrogant people and Barnard is at the top of the list. Maybe he should have sought treatment years ago.

And about the other station - about 20 years ago there was a new station 93X that was great until KQ bought them and the dj's played nothing but ITS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT for several days straight. 93X became 93 the edge. KQ's alternative rock station.

I remember them playing that song over and over, but it was hot rockin' 104, not 93x. 93x came out a couple years later.

[highlife4me]

KQRS buys KXXR, flips it to "The Edge"

Cap Cities/ABC, the owner of rival KQRS-FM, took control of 93X pending purchase (but not KMZZ, which was sold separately later) from Entercom on February 4, 1994. The selling price was $20 million, then a record for highest amount ever paid for a radio station in the market. Two days later, 93X began playing It's the End of the World as We Know It by R.E.M. and repeated it over and over throughout the weekend. Confused listeners flocked in droves to the KRXX studios in Eagan, Minnesota that Saturday to see what was going on. Some listeners thought the DJ's were being held hostage and reportedly, more than 50 calls regarding KRXX were logged to 911. Finally, that following Sunday at 8pm, 93.7 began simulcasting KQRS' weekly alternative rock show, "Over the Edge", leading the way for "93.7 The Edge", which billed itself as "Minnesota's New Music Alternative". The new KEGE-FM call letters were soon registered for the new station. The move to create The Edge was due to the growing popularity of modern rock format nationwide, and to thwart Cargill Communications pending plans to roll out the format on the new Rev 105. The Edge came on the air almost two years after KJJO switched to country music, and it did what KJ104 couldn't - it became a massive ratings success. At one point, KEGE had the highest overall Arbitron market ratings of any modern rock station in the country.

A station-sponsored annual concert known as the EdgeFest (later 93XFest) debuted soon after, and took place annually in Somerset, Wisconsin. It was so popular that even rival Rev 105 gave away tickets for it (though not mentioning the "Edgefest" name). When KEGE went back to being 93X and the "Edge" name was retired in the Twin Cities, the festival briefly continued as "Edgefest" and was later renamed 93XFest. The annual festival in Somerset continued until 2004, when "93X Riverfest" replaced it.

The return of 93X

Following the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that relaxed ownership restrictions, ABC purchased KEGE's rival, "Rev 105" in March 1997 and immediately began broadcasting hard rock on that station as "X105". Later that year, the two stations did a format swap of sorts, and 93.7 returned to being known as 93X, with new call letters KXXR, with The Edge's format moving over to the 105 frequencies and renamed as "Zone 105". On the final day of broadcasting, The Edge played It's the End of the World as We Know It by R.E.M. on a continuous loop.

ABC sold its non-Radio Disney and ESPN Radio stations, including KXXR, to Citadel Broadcasting in 2007. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.

Back to country as "Thunder 104.1"

In the summer of 1992, KJJO (Rock 104) publicly announced a pending switch back to country music, which was becoming very popular around the time, amid a large outcry from KJ104's dedicated fans. At 6 AM on September 8, after signing off the modern rock format by playing "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by R.E.M., "Thunder 104.1" debuted. As a country station, ratings went up slightly, but they could not compete with the established K102 and the soon-to-sign-on WBOB (BOB 100).

I didn't remember KJJO doing it probably because I was living in Nisswa at that time.

[Dave S]

I was pretty certain is was Late '87/January '88 when KJJO did it. I was working in St. Louis Park at the time and drove by there every day. Had me wondering what was going on but there was no "strange" vehicles other than I what I normally saw there.

[Snowking]

I listen every day and listen to his podcast. Yes he gos on rants but I think everyone does. When you run twenty minutes of commercials every hour it has to get old.there are times he comes on and just puts a teaser out there and it more commercials it got to suck after 27years of doing it

[MJ1657]

Sounds like he might start doing the show in studio again. I think that would help the show run a little smoother.

I've listened to him since the Tom and Dan days. I hope it all works out for him.

[DTro]

Without him, the morning show will need to be totally overhauled and will suffer greatly.

Like him or not

[PurpleFloyd]

Without him, the morning show will need to be totally overhauled and will suffer greatly.

Like him or not

Maybe they can hire Mike Morris.

[LMITOUT]

Maybe they can hire Mike Morris.

I'm thinking that contract is already in the drawer awaiting signatures.

[Canon Guy]

Without him, the morning show will need to be totally overhauled and will suffer greatly.

Like him or not

What would be wrong with a change? It's been 30 years of the same exact thing. Someday they are going to need some new blood and some new listeners.

[Dave S]

Bring the "O" Brothers back to MN. I think they were the predecessors to the HAMS on 93X. I also think they were basically told to leave MN and never come back. Too many people were offended by their bits, especially the spin on Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" (if anyone remembers that one )

[DTro]

What would be wrong with a change? It's been 30 years of the same exact thing. Someday they are going to need some new blood and some new listeners.

Who said there was anything wrong with it? Just stating a fact. It won't be an easy transition for KQ

[Canon Guy]

Who said there was anything wrong with it? Just stating a fact. It won't be an easy transition for KQ

Transtions are rarely easy, but they've been preparing for it. Revenue has been declining for some time.