Bob CollinsBig changes are coming to KFAI, the Minneapolis independent radio station.
It will revamp its programming at the end of the month, City Pages reports, and end one of the quirks that’s made it distinctive: the “different radio station every hour” format in the mornings using a rotating collection of hosts.
Instead, the station will adopt the programming strategy of traditional radio: consistency. It’s hired former Current and Go 96.3 host Barb Abney and Miss Brit, the host of its urban music and culture show as its morning team.
The changes are a continuation of a strategy to put programming decisions in a somewhat more traditional orbit while remaining faithful to a mission to serve an underserved and unserved community.
“Throughout the process I tried to keep an open mind,” [general manager Leah] Honsky says. “Some people wanted extreme things—to turn it into a total playground. Some didn’t want any change at all.”
The reboot may seem like a little of both. In contrast to the major morning overhaul, evening news and music is almost untouched. And KFAI’s traditionally strong p.m. drive of rockin’ R&B shows remains relatively stable, though the fiesta en el estudio vibe of LatinoAltROCK! moves from morning to the prized hora feliz, Friday at 4 p.m.
And it’s not just the music scheduling that’s changed. Somali educator and activist Abdirizak Bihi’s community discussion program, where guests from all backgrounds talk (in English) about anything from raising teenagers to preventing terror recruitment, moves to an expanded p.m. strip. In time, this evening public affairs block could grow into a genuine alternative to the human interest fluff and political soap opera of mainstream broadcast news.
