Minnesota Public Radio founder reflects on 20 years of The Current
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The idea of an alternative music station had been floating around Minnesota Public Radio for some time by the early aughts.
It was an idea without much traction. Even the station’s then-CEO and founder Bill Kling wasn’t fully convinced.
“I would have been surprised if it had been a huge success, because no one had tried it before,” Kling reflected last week with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.
Kling was CEO of Minnesota Public Radio until June 2011.
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That idea became reality in 2004, when MPR won a bid to buy the radio license known as WCAL — a classical radio station owned by St. Olaf College in Northfield.
Under new ownership, 89.3 FM received the call letters KCMP, with a new format: Local, independent rock music.
The new station went on the air at 9:01 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2005.
“A lot of people thought we would lose a lot of money, but that didn't happen. It was so well-executed,” Kling told Wurzer.
To listen to the radio version of conversation with Kling, click the player above.