WGVX
Love 105 is a trimulcast of three radio stations in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that feature a adult contemporary format. The trimulcast is composed of: WGVX, licensed to Lakeville, Minnesota; WLUP, licensed to Cambridge, Minnesota; and WWWM-FM, licensed to Eden Prairie, Minnesota. All three stations are owned by Cumulus Media.
The studios and offices are in Southeast Minneapolis in the Como district. WGVX's transmitter is located southeast of Apple Valley, WLUP's transmitter is located in Cambridge, and WWWM-FM's transmitter is located atop the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.
History
Three signals, one station
Prior to their unification as REV105, the three stations were known by other names.Today's WGVX was first licensed as KZPZ on November 15, 1990. It was officially signed on the air in late 1992 as WTCX by J. Tom Lijewski, who had previously worked at other Twin Cities stations. The station aired a hot AC format targeting the south metro area of the Twin Cities. This was the initial FM station later purchased by Cargill Communications in 1993 to form REV105 a year later, when the call letters were changed to KREV.
WLUP is the oldest of the three stations, having signed on the air June 21, 1973 on 105.5 as KABG, with a Middle of the Road format. The call letters were changed to KXLV in 1983, and in 1991, the station increased its power, which necessitated a move to 105.3. On December 13, 1991, it became the latest of the many frequencies to use the WLOL call letters, after WLOL-FM was purchased by Minnesota Public Radio and the KSJN call letters were moved from 91.1 to 99.5 earlier that year. This longtime AC station became the northern signal of REV105, with the call letters changed to WREV in 1994.
WWWM-FM was first licensed as KOUO on March 26, 1992 to Jack Moore and KTWN ). It signed on as KCFE on March 11, 1993, airing a smooth jazz/adult album alternative format as "Cafe 105.7". It was modeled largely on Moore's KTWN, from the late 1970s to early 80s. The station carried Don Imus's syndicated morning show for a short time. In October 1996, KCFE was sold to Cargill and briefly became REV105's third transmitter, prior to all three stations being sold to ABC Radio the following March.
REV105
REV105, "Revolution Radio," was owned by Cargill Communications, headed by Jim and Susan Cargill, heirs to the massive Cargill company fortune. It broadcast under the call signs KREV, WREV, and later KCFE on three different frequencies. REV105 played a fairly wide variety of music, mostly alternative rock, and put a lot of time into promoting music from local performers. Minnesota has a very active music community, and a number of diverse artists have received national attention. Area high school students also contributed to some of the programming put on the air, such as the weekly "Rock 'n' Roll Homeroom".The station's genesis came out of another station. From 1990 to 1992, KJJO was an adventurous modern rock station, and gained a devoted listening audience. The station switched to country music in 1992, and many held out hope that KJ104's format would resurface soon. Two former KJ104 staffers, Brian Turner and Kevin Cole, actively sought out stations to pick up the format. On several occasions, they were turned down by previous owners of both WTCX and KCFE.
Finally, with financial backing from the Cargills, Turner and Cole found that the owner of WTCX was ready to sell. In 1993, the Cargills purchased WTCX for $2.6 million, along with big band music-formatted KLBB for $1 million and small suburban country music outlet KBCW for $400,000. The plan was to turn the one FM and two AMs into a modern rock radio network, eventually simulcasting programming around the country. Plans eventually changed, and they decided to go with a more local approach. Soon, the Cargills were able to purchase WLOL. Turner, Cole, and the Cargills were reluctant to change the big band music format on KLBB, since it did have a small, if dedicated, following, and decided not only to keep the format, but to simulcast it on their other AM signal, 1470. The only other changes made to KLBB was to give it a "hipper" sound, incorporating more lounge music and fresher advertising and imaging. Hence, the foundation of Rev 105 was set, with KREV and WREV soon to come.
The group's intended programming plans were public knowledge at the time and highly publicized. ABC Radio already owned classic rock KQRS-FM and felt the time was right to lay its own claim to the rapidly rising alternative rock format. On February 4, 1994, ABC agreed to purchase KQRS' main rival, KRXX, from Entercom, and KQRS management immediately took control of the station. Within two days, the former 93X became the Twin Cities' newest modern rock station, "93.7 The Edge". In effect, ABC killed two birds with one stone by striking down a rival to KQRS, and warding off a potential new one. This did not change Turner's and Cole's plans at all, as they felt their station would be different enough to compete in the market. Pending Federal Communications Commission approval of Cargill's own station deals, WTCX officially went off the air February 7, 1994. WLOL followed on April 24. On May 1, REV105's eclectic new alternative rock format took to the air, with the first official song being "Crazy" by Patsy Cline.
REV105 was a unique station. It would not be an ordinary, consultant-programmed modern rock station like "The Edge". Rather, it took many elements from typical modern rock stations, added a heavy amount of new, obscure and local artists, and mixed in other musical styles such as industrial, punk, classic rock, hip-hop, world, dance and techno. According to Cole, when REV started, it would play the newly popular Green Day next to old Who songs, comparing and contrasting two different instances of similar music. In addition, there were a large number of specialty shows, featuring other musical styles like "old school" funk, imports, club mixes and ambient music. REV105 was instrumental in introducing newer artists to the airwaves, such as Ani DiFranco and Soul Coughing. As music critic Jim DeRogatis said, "The brilliance of REV105 was that I would hear a set that would go Bob Marley to Nine Inch Nails to Black Sabbath. And that's how real people listen to music."
The new "Revolution Radio" was a mild success, even with the high-powered competition from "The Edge". In the first full ratings book, it earned a 1.5 overall Arbitron rating, and did even better in the 18-34 age breakdown. Ratings were hampered throughout the station's history by signal reception issues, the eclectic nature of its format, and its limited budget. Signal issues were perhaps its biggest issue, as Rev's ratings were similar or higher than any of its successor stations. The limited transmitter reach of 105.1 and 105.3 were helped when Cargill purchased another neighboring signal, KCFE, in October 1996, which improved its reach in the southwest suburbs and particularly in Minneapolis, where a large number of its listeners resided.
Switch to X105
REV105 enjoyed an almost three-year run, but the end came at noon on March 11, 1997, when the station was purchased by competitor Disney/Capital Cities/ABC, which already owned two powerful 100,000 watt stations in the Twin Cities, KQRS-FM and KEGE. By 1:15 that afternoon, most of the air staff was fired, and after playing "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles, the station was reborn with a hard rock format as "X105", with the three stations receiving the call letters KXXP, KXXU and KXXR. The first song on "X105" was "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by The Scorpions.This situation became a focal point for critics of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Fans of REV105 banded together to protest the loss of REV105, and out of this, the group was formed. The purchase received fairly widespread news coverage, with articles appearing in Billboard magazine and Rolling Stone, where Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty stated, "Having officially walked through every radio station in North America, I can honestly say REV was the only one that had a cause that was righteous."
Many feel that the motivation to purchase REV105 was to eliminate the competition, as ABC obtained the rights to all intellectual property of REV105, including its logos and website, and Cargill reportedly signed a non-compete agreement. The purchase was seen in some ways as a defensive maneuver against other growing radio conglomerates such as Chancellor Broadcasting, which then owned seven radio stations in the Twin Cities. Of course, Cargill could not compete as a stand-alone owner in this environment and saw this as a perfect opportunity to sell the station. According to Cargill, "As we saw all this consolidation in the market, we just didn't feel we were going to be able to survive."
REV105 was in many ways a successor to the Twin Cities area's original "alternative" station, KJJO, which changed its format in 1992. Kevin Cole, the former program director at REV105, and a veteran of the old KJ104, later resurfaced at KEXP in Seattle. General Manager Brian Turner eventually went back to KTCZ, where he worked in the 1980s, to host its morning show, and later worked at upstart alternative rock station KTWN. In 2005, a few former REV hosts reunited at Minnesota Public Radio for the launch of KCMP, "89.3 The Current", which airs an adult album alternative format loosely inspired by REV105.
Zone 105
Soon after the birth of X105, a new hard rock station arrived in the Twin Cities when WBOB dropped country music and switched to a hard rock format with Howard Stern's syndicated morning show. ABC has worked to fight off any potential competitors to its main highly rated station, KQRS-FM. At 2 p.m. on September 18, 1997, KEGE dropped its alternative format and began simulcasting on the 105s as part of a format swap. On September 24, after 6 days of simulcasting, the 105s became Zone 105, with an adult alternative format. After a few months, 93X took the KXXR call sign from the former X105, and the three Zone 105 stations became KZNR, KZNT and KZNZ.After the station became Zone 105, a few of the old REV hosts were brought back. Brian Oake, who had gone over to The Edge, and Mary Lucia hosted the morning show. Lucia also hosted a weekly local music program named Popular Creeps from the local Bryant-Lake Bowl. Creeps won multiple awards for programming quality.
Over time, Zone 105 went in more of a classic alternative direction, but toward the end of its run, leaned more towards alternative rock. None of the post-REV 105 incarnations of these frequencies were true alternative rock, as the frequency had to keep a safe distance between itself and sister station 93X. For this reason, any song with a rock "edge" was discarded by the 105s during this time.