KIWR 89.7 The River

My favorite radio station by far in Omaha. Though I could go my entire life without listening to another song by Nickleback. They do play the best edgy music in Omaha and make my life better by it!
Lol. Dare say I do not care for Sophia … she seems a bit mean. Is she supposed to be this way? The rest of the guys on there are great, entertaining.
LOVE the music!

The idea of writing a review for a radio station isn’t really something I agree with, since radio isn’t really a place but more of a spectral entity that you may or may not choose to listen to… Still, 89.7 is that and more, remaining one of the most popular stations in the Omaha metro and competing with all of the commercial stations all while broadcasting from Iowa Western Community College. It’s really a phenomenon more than anything else, and therefore deserving of a review.
So for those rare times I switch the dial from 91.5 (public radio shout out!), The River is where I turn it to. It’s like the radio version of a local farm-​to-​table restaurant competing on par with chain restaurants. Gotta love that — and the fact that their play-​list keeps music from all decades, so even if you go on a River hiatus, when you come back it’s like you never left.

Do you like alternative rock? Are you sick of stations run by media moguls such as Clear Channel? Tired of hearing that same song everywhere you go? If so, this is the station for you. Hands down, this is the best radio station on town.
89.7 The River is a radio station run by Iowa Western Community College. While it’s true that the announcers aren’t the best in the world, the music selection makes up for it. This station will play anything from old school Beastie Boys, Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Ween, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. They also play new alternative rock songs way before the corporate radio stations do.
In fact, some artists I would have never listened to had it not been for The River. The station also puts on shows such as Rock Fest and River Riot on a yearly basis. Some of the headliners they have brought to town include Weezer, Stone Temple Pilots, Godsmack, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Blink-​182, Korn, and many others.
This station is purely supported by its sponsors and they hold a fund raising drive every year in April. It’s certainly worth donating to!

The river is the radio station that I was forced to migrate to when the edge went down the tubes back in the day.
I will say that it is probably the best radio station in Omaha. The DJ’s actually seem to care about music, and they mostly play the music style I like.
One thing I really like is that they will play a good mix of music in terms of age. Most radio stations will only play a small set of new songs over and over, then completely drop that whole list and get a new one; how annoying. The river does an excellent job of mixing in new music, while still playing your old favorites.
One thing that I find kind of annoying is that all of the ads are really amateurish. This probably stems from the fact that this is a college radio station, but I feel like all of the ad spots were recorded by 12 year olds playing with dad’s tape recorder.
Finally, the guys who talk in the morning are annoying. Spicoli and Rocko (sp?) may be better then the next alternative (Todd and Tyler you suck), but they are certainly almost useless next to the guys they replaced (Freebeer and Hotwings come back!).
Overall I think that the state of radio affairs in Omaha is sad, but The River is the ruby in the rough. A little more spit and polish could make it a diamond.

I’ve lived all around the country, and driven across the country numerous times. I can honestly say, hands down, that 89.7 is the best radio station out there.
I love the folks they have on the radio station. Even if they’re saying something stupid (which is often, but name a radio station where that isn’t true), they’re still fun to listen to. They all have great voices for the radio, and since they read all their own ads, I’ll often find myself listening to the ads without realizing it. Spicolli, especially, has a really engaging cadence in how he talks… it’s hard to describe, but it’s awesome.
Let’s talk genres: The River plays whatever it wants. Today, I heard them play the new Killers, followed by Disturbed, then something local. I love that variety: They play music based on what’s good, not based on what’s commonly played. Awesome.
Let’s talk about playing new music: Lots of radio stations say they play new music first, because they played some song 2 weeks before another radio station. I don’t know how the River does it, but they get hold of great new songs *months* before other radio stations have ever heard of them. One case in point: I heard Stone Sour’s «Through Glass» in ⁶⁄₀₆ as I was leaving Omaha for Seattle. I made a note to get that song, but didn’t hear it in Seattle for another 3 months, and it showed up on iTunes a month after that. Not bad for a community college radio station in the midwest. :)
Let’s talk local music: Omaha has great local music, and The River does so well in supporting them, playing their music throughout the week, and not confining it to a 2 hour segment on Sundays.
Driving in Omaha is always a perk, because I know there will be good radio to listen to.

Unfortunately, most radio stations are owned and operated by a handful of evil corporations that hate music and people who listen to music. The River, on the other hand, is owned and operated by a local community college, and has a mainstream alternative format. But there are some twists, like playing death metal like Lamb of God or old Pantera during the day, that make listening interesting. The River also supports local music with a weekly concert series at Sokol.
The only real negative about The River are the «personalities», which used in this case is a serious stretch. Jake Ryan, the late afternoon guy, is the only on-​air talent that actually has any talent. Spicolli and Roco’s morning fiasco is boring, and I get tired of Roco’s veiled conservative political agenda. Sophia, the lunch lady, plays great music, but also will give Something I Can Never Have by NIN a spin like every single day, and always feels the need to like explain what it means beforehand. I think that song’s pretty self-​explanatory. Next will someone explain The Thong Song to me?