iHeart Hires Back Des Moines Sports Staff and Moves Them to FM

Posted on by Jon Ellis

Two days after the cut of six jobs at a Des Moines Sports Talk station caused listener backlash, iHeartMedia has decided to not only bring back the hosts but to move their format to FM.

WHO-TV quoted KXNO/1460 General Manager Joel McCrea as saying that he had received approval from the corporate office to rehire the six workers and that KXNO would be simulcast on KDXA/106.3 (Ankeny-Des Moines) starting next week. The change will displace “Alt 106.3.”

“I made a mistake. I am making it right. They are all coming back on Tuesday morning at six!” McCrea was later quoted as saying on KXNO’s social media accounts.

Heather Burnside, Andrew Downs, Travis Justice, Ross Peterson, Sean Roberts, and Chris Williams had been among hundreds laid off at iHeart stations nationally this week. As noted in a previous report, the KXNO story was among the most-read news items in Des Moines this week, and dozens of listeners complained on the station’s Facebook page.

Nielsen Audio ratings show KXNO has more than two-thirds of the Sports audience in Des Moines despite having two competitors, including one with an FM translator. KXNO also has a consistently higher 12+ share than Alt 106.3, which was the lowest-rated of the core commercial full-power FM signals in the market (though it had been trending upward).

Though Iowa doesn’t have any major professional teams of its own, Iowans are passionate about the Cyclones and Hawkeyes and Des Moines is within seven hours of four NFL teams. iHeart also owns legendary Sports Talk station K-FAN (KFXN-FM) in Minneapolis, which saw its ratings rise after moving to FM.