Somebody find the transmitter keys, blow the dust off the microphones and tell Newton and Grinnell to turn those radios back on, because three months after four Central Iowa signals were abruptly silenced, Riverfront Broadcasting is preparing to put local radio back where it belongs: ON THE DAMN AIR. The former KCOB, KCOB-FM, KGRN and Energy 106.7 operation is expected to come roaring back in October, giving two Iowa communities something they suddenly lost in June and probably didn’t fully appreciate until it disappeared — radio stations of their own.
And this one feels good.
Really good.
Because we’re not writing about another frequency going dark.
We’re writing about RADIO COMING BACK.
REMEMBER JUNE 9? NEWTON DOES.
This story starts with silence.
On June 9, the Newton and Grinnell stations stopped broadcasting as Connoisseur Media continued evaluating portions of the enormous station portfolio it inherited through its Alpha Media acquisition.
For Newton, that meant 1280 KCOB and 95.9 KCOB-FM disappeared.
For Grinnell, 1410 KGRN went away.
And the 50,000-watt 106.7 KRTI, known to listeners as Energy 106.7, disappeared with them.
Newton News described KCOB’s signal that evening in perhaps the most depressing way imaginable for anybody who loves radio:
There wasn’t a radio station there anymore.
There was static.
The paper reported the shutdown June 9 after KCOB had served Newton for more than 70 years.
Think about that.
Seven decades of radio.
Weather.
High school sports.
Local businesses.
Farm information.
Community announcements.
Birthdays.
Deaths.
Election results.
Snow days.
Storms.
People calling the station because somebody’s dog got loose.
THEN ONE DAY: NOTHING.
That’s not a format flip.
That’s a community losing one of its voices.
NOW SOMEBODY IS TURNING THE MICROPHONES BACK ON
Riverfront Broadcasting intends to restore the Newton-Grinnell operation in October, with the familiar KCOB and Energy 106.7 brands among those returning.
And Riverfront isn’t exactly wandering into unfamiliar territory.
This company knows small-town radio.
Actually, small-town radio is essentially the company’s entire reason for existing.
Riverfront’s corporate history says owners Doyle and Carolyn Becker built the company around operating radio stations in smaller communities where the stations can make a tangible difference for employees, listeners and advertisers.
Read that again.
SMALLER COMMUNITIES.
Not reluctantly.
Not because that’s what was left over.
ON PURPOSE.
That matters here.
BECAUSE NEWTON DOESN’T NEED TO BE DES MOINES
This is one of radio’s recurring mistakes.
A small market sitting near a large market does not automatically become irrelevant simply because listeners can receive the big-market signals.
Of course Newton can hear Des Moines radio.
That isn’t the point.
Des Moines radio can tell Newton what happened in Washington.
It can tell Newton what happened at the Iowa Capitol.
It can tell Newton what’s trending nationally.
But who’s telling Newton what happened IN NEWTON?
Who’s talking about the Cardinals?
Who’s interviewing the mayor?
Who’s promoting the fundraiser?
Who’s telling people why emergency vehicles are suddenly flying down the highway?
Who’s broadcasting the high school game?
Who’s telling everybody the community event moved because of weather?
Who’s talking to the business owner who has sponsored the football broadcast since approximately the invention of football?
THAT IS THE JOB.
Local radio doesn’t become unnecessary because a larger city has radio stations nearby.
That’s like saying Newton doesn’t need a newspaper because the internet exists.
The product isn’t merely information.
THE PRODUCT IS BELONGING.
RIVERFRONT UNDERSTANDS THAT BUSINESS
Look at Riverfront’s map and you understand why this pairing makes sense.
The company operates in places like Yankton, Huron, Pierre, Spearfish and Rapid City, South Dakota, along with Blue Earth, Minnesota. Its history also includes extensive previous ownership in Iowa, including stations in Algona, Boone, Webster City, Humboldt and Keokuk.
This isn’t a company whose executives need a PowerPoint explaining what a small-market radio station does.
They’ve lived it.
They’ve sold advertising in it.
They’ve operated it.
They’ve engineered it.
And interestingly, Riverfront’s history includes multiple instances where the company eventually sold stations to local managers — something it explicitly describes as helping keep those properties locally owned.
That tells you something about the philosophy walking into Newton and Grinnell.
AND LET’S TALK ABOUT THE PEOPLE
This is where radio stories too often get reduced to call letters and frequencies.
The June shutdown affected actual broadcasters.
Newton News reported that KCOB had already been through substantial staffing reductions under Alpha Media in 2024 before some familiar voices eventually returned. Sarah Jorges and Joe Swanson later reunited on Energy 106.7’s morning show, restoring some of the local content that listeners had lost.
Then came June.
Gone again.
That’s brutal.
And anybody who has spent their career in radio understands exactly how brutal.
You rebuild.
You reconnect.
You convince listeners you’re still there.
You convince advertisers you’re still there.
You finally start feeling like the radio station is alive again.
And then somebody hundreds of miles away makes a portfolio decision.
CLICK.
Silence.
That’s why October matters.
This isn’t merely restoring transmitters.
It’s an opportunity to restore relationships.
PLEASE, RIVERFRONT: MAKE THESE THINGS RIDICULOUSLY LOCAL
Here’s where On The Dial is going to cheerlead a little.
If you’re bringing these stations back?
GO ALL THE WAY.
Put Newton on KCOB.
Put Grinnell on KGRN.
Put Central Iowa on Energy.
Put local people behind microphones.
Put high school kids on the air.
Put coaches on after games.
Put the mayor on when something happens.
Put the police chief on during an emergency.
Put farmers on.
Put business owners on.
Put the county fair on.
Put the weather guy on when the sky turns green.
Put the lost dog on.
Put the church supper on.
Put the ridiculous community argument everybody is having on Facebook on.
BE SO DAMN LOCAL THAT SPOTIFY GETS CONFUSED.
Because that’s the lane.
Don’t try to beat Des Moines at being Des Moines.
Don’t try to beat Spotify at having songs.
Don’t try to beat SiriusXM at having 400 channels.
BE NEWTON.
BE GRINNELL.
Nobody else can beat you at that.
ENERGY 106.7 HAS SOME MUSCLE, TOO
Don’t overlook KRTI.
This isn’t merely a tiny FM attached to a couple of AM stations.
KRTI operates with a substantial regional signal, historically serving the Grinnell-Newton area and reaching into a much larger portion of Central Iowa.
Before the shutdown, Energy 106.7 provided a Hot AC product alongside local content.
That gives Riverfront an interesting opportunity.
You can build a music station with enough mass appeal to travel geographically while using personalities, promotions, news and community involvement to make the station unmistakably Central Iowa.
THAT’S HOW LOCAL MUSIC RADIO FIGHTS BACK.
Not with another 400-song playlist.
Not with 10-in-a-row until everybody forgets what station they’re listening to.
With relevance.
KCOB IS MORE THAN A FREQUENCY
KCOB’s history makes its return particularly meaningful.
Newton News reported that the station had served the community for more than 70 years before June’s shutdown.
Seventy years.
Do the math on how many lives passed through that radio station.
How many broadcasters got their start there?
How many advertisers bought their first commercial there?
How many kids heard their name called during a high school game?
How many storms?
How many elections?
How many mornings?
How many funerals announced?
How many community celebrations?
How many times did somebody sit in a car in Jasper County and hear something on KCOB that mattered specifically to THEM?
That’s heritage.
Not a logo.
Not call letters.
Not a frequency.
MEMORY.
And now somebody gets to add another chapter.
THE BEST RADIO STORY THIS WEEK MIGHT BE FOUR STATIONS IN IOWA COMING BACK
We spend a lot of time covering the difficult side of this business.
Layoffs.
Consolidation.
Automation.
Market exits.
Stations going dark.
Legendary personalities being shown the door.
Budgets disappearing.
Buildings being sold.
People being asked to somehow create more local content with fewer local people.
It gets exhausting.
So forgive us if we’re going to enjoy this one.
FOUR RADIO SIGNALS WENT DARK.
And now somebody wants them back.
Not as repeaters for something originating 900 miles away.
Not because somebody discovered an unused tower on a spreadsheet.
But because there is apparently still a broadcaster willing to make the old-fashioned argument:
A COMMUNITY DESERVES A RADIO STATION THAT SERVES THE COMMUNITY.
Imagine that.
NEWTON AND GRINNELL, GET READY
October is coming.
KCOB is coming.
KCOB-FM is coming.
KGRN is coming.
Energy 106.7 is coming.
And hopefully with them comes something Central Iowa lost on June 9:
THE SOUND OF HOME.
Riverfront has built its company around the proposition that small communities still matter and local radio can still matter inside them.
Now it gets an opportunity to prove it.
So plug in the board.
Fire up the processing.
Check the STL.
Load the music.
Call the advertisers.
Find the broadcasters.
Get the football scores.
Make sure somebody remembers where the transmitter keys are.
And for the love of Marconi…
TURN THE DAMN RADIO STATIONS BACK ON.
Newton and Grinnell have heard enough static.
— On The Dial
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