Tommy B (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Richfield: school, closing, assess)

[jayhopethismeeturstandard]

What do you guys think about Tom Barnard, the 92.5 KQRS morning shows host. He always seems upset to me, maybe that's why I'm mad all the time because I've been listening to him for like 6 years. I personally love the show and classic rock in general. What are you're guys thought's? And if he has a thread already I will gladly move my comments there.

[Ghengis]

he comes across as a real puke, although he's probably worse once you really get to know him

[jayhopethismeeturstandard]

lol is that so. I think he might just might keep it too real, though that does not excuse some other remarks hes made.

[wamer27]

The shows great, but he's always complaining about something. The shows terrible the days he's not working. What happened to Stretch?

[knke0204]

Stretch had some really serious health issues that has forced him to leave the show. He still comes on once every few months.

I like Tom Barnard. If you want a better insight of who he his, try the TomBarnardPodcast.com

it's a much better representation of who he his. I tend to see eye-to-eye with a lot of his views. KQRS morning show is highly regarded in the industry and there are a lot of fans around the country and even the world that listen to it.

It's not Shock-Jock, or Slapstick, so you're not going to get that non-sense from them. They are real-life, old school, straight forward and that's what I like. For example, they were talking about the top-5 best ways to tell a server/restaraunt that you did not like your food and one of them was #3) Speak to the manager the next day once you've cooled down. Tommy was like "Why in the world would you be that mad over food? It's FOOD! If you're not satisfied with your order, tell them, but no reason to be THAT MAD to have to cool down until the next day to tell the manager" ....

And he was right on. Straight-forward, Real-Life. I like it. No BS. Like my momma always said, if you can't stand the heat, get outta' the kitchen

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by jayhopethismeeturstandard

lol is that so. I think he might just might keep it too real, though that does not excuse some other remarks hes made.

What remarks?

[jayhopethismeeturstandard]

Some stuff from back in like 98' with the Hmong community telling them to assimilate or hit the god damn road. I don't know the exacts but I haven't heard anything offensive on the show besides that. 93X be saying chinamen and b***h so I don't think its that major in comparison. I agree with you that it is real and old school and something your going to find in very few other places. It is straight up funny though listening to the crew (especially Vegas).

[mn55110]

Whether you like Tom Barnard or not, you have to admire him the success he has had since taking over mornings at KQRS-FM Golden Valley back in 1986 (and formerly KQRS-AM as well) KQ92 consistantly had low ratings dating back to its Album-Rock days back in the 1970's when it was referred by some as "the stoner station". Tommy B. was really helped by the Minnesota Twins magical run in 1987 because him and the KQ Morning Crew spent so much time talking sports with Mark Rosen from channel 4 during the late 80's.

Almost instantly shot-up to the number 1 listened to FM morning show and a couple years later did what most people , myself included, thought could never be done, and that was have higher listenership than WCCO-AM 830 to be the number one listened to station in Minnesota, not just in morning drive time, but carring over listeners to keep their radio dial's tuned to 92.5 FM for all the dayparts.

Now just within the last two-years or so has KQRS reliquished the #1 spot for the entire day after an unpresadented 25-plus year run as the number one listened to station in the Twin Cities for every part of the day(presently 3rd or 4th place behind KSTP-FM 94.5, KEEY-FM 102.1, KDWB-FM 101.3 ). This is unheard of for a Classic Rock station. In most major radio markets classic rock is maybe middle of the pack as far as ratings a very best- mainly lower rated. MSP is the only market I can think of where the Classic Rock station was #1 at all, yet alone for 25-years.

Tom Barnard still has the the number#1 listened to Morning show in the Twin Cities. In fact throughout the 1990's and for most of the first decade in this new millenium, Tommy B. had 4-times the listeners of his nearest competitor. At one time Tom Barnard had a 27%-share of the morning listening audience whille the 2nd place show at that time, Dave Ryan on 101.3 KDWB-FM Richfield , had actually gotten as close as 8% of the morning radio audience for a time. Those numbers were unheard of anywhere else in the US.

Although Tom Barnard is still #1, his lead has closed cosiderably in the last two-years. The Power-Trip Morning Show on Sports radio KFXN-FM 100.3 is closing in, especially in the key male demographic's. Dave Lee on WCCO-AM is starting to has increased listenership, Dave Ryan's numbers on KDWB-FM are rising, and the K-102 Wake-Up Crew on KEEY-FM 102.1 are strengthening in relation to Tom Barnard's numbers on KQRS-FM who's contract runs through 2016 (30-years at KQRS 92.5).

Tom Barnard is one of the few if not the only local morning show host in the USA to beat Howard Stern badly, as he did consistantly every quarter, from 1997-1999 when Howard Stern was on Rock 100.3 FM forcing 100.3 to cancel Stern's show in the Twin Cities and even change formats to classic hits 100.3. In nearly every market Howard Stern would run the local radio personality out of the industry.

Tom Barnard and KQRS radio have been helped by keeping the show local talking about local current events, local politics, local sports, local weather, local concerts comming to town. Tom Barnard also says what alot of Minnesotans are affraid to say but are thinking and agreeing with Tommy B.,because Minnesota is very politically correct. He is heavily critical of public officials of both political parties and is not affraid to be very critical of local sports teams and local athletes who are not performing as they should. This is refreshing because so many media outlets are such homers and only make excuses for the the local sports teams in order to protect their close personal friends. There is too much "Minnesota Nice" when it comes to the local sports scene in the Twin Cities.

It will be very, very intersting to see what happens to the Twin Cities Radio market if Tom Barnard retires at the end of 2016; there could be some seismic shifts in the radio landscape in Minneapolis -St. Paul !

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by knke0204

I like Tom Barnard. If you want a better insight of who he his, try the TomBarnardPodcast.com

Nice, I just got into this and agree fully with your assessment. Tom is far more relaxed hanging out with his family in an uncensored and unstructured podcast than he is trying to tolerate the dimwits (COUGH, Terry!) on the morning show as he tries to sneak in conversation between commercials, songs, weather and traffic. Even though the KQ Morning show has seen better days, I still would say without hesitation that Tom Barnard and Dan Barrero are the most talented radio guys in the Twin Cities market.

[knke0204]

Originally Posted by Cruz Azul Guy

Nice, I just got into this and agree fully with your assessment. Tom is far more relaxed hanging out with his family in an uncensored and unstructured podcast than he is trying to tolerate the dimwits (COUGH, Terry!) on the morning show as he tries to sneak in conversation between commercials, songs, weather and traffic. Even though the KQ Morning show has seen better days, I still would say without hesitation that Tom Barnard and Dan Barrero are the most talented radio guys in the Twin Cities market.

I can agree with Tom Barnard and Dan Barreiro being the best.