Dave & Darren return to QC radio orbit

Regional Media, owner and operator of 22 radio signals in Illinois and Iowa, announced Wednesday the launch of Planet 93.9 and the return of the Dave & Darren Morning Show to Quad Cities radio dials.

Planet 93.9 replaces the Jack FM format with what a news release described as “Quad Cities Real Alternative.”

“The first question any Program Director needs to ask themselves when launching a new station is, Where is the hole in the market? Where’s there the best opportunity to succeed?” said Planet 93.9 Program Director Dave Levora. “Naturally, I felt the biggest thing the Quad Cities has been lacking is ‘Dave & Darren in the Morning.’ We’re thrilled to be back on the air.”

The show has been off the local airwaves since 2014, but lived on through the duo’s NachoRadio.com. The show now will be broadcast each weekday morning from 5:30 a.m.-10 a.m. on 93.9 FM or Planet939.com.

“Regional Media has given me the freedom to build Planet 93.9 on my own terms,” Levora added. “Planet 93.9 will be unlike those cookie-cutter stations you’ll find in every other market in America. It will
be unique to the Quad Cities. I can’t begin to explain how excited I am to share Planet 93.9 with the Quad Cities. Especially these days, when listening to the radio is one of the few things we can still do together as a large group.”

What else is on Planet’s playlist?

They say the station will “dig deep into the roots of Alternative with New Wave bands like The Cars or Talking Heads. Planet 93.9 will be the home for the great ’80s bands like R.E.M., The Cure, and U2. Of course, we wouldn’t be The Planet if we didn’t play all the ’90s Alternative songs you heard first on another Planet. And we do mean
ALL of them.”

The other Planet referenced is KORB 93.5 FM, which was known as Planet 93.5 from 1995-2000. Levora was a former host there. That station is now KJOC I-Rock after a run from 2014-19 as an ESPN sports affiliate (which moved to 1170 AM) and plays active rock.

Regional Media has been constructing studio space in anticipation of the launch.

“Our team is so excited to welcome back Dave and Darren in the Quad Cities,” Regional Media President and CEO Fletcher M. Ford said. “Our personal relationship goes back a long time as I still attribute my Quad City business success directly to the marketing we did together. I was upset when so many Quad-City radio icons including Dave was laid off in January, and the major blow it sent to local radio in the Quad Cities. Total lack of respect for our local talent and advertisers. Our team knew we had to do something. That’s when it all began.”