An Open Letter to Virgil Thompson, Vice President of Programming, Cox Media Group, San Antonio, Texas

25 October 2011

Dear Mr. Thompson:

Today's abrupt dismissal of John Lisle and Steve Hahn, "key members of the KISS air staff" to use your own words, is at best a disservice to both those personalities; and, at worst, a gross betrayal of everything the once-proud "100,000 Watt Blowtorch of South Texas" once stood for.

San Antonio has always been a rock-hard, work-hard, party-hard, hard rock and heavy metal town; let no demographic survey, focus group, or industry publication tell you otherwise.

Ignore that, and you might as well start playing oldies. Ask any old KISS hand who's been listening to and/or working at the station longer than twenty years if you want to know how that went.

While some within the Extended Family (a term I first heard to describe KISS listeners from Lisle and Hahn) have voiced (in my opinion, valid) complaints about the playlist's shift toward commercially "safe" hard rock and metal and the perceived turning of blind eyes and deaf ears to newer, harder bands that the fans are clamoring to hear on the radio, such things are irrelevant with the advent of satellite radio and iPods in cars.

The only way I see the commercial radio stations I grew up with surviving well into the 21st Century is by providing what satellite radio and iPod playlists can't: engaging, genuine, locally-invested personalities that aren't afraid to speak their minds and talk a little smack now and again. The sort of people, in fact, that those in your employ seem hell-bent on driving off San Antonio airwaves (see Kendall, Brian; Schepke, Tom). Especially San Antonio institutions like Lisle & Hahn.

It would, of course, be foolish to assume that the Lisle & Hahn morning show would last forever. But to take men who have been fixtures of San Antonio radio for well over twenty years (counting for their stints in the 1980s) off the air in such a manner, without any explanation whatsoever or even the dignity of a formal farewell show, is not only callous, but classless. Messrs. Lisle and Hahn deserve better. The loyal listeners -- even the few that have not cleared KISS from their presets, bookmark lists, and Facebook likes and abandoned the station like rats leaving a sinking ship -- deserve better.

Sincerely,

Jason Ramsperger
Former loyal listener of KISS-FM, Member of the Extended Family