After more than seven years as classic-rock hodgepodge "The Bone," KDBN/93.3 FM has re-emerged this morning as <a href="http://fm933qualityrock.com/">FM 93.3 Quality Rock.</a> (Make that after more than seven years as a classic-rock station and one weekend of nothing but the Dave Matthews Band).</p><p>Really, the big surprise here is that this took so long. "The Bone" was never a big ratings player and underwent numerous format tweaks. The other surprise is that <a href="http://www.cumulus.com/cumulus_home.cfm">Cumulus Media,</a> which owns KDBN, would return to an adult album alternative (AAA) format that resembles the "Zone" and "Merge" formats that preceded it.</p><p>"The two MAIN differences between FM 93.3 and any other station on the frequency in the past (Zone, Merge especially) is that we will be playing familiar songs and artists," operations manager Jeff Catlin said in an e-mail. "All the way from classic hits and classic alternative, through the 80's & 90s up through currents from the likes of U2, Coldplay and Radiohead."</p><p>The format flip occurred at 5 a.m., and <a href="http://www.regularguys.com/">The Regular Guys</a> made their morning-show debut today, simulcast from Atlanta.</p><p> "These guys are winners," Catlin says. "They've been in LA and Atlanta and they get ratings. Its a very good show. We've got a great foundation now in AM drive for FM 93.3, which we haven't had in the past and this music position gives us a broader base from which to pull audience from."</p><p>I didn't get my first really good listen till after 10 a.m., and I was a little disappointed by the usual-suspect Red Hot Chili Peppers, Train and Counting Crows songs I heard. But since then I've heard non-warhorse songs by Beck, Gomez, 311 and even Barenaked Ladies, and I like the mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar.</p><p>I'm not convinced, however, that this will go over well in DFW, which has not historically been receptive to either an out-of-market morning show (unless the name Howard Stern is involved) or to the AAA format. The new format's music suits my tastes, and I'm in the target demo, but this is a very competitive market, and if Cumulus is going to launch a niche format like that here, it's going to have to be satisfied with niche ratings. I don't see 93.3 being a big player, but if Cumulus will nurture it, it could develop a nice cult following. "Nurturing" is not a strong suit for most media companies these days, however.</p><p>As for core artists, I asked for three and I got a bunch: Catlin lists the "Stones, Zeppelin, Tom Petty, REM, Bowie, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters, Alanis Morrisette, U2, Jack Johnson, Coldplay, Clash, Talking Heads, Police, Cars, Dave Matthews, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Pearl Jam." The question is, will it be the same old songs, or will they dig deeper? I've heard a little to indicate that they will, but I'm not 100 percent converted yet.