I agree. Alternative should be the antithesis of mass media, if its done correctly. But for a time, about 25 years ago, alternative music all of a sudden became well known. Those are the older hits stations like ALT92.3 are playing. The purists are calling for these stations to stick to the current stuff. But I know that the current stuff is simply less commercial than the older stuff. Which is what the fan base likes. And I'm not here to talk about music, but rather radio.
Here's my view on alternative radio. It's done best when it's done right, which is as a non-commercial format. Stations like WFUV in NY are better at this, because they don't operate with the need to attract advertisers. Same with Sirius. Same with certain internet services. Take a look at WFUV's ratings, and they're dreadful. That's OK because as long as the listeners subscribe to the station, it will stay on the air. So my view is rather than complain about ALT92.3 and what they don't do, just change your station to WFUV. That's why they're there.