Idaho Radio News Etc.

The Spring Arbitron peep show begins August 17th.

Idaho Radio is your source for a complete breakdown (nervous or otherwise). In February, we churned out more than a dozen posts on the Fall ‘03 book — you can expect that same kind of coverage for the spring period as well. And yes, we’ll feature a bit of the ‘unpublished’ numbers too.

Storylines to watch: Will KIZN remain dominant?; Will KTHI and KLTB continue their divergent paths?; Are the changes at KTIK adding up to numbers?; Who will win the bubblegum race?; and which group will claim the overall prize?

OK, had to go there.

KQFC is working to be a bit more brand active — but is the clutter too much?

The station’s promo imaging has grown leaps and bounds the last few months (and yes, I know I panned the Big 98 tag line at first). I listened for about an hour the other day (and no, i’m not a big country fan, in case you couldn’t tell). I’ll admit that I never did hear the “Idaho’s New County Leader” tag — but it is on their website.

However, they are using the “Idaho’s #1 Country Concert Station” tag as well. I could almost imagine this pouring through my speakers: “You’re on Idaho Country, The Big 98 — KQFC. We’re number one for new country and the legends too. And you know it, we’re Idaho’s #1 country concert station, because we’re Idaho’s new country leader.”

KFTZ in the Big I.F. is launching a mix show (so says AllAccess).

That should be an interesting experiment, to say the least. As you may know, KFTZ is owned by Bonneville International, which in turn is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Z103 is known for such stunts as “Pimp My Yard” and “Survivor-RV.” Z’s playlist is akin to co-channel “sister” KSAS — maybe a bit more alternative. There are a few Lloyd Banks and D12’s on the list of spins however.

July’s over. We can now put speculation that a CC Boise station will jump on the country hay wagon to rest. At least for this minute.

And as rumors go — it is always a crap shoot. But there’s a new one swirling — though this one would have far less impact. Is Journal making an AM switch? Word is Journal is looking for talent to take a format in to the wide world of sports.

Interesting rumor.

I get blasted when I post too much.

I get blasted when I don’t post at all.

Oh well.

As someone noted below, if you have something going on — drop me a note, I’d be glad to post it.

And here’s the scoop on the latest in the KZMG-KSAS war:  The show played a clip of Jason Reed’s audition tape for KISS 106.1 in Seattle.  It was putrid, but that was the joke.  It was a funny bit of radio theater.  Evan Rose made a sly reference to ‘another station’s night guy,’ apparently meaning smooch.  Someone called in, talked about how ‘Smooch has been on the air 4 years and still sounds like that.’  KZMG bleeped out the Smooch, but rolled with it.

When I get a few moments, I’ll round up some of the other doings (including more on KQFC’s branding, and those AM rumblings I’ve heard).

Look for that in the next day or so.

Contact us: idahoradio@gmail.com

I didn’t hear it, but word is the Magic Morning Show took aim at Smooch on the morning show today.

Anyone know what’s up?

OK, add this to the list of things I deplore: mentioning your competition on the air.
 
Friday evening, Troy played a call from some guy who was pissed because “the other station wouldn’t play my song.”  Of course, ‘his song’ was Sir Mixalot’s Baby Got Back.  He claims ‘they’ promised they’d play it and didn’t.
 
Smooch said “oh yeah, Tragic?”  And he goes “yeah, I hate those losers at bleepgic ninetybleep point bleep.  Gee, which station could they possibly be talking about?  Let me think REALLY hard.
 
This illustrates a few things: 1) this listener would, given the choice, rather listen to KZMG than KSAS; 2) Smooch thinks that talking about the other station is good radio; and 3) Is it just me, or would this just remind listeners that there is another station out there actually playing MUSIC?
 
So I decided to have a little chat with Nate at Magic (*67 is a wonderful thing).  The guy is pretty affable — and I got the clear impression that he was better than that — and above the games. 
 
I’m having bad flashbacks to the days when KCIX would “drop the bomb” on KZMG during commercials breaks, playing a spot that said something to the effect of “Magic 93.1 plays a lot of commercials.  In fact, they’re probably playing one right now.  I bet they are — here, we’ll give you a second to check (Jeopardy music).  See?  Now back to Today’s Best Music Mix, K-106.”  Or even KSAS’s launch, when they said Magic 93.1 more than they talked about Kiss. 
 
KZMG’s response was classic — the Eminem parodies with lines like “Isn’t it cool how they say our name between their tunes?”  Wonder if I still have those MP3s somewhere…

We’ve been yammering about the possibility of an FM station making a format switch for weeks — but could a (seperate) change be on the horizon on the AM dial?

KWEI has opened a Boise office on Orchard street in the Scott Hedrick building (near LaZBoy Furniture Gallery). The space was occupied by KIVI’s boise office once upon a time…

A Texas disc jockey is free on bond following an on-air prank.

Police say the 22-year-old D.J. known on air as ‘Lunchbox,’ entered a convenience store wearing a ski mask and wandered around the store while talking to his radio audience.

The clerk thought he was going to be robbed and tripped the silent alarm.

Daniel Chappell was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat and could face up to a year in jail.

The gag was to gauge the reaction of people who think they’re going to be robbed.

‘Lunchbox’ is no longer on the air.

An e-mailer writes in to let me know that there are more than just 3 night jocks. KIZN is live in the dark part of the day with Hot Rod Thompson.

Also, though not a traditional jock, KGEM of all places has a live night show (as previously mentioned). I’ve been working on a review of that program for a while — hopefully that will be here soon.

I forgot to mention this a week or so ago: During the big rain storm in Boise last month, the Statehouse basement flooded. During the storm, KBSU apparantely decided to go off the air. It’s unclear why — if there were problems at the main studio at Boise State, or if the Statehouse bureau being flodded caused this. Know what’s up? Let us know.

That same storm knocked several of the commercial stations off the air — but only for a few short bursts of time, from what I can tell.

When will Brad Wyler get a friend to talk to on KSAS? He does a decent job — but could really use someone… anyone… to talk to.

In the comments thread on the Valenitine sound-live incident, there’s some debate about it not mattering if you are live are not.

In a new book by former CNN VP Bonnie Anderson, this topic is discussed (albeit about TV). Many of the same principles apply. What do you think? Read this excerpt from CableNewser.com

Pages 123-125: “We’re Live! (Sort Of…)”

Many mornings on The Today Show, viewers see news reader Ann Curry turn to a screen and supposedly toss to Tom Brokaw “for a look at what’s coming up this evening on NBC Nightly News.” Tom thanks Ann, and launches into a thirty-second monologue about stories that will appear that evening. When he’s done, he tosses back to the Today Show anchor, “Ann?” “Thank you, Tom,” she replies… It looks live. It gives the impression the evening anchors — the network stars — are always on duty to bring viewers the latest news. But it’s generally faked…

Former NBC VP Joe Angotti says “live on tape” segments are “a step in the wrong direction” for television news. Anderson asks George Lewis about it:

“When I see a morning anchor talking to a piece of videotape that the evening anchor sent down the night before, I wonder if these people go home and talk to their VCR. I think it’s stupid,” said longtime NBC News correspondent George Lewis. But more important, he adds, this practice is dishonest. “Broadcasters should not be in the business of trying to mislead their audience, and doing so-called ‘look-lives’ are a misleading practice and I try to avoid it. But I’m asked to do it, particularly on MSNBC. I try to talk them out of it as much as possible. But it’s convenient, and sometimes economics dictates it. They don’t want to stay up on the satellite, which costs more money, so they do this and have the thing in the can.” Lewis acknowledges producers wouldn’t have even dared ask him to participate in this sort of news fraud fifteen or twenty year sago. “No, I would not have been asked. There used to be a rule on the books on the FCC that you had to state what was live and what was recorded, and it was a violation of the FCC rule to pass off recorded material as live. Those rules either don’t exist anymore, or, if they do, no one is paying attention to them.” As Lewis touched on, the main reason for resorting to the fake live shots is purely economic. Not only do the networks and stations not have time to pay for additional satellite time, they also don’t have to pay overtime to camera crews and live truck engineers, or assign a new shift to do this one story. Once again, the incessant drive for greater profits has led to unethical practices that affect the news viewers see virtually every day.

R&R today reports that the FCC may require stations to keep 24 hour airchecks for 60-90 days.

What a nightmare. But hey, on the bright side, since everything on most CC stations is already on tape, they have a leg up (kidding).

There’s been a lot of country talk latetly, but I missed this: KQFC is calling itself “Idaho’s New Country Leader.”

The internal “fight” between Citadel’s country cousins KIZN and KQFC has always been interesting. Ever since the Wilson group (which at the time owned KQFC/KKGL/KBOI) purchased KIZN and KZMG, there has been this sort of on-going struggle for supremacy. For as long as I can remember, KIZN has been at the top of the heap.

Here’s a look at the two station’s spins list for the year so far, courtesy MediaBase 24/7:

Somewhat similar, though the Q’s list skews a bit older.

Back to the country leader position — it’s interesting that they put themselves up to a direct comparison to their sister station — and rival.

Have you noticed KIZN.com lately? There is a TON of content on the site.

Everything from the usual concert info and DJ bios, to special wallpapers for listeners computers and a huge morning show page for Kevin & Brenda.

Interesting browsing for any station looking to improve its website.

Every month or so, we check in on the nightsiders — the few there are left.

Boise’s live evening programming consists of Ian on KQXR, Nate (Dog) on KZMG and Smooch and the other guy on KSAS.

Several months ago, to a flurry of controversy — I said that Smooch/Mikey were finding a groove. They need to rent a copy of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and study it — because the thrill is gone.

Nate is doing a standup job at KZMG nights these days. He seems to be working just a bit harder to let his show appeal to more than one sex. I do have to express some confusion though: why are there liners calling it the “Slow Show with Nate Dogg?” Slow? Heh? They aren’t referring to the music… and the show doesn’t have sleepy pacing — so what’s the real deal? How about “Nate at Night” or something? All around, Nate seems to be prepared and is able to use the phones to his advantage.

Someone commented this spring about how Bambi/Ian’s humor fit better on the X. Very true. His slightly cornball sense of timing flows much better with the more jaded X audience. He also does a nice job of using the phones — and makes X features like Cage Match work.

The KSAS show has the appearance of effort — but it’s not working well. The unoriginally-named “Nighttime Trivia” takes way too long. I don’t need (or want) to hear everyone’s lame guess. It’s too much. When the show first launched Kiss It or Diss It, I suggested there should be two songs — not one, and the it should be Cage Match style. They have done that — but now it’s confusing. You have two songs — and callers vote, but they can only “Kiss” or “Diss” the second song. Several times each night, Smooch is forced to say “If you like tonight’s challenger, Imagine by the Beatles (kidding) call and say ‘Kiss it.’ But if you would rather keep the champion, Telluride by Tim McGraw, say ‘Dis it.’” My head hurts. Keep the concept, dump the name — call it the Kiss Off or something and simplify.

Ken Bass appears to have the week off on the KRVB 94.9 The River morning show. Sitting in is Dan McColly (husband of Teri Tate). It’s always interesting to hear this duo on the air — with that sort of background knowledge that they wake up together.

The River Morning Show is the most intelligent sound coming from Idaho radios in the morning hours. It actually makes you feel (as I’ve said before here) smarter.

The search function at right has been improved. You may have noticed that it wasn’t indexing the site very well, but works much better now. It’s still powered by Google, but it’s a different service. It still doesn’t search comments, that I’m still trying to figure out. Soon perhaps.

As you all are quite aware — speculation about a country format flip has been swirling for weeks — centered on KSAS & KCIX.

I don’t think now is the time. Imminent? Probably not.

OK, so now that I’m out on this flimsy limb — here’s what I’m grasping on to: The ratings book just ended. Wouldn’t it be prudent to at least wait until the advances are in? Sure, switching now gives you more time to prepare for Fall — but waiting gives CC the chance to make sure KSAS or KCIX didn’t see a bounce.

Sure, the whole fair thing is strange — but doesn’t make this a done deal. One other point — if you are in charge, which station do you flip? I’ve had these numbers for months, but haven’t posted them — I think you will find them of interest:

Fall 2003 – Persons 18-34, Monday-Sunday

KSAS – 6.9
KCIX – 4.6
KXLT – 4.6

Fall 2003 – Persons 18-49, Monday-Sunday

KXLT – 5.3
KSAS – 4.1
KCIX – 3.4

So in key these two demos, KCIX ranks third, and slipped in all three areas from Spring ‘03. Now consider this:

Fall 2003 – Women 25-54, Monday-Sunday
KXLT – 10.9
KCIX – 6.5
KSAS – 2.2

In this demo, women with actual cash, KXLT is much stronger — and saw growth from Spring to Fall. KSAS slipped quite a bit here, and KZMG grew. The big story in this category is KXLT, which went from a 10.9 to a 3.8 — well more than doubling.

Now, if you take KCIX’s numbers out — and evenly divide them between Lite & KISS (which wouldn’t happen, but follow me for a second), KSAS would show some growth — but still trail KZMG. But if you drop KSAS, most of those listeners would flee to an already strong KZMG — with some going to KCIX. So if you’re CC, what do you do?

No one ever said that starting a country station would be easy. It would take several years of patience. KIZN leads in overall numbers, and 2 of the 3 demos listed above (KQXR wins the Persons 18-34 race). KQFC saw a softer than usual book — but still beats KSAS & KCIX in nearly every category (save Persons 18-34 again).

If I were going to gamble, and try something risky — I’d take KCIX towards an alternative format — blow up the brand and the playlist, and take on the X. Maybe even “Alternative Oldies” — Pirate Radio circa 1996. Look what happened when KTHI took on KLTB.

I’m eager to hear what you think.

At 1:57 today, KZMG’s Valentine said ‘I just went through your voicemails at 424 93 hundred, and we’ll get your request for Stacy’s Mom on shortly.’

Wait, isn’t this the same Valentine that proclaimed he would be ‘off until Tuesday’ last Friday evening?

Look, being VTed on a holiday (observed or otherwise) is fine, but don’t lie to cover the fact that you are tape. It’s dishonest — and is EXACTLY what people gripe about CC for.