Idaho Radio News Etc.

What can you spell on ESPN?

KSAS is running a promo poking fun at KZMG’s practice of speeding up their songs. I’m not sure it will connect for most listeners, but it made me laugh.

Wonder which stations are actually playing music in the morning?

Mediabase 24/7’s sample hour for Friday was 7am. Here’s the breakdown:

KIZN: 7 songs; 5 breaks

KKGL: Bob&Tom n/a

KQFC: 7 songs; 6 breaks

KQXR: Data not available

KRVB: Ditto

KSAS: 9 songs; 3 breaks

KXLT: 6 songs; 4 breaks

KZMG: 2 songs; 1 break

The RIAA seems to pull the strangest stunts.

Mike Deeds will make his debut on Boise radio this Sunday night on KRVB.

Deeds and Tim Johnstone will host “The Other Studio.”

Here’s his column about the new show, (headlined: Turn to the radio for terrific new music. No — seriously!)

We’ll be listening…

OK, our short KZMG-KSAS moratorium is over.

For at least part of this week, Nate (Dog) was out. He VTed the Wednesday edition (sorry, not sure about Monday or Tuesday).

Thursday’s show was linered by PD Jim Allen.

If this is where you think I’m going to blast the VT practice… well… that’s another topic for another time. That’s not the part that is a problem.

Thursday night Valentine took the voicetracking ‘theater’ to a new level. The station broadcasts live from Grainey’s on Thursday. Well, most Thursdays…

“Hi, I’m Valentine broadcasting live from Tom Grainey’s…”

No, he did not say “I’m Valentine, live at Grainey’s right now” or some other trick phrase. He may have been on 6th street Thursday, but the liners were taped.

He didn’t tell the listener the truth.

Part II

If you had called KZMG’s request line Thursday, you would have heard a recorded message. “Hey, it’s Valentine, I’m on another line right now…”

Wait, hold on… I thought you were live at Grainey’s. So… is your studio located at JT Toad’s now? I’m confused.

If you do as prompted and “push 1″ to make a request, you hit KZMG’s automated system. The recorded prompts still feature the voice of Scooter B. Pretty funny.

Check in this weekend if you think of it… lots of news (just no time to post right now)

-They’re letting Mike Deeds on the radio
-Valentine breaks one of the 10 Commandments
-Ratings preview

Lance Tidwell, PD of KQFC responded to the earlier post about the station’s brand. It’s well put — and makes a number of good points. Here it is:

A product or brand never ends. It’s a process not a final destination. 98 KQFC is evolving and always will. If it’s not growing, it’s dead.

How you could miss #1 For New Country and The Legends is beyond me? It’s exactly what we are. We play both. Is there someone in that category that’s in front of us?

Who boxed in the radio brand and I didn’t get the memo? We are also #1 Cyber Country Station (check the stats at www.98kqfc.com/webstats). It’s true and gives us something to live up to. We believe we are the #1 Country Concert Station, Rodeo and so on. Making a claim to be a market leader in a competitive category is not clutter. It’s common sense. What’s the alternative, to claim to be #1 for that one big thing and average at the rest? This isn’t a pain reliever on a store shelve; it’s a radio station. We do more than one thing.

Even Nike does more these days than basketball shoes (their claim to fame, 20 years ago) ask Tiger. On the clutter note, years of programming and research have shown me that the only clutter a listener really understands is too many commercials or too much talk. It’s the death and taxes of radio, un-escapable.

We don’t real off category position statements in a single breathe as you’ve put down here. We make claims when it relates to what we are talking about in the moment we are in. You put an hour of listening into two editorialized sentences.

Basically a poor understanding of a particular radio stations on air image, the differences between strategy and tactics and trying to compare KQFC to “Kleenexâ€? on your part doesn’t mean KQFC is a poorly branded radio station. Put down the Ries & Trout books and step away from the keyboard.

Lance Tidwell
OM/PD
The BIG 98, KQFC

For reference, the earlier post did say “The station’s promo imaging has grown leaps and bounds the last few months.” I think the station IS growing — and evolving. And to be clear — I never heard all the brand positions in a single breath — they were sprinkled over the hour.

KJOT is up for another round of the J105 Calendar. The station is pounding the airwaves (and their website) looking for applicants.

KQXR’s morning trio of Byl, Melissa and Big J were joined by afternoon guy Decker for a time Tuesday morning. You could tell the quartet actually got along off the air by how they interacted on air.

Decker is new to the station, and market — and is PD for The X. Being the new boss can be a balancing act — but these folks seem to get along.

I have one question about “The New Morning X.” Why do all the liners say “with Byl and Big J” but don’t include our good friend Melissa? I mean, c’mon — she is the cute one after all (I’d use another smiley thing here, but that would be two in one day… and that’s getting to be a bit much, don’t ya’ think?)

Why is Bambi so angry?

Boise State Radio (KBSU/KBSX/KBSM/KBSJ/KBSW/KBSS) is expanding — in several ways.

First, you may notice that the list of calls above includes KBSS. 91.1 FM will be the home to NPR News in the Wood River Valley starting later this month.

Also of note — BSU Radio is part of the Northwest News Network, a collective of public radio stations that pool news resources.

For instance, you’ll hear former KTVB reporter Austin Jenkins on KBSU — but he works for Washington State University and is based in Olympia, WA.

BSU radio has had difficulty covering news from the Panhandle — but a new bureau in Coeur d’Alene should help that.

KBSU is co-locating a studio in the KXLY(-AM, Spokane) bureau there. The bureau’s reporter will not only feed BSU Radio, but other stations in the NNN partnership.

The NNN is made up of an impressive 49 stations — including Boise State Radio, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Jefferson Public Radio, Northwest Public Radio (Pullman), Spokane Public Radio and several others. More than $1.2 million has been poured in to the effort.

BSR has a history of innovation — they even have a station powered by nothing but hot air (as opposed to stations that are full of hot air… so to speak :) ).

One more note. Boise State Radio’s website is very impressive. A cool feature, transmitter status, allows you to see if your favorite station is operating at full or low power.

Driven by the Pleasure Boutique on Fairview lately?

The marquee says “Thanks Spud Bros. 1350 AM”

Chris Brewer and the Pleasure Boutique seem to have a special… um… bond.

Clear Channel & Journal Radio groups are looking for people right now.

CC needs full time “Air Talent.” Note the job posting itself does not say it’s from CC — a source called Job Service to inquire about the job.

Among qualifications: Must present a well-groomed, professional appearance; Weekend and evening availability is frequently required.

They are looking for a minimum of two years experience. The job posting has an unintentional joke — Salary: $0.01/hr. Presumably this is because the pay depends on experience — but I’m sure if CC could get away with paying someone a penny an hour – they would.

Journal Broadcast Group is looking for an Afternoon Announcer. But a warning: If you are not a hard working, enthusiastic, showcase talent, choose another ad to answer. Yes, Mr. PD — I’m a lazy-ass… please hire me.