Idaho Radio News Etc.

Nat Reynolds (formerly of Citadel Boise) has been promoted to Director of Ticket Sales for the Boise Hawks.

Prior to March 2004, Reynolds worked in ad sales for KTIK, as well as giving voice to the station’s prep voice.

Richard Warner of the Lost Remote blog (of which I am a huge fan) says the FNC/CC deal will “reshape radio news.”

Not sure I agree

KSKI-FM is an amazing little gem hidden in the Wood River Valley. The world famous station (for, if nothing else, it’s inspired calls) is LOCAL! This evening during the drive, a human being was behind the mic. He even made a mistake (such a rarity in the days of Prophet… snicker snicker). The station’s playlist is a great mix of modern rock — and the on-air talent seems engaged.

And this: KSKI & sister KECH feature local news and sports drops. And not “Here’s what the Mariners did…” Real drops… featuring local teams, and using local names (by the talented Jody Zarkos).

The station also plays local music by local artists — a rarity in any market these days.

Kudos.

Wall Street Journal: “News Corp.’s Fox News has reached an agreement to become the primary news provider to radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc.”

AP: “Fox will provide a five-minute top-of-the-hour newscast, a nightly news broadcast, and around-the-clock dedicated national news coverage. In return, Fox News Radio will have access to news produced by San Antonio-based Clear Channel’s news network,”

KISY joins KXLT on the all-holiday bandwagon.

I was listening to Mix 106 the other day. Except is was on 98.5 FM. But it had the same station voice. And it had the same DJ. Oh, and it was called Star. And I wasn’t in Boise.

The point: It’s amazing how the CC Mix format really does have the same “sound and feel” from market to market. Pocatello/Idaho Falls’ Star 98.5 and Mix 106 really could be the same station.

Last month I wrote about Ken Weaver’s debut on KBOI-AM. He started halfway through Idaho Talks Live — then did the show for days and days.

Where has Deb gone? A source tells me her name has been removed from the bumpers and show intros, but her bio is still on the website.

What’s up?

Update: Deb wrote in to let us know what is up:

Hmm – let’s see if I can follow this – someone e-mailed me and said I was accused of boozing on a blog somewhere – that’s a strange tangent for comments about leaving a radio gig!

Here’s the truth – I gave my notice in August (and stayed on through November to ensure a smooth transition) that I no longer wanted to do the morning grind – not about money, I was paid well :) And I love working with Paul J. and Chris! It’s just a personal decision to get more sleep and spend more time with my husband and 3-year old daughter – the light of my life!

I’m still working for Citadel and for radio stations in Portland and Boston from my home set-up – but logging fewer hours.

Thanks for asking – or am I supposed to say Cheers! :)

KTPZ-FM, 99.1 “The Music Monster” sounds a lot tighter today than it did just a few months ago. A truckload of new bumpers and imaging promos are giving the station some life — and the playlist seems tighter (though it still wanders a bit).

Is this possible?

No more decency standards.

No more ownership rules.

No more Federal Communications Commission.

And we could owe this blessing (curse?) to… Rupert Murdoch, or maybe a can of whipped cream and a stripper — or even Internet smut.

As you may have heard, Fox Broadcasting has been slapped with a $1.18 million fine for Married by America a show in which voters got to pick a husband and wife to pair. A pair of scenes were deemed all icky and stuff by the FCC. OK, so the word was indecent. One showed a man licking whipped cream of a female stripper’s body, the other depicting a male stripper putting a woman’s hand down his pants.

So how could this lead to the end of the FCC? Fox has appealed the fine – citing the Supreme Court of the United State’s recent decision to strike down Internet pornography restrictions. In that case, SCOTUS found the government’s definition of smut to be too vague. Fox says the broadcast definition is nearly identical.

That’s the first prong — the second is NBC & CBS indicating they will attack the FCC’s very existence — by attacking the agencies statutory charter. There is buzz that the two network’s will go after the agency on First Ammendment grounds.

My weekly annoyance: Mike Deeds’ column.

It’s another rant on something that has nothing to do with Idaho. ZZZZ.

He has three local notes — that Sting is coming to town; that Sarah McLachlan is coming to town; and that “Country bar Shorty’s… which changed its name to Silver Spur, is now called Shorty’s again. Don’t ask me.”

Trust me, I wouldn’t ask him.

Shorty’s folded under Arnel Jones several years ago. The former owners of the Blues Bouquet bought the lease, renovated the space and opened the Silver Spur.

The Bouquet/Spur folks gave up the lease, and new people bought it. They liked the name Shorty’s better, so they changed it back.

Not that complicated. It took one phone call to confirm it.

Right here in Boise: 867-5309

Update: I fixed the link.