Idaho Radio News Etc.

Seattle-based Fisher Communications is selling its radio assets in Washington and Montana — with the exception of three frequencies in the Seattle market.

24 stations are part of the deal – to Cherry Creek. Fisher will pick up $33-million bucks. They aren’t unloading the TV stations, which in Idaho include KBCI-TV and and KUNS-LP (channel 35) in Boise, as well as KLEW-TV/Lewiston and KIDK-TV/Idaho Falls.

(Thanks, Oldtimer!)

Updated: I don’t know how to spell “Fisher,” apparently.

It’s EEO time again…
Reports are due online tomorrow.

Oh the anticipation.

The Fish Wrap’s offspring wrote up Mike & Kate this week. thrive (neigh Thr!ve) talks about the KCIX/Mix 106 duo in this week’s issue — on newsstands everywhere (well, except place that are smart enough to get rid of those ugly green boxes).

It’s a pretty scratch-the-surface piece. We learn…

-Mike is well-dressed
-Kate will blow her brains out if she hears Daniel Powter’s Bad Day one more time
-Mike & Kate are “something… like family”
-Kate doesn’t listen to another station by Mix (“I’m focused on it 100%”)
-Kate uses Ideal Image, works out at Total Woman, feeds her dog Purina, and will camp out at Roaring Springs this summer
-Mike co-hosts the show. I think. Kinda hard to tell from the story. But he doesn’t drink coffe… but then again, neither does Kate

Read it here

Related: This week thrive decided to dump the exclamation point, and go for that cool “don’t capitalize our proper name” thing. They also redid just about everything else.

Veering off topic a bit:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart recently lit up WTWO-TV in Terre Haute, IN for a pretty rediculous promo. This is a two step excercise — watch the first video, then watch the second piece….

Now here’s the “internal” response from WTWO:

But does WTWO chit chat?

Jack Armstrong hit the air at KDJQ at 3pm. KTVB was there — you’ll see that tonight on News at Six.

Update: OK, so it didn’t air at six. We had too much news today. It will likely be on at 10.

Below: Big Jack back on the air – in-depth Q&A with Dan McColly

Anyone within range of Deer Point in the past couple decades has been able to fire up the radio, tune the dial to 97.9FM and hear country tunes.

But if one company has its way, you’ll hear static in that place. Folks looking for “The Big 98 KQFC” would instead have to have to slide up the dial to 102.7.

But the Citadel home to country crooners wouldn’t be the only frequency to move if College Creek broadcasting gets its way. The urban sounds of KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM would move to 103.5. The “other” CC wants the changes to establish radio service in Owyhee, Nevada – Finley, Washington – Iona, Idaho – and Melba, Idaho.

It wants to make to move the following stations: KRJC/Elko, KSKI/Sun Valley, KSRA/Salmon, KEZQ/West Yellowstone, KORT/Grangeville, KRKL/Walla Walla, KGSG/Pasco, KMCX/Jerome, KSAS/Caldwell and KQFC/Boise – plus a CP in Salmon. Everyone but KQFC & KSAS said “sure,” according to the company’s FCC filing – and College Creek would foot the bill for all the changes.

For Boise the gist is this: College Creek would light up 97.7 FM in Melba – which would force moving The Q to 102.7… which would then force Kiss to 103.5, all to accommodate FCC spacing rules. That would then affect KSKI, KMVX and a vacant allotment in McCall.

I think we can all agree that, despite the lengthy statements to the contrary – this isn’t about serving the communities of Melba, Iona, Finley or Owyhee.

Read all the FCC & legal jargon you can chew on here. (Thanks Oldtimer for the lead).

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Idaho Radio News would begin to do some longer-form interviews. Here’s volume one:

Dan McColly with wife Teri Tate-McColly (image blatantly stolen from micheleclarkpromotion.com)

Dan McColly is a fixture in the Boise radio industry — he knows just about everyone, and has done just about everything.

Currently, he is OM for the Journal Boise group of stations – a post he’s held since before Journal owned the frequencies. He is responsible for overseeing the cluster’s Boise properties, most of which are rock-themed.

Dan was kind enough to answer a few questions by e-mail. By way of explanation, because I generally run this blog more like Mee in the Morning than Meet the Press, it wasn’t my goal to ask those Tim Russert questions. Take it or leave it I suppose.

Inside you’ll hear about Byl & Doug, the difference between KF95 & The River, how local can still rule, and why Dan enjoys trying to “minimize the gap.”

After the jump…
Read the rest of this entry »

Former KLTB program director Jack Armstrong has a pair of new jobs.

As you read in comments earlier this week, Jack will begin voicetracking for Citadel – though not in Boise.

Instead, fans of Jack will now be able to hear him weekday afternoons on KDJQ 890 AM (starting next week… so not “now” the “now” sense of the word).

“I was fired by Clear Channel December 30th after 13 years as P.D and afternoon/sometimes mornings then sat on the sidelines for the last 5 months watching them dismantle KOOL 104.3 so they could change it into yet another country station,” Armstrong told me by e-mail. “Well, that’s in the past and my wife Patti and I move forward with a much better situation.”

He says Rob Combs, KDJQ’s station owner offered him the “ultimate deal,” calling it “one that any and all radio people would die for.”

Jack wil be on the air each day from 3pm-7pm in Boise on KDJQ. Folks in Spokane and the north part of our state will be able to hear him Citadel’s Oldies 101.1. He will be VTing from the Bannock palace – and the gig will likely expand to other Citadel stations across the country.

“Thanks for the kind words and support over the last 5 months. We move forward with a new chapter in this very interesting radio book that’s been 33 years in the makings. The KDJQ gig is bottom-line … FUN WITH NO STRESS! You will hear a much more entertaining Big Jack. Turn it on and enjoy true afternoon fun … the way radio is suppose to be!!!!!!! BIG JACK IS BACK!!!!!”

I’m not dead — and in fact, I’ve got three great posts in the hopper. Stay tuned…

Citadel Boise has launched an agressive search for a promotions director for KBOI and KTIK. The ads are not only appearing in the fishwrap, but they are running radio spots as well.

PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR
NewsTalk 670 KBOI & ESPN Radio 1350 KTIK The Ticket in Boise, Idaho is seeking a Promotions Director. This position entails coordinating & implementing on-air & off-air promotions, events & contests to benefit KBOI & KTIK. Must have leadership skills as well as the ability to support programming & sales efforts. Candidates must be passionate about sports, extremely organized, & be able to multi-task, handle pressures & meet deadlines. Send resume to: Program Director, Citadel Broadcasting, KBOI & KTIK, 1419 West Bannock St., Boise, ID 83702. Citadel Broadcasting Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Journal Boise is still looking for that perfect someone to run KJOT/J105. The PD gig has been open for… well, forever? The group posted this to AllAccess recently (Thanks, Adam!):

Rock Programmer – Boise
You are an insightful, passionate programmer with a gift for inventive promotions. You thrive in a competitive environment, and are constantly looking for the next “edge,” ‘cause you know that winning is a day-at-a-time, always-in-the-book proposition. Chances are you’ve grown up in rock radio – active, mainstream, classic – any or all of those are in your background. You’ve learned the formatics; you know Selector inside & out. Your imaging is “rock” solid. You love working with and developing talented people and work constantly to improve your own game, too. You don’t switch off “radio” at 5 o’clock. In fact, you virtually never “switch off.”

If the picture we just painted looks like you – and you’ve had four or more years of rock radio leadership experience – then you should ALREADY be doing afternoons for us, speaking to our market-leading M25-54 audience, and leading heritage rocker KJOT in Boise. (But getting here tomorrow is probably soon enough.)

Wow. Twice in six months

According to a widget called LeapFish.com (which I found on favorite site LostRemote.com) — the IdahoRadioNews.com domain name is worth $5,954.00.

I mention that as a way of getting to this: Boise radio domains are wildly well ranked.

KZMG.COM: score of 172, worth $44,376
Xrock.com: score of 157, worth $36,984
ktik.com: score of 270, worth $109,350
kizn.com: score of 192, worth $55,296
J105.com: score of 155, worth $36,038

Look up your domain at LeapFish.com

Ken Harris is working to put the Blues Highway back on the air — this time on 890 AM KDJQ. Right now Ken is in the process if securing sponsors, and if he can make it work — the show could hit the airwaves this summer.

Just remember where you first heard this story…

KDJQ/AM 890 flipped back to Oldies from Spanish earlier this month.

The station also has a logo:

That’s that.

KTHI/107.1 K-Hits has a new (to me) inflatable — a giant radio boom box. I saw it on Fairview yesterday — it is pretty eye-catching.

KTHI/107.1 K-Hits is celebrating another birthday — and the station is throwing a party.

The “K-Hits Birthday Bash” is set for June 9th at the Taco Ballerina. Little River Band and Firefall headline. Tickets will set you back a cool nothing… but you’ll have to grab them at ticket stops throughout the month.

Boisee.com reports that former KFXD/KFXJ Sunday Night Staple “The Blues Highway” may soon return to Treasure Valley airwaves. The site says it could appear on AM radio. The show made its last run right before Journal renamed KF95 as “Idaho’s 94.9. The River” several years ago.

Original Highway co-founder Ken Harris is said to be involved with the project.

If you’ve picked up on the irony here, great. Boisee.com is written by David Day – who was the long-time host of the Highway. You might also recognize that last name. Tangled webs…

In the Boise and Twin Falls markets, there are about five stations that target people under 25. Each has a website. None has a good website.

“Oh… pish… that’s just a waste of time.”

Wrong. Your customers increasingly spend more time online than with any other form of media — and that includes radio.

These sites should be active, an online extension of what is on-air. Those kids listening to the Cagematch or Hot 9 at 9 are probably online… IMing, doing surveys on MySpace — and they should feel like your website is a daily part of their online routiene. Be interactive. Be dynamic. Be daring.

There are some good websites — but some is the key word. KIZN.com and KTIK.com both feel like the radio station… and are actually up to date. That’s about it. Of more than two dozen stations… only two seem to put energy to the web.

Whoopi Goldberg is coming to morning radio, with a syndie deal with CC. Don’t expect it to be on the Boise airwaves…

Let’s rename the Boise Hawks!

Why? “Well, we don’t own the name, so…”

Ridiculous. Let’s keep some tradition intact around here.

What does this have to with radio? KJOT/J105 morning hosts Pete & Joe made an appearance on a Boise television station Sunday — giving suggestions for mascot names for a contest to rename the hawks.

Joe Weber had a laundry list, while Pete Stauffer had just one: Blue Jays.

Joe: Duck Hawks, Chips, Greenbelts, Redtails and some loonnnng thing about parking tickets.

My favorite? The Boise Californians. Because really, this is just an annex of California, right?

Just don’t get me sued…

Each Monday, KTIK/ESPN Radio 1350 KTIK The Ticket slices off an hour of air-time for “The Real Deal with Michael Jordan.”

Jordan is hosting a new one-hour talk show on the station each Monday at 6pm. Too bad it’s not called “Air Jordan.” He is the winner of the station’s Idaho Sports Talk Idol.

A sports talk show from a guy named Michael Jordan. Perfect.

Idaho’s journalists gathered at the Owyhee Plaza Saturday night for the annual Idaho Press Club Awards banquet. I was proud to be in attendance as the awards were handed out.

KBOI and Boise State Radio both netted a large number of awards, with KUOI and KCHQ also taking home accolades.

If you are scratching your head going “Kaycee-h-who?” — KCHQ is a country station based in Driggs, ID, and serving much of eastern Idaho on 102.1 FM. The station took the top overall prize.

Congratulations to the winners!

GENERAL EXCELLENCE
1st Dave Plourde – KCHQ –FM – “Valley News”
2nd Bryan Harris – KBOI Radio – “Afternoon Update”

GENERAL NEWS REPORT
1st Elizabeth Wynne Johnson – Boise State Radio / Northwest News Network – “A North Idaho
Tragedy”
2nd Elizabeth Wynne Johnson – Boise State Radio / Northwest News Network – “Idaho’s Illegal
Immigration Fee”
3rd Ken Weaver, Brett Reckamp- & Rob Branch – KBOI Radio – “Bush in Idaho”

SPOT NEWS REPORT
1st Bryan Harris – KBOI Radio – “Captured in Wyoming”
no other award given

WATCHDOG / INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
1st Monica Price – Boise State Radio – “Vulnerable Adults”
2nd Rob Branch – KBOI Radio – “Too Young to Die”
3rd Monica Price, Samantha Wright – Boise State Radio – “Gold mines and kid activists”

SERIOUS FEATURE REPORT
1st Jyl Hoyt – Boise State Radio – “Reclaiming Sacajaiwea: Legacy and Lessons of Lewis and
Clark”
2nd Monica Price, Samantha Wright – Boise State Radio – “Tunnel of Oppression”
3rd Bryan Harris – KBOI Radio – “Saving the Salmon”

LIGHT FEATURE REPORT
1st Buffy Naillon – Boise State Radio – “Idaho’s Compassionate Kids”
2nd Elizabeth Wynne Johnson – Boise State Radio / Northwest News Network – “Hemingway
House”
3rd Don Wimberly – Boise State Radio – “Base Jumping”

SPORTS NEWS REPORT
1st Elizabeth Wynne Johnson – Boise State Radio / Northwest News Network – “Koby’s Ride”
no other award given

PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAM
1st Rachel Potratz – KUOI 89.3 FM News – “Candidates Seek Involvement”
2nd Jyl Hoyt – Boise State Radio – “Snake River Dams”
3rd Ken Weaver – KBOI Radio – “KBOI Investigates ‘9/11 Anniversary’ Pt. 2”

USE OF SOUND
1st Elizabeth Wynne Johnson – Boise State Radio / Northwest News Network – “Fisher Poets”
2nd Samantha Wright – Boise State Radio – “An Idaho Icon”
3rd Rob Branch & Ken Weaver – KBOI Radio – “Growing Pains”