Idaho Radio News Etc.

Bush shaking time…
Got anything to share? Drop me a line at idahoradio@gmail.com. I’m always particularly interested in what your station or group is doing in the community.

In case you haven’t seen it – check out the AllAccess Q&A with KAWO/WOW Country 104.3 PD Rick Stewart (click on 10 questions, then archive, then Rick Stewart’s name).

Why is WOW unique? “This is the most CHR station I have ever produced, and it’s Country, I love it,” he said.

Stewart also notes how focused he is on the Internet – bringing it up several times. He has this piece of advice: “Stream your station nooooooooooow.” Since KAWO doesn’t currently stream – I would imagine we’ll see this soon.

On Satellite Radio’s threat to locals: “No competition. They do what they do and we do good radio.”

KQFC PD Wes McShay will now hold down afternoons – and is looking for someone to replace Rick Darcy who bounced out earlier this month.

From AA:

Send resumes/MP3’s to Wes at wes.mcshay@citcomm.com or (208) 429-5571 and he says, “women are encouraged to apply.”

KJOT/J-105 morning host did a little reporting for KIVI/Today’s 6 last night and interviewed Matt Damon on the red carpet at the Egyptian Theater. He asked Damon about BSU in the Fiesta Bowl…. and swords.

Update: Click the first link on this page to see the video

The Idaho Daily Statesman FINALLY figured out how to get those circulation numbers up! I opened up my mom’s newspaper today (yes, sadly… she subscribes even though the paper is always sitting on the counter unused when I come over). Inside, I found not one… not two… but THREE copies of the news parts of the paper! I think that would be one copy for my mom, one for my dad and one for the dog. At least the dog could make good use of her copy.

(Note to Kim: it is “fair use” to take a picture of your product… so kindly refrain from calling me at work, k?)

Gotta love the FCC and the odd call-lettersthey approve.

(I’ve rewritten this post and closed discussion… I regret letting things be quite that graphic. Read the link above only if you aren’t offended by profanity — even if it is FCC-approved)

KWOA/Wow Country 104.3 came to town with song “tags” – an audio trailer identifying each cut at its tail end. KZMG/Magic 93.1 is now following suit, touting the “digital technology” of the concept.

KQFC/97.9 FM will no longer feature “Rodeo” Rick Darcy. Rick had been holding down the afternoon fort.

He sent a note to his 840+ MySpace friends letting them know of the change – calling it a “mutual agreement between me and management.”

He then let folks know how to voice their “opinion or displeasure.”

Read the note after the jump.
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A group of folks with deep pockets snapped up Cumulus Monday… which sent radio stocks surging

News flash: it is way easier to write about negativity. It has sizzle. It has controversy. It has heat.

Well, here’s a post about some of the stuff I like. You might not, but the great thing about this site is that you get to have your say.

- The literate features on KRVB/Idaho’s 949.9 The River’s morning show are good for the morning drive. I never used to be a morning person… but for the past six months I’ve been up and off to work by 8:15 each day. I flip around quite a bit, but things like dietician Stacy Middleton’s segment and the River Readers are more than just the usual psychics and phoners.
- That said, I actually quite enjoy the psychics. Crazy Psychic Sheila on KZMG/Magic 93.1 and Alice on KCIX/Mix 106 could be 100% wrong and it would still make for good radio… usually.
- I like that Tester Broadcasting is making a new company up out of whole cloth. FM Idaho’s previous attempts in the Valley seemed half-hearted – but this is the real deal. Tester is trying a host of new formats… will it work? Time will tell…
- KQFC’s new logo isn’t a big change – but is a smart way to position. The flag is a good device to use, especially for the country crowd.
- I like KWOA/Wow Country 104.3’s website. They are putting a lot of time and effort into making it work.
- Back on the morning show front: the “Kevin and Claire” dynamic on KXLT/107.9 Lite FM works very well. There’s good chemistry and they give the station identity.
- KQXR’s overall station attitude is something to behold. Despite a fair amount of churn over the years, you still get the same image and overall feeling.
- KTSY’s intense focus on its mission is astounding sometimes. The station is always doing something to help the community and go the extra mile. It may have a small staff, but the things it is able to do are amazing.

I’m late with this – but here is the KFXD/All Talk 63 weekday lineup:

- 6am-10am – Jon Duane and Chris Kelly
- 10am-1pm – Neal Bortz
- 1pm-4pm – Clark Howard
- 4pm-7pm – Ed Shultz
- 7pm-10pm – Lars Larson
- 10pm-Midnight – Phil Valentine
- Midnight-4am – John & Jeff

Idaho Daily Statesman writer Mike Deeds writes about a raft of songs contending for the unofficial title of “summer song.” KZMG/Magic 93.1 PD Brad Collins, KXLT/107.9 Lite FM PD Tobin Jeffries and KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River MD Tim Johnstone are quoted.

Deeds doesn’t like my favorite song of the moment – Hey There Delilah by the Plain White Ts. I wish local stations would play the straight acoustic version (as featured on iTunes), not the orchestral version being pushed by the labels.

Citadel finally reworked its corporate website – making it much easier to find content (and it works in Firefox now!) Check it out.

There have been two major stories this month in the Treasure Valley: Micron and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The buzz on EM:HE was absolutely incredible — I’ve never seen so much feedback on a story, and just about everyone was talking about it.

If you watched TV over the past week, you likely saw KIZN/Kissin’ 92.3 afternoon host Steve Shannon in the back of many of the shots. He broadcast live from the Middleton home site of the Stockdale family all week. Shannon spent time out there each day starting Friday, and Matty, his colleague from KZMG/Magic 93.1 started hanging out on Sunday.

The pair clearly know what local radio is about: community. This story cut across demographic lines and Steve and Matt did everything right – including emceeing the Tuesday night hoe-down.

The stations even did a pair of songs with soundbites dropped in:
- KIZN’s “Proud of the House We Built” by Brooks & Dunn (click to play)
- KZMG’s “Home” by Daughtry (compressing the file for playback… look for it later)

KTSY was also live for Move That Bus day. KWOA/Wow Country 104.3 put a caller who happened to be on site on the phone to do play-by-play over the air as the buses were moved.

Director of Sales/Assistant General Manager

Posting: July 9-30

Live and work in one of the fastest growing areas in the United States. Snow ski and play 18 holes of golf in the same day. Big city amenities with a small town feel. If this attracts you and your family this might be the job that turns your life around. We’re looking for someone who can see and feel the vision of a start-up company featuring four FM stations and two AM stations. We’re asking you to sell along side the staff and show them first-hand how to get it done. You’ll be responsible for monthly budgets, planning and execution of station detail. If you like a big corner office and spend most of your time crunching numbers on a computer screen please don’t apply. However, if you’re a leader who can add value to our team members and clients please rush your resume!

Requirements: recruit, train and manage a 21-member sales team. Plan, organize, delegate, supervise, measure and report.

College degree and prior broadcast management experience preferred. Familiarity with the market is desirable.

Salary and benefits: very competitive

Tester Broadcasting Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Send your resume’ to testerbroadcast@gmail.com

The History of Idaho Broadcasting Foundation’s next meeting is Thursday July 26th from 7-9pm. The group will meet at the KTVB News Group studios, on Fairview between Orchard and Curtis. Come see a behind the scenes tour of the home of KTVB-TV, KTFT-TV, 24/7, KTVB.COM and ZIdaho.com. Art and my colleagues Brad Bound and Laurie Asin will host a discussion and tour. Because of another engagement, I will not be there – but you can leave spitwads on my desk if you so choose.

Full release after the jump.

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KIFI-TV in Idaho Falls reports that a fire is burning on East Butte near IF – threatening the radio and TV towers in the area. LocalNews8.com has video on the home page that is pretty dramatic. KIFI and KIDK-TV’s transmitters are threatened – as are several radio towers (I’m sure someone will chime in with the specifics).

Former KJOT/J-105 guru Carl Scheider will continue the Private Idaho tradition, taking the reigns of the Saturday KBSU show from the late Victor Pacania, according to Boisee.com.

Update: NOT a consultant… as you’ll plainly see in comments below…

KTMY/Wow Country 104.3 has changed its calls – picking up KAWO according to the FCC (as Idaho Radio News first reported in April). The station had to get past its sale from Clear Channel to Peak Broadcasting before making the call change.

As soon as KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM ended its single solitary Hawaii trip giveaway, it started another contest designed to “sound big.”

This time the station is inviting listeners to call and and win to be on the “Rock Star Red Carpet.” The pitch is to listen for a pair of back to back Nickelback songs – then be caller number nine to win. Of course, all you win is a chance to win. In certain cases, members of “Club Kiss” actually get a prize when they call, but only if they previously parted with personal information for the station’s loyalty program.

The promos are carefully structured (again) to make it sound like lots of folks are getting into see Nickelback. In addition, this contest (and the Hawaii contest before it) are part of the station’s so-called “Summer of 10,000 winners.” The station would have to give away 111 prizes each day for 90 days to achieve the magic 10,000 number.

KJOT/J-105, KQXR/100.3 The X, KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River and KTHI/107.1 K-Hits have launched new websites that… well — suck a whole lot less.

The sites are in soft launch mode for now, so (and this will shock you I’m sure) I won’t nitpick. The sites have a ton of features and look fantastic – all matching the station brand. Some of the sites feature blogs, other have podcasts. Streaming audio for all four FM frequencies is also on the way.

The best piece of content I’ve found (so far) is the history of KQXR, written by Jacent Jackson.

XRock.com
RiverInteractive.com
khits.fm
j105.com

For the second time in the last few weeks, KBCI aired Jeopardy instead of its late news – due to a failure with a new automated system (known as Ignite). Sources say that Ignite… caught fire (that’s right… it ignited, go figure).

KBCI’s news director explains.

I don’t recall ever blogging about someone’s salary before – but this is of note. Jon & Chris were interviewing Dan Popkey from the newspaper yesterday on KFXD/All Talk 63, and were discussing salary and pay – vis a vis the Boise Police union contract. Popkey asked if Jon & Chris were paid they same — they replied in the affirmative, and Chris noted that “Jon fought for that.” They also noted that it “didn’t used to be that way.”

Update: They “replied” not “applied.” Long day.

Boise’s awash in new stations, formats and personalities. But good luck getting the scoop online. KFXD/All Talk 630 KFXD doesn’t have a site – kfxd.com still gives you the lowdown on that big Rascal Flats concert (last March) — KTMB/99.1 The Man has a GoDaddy.com page up — KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM didn’t post any info on the huge Hawaii trip — those oft-promised Journal Broadcast Group sites… still haven’t launched.

Jon Duane and Chris Kelly were live on KTVB from 5am through 9am this morning – which is a huge dose of publicity. But if folks wanted to find more info, and hit the web — they probably weren’t satisfied. Google searches for “Jon & Chris,” “All Talk 63″ and “KFXD radio” all point to IdahoRadioNews.com as the first hit.

ESPN Radio host Dan Patrick is leaving the radio network, and his various TV duties in August. “I needed to exhale, to be able to breathe for once,” Patrick told USA Today. “Sometimes you suffocate yourself with a job and don’t really realize it. I think that maybe is what I did.”

This leaves KTIK/ESPN Radio 1350 KTIK The Ticket with an opening each day from 1pm-4pm.