Idaho Radio News Etc.

Go figure. KZMG/Magic 93.1 started tagging songs again. I’ve found the old cliche “consistency is key” to generally hold true – but lately Magic’s about as consistent as a big bowl of lumpy mashed potatoes.

Look at a station like KTHI/107.1 K-Hits. What changes? Not much. Sure, the music is pretty much fixed (unlike a pop station), but everything else is steady: jocks, imaging, branding.

Magic’s category competition KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM has long (as in… since the day it launched) been a wobbly unstable toddler… but these days it seems to have focus and energy (despite those deceptive contests…).

Update: There’s an explanation for the on-again, off-again song tagging part of this saga: Former program director Brad Collins’ wife did all the voicework for the tags. Which explains why they now feature a new sound…

I noticed KBOI’s large semi-truck a few weeks ago but forgot to blog about it until today. The big whit truck has “670 KBOI” printed in huge letters, plus the faces of Paul J. & Chris, as well as several of the stations syndicated hosts.

It got a flash of national coverage today, as Larry Craig said “Let me be clear, I am not gay, I never have been gay” – on national TV… LIVE. The semi was rolling down Main St. at that precise instant – joining KBOI’s mic flag on the screen.

Good week for KIZN/Kissin’ 92.3 In addition to topping the ratings race in a big way – the remaining readers of the Idaho Daily Statesman crowned morning team Kevin & Brenda best morning show… and the station itself as the overall best.

Big Jack & Bryan on KAYN/100.7 The Boomer grabbed second place in the DJ category – followed by Mike & Kate… and Pete and Joe. So recapping, that’s Kevin, Brenda, Jack, Bryan, Mike, Kate, Pete, Joe… in that order… I think.

In the station category, KAYN also took second, followed by KCIX and KZMG.

The station even noted KDJQ’s… unexpected… win in 2006: “Last year, an AM station came out of nowhere to mysteriously win this category.”

The Boise Weekly’s similar poll is due next month.

The latest Nielsen market ranks are out – and our little Boise jumped five spots – from 118 to 113. The company says we added 12,000 peeps over the past year, landing at 251,920 folks. The Boise ranking is one of the largest market jumps. Here’s the list.

Arbitron ranks the market as the 105th largest – with 435,100 people. Arbitron’s market area is quite a bit larger than the Nielsen area.

Twin Falls dropped two spots in the Nielsen rankings to 193 (though it added people, just not enough to keep pace). Idaho Falls/Pocatello is flat at 163

FMQB says KQXR/100.3 the X hired Jeremy Nicolato to take over the program director and morning show co-host reigns. He takes over for Mat Diablo who moved to Slacker.com earlier this summer.

Nicolato worked for KEDJ/103.9 The Edge in Phoenix before bouncing out for B-town. R&R says he’ll hit the airwaves August 27th. R&R says Big J will move to mornings and Bambi, er, Ian… uhh — The Reverend Ian moving to the afternoon slot.

Please please please resist the urge to call it “two Jeremys in the morning” – or something equally lame.

This was heard today on KFTZ in Eastern Idaho.

Wonder who they’re talking about… ;)

Journal Broadcast Group’s FM stations are now streaming audio online. KJOT/J-105, KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River, KTHI/107.1 K-Hits and KQXR/100.3 The X launched audio streams within the last week – part of an overall website revamp that launched last month.

That puts the Boise-market stream count at 10 11 (the Citadel six, KIDO and the Journal four).

That’s the simple question – but what’s the answer?

I’ve had several e-mail inquiries… from listeners, to radio enthusiasts… even a government official conducting business (no kidding)… trying to find out what happened to the station.

What do you know?

KHTI/107.1 K-Hits is back on top the pile in the last Arbitron ratings survey, jumping nearly two points over fall 2006. More remarkable is the number itself – an 8.6. That’s the highest rating for a Boise-market station since KIZN notched a 9.5 in 2003.

With KDJQ out of the picture, KGEM and KCID causing some apparent confusion and Boomer 100.7 just getting off the ground – KTHI was the clear winner among this audience segment.

It just goes to show that a dud of a station (KCID/Star 107 with a 1.8 in the early 2000s) can be brought back to life with the right people and vision. I’m sure that’s what several folks are banking on right now.

I’ve got a big new project on my plate covering Idaho High School Sports for our new HSGameTime Idaho site. I’m trying to put together a list of local high school teams that are on the radio. If your station is doing something, or if you know of a station the broadcasts high school sports – please send me a note or leave a comment below.

KDBI/La Gran D 101.9 saw a big bounce in the latest Arbitron survey. The Bustos Media-owned station jumped to a 3.8 – the highest 12+ rating of any Spanish-language station since I began tracking in 1998. There might be a pattern at play, however. The station saw a great spring 2006 book, then dove to a .8 last fall. If it maintains or strengthens – there will be huge cause to celebrate.

KWEI was essentially flat from last fall with a 1.1, and KQTA failed to chart for whatever reason.

The theme of this book would be no where to go but up With so much turmoil – you pretty much have to discount the numbers for about half a dozen stations: KSRV, KAWO, KTMB, KAYN, KFXD, KCID and KGEM.

Then-KTMY bounced from a 1.4 in spring 2006 (its first book as My Country 104.3) to a 2.0 in spring 2007. While that’s an 80% increase – the overall number is small. The WOW folks should roll out the “fastest growing country station” line…

Where did WOW take its audience gain from? Hard to say – KIZN saw huge year-to-year growth, while KQFC fell only slightly. KSRV exited the country market, but KFXD was still a factor. The next book will be the key indicator of how WOW is affecting the market, if at all.

A special guest rolled through the drive-through coffee house my sister works for last week. The gentleman noticed she and her co-worker were listening to KQXR/100.3 The X, and asked what stations they usually listened to (KRVB, KSAS, etc). He asked if they ever listen to Bob FM. The reply? “Bob and Tom??” Nooo… He said they should give a listen to 96.1 Bob FM – then noted “that’s how I make my living.”

The customer? Dave Tester.

KZMG/Magic 93.1 seems a little bit… um — chaotic of late.

In April, the station switched to a new slogan – “Idaho’s Real Hit Music Station,” then just days later flipped AGAIN to “Today’s Hit Music.” Then it dropped Shamus from its morning show, going with just Tara and Brad. Then it took Brad Collins out of the PD role – then Tara and Brad were replaced with a music-focused show.

You’ll also remember that within the last few weeks, Magic began tagging all its songs with title and artist. They’ve ALREADY dropped this idea.

Oh, yeah — and the station had its best book since 2004 – then made a ton of the above-listed changes in the days BEFORE the results came out.

I’ve run into one hell of a summer cold – so I haven’t had the energy to write up the ratings. My hope is to do that tomorrow.

KEZJ 9.9
KKMV 7.9
KTPZ 7.9
KZDX 7.9
KLIX-A 6.3
KLIX 5.2
KFTA-A 4.7
KIKX 4.7
KYUN 4.2
KMVX 3.7
KSNQ 3.1
KART-A 2.6
KAYN 2.1
KBAR-A 2.1
KTFI-A 2.1
KRXR-A 1.6
KBOI-A 1.0
KECH 1.0
KSKI 1.0

KTHI-FM 8.6
KIZN-FM 7.3
KCIX-FM 5.9
KKGL-FM 4.8
KBOI-AM 4.6
KQFC-FM 4.6
KQXR-FM 4.6
KIDO-AM 4.4
KXLT-FM 4.4
KZMG-FM 4.4
KDBI-FM 3.8
KJOT-FM 3.8
KSAS-FM 3.7
KTIK-AM 2.6
KRVB-FM 2.2
KTMY-FM 2
KFXD-AM 1.6
KSRV-FM 1.5
KWEI-FM 1.1
KTPZ-FM 0.9
KBXL-FM/KDZY-FM 0.7
KCID-AM 0.7
KGEM-AM 0.7
KAYN-FM 0.5

It’s everybody’s favorite semi-annual event: The Arbitron books drop Wednesday. In a fun new take on an old classic, we’ll get data from Twin Falls for the very first time. We’ll post the numbers as soon as they come in, then follow up with my trademark breakdown after the day job concludes for the day. Yes – I’ll do both Twin/SV & Boise.

If you’ve got numbers beyond 12+ that you’d like to share (anonymity guaranteed), or have a success story to tell – drop me a line at idahoradio@gmail.com

KTSY/89.5 FM picked up a pair of staffers. Former KFFR/97.7 The Fire owners Chris Gilbreth and his wife Debra are joining the Christian broadcaster. Chris will take the Operations Manager role, while Debra will do underwriting sales.

KTSY’s Jerry Woods also shares word that the group is about to make some changes. The studio will get a makeover (with Gilbreth’s help) – and a construction permit for a second Boise-area signal.

KQFC/97.9 FM dumped the “Big 98″ moniker in recent months — and, in fact… stripped away nearly all its positioning (remember how great all that clutter was?). The “97.9″ is very much secondary to the KQFC call letters. Could those changes have something to do with KQFC’s pending move from 97.9 FM to 102.7 FM to make way for a new FM allotment at 97.5 FM. Might as well ween yourself from the old brand early before you have to make a big change, right?

KSAS would move just a bit – from 103.3 FM to 103.5 FM. I’m not sure what the timeline on these potential changes are – I’ve reached out to folks in the know looking for answers.

The Boise stations sidebar has again been updated. I’ve added three stations: KQTA, KWEI and KDBI. I’m still planning to add an Idaho Falls/Pocatello sidebar and a Twin Falls/Sun Valley sidebar… but that project is waiting for a rainy day.

After the departure of Shamus, Tara and brad, KZMG/Magic 93.1 is going to music-intensive morning show route. The show is branded “Music Mornings” and hosted by KZMG staple Valentine. The station pounded through at least 11 songs during the 7 a.m. hour (according to YES.com). Traffic and a little bit of promotion from Val were mixed in – but there wasn’t much in the way of talk. The show’s spot load seemed a bit heavy to me, which could be a barrier to the music-intensive idea.

Idaho Radio News heard word of a pending shakeup at KZMG last week. Now it appears the wheels are in motion. After Shamus moved to KQFC, the station was left with (now former) program director Brad Collins and Tara Kelly in the morning drive.

Now the two are off the station’s website – and the Morning Show page has been scrubbed. Sources tell me “something new” is on tap. I’ll let you puzzle together what that means – but I don’t think it will be any sort of format flip.

Collins spent 12 years at his last job in Eastern Idaho (at Bonneville’s KFTZ) – but is out at KZMG after just more than a year (he took the helm in March 2006).
Update: This is Collins’ e-mail autoreply:

I’m OUT! Much love. Contact these fine folks:

Programming
valentine@kzmg.com

Music
miggy@kzmg.com

Promotions
ben.bieri@citcomm.com

Radio Promotion’s [sic] Director

Peak Broadcasting is accepting applications and resumes to build and enhance its promotions department. If you have the experience, drive and creativity to work with Radio Programming and Sales while building relationships in the community this may be the place for you. The ideal candidate will be able to manage an extremely busy calendar of remote broadcasts, events, on air contests, and community partnerships. This is a highly competitive industry with enthusiastic players. If you can jump in, take control and lead with promotions and marketing experience get your resume to:

Kevin Godwin
827 E. Park Blvd
Suite 201
Boise Idaho, 83712
Kevin.Godwin@peakbroadcasting.com
No calls please
Peak Broadcasting is an equal opportunity employer

There’s been a shakeup among two of the market’s most well-known voice talents. Jon Jaxon left Peak Broadcasting on July 31st. Jaxon’s voice has appeared on literally hundreds of spots over the years. He will now do work out of his home studio.

The Peak team picked up another of the market’s most-heard talents: Jodi Stewart. Stewart worked with the current managers during his long stint at Citadel.