Idaho Radio News Etc.

This morning, my colleague Alyson Oüten spent an hour on the air with Jon & Chris. If you haven’t had a chance to hear the show – take a listen. One thing I was surprised at was the light spot load. The station has obviously made a commitment to LOTS of content and not a lot of ads…

KOSY/Salt Lake City’s program director has left the station. His replacement? Former CC Boise operating manager Jeff Cochran. The station’s morning host also jumped ship – heading to a competing smooth jazz (KOSY is an AC station).

One of the first deals announced to purchase Clear Channel clusters came from Blue Point Media. As we began the month of August, CC still owned the 40 or so properties Blue Point promised to buy (by comparison, the Peak Broadcasting/Boise deal was announced after the Blue Point transaction – and wrapped up more than a month ago). Now comes word that the sale has unraveled. R&R says staff in Twin Falls and Idaho Falls were briefed today. The site has a memo from company CFO Jerry Kingston:

As you know, we previously entered into an agreement to sell the stations, and the sale was approved by the FCC. Unfortunately, the sale was not completed. As is the case sometimes, not all buyers are able to complete their purchase, and not every sale is finalized.

However, we intend to move promptly to identify a new buyer. In doing so, we will contact you soon for updated market information and ask that you respond on an expedited basis.

We are continuing to make every effort to identify the best buyer for your stations, and, until sold, your stations remain an important part of the Clear Channel group.

The reason for Blue Point’s inability to complete the deal is unknown…

Update:CC’s Idaho Falls cluster includes stations in Pocatello as well of course.

KTIK/ESPN Radio 1350 KTIK The Ticket is expanding Idaho Sports Talk to a third hour. The program will now air from 3pm-6pm, with John Patrick returning as producer (as we noted last week). J Bates will add duties with KBOI as well.

Meet two of JBG’s overnight “jocks!” Over at KQXR you’ve got Baklava Rodriguez, while KTHI keeps you up at night with Overnight Ollie.

Look… um — familiar?

Our friend Jim Smith snapped this while on vacation recently.

“Hair Boy” Doug Beneze died at his home in Naples, FL last week. Doug made frequent appearances on KCIX/Mix 106’s morning show with Steve Shannon and Stephanie Kelly in the late 1990s. A memorial will be held later this month.

KZMG/Magic 93.1 morning co-host Shamus is off the pop and out in the country. Shamus moved to the mid-day slot on co-owned KQFC, indirectly replacing Rodeo Rick Darcy – who recently parted ways with the station. KZMG PD Brad Collins and Tara Kelly continue on the Magic morning beat.

(Yes, I’m about to quote MySpace) In a posting on a MySpace “friend” of the show – Tara notes “Yep, he’s gone. He wanted to get back into country music (he started out in country) so he’s on a country station now.”

My e-mail to Collins came back with an apparent auto-reply saying he’s out of the office until August 16th… though he’s on the air each morning.

After leaving KTIK two years ago this month, John Patrick (“JP”) is headed back to the station, sources tell me. He will reportedly slide into the slot currently held by J Bates, while Bates will take over Andrew Paul’s on-air responsibilities.

Patrick did a stopover in Rochester during his time out of the Treasure Valley.

Update:It’s funny to see all the speculation about what the “big announcement” would be… over at Bronco Country.

Tester Broadcasting’s KTMB and KAYN are both currently off the air. A commenter notes that they have been dark for the better part of this week. I’m fishing around for the “why” right now. I’ll let you know what I hear.

Update: Both stations are on the backup transmitter while crews do a major upgrade to the towers. I was unable to hear the stations in the office – but they do come in in the car.

KQXR/100.3 The X is gearing up for its second third annual X Fest. This year’s event is set for next Friday at the Idaho Center, and features Godsmack, Social Distortion, Operator and Evans Blue.

As Southern Idaho’s Spanish-speaking community expands, so does the number of stations aimed at that portion of the market. Bustos Media operates a pair of stations: KQTA/106.3 Ke Buena and KDBI/101.9 La Gran D. Those (relative) upstart stations go head-to-head with longtime Spanish station KWEI/99.5FM Spanish Radio.

KDJQ-AM fliped back to Spanish-language programming in April, and the station’s current owner is working out the details of a sale to Churchill Media out of Eugene. Churchill operates the LaX network, a sort of Spanish “full service” station with news, talk, sports and music. LaX has outlets in Eugene, Yakima and Portland.

The Bustos stations employ two of their parent company’s nationwide formats. Ke Bueana is a “regional Mexican” format – which is described as a younger-skewing Mexican CHR. La Gran D is targeted at first and second generation folks from Mexico who “desire the sound and feel of ‘back home,’” according to Bustos’ website.

KWEI-FM is running a part-local format with live jocks in AM drive and afternoons, broadcasting from studios here in the Treasure Valley. The station also has an office on Orchard in Boise, and targets a broad swath of Spanish-speaking listeners.

KWEI also operates an AM frequency, which programs the Univison Radio service on 1260 AM. That format offers news, talk and sports in Spanish.

KFFR/97.7 The Fire in Pullman, WA moved its city of license to Lapwai, ID. The move will give it a stronger signal over the Lewiston/Clarkston, WA market according to our FCC expert Oldtimer.

The KTVB News Group begins a new partnership agreement with Peak Broadcasting today. KTVB had long been partnered with this cluster under previous Clear Channel ownership before switching to Citadel last year. Peak previously had a deal with KIVI-TV. KTVB talent will appear on a number of Peak outlets, including Maggie O’Mara on KIDO among others.

(Disclosure: I am employed by KTVB).

Intermart Broadcasting flipped on KPPC at 92.1 FM in the Pocatello area. The station is running an alternative format as “92.1 The Eagle The Edge” under the direction of former CC’er Josh Tielor.

Former KBOI host Bill Hatch left his post as news director of KWIK-AM in Pocatello. He landed a public information officer job with the Idaho Department of Building Safety in Meridian, and started there last week.