“Peak… demonstrated a true enthusiasm”
Don Day | April 6, 2008EXCLUSIVE
© 2008 Idaho Radio News
Idaho Radio News has obtained a large packet of documents relating to the radio rights process for Boise State University’s football and basketball games – including proposals by Peak Broadcasting, Citadel Broadcasting and Impact Radio (formerly Tester Broadcasting).
The documents outline three very different proposals — and show that only two were seen as viable options by a committee evaluating the bids.
The school scored a package submitted by Peak Broadcasting highest, ultimately granting the rights to the upstart company based in Fresno, CA. Peak will air the games on 580 KIDO, one of the state’s oldest radio stations. The Peak proposal scored 665 points out of a possible 700, while a pitch from Citadel Broadcasting scored 651.4. Two proposals from Impact Radio – an original pitch and a second try scored 458 and 454.
The package of documents contain a variety of surprises and information the station groups have not publicly disclosed.
If Citadel were to win the contract, it would have only kept legendary host Paul J. Schneider for one year of the two year agreement, and has hired Dan Karcher, who is scheduled to start work for KBOI in September. Karcher is a member of the Carl Karcher family – owner of the Carl’s Jr. restaurant chain. If Citadel had won the agreement, Karcher would have been involved with pre and post game shows “to become acclimated.”
According to notes of a March 7th meeting, BSU athletic director Gene Bleymaier asked Citadel executives “If we want to make a change immediately, is that an option?” Citadel bosses said they “would do it,” and said that they would have to have someone hired in two to three months.
Citadel would have extended its pre and post game shows in a deal with the Idaho Statesman, and would have put staffers Nick Jezierny, Mike Prater, Chad Dryden and Brian Murphy on the air during the shows. Citadel said the Statesman would “bring a whole new level of improvement to the terms of coverage.” IdahoStatesman.com was mentioned as the “best in the state for updated news.” The meeting notes that they planned to include “websites and blogs” with the agreement.
Citadel’s proposal was nine pages long. Peak Broadcasting’s proposal totaled 39 pages and delved into areas Citadel did not touch. Peak committed to purchasing the naming rights to the Bronco Stadium radio booth – paying a total of $25,000 over the two year agreement for the privilege. Peak also committed to a large scale “Bronco Sports Network,” that not only would expand Boise State’s geographic reach – but would bring the broadcasts to Spanish-language listeners. Peak has contacted stations in Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, Tri-Cities, Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, La Grande, OR and Lewiston/Clarkston, WA (see separate post here).
Peak SVP Kevin Godwin told Dave Burnett on KIDO Friday morning that the hiring of current KBOI host Paul J. Schneider had not been discussed. “We haven’t talked about it one time, even during the presentation.” In the proposal to BSU, Peak said they are “familiar” with the current team and “would make every effort to hire them to continue broadcasting BSU athletics.”
But Peak indicates their preference is to go in a different direction “We would propose a national search for a play-by-play announcer and commentary announcer.” Peak says it will launch a four week recruitment process that would identify the top three candidates – then seek input from Boise State in making a final decision. Peak says it received interest in the position even before the proposal
Impact Radio’s proposal was the leanest of the tree – but did identify its proposed broadcast team: Wayne Dzuback and Chris Wing. Dzuback currently hosts an hour-long radio show on KTMB/99.1 The Man, as well as working in sales. He used to work with Schneider as color commentator for KBOI-AM. Wing is a former Boise State player. Boise State alumn Brian King was proposed as color analyst for basketball games. King currently handles these duties for KTVB-TV.
Impact would have put the games on KTMB/99.1 The Man, as well as KIKX/104.7 in the Magic Valley – and a station currently owned by Blue Sky Broadcasting in N. Idaho. Impact says it has a pending purchase agreement in place for the N. Idaho station. It also would have worked to buy an E. Idaho station or contracted for airtime.
While Boise State took meetings with representatives for Citadel and Peak – they did not meet with Impact Radio.
Why Peak Won
Boise State’s letter of justification for awarding the rights to Peak hits a number of points.
- Peak bid $20,000 more than Citadel – and much higher than Impact
- Peak’s promotional bid component was $5,000 higher
- Peak committed to the naming rights for the radio booth and the school’s “Destination Distinction” program.
- Peak provided more coaches show airtime
- Peak committed to creating a network of stations across the region, something “Boise State sees as extremely important in growing the radio listenership statewide and regionally.”
- Peak’s proposal “demonstrated a true enthusiasm for having these broadcast rights”
- SVP Kevin Godwin and his team are former Citadel employees – and the “affiliation and already existing relationship played into the decision making and made it easier when it came to choosing a new radio rights partner.”
Bottom line
Cash value over two years
- Citadel: $655,000
- Peak: $670,132 (assumes BSU football bowl games both years)
- Impact: $493,200
Value of promotional air time
- Citadel: $200,000
- Peak: $205,000
- Impact: $110,000
Sweeteners
- Citadel: Letter of Intent broadcast, Final Four package giveaway, Homecoming week events, Fall scrimmage event
- Peak: Airing of three women’s basketball games
- Impact: Airing of ten women’s sporting events, creation of two fundraisers
Coach Shows
- Citadel: One hour weekly during FB season, four BBall shows; Bronco Notebook each weekday; Coach call-in each Tuesday
- Peak: One hour weekly from Sept. 1 through April 30; Monday coach call-in; Tuesday wrap-up feature
- Impact: One hour weekly during FB season, one hour weekly during WAC basketball season
Athletic Dept. show
(This would be a weekly show produced in-house by the athletic dept., and is separate from the coach shows)
- Citadel: One hour weekly Sept-April, Sat AM
- Peak: One hour weekly, 6pm Wednesday
- Impact: One Hour weekly Sept-April, Sat AM
Do you think Paul J knew Citadel was only going to keep him around for one more year? If not, I guess he does now.
I must say that I am surprised so many have responded with a “so-well” attitude about Paul J. He is a man synonymous with BSU athletics and will be greatly missed. I do like the one proposal of having KTVB pick him up for play-by-play with Tom Scott, although not probable. That would be a dream team. As for Dan Karcher? A little research shows he has been working in Colorado Springs and here is his bio from “The Raw Feed MLN” website:
Dan Karcher Bio -
Dan enters his 18th season providing the play-by-play call of Sky Sox baseball in 2007. He is also beginning his 22nd season of baseball play-by-play, including the last 19 at the Triple-A level. He spent the 1989 season in Des Moines with the Iowa Cubs. Other stops along the way for Karcher included Bakersfield and Fresno, CA and Springfield, IL. Raised in Southern California, Karcher received his M.A. degree in speech communications from Bowling Green State University and his B.A. degree in broadcast communications from Cal State Fullerton. During his 19-year stay in Colorado Springs, Karcher has hosted a variety of local sports shows, including “Falcontalk” with former Air Force head Football Coach Fisher DeBerry, “The First Team,” “Sox and Rox,” and a coast-to-coast sportstalk program on American Sports Radio Network. In March of 2006, Karcher was honored by the Colorado Broadcaster’s Association when he was awarded first prize for the “Best Play-By-Play Sports Coverage by a Station Individual/Team”. In recent years, Karcher has also filled-in on several Rockies broadcasts. Dan resides in Colorado Springs and has four children; Natalie, Ian, Lauren-Danae and Beau, and two grandchildren, Evita and Maria.
Don- Once again a great piece. I appreciate all the background info and the research you did to provide us with this interesting window into the contract.
Great Information. The monetary difference $650 Citadel vs $670 Peak is minimal- approx 2%/yr. The new radio network benefit is also questionable from my perspective. I listened to KBOI when I worked in Portland & when I was hunting & fishing in remote Idaho areas. KBOI’s 50K wats may have better coverage than the proposed network. Paul J’s knowledge & enthusium will be impossible to replace. I would prefer someone with BSU ties.Hopeefully we won’t get someone with national exposure like Ted Dawaon. Its just business as Paul J said. I prefer KBOI. Adios Amigos viva el futball!
I am glad that Peak now has the rights for the BSU games. I think things will go better for BSU especially sense BSU will have a fairly large radio sports radio network. Kevin Godwin is very good at forming relationships with other company. I am also sure that being at citadel has helped him. I noticed some of the affiliates are from Citadel. I think Kevin will do a great job in keeping the network. Keep in mind, I use to work at Peak Broadcasting and have great experiences with Kevin Godwin. He was good to me at peak as well as other employers. A number of people came from Citadel to work for Peak when Kevin Godwin took over as General Manager. I think it is safe to say that it is all because Kevin Godwin is great to work for. I will talk to you later.
One more thing. Keep in mind that 580 is a strong frequency. This is another smart move Kevin Godwin made. He knows that 630 is a weaker signal. This is a great move for everyone, Including BSU, Peak and the listener of the games. I will talk to you all later.
Now, if Godwin would just put the correct call letters back on the right frequencies he’d have a winner. It’s sad we have to talk about 580 and 630 due the confusion that still stems from flipping call letters. It would be nice if it were “KFXD 580″ and “KIDO 630″ again, and the true heritage of those great stations would cease to be tarnished.
Before I get bashed, I know I’m probably beating a nearly dead horse, but really, what did the flip really accomplish?
Don, you know that I have the utmost respect for you and your site. I have to wonder however, was this really ethical for you to share? The fact alone that you are outside of the stations involved, and that the bids were presumably not released to the public…what are you doing sharing this information?
I mean, I understand that it’s very interesting and insightful, but I feel terrible that Paul J. Schneider may be finding out from this website that his days were numbered at Citadel. Not that I’m a huge fan of Paul J, but put yourself in his shoes…how would you like to find out your professional worth this way?
I can understand you wanting to have the exclusive…but you could have demonstrated your ‘insider knowledge’ without the level of details that you did.
Call me a ‘goody two shoes’ if you want to, but I think you had an ethical responsibility to take the high road when you came upon information that was not available in the public forum. To just say that you ‘obtained a large packet of documents’ implies that this information was leaked to you and that it was not meant for public dissemination (as most bid processes are not). I’ve already mentioned the impact this might have on Paul J, but what about this Karcher guy? Any chance he hadn’t told his current employer of his plans? What about other deals BSU was negotiating for sponsorships? You not only released personnel details, but specific monetary details for components of the overall package…neither were necessary to tell the story, but may do damage to the parties involved.
Did you have the legal right to print it? Sure. First Amendment, absolutely no argument there. If you obtained ALL of this information through above-board public sources, just say that and I take back everything I’ve just said. In the meantime, I’m disappointed the higher ethical principle didn’t appear to impact what you chose to print. Just my opinion. RDS, I just took the bullseye off of you…you’re welcome! ;)
OK. And just for the record, I did just see that KTVB (YOU) appear to have gotten the documents via the Freedom of Information Act. Fine.
However, I still stand by my original observation. The story you posted and wrote on KTVB summarizing the bids is the story you should have written here as well. I think you crossed an ethical line with the additional level of detail you put in your story here.
Janice,
Thank you for your thoughtful note. It raises several good points, and it is up to each reader to decide. I received these documents via a Freedom of Information Act request on Saturday and waited a full day before posting.
At the end of that time, I decided to push forward. Everything posted here is public record. While it appears that the radio execs involved may not have been aware of that fact, “ignorance is not an excuse.” if Citadel failed to keep Paul J. In the loop and be honest with him, am I to blame?
Mike Prater said yesterday on KTIK that they are trying to get these same documents in the wake of this post, so I’m sure they will write a similar tale.
Just to reiterate, everything in this story came from a Freedom of Information Act request. Also, KTVB did not get the document s– I did. But since this happens to be in a strange gray area for me – I “lent” the documents to myself for the KTVB report.
-Don
Fair enough! :) You make a very valid point that if Citadel (and the others involved) were dumb enough not to realize that their bids were not excluded from the Freedom of Information Act, then they do deserve the embarassment this could potentially cause.
Still feel sorry about the folks caught in the middle, though.
Paul J is the announcer for bronco sports. Period. End of discussion. Any talk of replacing him before he’s ready to retire on his own is the nuttiest thing I’ve ever heard of. Sure, bring in someone to start grooming him for the job, but for pete’s sake let this guy who has devoted the better part of his life to broadcasting bronco sports keep going until he’s ready to depart on his own terms. He’s earned at least that much.
Don- in regard to anyone questioning the contract information. I think its great a little sunshine was allowed in on the process. If its PUBLIC money that is involved then it should be PUBLIC INFORMATION. Its that simple.