I read the last local newsbreak on 630 KIDO and the read the 1st local newsbreak on 580 KIDO… so I am part of history… YIPPEEE and then Mr. Cochran fired me 2 monthes later… YIPPEE again.

Good luck KIDO x 2

This is long post…so stop reading now if this history stuff bores you! However, you may learn some interesting things about KFXD and KIDO’s past!

First of all, thanks for all the respect “Idaho Radio News” posters seem to have for both the history and heritage of KFXD and KIDO. They are BOTH historic sets of call letters with KIDO being changed from KFAU 80 years ago this November 11th (1928-2008), and KFXD being issued as an original set of calls assigned in “alphabetical order” way back in August of 1925 to car dealership in Logan, Utah! KFXD is the oldest original set of calls in the State of Idaho…but KSEI in Pocatello has been in Idaho a little bit longer (KFXD was moved to Jerome, Idaho in late 1926 and then to Nampa in 1930).

KFXD had been on 580 since 1947, and KIDO had been on 630 since 1951. But prior to that, both stations had MANY frequency changes. On August 12th 2002, 580 and 630 swapped call letters and KFXD was the one really hurt the most by this move, in my opinion.

Don is correct, the Peak News Release does say the KFXD call letters will be kept. Thank you Peak! Our organization has an excellent relationship with both Peak and Citadel, and I believe both organizations really do respect their heritage, but there are some “business” concerns that made it difficult to change the call letters back when Peak bought Clear Channel’s stations in 2007.

It should be pointed out that it was Clear Channel that switched the KFXD/KIDO call letters, not Peak. In fact, I was honored to be on the air with Jon Duane and Kris Kelly the last day (and last hour) of their show on 630 KIDO; and of course, I taped that last hour, and taped the historic switch too.

Clear Channel was trying to correct some significant “holes” in 630’s 2 directional patterns. They have one pattern for day and one for night with a big NULL right through Meridian and Eagle – the big population growth areas of the Treasure Valley!

580’s daytime pattern is non-directional, and their night time pattern has a NULL towards Fresno (hence the poor nighttime coverage in Marsing)so Clear Channel corrected the problem with the frequency switch.

KIDO recovered from the switch…but KFXD was hurt by it in my opinion, however, a case can be made that KFXD was in trouble long before this frequency switch…

As a top-40 station, KFXD-AM had 12+ shares in the 20s in the 1970s, and even as late as as 1979 had a 10.8 share. In 1981, KFXD’s ratings really started to slide and a few years later they switched to oldies, then to the “Big Band” Music of Your Life format. The 12+ ratings were not bad for this format(they did a 6.4 in 1986) but then slipped to 1.7 in 1987. In 1989 KFXD had a .5 and switched to a religious format for a couple of years, and then switched to “Busienss News & Talk” with BRN (Business Radio Network) and added a bunch of networks like CBS, Mutual, etc. As I recall they tried carrying Larry King during the day after he dropped the all night show and became a CNN TV Star! None of it worked very well.

In the early to the mid-90s, KFXD added some “patriotic” conservative talk shows like “The Black Affenger” and a local conservative talk show hosted by future “Spud Brother” Chris Maxwell calling himself “Uncle Max.” As I recall they also did some early Sports Talk shows with Mike Responts…David Augusto may have been there too I think after they both got fired by Jon Duane on KIDO!

In the mid 90s KFXD-AM ran “Brooke and Roberta” from Westwood One, Tom Lykas, and the Don & MIke Show which I loved! The ratings weren’t that bad for this format, and they were pulling 12+ shares in the high 2’s or 3’s as I recall.

Then Jacor bought 580-AM in early 1998 and kept the KFXD call lettersith the AM. I think Randy Michaels of Jacor may have wanted to buy KBOI to have their 50,000 watt signal, but Larry Wilson beat him to it and paid Charlie his full asking price of $29 million! So Jacor settled for 580 AM with the idea of correcting the KIDO “coverage” problem. They talked about making the stich for years before they actually did it in 2002.

“KF-95″ then became KFXJ-FM for a short time until Journal bought them and changed the calls to KRVB (“The River”).

Jacor then changed KFXD to Classic Country in 1998 and had actually been running the same format for almost 10 years…first on 580 from 1998-2002 for 4 years, and then on 630 AM for 5 years.

The switch to “All Talk” 63-KFXD came in the summer of 2007, and again I was honored to be on the air talking radio history with Jon & Kris during their “Jon-and-Kris-a-thon.” That was when they played old Jon & Kris shows for a solid week, and did a few new shows like the one I was one. Jim Kimball said that our “new” hour on Idaho Radio History was one of the most popular shows they played and was often requested as a repeat.

In fairness, KFXD-AM has never been promoted since 1998. Clear Channel dropped the local morning show “Mitch in the Morning” and went sattelite right before they sold the stations to Peak. Peak then hired Jon & Kris but has never really promoted the station yet. So not many people even know it is there, plus there are many other choices for talk on both the AM (and up until the “Man” swiched formats, FM band too.

So the talk format on KFXD could prhaps have worked, but it was never promoted due to Peak having their hands full with 5 other stations that all needed attention too. I think Peak is making great progress, and their ratings show that on virtually every station…except KFXD.

The other issue is KIDO. KIDO never really had big 12+ ratings until the 90s. KIDO has as low as a .7 in 1977. In 1978 they went top 40 and took on KFXD! Then, their imitation KBSU “Progressive Rock” book in 1979 was 3.6! Straight Arrow (Arlis Tranmer)was on the air there for a short time calling himself “Bruce Wayne” (aka Batman)!

KIDO’s 1980s ratings were in the 7’s for their two years of playing country in 1980-1981, and athey had an 8.7 with “Music of Your Life” in 1982. After that KIDO went more towards talk at night with a 3 hour morning news block, and then played “adult standards” music the rest of the day. They had 7’s in 83, 84, and 85. They called it “Sunny 63.”

In the late 80s (1987) KIDO made the move to go totally News/Talk…and the 12+ ratings were in the “5s” for 87-88-89. It was not until the early to the mid 90s after Jon & Kris got cooking and Rush really kicked in that KIDO acheived good ratings. In the 1990s and the early 2000s there were some 10s shares 12+ and fthere were a few times KIDO was #1 12+ Rush REALLY helped their cause btw.

Most recently, the ratings on KIDO have been up and down…so the Broncos are really going to help their fall book. In contrast, KBOI now will the consistancy of Rush year round…so KIDO will have their work cut out to counter program with something that can pull a new audience, or steal some of Rush’s listeners. Glen Beck has done VERY well for them.

In the past, local talk shows have not done too well in the ratings, hence Sean Hannity replacing Dr. Drew Harold, Glenn Beck replacing Doug Raper, and syndicated programing replacing Doup Raper in on KBOI when he took over Barrett Rainey’s mid-day show right after Citadel bought the station.

So as the saying goes…”we’ll see” what shakes out. I received Press Releases from both Peak and from KBOI about the changes…so I have been kept somewhat “in the loop.”

My personal choice would be for Peak to change the call letters back to KFXD on 580 and back to KIDO on 630. If they want to call both stations “KIDO,” that ironically, may work better than what they have been doing.

They could simply keep the KFXD calls (out of respect for the past), and then “brand” both of their talk formats as “KIDO” which is a well known and respected name for News Talk in the market, and for 20+ years now.

Yes, it mayl seem odd to us radio geeks, but the public may understand it better. It has worked for “KNBR” in San Francisco which had become the “sports Voice” of the Bay Area.

Check them out here http://www.knbr.com/

KNBR bought Jim Gabbert’s KOFY-AM. It’s a 50 KW station just like KNBR, but it is directional. After messing around with KOFY’s format for a while Cumulus finally just said “hey KNBR is what we are known as…let’s just become KNBR 680 and KNBR 1050 and identify both as KNBR – but then separate them by frequency.

It seems to have worked, as KNBR is the 3rd rated AM station in the Bay area with a 3 share. Part of that is 1050’s listeners I’m sure, but that “3″ rating might be a “2″ without 1050’s extra signal.

It may work a bit better for KNBR in that 1050 is down the dial from 680…whereas 580 and are 630 right next to each other. I’m sure KTIK would swap 1350 for 630 straight across if Peak wanted to trade! But I suspect Peak has some plans for 630 in the future. Meantime, if Jon and Kris can be back on “630 KIDO” who care what the actual call letters are. I asuume KIDO will get credit if they put “KIDO” in the diary.

In defense of Peak (and in thanks to Terry Tario), the 1936 neon letters that spell out K-F-X-D are restored and hanging on the wall at Peak. That is thanks to Terry Tario who rescued them from the mud behind the transmitter…so Clear Channel did one thing right to save KFXD’s heritage.

I think Kevin Godwin knows what’s got, he just has his hands full with 5 other stations. This might be a good move until they can figure out what to do.