Idaho Radio News Etc.

The Associated Press reports a low-power station in Cincinnati picked up the WKRP calls — meaning there’s an actual “WKRP in Cincinnati” for the first time – complete with a website.

Hoping to keep track of the Bronco game today? ESPN is showing a basketball game… and KIDO’s webstream doesn’t work.

Hope you’re in the stadium!

Peak Broadcasting is moving its station sites to an enterprise system called “Platformic” — in both Boise and Fresno.

Check out Platformic’s borderline-creepy demo video here.

How this affects Peak’s deal with Stationality isn’t clear. Peak’s sites are currently the strongest in the market when compared with the other groups overall effort – so it will be interesting how this move affects that balance.

AllAccess wished a happy birthday to a familiar name…

CLEAR CHANNEL/BOISE PD JEFF COCHRAN

Time to update the ol’ database.

The God’s Country Radio Network now has a presence in the Boise Valley. KGCL/90.9 FM broadcasts from Jordan Valley with good coverage of the Ada/Canyon population center. The former Air One repeater is broadcasting a religious themed country mix – including some Southern Gospel and Christian AC cuts.

KTSY/89.5 FM program director Jerry Woods has left the station for a new gig with WMIT in Black Mountain, NC. Woods starts his new gig December 1.

KQXR/100.3 The X brought back former morning show host.. and former night guy Ian earlier this month. They parted ways due to budget cuts about six months ago.

He replaces Jac who left the station to do about 30 other things (including fill in work on KCIX…)

KSRV/96.1 Bob FM’s latest ad features a pair of cute 20-something girls knocking on the door of a balding 30-something dude. They want to jump in the dude’s hot tub, and come prepared with bikinis and beer.

But the dude has plans, natch… cut to him alone in another room doing the robot to Mr. Roboto by Styx. Up comes the Bob FM logo, and we are assured that the station is ‘better than almost anything.’

(Cruddy still image via my cell phone)

The History of Idaho Broadcasting Foundation will hold a special meeting at the Crystal Ballroom – complete with lunch! Cool event to celebrate 80 years of KIDO. Hurry! Art needs an RSVP by 3pm today

Full details after the jump
Read the rest of this entry »

KWYD/Wild 101 has been off the air for the last several hours… do ya think they’ll start the 15,000 songs in a row over? (Kidding)

This letter from Art -

Hi folks, this is Art Gregory of The History of Idaho Radio Foundation. All of these images and the jingles came from the file of History of Idaho Broadcasting Foundation’s extensive books and files. We also have jingles and airchecks from the 60s, 70s and 80! The jingles in question came from the great Gib Hochstrasser with his wife Jeanie on the lead vocals. The date back to the 50s or perhaps early 60s when Gib owned “Music Ads” on 10th street in downtown Boise. We have other jinglrs too, this is just a taste…

The our goal of our non-profit foundation is to share these with you. However, it is a slow process, as we probably have over a hundred of old photos and documnets on KIDO alone, not to mention many other radio and TV stations in the state. They need to be scanned, sized, and added to our website which is

historyofidahobroadcasting.org

As Don is paying for this site, we are paying the hosting fees for ours. We are an all-volunteer organization that started in 2006. We now have over 60 paid members including Corproate sponsors of $100 a year that include ALL 4 major radio groups and 3 out of the 5 commercial TV stations in Boise.

We have a lot of work to do just asking every station in the station, let alone “selling them” on the need for our organization to even exist, let alone get any money from them for the cause.

Still we persist…and grow from 1 member in 2006 to over 60 in states from North Carolia and Maryland to Califronia and Washington and many points in between.

We are also acquiring old euqipment including an AM trans,itter from KYME (now KBSU), control boards, mics, cart machines, tubes from the KTVR-TV transmitter (satellite station to KTVB) and just recently a KBOI modulation monitor from the 40s or 50s! We’d like to have a musueum of this stuff someday…but it all costs money.

How do we get money? Well we should be asking for grants (we will) and need to be a 501-C3, (we are applying), and need to get a lot more members (we are trying). For right now the way we are funding the group is by modest membership dues…$15-$20 a year for individuals. In exchange, they get 6 newsletters mailed to them a year…some of which have been up to 25 pages in full color with pictures like the ones you just saw…only BETTER!

So if you like what you just saw, and want to see a whole lot more of it, why not join us? We have no hidden agenda, but do want there to be a pay-off for our members. I can assure you we are NOT making money on any of this, and in fact are subsidizing it to keep it going. Like Don, wer have other jobs in “real-life”…but this is a labor of love…so we keep doing it – because it needs to be done!

So, if you like broadcasting, I can guarantee you you’ll get your $20 worth. And if you have something to share, including some time to help us get what we;ve got onto our website, we’d welcome your help. Thanks for reading this.

Art Gregory

KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River is celebrating the sixth edition of the Concert for a Cause. Instead of the traditional “suggest charities/vote for your favorite” routine, the station cut to the chase and named Terry Reilly Health Services as the concert’s sole benefactor.

Ingrid Michaelson will make her third Treasure Valley appearance for the concert – this time as headliner. I saw Michaelson on one of her earlier appearances and became a fan. She was engaging and put on a great show. Tickets are $19.50 for the Knitting Factor show.

Broadcasting has been part of Idaho life for 80 years as of today – with the anniversary of KIDO.

You may remember that Google purchased Scott Studios – mostly to get its hands on the company’s ad insertion software. But it also picked up the core station automation software – which has been rebranded as “Google Radio Automation.”

No word if it comes with those cute holiday themed doodles.

Multiple sources confirm this head scratcher: Idaho Statesman sports columnist Brian Murphy is getting a new assignment. Instead of writing about the Xs and Os of Bronco Football, he’ll be sorting through the Ds and Rs of Idaho politics. Yes… Murph’s Turf will now be the Capitol Mall, as he’ll join the Statehouse beat this winter.

No announcement from Curtis Rd. on the switch yet – and Murphy didn’t return my e-mail for comment.

These types of beat changes aren’t entirely without precedent. Former Statesman sports editor Jennifer Swindell moved to a job on the editorial page — and one-time newsroom chief Bill Roberts now serves as the paper’s education reporter.

Remember that lawsuit by Zions Bank against Rob Combs over KDJQ? The case came to a head – as a court ordered the stations assets be turned over to a receiver. As you might have learned from the Tamarack case, a receiver comes in, protects and steers the asset – and tries to get it ready for potential sale. TriState Management LLC has been named the receiver according to court filings. Proceeds from a sale would primarily go to pay off some of Combs debt to Zions Bank

KDJQ has been sold twice by Combs – but the deal fell through in both cases – one to Churchill Media of Eugene, and a second time to a local consortium that hoped to start a Catholic radio station.

KID/96.1 The Bull made a big change earlier this month – jettisoning the local show for syndication (Big D & Bubba). The switch happened November 3rd.

KPRC/92.1 The Edge is also getting out of the local game for the AM drive – bringing Adam Carolla to the shift. Josh slides to mid-day.

Of course, KPKY/94.9 The Rock already has Bob & Tom slated in.

GAP West’s fourth FM in the market — KLLP/Star 98.5 still has a local show… for now.

KNIN won’t be joining the Journal Broadcast Group.

The Federal Communications Commission turned down Banks Broadcasting’s request to declare KNIN as a “failing station.” This makes Journal Broadcast Group’s bid to buy the station and combine it with KIVI Channel 6 impossible. For that matter, it means KNIN won’t be merged into any other Boise TV station for the time being, either.

Ironically, it was KNIN’s success — or at least lack of failure — that scuttled the deal. A station has to have three years of negative cash flow to get a “failing station waiver,” which allows an exception to rules that would generally block two co-owned stations in a market the size of Boise.

The accounting method used in filings by current station owner Banks Broadcasting & hopeful future owner Journal was rejected by the commission. Instead of actual cash flow, Banks submitted “free cash flow.”

The difference? Free cash flow includes money spent on items not directly related to station operations. Banks included capital expenditures in their formula – but the FCC says it uses the operating cash flow model, meaning the capital expenditures aren’t included. KNIN spent $320,000 on capital improvements from 2005-2007.

The kicker? KNIN made money in 2007 according to the FCC – a total of $61,891 in operating cash flow. As I reported, KNIN said it lost $63,455 in 2007. The FCC said they spent $124,945 on capital. Simple math gives you a profit of $61k before capital expenditures.

“Accordingly, we find that the applicants have not met this prong of the failing station waiver standard, and we will therefore deny the waiver request. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, That the request for a “failing station” waiver of the television duopoly rule, Section 73.3555(b)(2), to permit Journal to own and operate both KNIN and KIVI, IS DENIED.”

Mashing KIVI and KNIN into one entity would have meant layoffs in the Boise media industry, so folks at KNIN are understandably relieved.

One of two things would have to happen before KNIN would be able to merge with any other local station. Either the FCC would have to change the rules — or KNIN would have to fail this year, next year and in 2010… meaning a merger couldn’t happen until 2011.

When Boiseans are lucky enough to get a radio format – they always have lots of choices.

Talk: KIDO, KFXD, KBOI
Country: KIZN, KQFC, KAWO
CHR: KZMG, KWYD, KSAS
Spanish: KWEI, KPDA, KDBI
Rock: KKGL, KQXR, KJOT
Oldies: KQLZ, KTHI, KGEM

Pick a format and you’ve got three stations all battling it out for supremacy. There are some formats not represented here – the “Movin’” Rhythmic AC brand, Radio Disney, 80s/90s pop, smooth jazz etc. – but could any of them fly? Impact likely did extensive research before launching KWYD – but it is interesting they picked a format similar to two already in the market. The “FM Talk” experiment didn’t work out – but that isn’t to say the concept wouldn’t work – it may have been execution and promotion.

Everything seems locked in for a while – no station seems in immediate jeopardy of a flip. KJOT and KZMG both seem threatened to some degree, but Journal and Citadel are likely taking the long view since there aren’t a whole lot of other options on the table right now.

The iconic KSKI/103.7 FM in the Wood River Valley has dumped its alternative format for a Triple-A flavor, according to TripleARadio.com.   The station will be programmed by staff from co-owned KMTN in Jackson Hole, WY.

Since the old KMCL-FM went off into the “Wild” never to be heard from again – Peak is switching the games to KDZY-FM/Heartland Country 98.3.  KDZY will air football and men’s basketball, plus the weekly coach/recap show.

Want a spot on Peak? Yeah, me either. But if you do… they’re doing a “half price” sale today…