Idaho Radio News Etc.

Idaho Daily Statesman reporter/columnist Brian Murphy reports that Citadel will make a 5-minute presentation to the State Board of Education in Idaho Falls today in an effort to reopen the bid. Citadel’s lawyer said there were “some errors” in the selection of Peak – and hopes to re-open bidding. Citadel feels its financial compensation package wasn’t properly considered. (Peak offered more money, according to records obtained by Idaho Radio News).

State Board staff has already recommended approval of the Peak agreement.

Also – Peak GM Kevin Godwin tells Murphy that he hopes to announce the new play-by-play announcer for the games on KIDO by Friday. Godwin said there have been a high quality-level of applicants – with experience ranging from college, to NFL to network level.

UPDATE: Citadel’s efforts failed. Peak gets the contract.

Citadel’s Boise stations are hoping for a shot of non traditional revenue with a new “buy it for half” promotion. It works like this: Clients fork over gift certificates in exchange for radio exposure. The station sells the certificates for half price on its website, gives a cut to the vendor (in this case, IncentRev) and keeps the rest. The station gets some cash, the client gets exposure and the listener can save some money.

Here’s an example from KIZN.

(Others have done this as well – including KRVB, etc.)

We’ll take our annual look at the contents of local EEO files later this week – but it is always interesting to see which stations are in compliance of the requirements. The EEO files must be posted on station website by June 1.

KIZN – Posted
KZMG – Posted
KRVB – Posted
KSRV – Not posted, out of compliance
KKGL – Posted
KQFC – Posted
KWEI – Not posted, out of compliance
KTMB – Posted
KQXR – Posted
KQLZ – No website, exempt
KDBI – No website (?)
KSAS – Posted
KAWO – Not posted, out of compliance
KJOT – Broken link, out of compliance
KCIX – Posted
KQTA – No website (?)
KTHI – Broken link, out of compliance
KXLT – Posted
KIDO – Posted
KFXD – Posted
KBOI – Posted
KTIK – Posted
KCID – Not posted, out of compliance
KGEM – No website, exempt

One more note about the BSU radio rights. Last fall, BSU hosted a big alumni homecoming party at Bodo. Portions of it were broadcast live on KBOI and 24/7 – and two national acts entertained the crowd: Reliant K & Blue Country.

Guess who paid to bring in the bands? Citadel. The company paid more than $35,000 to pay the bands — a fact it proudly touted on page two of the company’s failed pitch to BSU to retain radio broadcast rights.

Also: KBOI told the school it plans to unveil the “Idaho News Network” this summer – comprised (potentially) of stations in Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, Twin Falls and Osborn.

Local radio groups are jumping on the expo bandwagon in a bigger way – either by putting them on or partnering up.

- KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River and Boise State Radio are the radio sponsors of the “Idaho Green Expo” set for May 17th & 18th. The first-time event will gather together green experts and exhibitors for the two day event
- The Citadel stations are building on the success of decade-old Kid’s Fair with the Today’s Women’s Expo. The May 31st event will follow the Kid’s Fair blueprint with exhibits and demonstrations for women – as well as a number of keynote speakers.
- Peak is dipping its toe in the water with Idaho’s Largest Garage Sale – which will bring together countless folks with stuff to sell and (they hope) lots of buyers as well. The first-time event launches May 17th & 18th at Expo Idaho.
- KWEI Spanish Radio put on the Hispanic Health Fair at the Hispanic Cultural Center earlier this month. It’s another new event that targeted the Valley’s Hispanic population with health information and resources.

The Idaho Daily Statesman reported today that Paul J. Schenider will stay with KBOI’s “First Morning News” — but will get a little more time to rest each day. He’ll now start at 6am.

And there’s this odd note:

He said he anticipates participating in pre- and post-game coverage of Boise State.

Media stocks are getting killed lately — especially stocks of companies that are tied to newspapers.

Journal Broadcast Group is no exception — with its stock trading very near its 52-week low of $6.37/share. The stock traded as high as $14 last year.

But… they aren’t alone. Citadel Communications is seeing a similar pattern – with a high of $10, now trading at less than $2. Talk about two buck chuck

EXCLUSIVE

© 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

Citadel Communications came out with a pretty gloomy fourth quarter revenue result last week — and now the company is already making some cuts — according to FMQB.

“The time for talk is over, and it’s time for the walk,” CEO Farid Suleman saidl. “We have our work cut out in a lot of markets.”

R&R is reporting a number of cutbacks in top Citadel markets – including New York, Chicago and LA.

Locally, Citadel owns KKGL, KBOI, KZMG, KQFC and KIZN.

Update: And KTIK, too.

The Citadel Broadcasting v. Peak Broadcasting et al case won’t settle on March 10th as first thought. The settlement conference set for March 10th has been pushed back to March 27th. No real reason was given – except to not that both parties agreed to the delay.

KTIK Sports Director J Bates blogged about the big Peak v. Citadel rivalry game held last night at Les Bois over at KTIK.COM.

Peak and Citadel like to do battle. On the airwaves, in the offices of advertisers… and latetly — in court. But tonight, the two radio groups will meet up on the ball field – as they battle it out in the Parks & Rec. adult baseball league.

The game’s tonight at Les Bois at 7:45.

A massive media group fight? Uh-oh. Here comes trouble…

Last month – I asked who you thought would get the BSU radio rights. The clear winner was Citadel – with more than 55% of the vote.

Now, a little different question:

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The Boise Weekly’s Deana Darr has a fantastic piece on the race to land the radio rights to Boise State’s athletic events. I talked to Deana on background last week – and she did a great job chasing down all the players.

First, the headlines:

- Journal Broadcast Group did NOT bid on the rights
- Citadel GM Sandy Gamblin: “Certainly, it’s very important to maintain the rights”
- Tester Broadcast Group bid, and would put the games on KTMB/99.1 The Man.
- Peak Broadcasting submitted a bid, but declined to say where the games would go

Journal’s decision to not bid on the rights frankly isn’t a big surprise. They don’t really have a suitable station, and they have a lot of irons in the fire. If the radio rights and TV rights were tied together and Journal had both – that would be something – but the TV rights are not up until next year. Bob Rosenthal is clearly a big BSU backer, but JBG doesn’t seem to be focused on sports.

Citadel has the most to lose – and least to gain out of this. Sure, they’ll save a bundle if they don’t win the rights package, but all that ad revenue goes away. It also hurts KBOI, which has built its identity around BSU. Recent developments, like the rebranding (with less blue and orange) and the expnasion of afternoon news could be a hedge against losing the rights. KBOI also stands to lose Paul J. Schneider if they don’t keep the contract. After 35 years – Paul J. could either go to whomever grabs the rights – or retire. Paul J. is the best-known radio personality in this market, and KBOI doesn’t have an obvious successor. KBOI would also possibly face new competition. If KIDO/NewsRadio 580 pulls in the rights, it boosts them at KBOI’s success.

Peak is possibly the most-obvious second choice to many. The rights would boost KIDO instantly – and could have some benefit to KFXD. Why is Godwin declining to say what station he’d put the games on? This could signal that part of the package is a double pump with football games on both KIDO and an FM station. Of course, all four of Peak’s FM stations are female-oriented. As I’ve reported before, Peak CEO Todd Lawley told staffers last year that he would either get the rights for his group – or make Citadel pay dearly. I highly doubt he gave much thought to a third bidder.

Which brings us to Tester Broadcast. While Dave doesn’t own the stations – he’s a smart operator with the backing of an owner with pretty deep pockets. BSU might be turned off by the KTMB. The station has a very large signal pattern, but there are holes around Boise. Part of the plan may be to find ways to plug those gaps. I think everyone in this town just expects KBOI to take home the rights yet again. Perhaps. People think Peak is the number two choice. Don’t count out TB.

Frank Zang, Boise State spokesman, said the university is not forced to accept just any bid. The selection criteria will take into consideration things like the company’s history in the area, experience in sports broadcasting, creativity of proposal and opportunities for promotions, as well as financial terms and benefits.

Let’s break those things down, by bidder.

Company History
Peak – Brand new. Has established stations. Not locally owned.
Tester – New-ish (a rework of the FM Idaho group, same owners). Has new stations. Locally owned.
Citadel – Established. Established stations. Not locally owned.

Experience in sports broadcasting
Peak – As a company, none. Has some staff members with experience.
Tester – Some. Owns a sports station. Has a nightly sports show. Produced a slew of HS football games last fall
Citadel – Lots. Current BSU rightsholder. Paul J. on staff. Has a sports station.

Creativity of proposal
…we’ll see…

Opportunities for Promotion
Peak – Has a stable of stations with female appeal. Showed commitment to the school with efforts last fall. Tried to attach their brands to BSU without the actual rights – so I would expect this would only continue with the deal in hand.
Tester – Still a small group without a big ratings draw. Would probably have to look for partners and outside media
Citadel – They’d probably have to do better than what they currently offer, but they have experience

Financial Terms
Peak – Just spent a ton of money to just buy the stations – and has to keep them running.
Tester – FM Idaho’s Wendell Starke made a killing when he sold the stations and then bought them at the Horizon Broadcast Group fire sale. He’s been using that capital to add stations, build transmitters and acquire licenses.
Citadel – Just spent a fortune on ABC Radio. Pulled out of Spokane. Boise performs well, but paying up could be hard. The “rest” of the proposal may have to carry them.

I’ve teased the possibility that the school could take the rights in house. It’s still possible. Deana took the speculation around here and pitched it to Curt Apsey”: We’re considering everything and, at the end of the day, going a direction that’s best for all involved.”

Sounds cagey, doesn’t it?

By the way, I have a trick up my sleeve on this story – I should have more tomorrow.

Citadel Broadcasting’s “Abominable Snowmen” and Peak Broadcasting’s unnamed team competed in the annual Media Ski Race at Bogus Basin Sunday. Paul Blaisdell with Peak took second place in the male snowboard division, and Citadel’s Casey Hiatt took third.

Justin Wilcomb and Dave Mangum with Citadel took first and second in the male skier division, and Carolyn Corr took first in the female division. Full results after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

Melissa Dawn is the only former Peak-er to land at KBOI/News-Talk 670. Greg Williamson id filling in on Idaho’s First Morning News and Idaho Talks Live for Paul J. Schneider. The “Voice of the Broncos” is on the road with the basketball team – and Citadel brought Williamson into pinch hit. Greg noted on the air this morning that he will be filling in quite a bit in coming weeks.

Peak Broadcasting’s loss is Citadel’s gain: Melissa Dawn is back on the air. Dawn is now the PM news anchor for KBOI/News-Talk 670, with news updates during the new “live and local” Nate Shelman show. Dawn & Greg Williamson were let go by Peak when they decided to turn KXLT/107.9 Lite FM jockless during the daytime hours.

Peak Broadcasting does not own radio stations in Boise – and doesn’t employ Kevin Godwin.

Instead, Peak Broadcasting of Boise, LLC owns radio stations in Boise, and employs Godwin. That’s the wonderfully convoluted legalese overflowing in the Citadel v. Peak lawsuit.

Peak today replied to Citadel’s earlier demand for a wide range of discovery Citadel asked for. Peak says the “overbroad” requests amount to “nothing more than a ‘fishing expedition.’” Peak says Citadel’s requests lack a time frame, and are an attempt to prove its charge of violation of the Idaho Trade Secrets Act — without actually stating what trade secret Peak violated.

In one particularly funny passage (intentionally or not), Peak notes Citadel’s request to look over computer equipment isn’t very specific.

“Citadel’s Request for Production Nos. 49 – 52 require the Peak Entities to produce all computer equipment in any way used or accessed by the individual defendants… These discovery requests contain no reference as to whose computer should be produced, as well as no time period restrictions. Furthermore, the requests do not limit the computer equipment to equipment used for work purposes only.

OK, boring so far. Right? Wait for it…

Also, “use” and “access” are not defined; so, if an individual defendant used another employee’s computer for a project or a day, is Citadel entitled to access to that computer?”

Attention all Peak employees: If any manager ever used your computer… it may be confiscated by the lawsuit police.

“If a defendant had access to a friend or family member’s computer for non-business purposes only, is Citadel entitled to that machine?

The mean man took my computer away daddy!

The breadth of these requests would potentially required production of computers owned and in the possession of people with no relation to this case, which contains vast amounts of private personal information, to which Citadel has absolutely no reasonable basis to claim entitlement.”

Note to self. Don’t let Peak’s management borrow my computer.

I threw out the “10 questions” poll the other day not having any idea if anyone would take the time to vote. To my delight, about 90 of you took a few moments.

You think KIZN/Kissin’ 92.3 had the strongest performance in the fall – and will wind up on top of the country roost yet again in the results later this month. Quite a few of you think KAWO/Wow Country 104.3 will not make it to the end of the year as a country station – but a plurality think KTMB/99.1 The Man is the most likely station to flip formats.

The conventional wisdom also seems to indicate KBOI & Citadel will again keep the Boise State Athletics radio contract – in fact, a majority think the station will hang on.

The chattering class overwhelmingly thinks Bob FM will be a niche player.

The smart money appears to be on Peak and Citadel settling their lawsuit out of court.

A whopping 93% of voters say Spanish-language radio will stay at its current level or grow. Almost no one thinks it will shrink.

Even with strong support for Citadel’s position in many questions – many of you think Citadel is most likely to leave the market this year. Most of the questions I asked will have a definitive answer by the end of the year – however it’s entirely possible no group will sell out this year. In hindsight, I should have provide that voting option.

A large majority thinks the Boise Community Radio Project will continue to have trouble getting a broadcast license.

And finally, a plurality thinks KDJQ will be reclaimed by the bank. More on that point soon.

EXCLUSIVE
After the two parties previously looked like they might be close to settling – the Peak/Citadel lawsuit is heating up – with Citadel charging that Peak is holding back on the discovery phase of the proceedings. Discovery is the process that allows two sides in case to size each other up and inspect any potential evidence in the case.

One filing notes the case was “dormant for a few months” while the parties tried to settle. It now appears the lawsuit is back in action after the judge in the case told the two sides to put up or shut up last month.

Citadel’s attorneys say the made requests for discovery was made in July – and that Peak is holding back on a number of fronts.

- Info on Peak’s customers
- Details of Peak’s financial standing in Boise and Fresno
- Info on payments made to several of the co-defendants in the case (likely Kevin Godwin, Mike Sutton, Todd Lawley, Rick Stewart et al)
- Citadel wants to inspect computers owned by Peak accessed by those defendants
- Information on the recruitment of the defendants by Peak
- Other information that is incomplete

The document filed by Citadel says Peak objected to all but two of its requests – with more than 200 objections by Peak to Citadel’s 68 requests.

In August, Peak agreed to provide additional material, and Citadel said it would cut down its overall request. By December, Citadel still wasn’t happy with Peak’s responses – and is now asking for an appearance in front of the court to hammer out the issues – and has filed a Motion to Compel, and is additionally requesting Peak pay for fees connected with that motion.

Citadel says its requests for things like inspection of the computers and the inspection of the employee’s personell files was deemed “irrelevant” by Peak.

One request was for Citadel to be informed of any person that Peak tried to hire in Boise for a specified amount of time. Peak’s response? They sent over a phone list. As Citadel said in its motion “this response appears incomplete.” Idaho Radio News has obtained the phone list – it is dated August 6 of 2007.

Peak also denied a number of requests, based on the grounds that the company did not exist prior to November 9, 2006. While that is technically true – IdahoRadioNews.com previously reported that the company began a series of activities before the November 9th date. Citadel charges that Peak is trying to “hide behind” the formation date to conceal information.

Remember when I complained about the awful, cluttered messy Citadel Boise websites? The wheels were clearly already in motion to reboot the sites on the Mediaspan platform. KBOI.com is the first to launch – though it is very light on local content, and still pales in comparison to the Peak sites – and even the JBG sites.

KZMG.com launched late this week – and is a vast improvement over the site’s prior look – however the site is certainly NOT ready for prime time – and whoever gave the “go” sign should be embarrassed. The DJ page is complete, none of the main content areas have any… content. Also, clicking on “Listen Live” (which Magic promotes at least four times an hour) takes you to a page that allows you to listen to 92 PRO FM. Unless Magic is moving to Providence, RI – changing dial position and positioner – this is the wrong station. Also, for Mac users, a popup offering an audio file called “silence.wav” comes up. Not a single talent on the station has a bio – but a link to dantokerinthemorning.com is offered – complete with all sorts of information on how to hire him.

All the other Citadel sites are still on the old platform… and I can’t believe I’m saying this… they might be better of staying there.

Citadel has let go two of its on air staff in recent days. KKGL night guy Jason Drew and KZMG morning host Valentine are no longer with the company. Val was the longest serving member of the Magic staff – and will be replaced by Dan Tooker in early 2008. Valentine shifted to AM drive after Citadel let Brad and Tara go earlier this fall.

It’ll be interesting to see if the change at KKGL signals less of a commitment by Citadel to have jocks live in the evening.

The latest filing in the Citadel v. Peak lawsuit brought earlier this year show signs that the two sides will settle – but a judge isn’t letting the two parties drag their collective feet.

In a joint filing, attorneys for both sides said “the parties continue to engage in settlement discussions and appear to have made progress towards reaching an amicable settlement of this case. The extension of deadlines requested will facilitate those continued discussions and will allow the parties and the Court to avoid the costs and expenses…”

The two radio companies already were granted a delay of the court calendar (including the discovery process) – and asked for another postponement Thursday. Yestrerday, Judge Larry M. Boyle ruled that no such delay would be granted.

The Court does not find good cause to extend these deadlines further based solely upon the parties’ interest in pursuing settlement negotiations. Such settlement discussions can take place as the parties continue to move the case forward.

The Citadel & Peak lawyers wanted to begin discovery with disclosure of Citadel’s expert witnesses on February 1. Since that request has been denied, the earlier schedule will stay in place – giving Citadel until yesterday, November 30th (yes, yesterday) to disclose its slate of witnesses.

We’ll keep watching.

The History of Idaho Broadcasting Foundation will bring its next meeting to the Citadel palace at 15th & Bannock in Downtown Boise on November 29th at 7pm. An aircheck of KBOI’s transition to 50,000 watts in 1968 will be featured. Full details after the jump
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It used to be the Citadel Broadcasting Boise websites were the best in the market. Now? Fat chance. Peak Broadcasting hired Stationality to put together a suite of sweet websites, and the Journal Broadcast Group got with the program as well. But the Citadel sties sites have pretty much stood still and now seem increasingly cluttered and stale. Both KBOI and KQFC have put together new logos (appearing on billboards around town), but the websites don’t have them. KZMG.com still has pics of its outsted morning team online. KKGL’s site has its own 3+ year-old logo in spots as well. KIZN.com is up-to-date and packed with content… but its hard to find anything.