Idaho Radio News Etc.

(Photo taken today, 12/19/2009. Duane & Kelly were let go by Peak more than a year ago.)

KIDO/580 AM is adding a new afternoon drive talk show. Starting Thursday, Austin Hill will join the station for a 3pm-6pm local talk show — and is doubling down on syndicated personality Glenn Beck.

More on Hill in a second — but first, KIDO said in a news release today that it plans to revamp its daytime lineup, and will move Glenn Beck to the 9am-noon timeslot. That change will put Beck’s popular show up against Rush Limbaugh on KBOI from 10am-noon.

Dennis Miller, which is currently heard from 9am-noon on KIDO/580 will move the KFXD/63 KIDO. “First Team with Steve Czaban” finds itself without a Boise home in the moves.

Hill has worked in DC, Chicago, LA — and comes to Boise from Phoenix where he was last heard in the afternoon on KTAR-FM.

“KIDO will continue to lead in the acquisition and development of premium LOCAL programming to our area,” Peak SVP Kevin Godwin said in a prepared statement (which you can red in full after the jump).

Read the rest of this entry »

While it is hard to get a full fix on the state of Peak Broadcasting — we have little ways to judge the health of the company. Things like employee morale, programming — and usually the most telling aspect: staffing.

In March, 2005 – just before Peak took over the operations of six Boise Clear Channel stations, I noted here how many on-air staffers each station in the group. CC had been derided for its staffing practices in markets like Boise. Stations that used to be live 24/7 had been cut, cut and cut again. Across the group, just nine shifts had live and local talent.

Here’s how it broke down:

KCIX: Two shifts, three personalities
KSAS: Two shifts, three personalities
KTMY (now KAWO): One shift, one personality
KXLT: Three shifts, four personalities
KFXD: One shift, one personality *
KIDO: One shift, three personalities

That’s fourteen staffers total (KFXD laid off Mitch Pruitte just before Peak took over and switched the shift to a VTer).

The picture now?

KCIX: One shift, two personalities (-1)
KSAS: Three shifts, four personalities (+1)
KAWO: Four shifts, four personalities (+3)
KXLT: One shift, one personality (-3)
KFXD: None. (-1)
KIDO: One shift, two personalities (-1)

Old total – 14. New total – 13. Neither total includes part-timers, news anchors or production personnel who don’t hold air shifts.

Boise’s three talk stations host robust local lineups – including the newest station.

KFXD/63 KIDO beefed up its Saturday morning lineup with local programming – much of it from time brokerage agreements.

Piece of Mind with life coach Brenda Harper starts the morning at 8am. The show’s “goal is to offer our listeners life tools, presented in a fun, common sense way.”

Former Canyon County Commissioner Robert Vasquez hosts The Patriot Radio Network (this week they discussed “B. Hussein Obama’s Socialist Stimulus Package.”) It airs from 9-10am.

Ralph Smith hosts NW Live! at 10am – with a second hour called “Counseling Connection” at 11am. You can hear the show on demand here.

Sunday the station hosts Idaho Insights at 8am.

KIDO/580 AM also has a variety of local weekend shows – including AM Idaho Saturday with Doug McConaughey, Home Fix with Joe Prin, D&B Gardening Show, and Money Matters with Dave Petso.

KBOI also has several weekend shows – including the Zamzow’s Garden Show, Dining Out Idaho, Property Line Today

Peak SVP Kevin Godwin confirmed the new lineups for KIDO/580 AM and KFXD/63 KIDO, starting Monday.

630
5:30-7am – AM Idaho with Holmes and Burnett
7am-10am – Dan Patrick
10am-1pm – The First Team with Steve Czaban
1pm-4pm – Todd Schnitt Show
4pm-5pm – Lars Larson
5pm-6pm – KTVB News at Five (live at 5, repeat at 5:30)
6pm-8pm – Lars Larson

580
5am-9am – AM Idaho with Holmes and Burnett
9am-Noon – Dennis Miller
Noon-3pm – Dr. Laura
3pm-6pm – Glenn Beck
6pm-9pm – Dave Ramsey

Several things to note. First – AM Idaho is contracting by an hour per day – now running four hours instead of five. Dr. Laura will now air for an extra hour each day. Dennis Miller was slated to launch on 630 – but is now set for 580. A source tells me the 580 frequency was going to have AM Idaho, followed by Beck, Dr. Laura and a local show – which would have put Beck and Rush head-to-head, but the economic pinch seems to have dictated these moves instead.

Starting January 1, 2009 – KBOI will add Rush Limbaugh and rework its program lineup.

5-10am – Idaho’s First Morning News with Paul J. & Chris
10am-1pm – Rush Limbaugh
1pm-4pm – Sean Hannity
4pm-7pm – Nate Shelman
7pm-10pm – Michael Savage
10pm-Mid – Mark Levin

The only real change here is the loss of Dennis MIller in favor of el Rushbo. Limbaugh will launch with a New Year’s Day Rush-a-thon… Gem State Dittoheads rejoice.

Miller will move to KFXD/63 KIDO on Jan. 4. The rest of Peak’s plans for the two news stations haven’t been revealed – though KTVB is airing spots promoting a simulcast of the News at Five on KIDO… though the ads don’t specify which station (and I haven’t asked). I’m checking with Peak to see what the new schedule for the stations will look like.

Looks like we know a little bit more about what Peak is doing with the Jon & Chris timeslot – which is being filled by Fox Sports for now:

The big question still remains what KIDO/580 plans to do with the 10am-1pm slot… Peak said in a news release on October 7th that Rush’s slot would be filled with something live and local…

In its place, beginning January 1st, 2009, 580 KIDO will debut a new LIVE and LOCAL radio show aimed directly at residents of Idaho and the growing Treasure Valley.

The revamped KFXD-AM/63 KIDO is making another change – this time letting Jon Duane and Chris Kelly go.  The duo have been given a farewell show – which is on the air right now.

Kelly and Duane are upbeat about the change – and even thanked Peak management (at least for letting them put together a final show).

Fox Sports will take the timeslot starting tomorrow.

KFXD/630 KIDO announced its new schedule today – and it features a major overhaul of the programming day.

5:30am-7am will feature a simulcast of AM Idaho from KIDO/580 AM

7am-10am – Dan Patrick Show – live. The show was last heard mid-days on KTMB/99.1 The Man.

10am-2pm – The Jon and Chris Show – live.  The local talk show moves from mornings to mid-days.

2pm-5pm – Todd Schnitt Show

5pm-8pm – Lars Larson. The evening program moves to an earlier time slot

8pm-11pm – Tony Bruno, new to 630.

PS: This new lineup starts Monday

The most confusing station switcharoo in the market’s history… is about to get more confusing.

KIDO was long heard at 630 AM – until a switch earlier this decade that flipped call letters with KFXD at 580 AM.

KIDO became 580, and KFXD became 630.  KIDO – news/talk. KFXD – country.

Then Peak Broadcasting purchased the station and decided to ditch the classic country sound and launch a second talk station on KFXD with a local morning show and syndicated shows.  The station kept the KFXD call letters and now goes by “All Talk 63 KFXD.”

But that’s about to end.

“All Talk 63 KFXD” will cease to exist as a brand – instead the station will be called “KIDO AM 630″ according to yesterday’s release. The switch happens Monday.

Programming for the two stations is the big question at the moment. A new “live and local” show is promised on 580 – and more news, weather and traffic will appear on 630. The release makes an allusion to being “only radio stations in Boise to feature live and local news, talk, and sports programming throughout the day.”  Could that mean a PM drive show on one of the stations?

Peak SVP Kevin Godwin said the station would retain the KFXD call letters – but take the KIDO brand. He also said that Boise State programming would now simulcast on 630, adding another station to the Boise State Radio Network anchored by 580 AM.

Here’s the news release… I’ll dissect it this evening:

Boise, ID – October, 10, 2008 – Peak Broadcasting and 580 KIDO Radio announced today a series of significant programming changes designed to further strengthen the local commitment to the Treasure Valley and Idaho. National radio host Rush Limbaugh’s contract on 580 KIDO will not be renewed when it expires on December 31st 2008. In its place, beginning January 1st, 2009, 580 KIDO will debut a new LIVE and LOCAL radio show aimed directly at residents of Idaho and the growing Treasure Valley. Also, beginning Monday morning October 13th at 5am, additional KIDO branded radio programming will be heard on AM 630 and kidoam.com. KIDO AM 630 will continue to feature long time popular local hosts Jon Duane and Chris Kelly along with a significant increase in local news, sports, traffic, weather, and BSU programming all produced in house by the KIDO news and sports departments. Additional programming under the KIDO umbrella along with specific show times will be announced this Friday, October 10th. KIDO AM 580 or AM 630 will be the only radio stations in Boise to feature live and local news, talk, and sports programming throughout the day.

In making the announcement, Kevin Godwin, SVP/Market Manager of Peak Broadcasting/Boise said, “Although Rush has demonstrated his ability to attract a listening audience over the years for KIDO; we believe the future of local radio is local radio programming and services.” “Peak Broadcasting’s commitment to Idaho and the Treasure Valley has been demonstrated over the past 18 months by our dedication to provide only the best local personalities on all of our AM and FM stations.” He continued, “The KIDO project is a continuation of the initiative we started earlier this year with the acquisition of the radio broadcasting rights to Boise State University athletics, the successful launch of the Peak/Boise State University Sports Radio Network and the fast growing on line brand, www.kidoam.com.”

“The significant financial and political events of the past few months have clearly demonstrated the need for more timely, accurate, and credible local, regional and national radio information. We see an incredible opportunity to extend KIDO’s lead in quality branded news and personality content to more listeners and advertisers throughout the Treasure Valley and Idaho.”

Idaho Radio News has learned that KFXD is not listed on the stations page at the front of the Arbitron book.

Why?

In the 90s, this same station (in)famously wasn’t in the book because the program director at the time neglected to properly submit the station. One wonders…

Several stations did not register in the publicly released Arbitron numbers: KFXD, KTMB and KQTA.

All Talk 63 has a popular morning duo in place, so its absence is puzzling. KTMB and KQTA don’t have much to brag about – not to mention that KTMB/99.1 The Man… doesn’t even exit anymore.

KIDO/News Radio 580 had a solid book – with its best numbers since 2004, landing at a 6.3 in the 12+ numbers. KFXD/ All Talk 63 didn’t fare as well – with a .9 rating – its worst performance since at least 1998. Its been suggested that perhaps the diary system is benefiting Jon & Chris – since the duo used to be on KIDO/630 AM. At the end of the day though, does Peak care?

The Boise Community Radio Project has submitted its FCC application as previously noted, to broadcast on 89.9 FM. The city of license for the Boise project would be… Caldwell. Ahh the FCC.

BCRP was the only NCE application made in the Boise valley – though scores of applications were filed statewide (more on that later).

The 89.9 location would be very close to KTSY (89.5 FM) and KBSU (90.3 FM).

BCRP’s supporting documents (view here – PDF) say that current radio programming “fails to reflect the educational needs of our community,” and says there isn’t a whole lot on the air that can “assist citizens in discussing the implications of demographic transition.” Also, BCRP feels Boise’s radio programming “generally fails to examine issues affecting souther Idahoans.”

Currently, the Boise area offers a whopping 150.5 hours of locally produced public affairs, talk or music programming – that is an average of 21.5 hours per day. (See chart below).

Currently, BCRP’s online stream features 6.93 hours of local talk (of which more than half is repeats, boiling down to less than three hours of content), and about 61 hours of locally produced music shows (including about 50% repeated content, most shows do not feature local artists). This averages out to about nine hours per day. The amount of original content is about 30 hours – or 4 hours per day. It stands to reason that if BCRP were granted a license it would increase local content – if the group can find funding.

BCRP takes a stance that BSU Radio provides very little local content:

Community radio is not the same as National Public Radio (NPR). As an NPR affiliate, Boise State University offers syndicated national news, talk and classical music programs. Less than 5% of their [sic] schedule is locally programmed.

BSU Radio produces 47.5 hours of local programming per week (NOT including news), or 6.7 hours per day across its three Boise stations. Almost none of this is repeated. This totals 9.5% of total programming.

Edit: The list below shows the total number of hours per week that a local station airs (not including news updates, remotes or normal music-driven shifts).

KIDO: 33 (mornings, Monday sports show, weekend shows)
KFXD: 20 (mornings)
KBOI: 27 (mornings, Saturday morning shows)
KBSX: 2.5 (City Club, Dialogue, New Horizons [X2])
KBSU-FM: 15 (Laz Spectrum, Private Idaho, Jazz Straight Ahead, Arthur Balinger programming)
KBSU-AM: 30 (Saturday Spanish-language programs, Sunday University Pulse)
KRVB-FM: 1 (The Other Studio)
KQXR-FM: 1 (Xclusive)
KTMB-FM: 5 (Dzuback sports show)
KTIK: 15 (Caves & Prater)
KAYN: 1 (Divas for a Difference)

Former KFXD program director Greg Roberts posted a comment on our 18-month-old KFXD wall thread. I’m still looking for pictures of the KFXD “wall” in the old days before it was painted over. If you’ve got them send them my way so we can share!

Peak Boise SVP Kevin Godwin was part of that panel I teased several times on how PR people and news folks can better work together. I didn’t take notes and this was 24 hours ago, but Godwin hit on how his young company is working hard to recruit new talent – and noted that the group has hired somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 people since launching in April. He expressed frustration that radio has a hard time keeping people (on the content side) in a market the size of Boise.

Godwin also talked about how KFXD/All Talk 63 is working to make Jon & Chris a place where people can come on and talk about a wide variety of issues that may not get full coverage in the media, and emphasized the free-wheeling nature of the show.

Also, KBOI/AM 670 came up during the discussion for a brief moment. Last week, a man shot and killed himself in the St. Alphonsus bathroom. That same day, the media learned of an escaped inmate from the Ada County Jail – who had been publicly identified by the Ada County Prosecutor. During the afternoon, officials, as well as the media figured out that the escaped inmate killed himself. As officials were working to notify the family of the death, KBOI uncorked the news and went on the air with it… hours before any other media — potentially letting the family hear about their loved one’s suicide on the radio. During the forum, KBOI was not identified by name, but when the incident came up, Godwin quickly noted (and rightfully so) that it “wasn’t our station.”

Peak Broadcasting continues its run of great website launches – this time with the new 63kfxd.com (just plain kfxd.com works as well). The site is a bit different from the average radio site, with navigation built around the logo on the home page and a fairly simple approach inside the site. I like how the contact page lets you reach out to SVP Kevin Godwin with a direct e-mail link – and the use of vintage KFXD studio pictures, emphasizing the station’s long history.

The station is also offering its program audio online. 1033kissfm.com and mix106radio.com are the final two Peak sites left to launch on the Statioinality platform.

(Disclosure: I helped create the site’s co-branded traffic page as part of my day job.)