Idaho Radio News Etc.

Journal Broadcast Group put together a lively TV spot wishing the audience of KIVI and KNIN a happy holiday season. The spot featured KIVI morning anchors Lincoln Graves and Michell Starke, plus the KQXR morning team and KJOT afternoon team passing a present.

Pete and Joe apparently like to spend time in the bathroom together… and trade gifts in the john as well.

It’s not just IRN going bye-bye as the new decades opens… Michael Deeds reports KJOT/J-105 won’t publish its annual “girlie” calendar. Deeds says the move is a cost-cutting one at Journal Boise.

Speaking of which… I’m now traveling to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl for KTVB. That means my last day as a news person will be January 4th… so we’ll extend this site’s life for just a few more days to dovetail with that. I’m working on several wrap-up stories that we’ll publish next week.

The Journal stations are going all out this year for Toys for Tots – the annual program of the US Marine Corps.  The two television and four radio outlets are all helping get the word out and bring in toy donations.

Also:

KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River is hosting the annual “Concert for Cause” concert at the Knitting Factory tonight. John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting is performing to benefit the Canyon County Community Clinic. A live & silent auction is also being held

KJOT/J-105 hosted a Hell’s Belles show on the 11th, and a portion of proceeds went to Boise Rock School

KTHI/107.1 K-Hits is auctioning off a Fiesta Bowl football to benefit Make-A-Wish.

Earlier this week, more than 100 Idaho Radio News voters weighed in on the relaunch of KQLZ. In one poll, we asked what format everyone though WOULD launch – and country was the overwhelming answer.

Then for some reason we also asked what format you actually wanted to hear – and modern rock took the day. So I guess everyone gets some satisfaction.

After about three hours of “99.1 The Bronco,” Impact segued to The Virus – which surprised many, but in hindsight the group has a pattern of doing this… so maybe it should not have.

Let’s look at the potential impact of the move. The first and most obvious station in the cross-hairs is KQXR/100.3 The X – which is just up the dial and has similar (for now) call letters to The Virus. KQLZ is making noise about bringing alternative music “back” to the Treasure Valley. I could try and formulate a long in-depth look at the music – but KQLZ’s mix seems to be a bit less hard core. I’ll let you listen and decide for yourself beyond that.

The X has never really seen a serious threat – and with nearly 15 years playing some form of new rock, is the heritage player.

Impact also appears to be using The Virus to put pressure on other competitors to boost its other properties. While KQLZ has no overlap with KWYD/Wild 101 – it has quite a bit of overlap with KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM and KZMG/Magic 93.1. If The Virus can take even a small portion of audience from these stations, it could help increase Wild’s lead over the other pop stations.

The Virus also could take some listeners from KJOT and KKGL/96.9 The Eagle – and that might give KSRV/96.1 Bob FM better positioning among rock stations.

Will this work? Time will tell. The 99.1 frequency has been very unstable over the past decade and has seen very little success. The best number I have for 99.1 is fall 1998, when The Music Monster scored a 3.8 12+ rating, before quickly falling back to a 1.9. The frequency has not broken the 2.0 barrier since then.

The X has seen a general downward trend, with the days of 7.0+ ratings long gone. However, the latest series of moves on the station have moved the needle from a low of 3.1 back to a respectable 4.6 this spring.

A former Boise radio operations manager once told me the story of a morning host who walked into a meeting, threw a fork down on the table and said “stick a fork in me, I’m done.”  That was his classy way of announcing his resignation.

In the days leading up to the spring book’s release, there had been lots of chatter about a station finally throwing down the fork and flipping formats.

The suspects: KAWO/Wow Country 104.3, KXLT/107.9 Lite FM, KZMG/Magic 93.1 and KJOT/J-105.

But all of those stations seemed to have done just well enough to earn them a reprieve.

KJOT pulled up its numbers substantially. It is still the #2 pure-play classic rock station (behind KKGL), but among adults 25-54, it is beating stablemate KQXR (to say nothing of KRVB).

KZMG continued to see audience erosion just about everywhere – but as I noted here, it looks like Citadel is giving the station one more shot before making a drastic change. Also of note – Citadel has not flipped one single station in the Boise market since it acquired these properties.  The most drastic “makeover” was the rebranding of KTIK to add “The Ticket” to its name upon acuisition, and some slight changes to KQFC’s branding.

KAWO/Wow Country 104.3 is still the #3 country station in the market – but saw improvement in all the timeslots and most key demos. While it is not the station’s best book (that was spring of 2008) – it did show signs of life after a very poor fall 2008 book).

KXLT/107.9 Lite FM may be the closest to the guilatine – its numbers fell from the fall book in many places.  When you take the 12+ view however, KXLT is tied with KCIX/Mix 106 at the moment.  But when you dig into the demos, Mix has a clear advantage.  The one upside at the moment for Lite: zero personell costs.  The station is now completely jock-free — and the only “talent” on the station right now is Delilah.  Peak’s running the frequency cheaply – and always sees a boost from its Christmas music stunt in the fall.

So what does that leave us? KRVB? KQLZ? Journal has indicated that it likes what is happening on KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River – and the station seems to be able to deliver for advertisers, despite its continually low ratings. The station in its previous incarnation – as KFXJ/KF-95 had a similar problem – but The River has been at the bottom of the ratings heap for quite some time now.

KQLZ/99.1 Idaho’s True Oldies Channel is probably safe for now – since Impact has some success in KWYD and KSRV to talk about.

Journal Broadcast Group once streamed four of its six Boise stations on the Interwebs – but now the only station to provide its audio over the Internet is KRVB/94.9 The River. KJOT, KQXR and KTHI are now only available for those people with one of those old-school radios.

Pete & Joe may not be in the top time period on KJOT/J-105 any longer… but they will hold down the longest timeslot on a local station. The pair now host from 1pm to 7pm – a whopping six hours (or a full quarter of the broadcast day). Kristine (mostly) voicetracks from 10am until 1pm, and Dale Larsen holds court on the pre-recorded computer machine from 7pm to midnight.

Two Boise Journal Broadcast Group stations are no longer streaming online: KJOT/J-105 and KTHI/107.1 K-Hits.

Why? This from the Pete & Joe Show Facebook page:

Sorry folks, no live stream for now. That unfortunatly [sic] had to be given the ol’ heave ho due to the economy.

KQXR/100.3 The X and KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River still have live streams — and to my knowledge the AM stations never offered that feature (or websites at all really).

Two of Boise’s rock stations are holding bracket contests…. but neither deal with basketball.

KKGL/96.9 The Eagle is doing its annual rock band bracket contest. Last year AC/DC won it all — and so far the band is still in the game — but number one seed Led Zeppelin got knocked off by #16 Jackyl in the first round. Wowza! Check out the bracket here.

KJOT/J-105 is holding the “babe bracket” with the Pete & Joe Show.

These ladies have adorned the walls of pre-teen bedrooms, high school locker rooms, college dorm rooms and have finally been sent to the garage – courtesy of our wives.

We’ve progressed to the “Flirtatious Four” with Raquel Welch representing the 1970s, Heather Locklear from the 1980s, Claudia Schiffer from the 1990s and Kate Becinksale from the 2000s. Get in your votes here.

KJOT/J-105 is revamping its schedule, and in the process will become the latest station with a syndicated morning show.

The Pete and Joe Show will air in the morning drive for the final time this Friday. Starting Monday, the Syndicated Todd ‘n’ Tyler show will take their place.

Pete and Joe will remain with the station and move to PM drive.

How that affects current afternoon host CB is unknown – but he voicetracks the shift and acts as producer for Tracy and Margo on KTHI/107.1 K-Hits.

Here’s our annual roundup of some of the great things stations are doing for the community.

• KTSY’s Christmas Wish program is underway. From home repair to a new pair of glasses, the station is looking to find people who need a hand – and will connect as many of them as possible to help.
• KIZN/Kissin 92.3 rolls into another year of the outstanding Keep Kids Warm.  The program started 12 years ago with a call to “Rivers and Valley” – the station’s morning show at the time. A young girl called and asked if there was any way her family could get some heating oil for the holiday – because the wanted to be warm for Christmas.  That year, listeners chipped in $17,000 for that girl and many others – and overall the program has racked up a stunning $650,000. This year’s on-air auction will be held December 15-19.
• KRVB/94.9 The River will hold its previously mentioned Concert for Cause later this month, and is also helping collect items for Toys for Tots.
• KSRV/96.1 Bob FM is directing people to the Boise Rescue Mission to make donations for the season.
• KKGL/96.9 The Eagle is also running a Christmas Wish program, this time in connection with the Idaho Youth Ranch. The station is helping collect a wide range of items for teens who are staying at the ranch – everything from cowboy boots to the Twilight book series.
• Starting Monday, the KQFC/Idaho Country 98 will travel the Treasure Valley stopping at five different Walmart locations – each day focusing on a different family that listeners can adopt. Each family has a different story and a different set of needs – and morning hosts Cory and Debi will introduce listeners to the family in need, and provide them with ways to help.
• KQLZ/99.1 Idaho’s True Oldies Channel just wrapped up a turkey drive – and raised $1380 in cash, plus 118 turkeys for the Idaho Food Bank. They are also pointing people to the Boise Rescue Mission.
• KQXR/100.3 The X is collecting toys for Toys for Tots.
• KAWO/Wow Country 104.3 is collecting toys for Toys for Tots.
• KJOT/J-105 is collecting toys for Toys for Tots.
• KCIX/Mix 106 is stuffing the semi for the Idaho Foodbank
• KTHI/107.1 K-Hits is collecting toys for Toys for Tots.
• KXLT/107.9 Lite FM continues its long Christmas Wish program with Home Federal – which has granted hundreds of wishes over the years and continues to find creative ways to help pepole out. You can nominate someone deserving at liteonline.com.
• KBOI/News Talk 670 is giving a boost to the Make a Wish Stories of Light campaign – helping fund wishes for several local kids with severe medical conditions.

Another round of cutbacks in the Boise media world – this time at Journal.  The group cut several, including sales staff, a web producer and KJOT/J-105 program director Dave Sparks.

UPDATE: Not a fun few weeks folks. In the last two months, Journal, Citadel, Peak, Idaho Business Review and the Idaho Statesman have all made cuts. As far as I’m aware, KBCI, KTVB and the Idaho Press-Tribune have not – but who knows what the future holds.

If any of the laid off folks wants to get a message out – whether it be a goodbye or pitch for future employment, e-mail me at idahoradio@gmail.com and I’ll post it on the home page.

Dropped in on KQXR/100.3 The X lately? You might think you accidentally locked on to sister station KJOT/J-105.  The station has changed its playlist and jettisoned the “New Rock & 90s” tag. New liners, secondary voice and liners touting that “the X rocks.”

I tuned in after 11am and heard Runnin’ With the Devil by Van Halen – the song is just one of a flood of classic hits on the new active rock-sounding station.

New music isn’t gone, but the blend is what a lot of people have been saying one of the Journal stations should do. It could be the way to effectively attack KKGL/96.9 The Eagle, but it looks to spell trouble for J-105. It makes you wonder if more shoes will be dropping from the second floor of 5257 Fairview…

KKGL/96.9 The Eagle is Boise’s #1 radio station. Anchored by Bob & Tom in the morning and local jocks in the midday and afternoon, the station jumped to its best number since spring 1998 with a whopping 7.4. That mark is also the best rating for a commercial FM since KIZN/Kissin’ 92.3 scored a 7.5 in 2005. The Eagle also leads its nearest competitor (again KIZN) by 7/10s of a point and dominated direct competitor KJOT/J-105 by a 4.1 rating. Wow.

Journal Broadcast Group’s stations had a tough book. The group has one station in the top 10 – perennial winner 107.1 K-Hits with a strong 6.7.

The rest of the stations are in the doldrums.

- KJOT/J-105 down 12% from last year to 3.3
- KQXR/100.3 The X lost a third of its audience for a 3.1
- KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River went up slightly from spring ‘07, but only notched at 2.6

And as a commenter noted, Impact’s automated, unstaffed KSRV/96.1 Bob FM outranked those three stations – despite management upheaval and a fairly weak overall presentation.

The Idaho State Broadcasters’ Association honored the best of the best in radio and TV recently. The awards are open to entrants statewide, but only Treasure Valley stations took home awards at the annual Sun Valley ceremony.

NEWS

• Best Public Affairs – KBOI “Return of the Salmon,” Ken Weaver
• Best Agricultural Program – KIDO “Coyotes,” Sean Chaney
• Best Local Newscast – KIDO “KIDO News Team”
• Best News Story – KBOI “Democrats Caucus,” Melissa Dawn, Ken Weaver
• Best Sports Program – KTIK “Sports Talk with Caves and Prater”
• Best Sports Play-by-play – KBOI “3OT WAC Championship,” Paul J. Schneider & Todd Miles
• Best Investigative Report – KBOI “Shopping Quest Scam,” Brett Reckamp
• Best Spot News – KBOI “Super Tuesday,” Melissa Dawn, Jay Howell
• Best Feature News Story – KIDO “Pearl Harbor 66 Years Later”

COMMERCIALS

• Best Commercial Single – KSAS, “Ideal Image Code 7 Yetti,” Jodi Sali, Chris Adams, Robin Scott
• Best Commercial Series – KCIX “Escape the Crate Doggie Daycare,” Jodi Sali
• Best Commercial Copy – KXLT “Ideal Image You’re Right,” Jodi Sali
• Best Public Service of Public Affairs Announcement – KJOT “Idaho Transportation Department DUI Awarness,” Dave Sparks

ENTERTAINMENT

• Best Personality – KIZN Steve Shannon
• Best Morning Show – KJOT “Pete & Joe Show,” Pete Stauffer, Joe Weber

PROMOTION

• Best Audience Promotion, TV Using Radio – KIZN “Steve Shannon CMT,” Steve Shannon
• Best Audience Promotion, Radio Using Radio – KIZN “Kissin’ Gave ‘Em Away,” Rich Summers
• Special Projects – KSAS “Live for 175″

Blogs blogs everywhere. Check out all the (mostly active) blogs from local radio folks:

• KRVB’s Morning blog
• KJOT’s Aftershow blog
• KCIX’s Mike & Kate blog
• Casey Acevedo’s “Master Cleanse” blog at DanTooker.com… proceed with caution.
• Brenda Mee’s Mrs. Idaho International blog
• KTHI’s Road to Recovery blog by Margo Vaughn on her fight against breast cancer
• Jerry & Michelle Radio Show blog from KTSY
• KAWO’s Tarzan Dan blog

KKGL/96.9 The Eagle is running a liner that bills itself as “Boise’s only classic rock station.”

While the station does play classic rock, and covers Boise – so does KJOT/J-105. Heck, both are even licensed to the City of Trees.  When I heard the liner, I thought perhaps KKGL is basing the claim on not playing currents.  Turns out, KKGL played six currents in the past week (including a KT Tunstall song… ?) according to MediaBase.  KJOT also played a couple currents – and by “a couple” I mean exactly two.

As part of KJOT’s effort to raise awareness & cash for prostate cancer – Journal news guy and KTHI/107.1 K-Hits host Larry Doss talked about his own fight with the disease. Doss shared a powerful story about his journey a bit ago – and we’re happy to note that he’s beat it!

Update: KTVB’s coverage of the radiothon here. (KIVI’s coverage isn’t online)

It’s a morning show all day long! KJOT/J-105’s Pete and Joe are in the early hours of their 28-hour radiothon to raise awareness and money for the Main Street Mile and prostate cancer.

Sister Journal station KIVI spent 3:22 on Pete & Joe and their training for the Mile… video here.

The station is also running an auction on eBay with all sorts of items here.

- KIZN/Kissin 92.3 is doing a flyaway to Chicago to see Rascal Flatts
- KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River is putting two folks on a plane to Denver to see the Mile High Music Festival with Tom Petty, DMB, Jason Mraz and a bunch of others
- KKGL/96.9 The Eagle is giving away a “Tricked Out Truck” – a 2001 Silverado with all sorts of bells and whistles
- KQFC/98 FM will send two people to see Brooks & Dunn in Seattle
- KQXR/100.3 The X has another free show lined up with Safety Suit
- KJOT/J-105 is loading up a bus with listeners for a Mötley Crüe show in SLC.
- KCIX/Mix 106 is doing a $25,000 home makeover contest. 106 people qualify for a whole list of home-related stuff. Yes, one person will actually win.

KJOT/J-105 is planning to turn the weekend over to listeners – and is asking folks to put together custom playlists. Folks can dial up j105.com and submit their list of eight songs – which the J-105 folks will turn into a list of five songs that it will throw on the air during those weekend mornings and afternoons.

KJOT/J-105 Journal Broadcast Group has a nice little exclusive set for tomorrow night. The station has a preview screening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. The group has been snagging winners for the last few days – and will pack an auditorium at Edwards 21 Tuesday – two days before the movie opens wide to the general public.

Update: KRVB/Idaho’s 94.9 The River, KQXR/100.3 The X and KTHI/107.1 K-Hits are also in on the fun

My neighbors at the Plaza Seven building will throw caution — and panties — to the wind Monday morning, as Pete & Joe from KJOT/J-105 host a panty toss contest to win front row Def Leppard tickets.