Idaho Radio News Etc.

KQLZ/V-99.1 has dumped the Virus name from its branding. The station reworked its website, Twitter page, YouTube channel and of course the on-air sound of the station itself.

KQLZ has been on the air just a few months – and shared a name with Sirus/XM channel “The Virus,” though its unclear if this change had anything to do with the name similarity.

With a jab at the Statesman, and the Weekly – KQLZ/99.1 The Virus is searching for the “real” best of the Treasure Valley. Folks can enter their ideas here — and they’ll post them here. So far…. the best part of the Valley is the view from Bogus.

Boise radio stations are taking to the TV machine in droves during this book. Spots from KIDO/580, KIZN/Kissin’ 92, KQFC/97.9, KSRV/96.1 Bob FM, KQLZ/99.1 The Virus and more are in the mix.

Michael Deeds, in today’s IdahoStatesman, jabs at KQLZ/99.1 The Virus. Repeatedly. (Bold emphasis is mine)

The temporary cowpoke radio gag may have been amusing, but it felt like a spur in the ear to potential Virus listeners.

When I explained to Statesman sports columnist Brian Murphy that 99.1 wasn’t a country station after all, he wondered why Impact would spend days building up hype to a format change, then confuse us for the first few hours: “Seems brilliant,” Murphy remarked. “I just wiped it off my dial.”

Reception can be iffy in certain parts of Boise.

(W)hat exactly does “alternative” even mean these days?

“Linkin Park,” Fuentes adds, “you’re going to hear on this radio station a lot.”

True, unfortunately. And it feels a little odd to hear Linkin Park back to back with R.E.M. Or within a few songs of the White Stripes.

All that’s left to do is sit back, sample The Virus, and hope for pleasant symptoms of infection. Just be sure it’s not swine flu.

There is a shot at KQXR in the piece – but it’s quickly backed up with a defense.

“There are a lot of radio stations that call themselves alternative. This is not the radio station where you’re going to hear AC/DC,” (Fuentes said).

Zing! The X plays AC/DC. Not so long ago, The X was considered alternative. Nowadays, it’s evolved (or, devolved, depending on your perspective) into what’s known as an active rock format. “We stopped playing that stuff for a reason,” Nicolato says.

If The Virus decides to “come over and twiddle in our territory a little bit, then so be it,” Nicolato adds, before jabbing: “We’ll just have to kick their ass.”

Gotta love it.

There’s been lots of speculation about KQLZ’s The Virus moniker and its similarity to the XM channel. (troublemaking tweeps on Twitter, commentors here, and a national radio news site)

We checked with Impact’s GM about the similar names… Darrell Calton says “we do not consider it a problem.”

Here’s the new logo for 99.1 The Virus.

I’m hoping to be able to share launch audio soon.

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.

Since 1997, when 99.1 FM started serving the Treasure Valley as KTPZ – the frequency has gone through a number of format changes. This decade alone, the frequency has gone through three ownership changes, four sets of call letters and seven formats (NOT counting all-Thriller-all-the-time or The Bronco).

1997 – The Music Monster, CHR
2001 – The Point, 80s rock/pop
2003 – The Peak, hot AC
2003 – Music Monster returns
2007 – KTMB, The Man – FM Talk
2008 – KQLZ, True Oldies
2009 – 99.1 The VIrus

I was so proud not to have gotten suckered late last year when Impact Radio temporarily launched “The Virus” Modern Rock format before ACTUALLY launching Wild 101.

This time – the Impact pulled a similar stunt in reverse. “The Bronco” lived for about three hours, before flipping to “The Virus” – a modern rock format.

I can’t pick up the station on my desk radio – will give it a listen shortly.

At high-noon-04, KQLZ stopped playing the Thriller loop and launched “99.1 The Bronco.” The format, as rumored, gives Boise another country choice.

Billing itself as “Idaho’s Best Country” and teasing clips of Big & Rich, Carrie Underwood and Trace Adkins – the station ran a short sweeper, then segued into Randy Houser’s “Boots On.” Toby Keith’s “A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action” was song number two. A pair of personalities took the mic after song two – one male and another female. They did not identify themselves.

One sweeper says the station plays “105 in a row.” Another says “no frogs allowed.”

KQLZ joins KQFC/97.9 Idaho Country, KIZN/Kissin 92 and KAWO/WOW Country 104.3 in the country space.

Here’s the launch audio.

Big Jack Armstrong is hanging up the microphone after 36 years in the business. Read his retirement letter after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

We know that KQLZ will launch a new format on Friday – but we don’t know exactly what it will be. So let’s engage in some wild uniformed speculation!

There’s three things we know it won’t be: oldies, urban CHR or variety hits. There are lots of things it could be…

Boise doesn’t have a few formats that are being tried in other places: the female-skewing “Movin’” urban AC brand (up tempo hits of the past decade or so), smooth jazz, “Jane”… Jack/Bob FM for females, country oldies, FM talk, Radio Disney and others. Oh, and polka.

I doubt Impact will try to recreate “The Man” with FM talk, despite the bronco references. Radio Disney, jazz & country oldies are niches too small to get the kind of pop they are looking for.

Jane? Movin? Maybe. The female space is pretty crowded.

What else?

Another country station of some type (Country Bob?) seems plausible – the KIZN/KAWO/KQFC pie is still fairly sizable, and Impact has been able to best established players in a genre once this year. This could possibly dovetail with a “bronco” moniker, in the horse sense more than the sports image.

Modern rock? As KQXR/100.3 The X has widened its footprint, some have grumbled about its approach. Just as the country pie is large, so is the KKGL/KJOT/KQXR/KSRV market. Perhaps Impact would position KQLZ to further fracture the rock market in an attempt to boost Bob. That type of cluster strategy isn’t uncommon… even if it does sometimes create lame radio.

We’re going to run two polls: what format would you most WANT to hear… And what format do you think you WILL hear.

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Remember the fork analogy? Impact decided to throw down the fork on KQLZ/99.1 Idaho’s True Oldies Channel sometime overnight – jettisoning Scott Shannon’s True Oldies channel for a format we’ve heard in the Treasure Valley before.

All Thriller all the time.

The long Michael Jackson tune is playing in a continuous loop, with a single bumper between each song: “Friday. High noon. It’s bronco season.”

What that cryptic reference means or what the new station will be remains to be seen – but we’ll all have three days to speculate. (My money’s on a 24-hour polka service.)

Impact GM Darrel Calton was coy on what the new format would bring, saying only “Could be a big week for the Broncos.”

Afternoon host and oldies format stalwart Jack Armstrong confirms he is no longer with KQLZ – saying simply “I’m out.”

“He is one of the last great broadcasters and I will personally and professionally miss him,” Calton said.

Elliot Klein, a member of the Impact ownership team echoes the sentiment.

“I too have the ultimate respect for Jack Armstrong both professionally and personally,” he said.

Also, this landed in my inbox from a (possibly) confused listener:

Please stop playing Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It has played several times consecutively now and is very tiring to hear over and over!

KQLZ is on its second frequency after launching on 100.7 then making the move to 99.1. The format notched a 1.5 rating (12+) in the spring book, down from a 1.8 in the fall.

“We tried as hard as we could to make Oldies a viable format but the ratings after two years told the story,” Calton said.

He points out that the former ABC Radio Networks (now Citadel Media) has pulled the format from stations it owns in Washington, DC and Detroit.

“The next chapter for the signal starts Friday at noon.”

This isn’t the first time Impact has pulled a similar stunt – though the other instance probably caught less attention. When the group got the KMCL transmitter on the air late last year they stunted by playing Thrille on a loop before launching “The Virus” for a few hours (which segued into Wild 101 on KWYD).

Impact Radio Group has a lot to crow about after this book.  It has joined the ranks of “the big three” radio groups in Boise — which now can only be termed “the big four.”  Two of its stations pulled solid ratings and even went to #1 in some demos.  The cluster of stations has been trying to make a go of it in this market for more than a decade – starting with splashy studios in the Boise Spectrum – through to a failed co-ownership deal with the Boise Hawks – a “relaunch” of the stations and rebranding under Dave Tester – to the latest effort.

All along, the stations could never quite make it work. That just changed with the success of KWYD/Wild 101 and KSRV/96.1 Bob FM.

But Impact is still a long way from where it likely wants to be.  For now, it only has four stations in the Boise market — and two of them are essentially invsible.

KQLZ/99.1 Idaho’s True Oldies Channel tied with KGEM in among A25-54 in both mornings and total day. But even in the older demos – like A35-64, the station is not setting the world on fire. In fact, it gets beat by the very young-skewing KSAS/103.3 (among many others) in both mornings and total-day among older adults.

Then there is KPDA/La Poderosa 100.7.  The station isn’t in the book. Anywhere.  Just like KFXD last year, the station isn’t listed on the stations page, isn’t in any of the listings — nowhere to be found. It is not alone among Spanish-language stations. Bustos Media’s KDBI/La Gran D 101.9 is also missing — though both KQTA and KWEI are listed.

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.

You’ve likely heard the story of Ryan Stockdale — the Middleton dad of three young children who have a rare blood disorder. The family was feature on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in 2007. More recently, Ryan has developed what are called “suicide headaches” — something his wife described as “giving birth through your eye socket times ten” in an interview with KTVB.

The family has been unable to get its insurance company to pay for a procedure that would help eliminate the headaches – a fact that has garnered significant local media attention.

Impact Radio swung into action, and began a marathon radio broadcast yesterday at 2pm at a local Syringa bank branch. As of 11pm last night, Impact’s Darrell Calton tells me they had raised $6,000 – and that’s well before they hit the morning drive this morning.

KSRV/96.1 Bob FM, KWYD/Wild 101, KPDA/La Poderosa 100.7 and KQLZ/True Oldies 99.1 have been broadcasting live, helping rake in donations for the family.

Calton says he is putting $1,000 toward the cause — and hopes executives at other clusters will join him.

UPDATE: My colleague (and fellow blogger) Maggie O’Mara says she checked with Impact this morning — and the total raised through Impact’s efforts has ballooned to $35,000. WOW!

Impact Radio continues to beef up its stations and hopes to take a tough economy and make it work to its advantage.  As we’ve chronicled here, the other three major Boise station groups have all let employees go – but Impact has continued to add programming staff, with ten hires over the past six months.

Company senior VP Elliot Klein tells Idaho Radio News that the company is changing its promotional approach to the market — with efforts to promote the stations every month, not just during Arbitron rating periods.

“Most of my experience has been in markets that were surveyed continuously anyway and that’s the way Impact is going to promote its stations in Boise,  on a 24/7/365 basis,” he said. “We can’t afford not to!”

A big piece of that promotional puzzle is a year-round contract with Lamar Outdoor Advertising for billboards.  You’ve likely seen the electronic signs that promote KSRV/96.1 Bob FM, KWYD/Wild 101, KPDA/La Poderosa 100.7 and KQLZ/99.1 Idaho’s True Oldies Channel.  The electronic nature of the boards allows Impact to be nimble with marketing messages and change up the approach quickly.

Klein says another digital approach is also paying dividends — text messaging. More than 12,000 listeners have opted into text messaging products — and he says that’s generating non-traditional revenue for the group.

“On WILD we are receiving more than 160,000 incoming texts per month from our listeners,” Klein said.

Each station is also working in social media applications like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

While the stations are emphasizing new ideas, the approach is old-school – with people who focus on broadcasting first, with the hope that the business end will pencil out by doing radio right.

“Impact is now being run by broadcasters not CFOs or CPAs,” he said.

KQLZ/True Oldies 99.1 is back on the air with a promo for its station. The spot isn’t your usual generic “songs we play and our logo” spot. Take a look:

True Oldies 99.1 Spot from Don Day on Vimeo.

This happened earlier this year and I didn’t hit “Publish” on the post:

KQLZ/99.1 Idaho’s True Oldies Channel is doubling down with its local talent. Morning hosts Big Jack and Bryan are splitting up — but they’ll continue to live together in the same house. Jack will helm afternoons on the station while Bryan keeps the morning beat.

Jack saw great success in the afternoon timeslot in his old gig on KLTB/Kool Oldies 104.3 (now KAWO).

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.

As expected, Impact Radio Group finished its frequency transition – moving KQLZ/True Oldies to the 99.1 dial position. 100.7 becomes KPDA/100.7 La Poderosa. Impact is touting the signal coverage for the new station – which stretches from Twin Falls to Boise and beyond. As we notied, Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo will fill the morning syndication slot.

As Peak Broadcasting ramps up its Bronco Sports Network, affiliate KSRV/1380 AM is increasing its sports coverage.

The Argus Observer notes KSRV will air high school football games for Fruitland and Ontario High Schools. Station manager Dave Tester will also host three local sports shows each week. A lunch-time show will broadcast from Fiesta Guadalajara from 12:15-1pm – then the Argus Observer newspaper and KSRV will team for a coaches show each Saturday morning at 9am, live from Carl’s Jr.

KSRV will also do two HS football games at once this Friday – with the assistance of the KQLZ/100.7 transmitter (which will soon have new call letters). Ontario vs. The Dalles airs at on KQLZ at 6:30 and Fruitland vs. LaGrande takes off at 7pm on KSRV.

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.

Interesting results so far on our Impact Radio polls from last week. It’s a 50/50 tie on wether KTMB/99.1 The Man should have been given more time to find his sea legs. But folks aren’t so split on the idea of another Spanish-language station, with 65% saying it won’t work.

Right now, the Treasure Valley is loaded with Spanish stations: Bustos Media has two and KWEI has two. While Hispanics are clearly a growing force – will five stations (four FM) be too much for a population base that is still relatively small?

If Spanish isn’t the right direction (for 100.7 FM), what would you do?

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Those big changes at Boise’s Impact Radio Group we broke earlier this week are set to start. Here come the bullet points…

• KQLZ/Idaho’s True Oldies Channel moves from 100.7 to 99.1 starting tomorrow. Impact will stick it to “The Man” and end the format
• 99.1 and 100.7 will simulcast until August 31.
• On September 1, 100.7 FM will start up a new regional Mexican format, anchored by syndicated personality Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo in morning drive.
• Mikey Fuentes is joining the cluster as director of programming. Impact VP cited the company’s hope to compete with the “big three” in the hiring of Fuentes: “To compete with top notch companies like Citadel, Peak, and Journal, we needed an experienced programmer to lead our team and Mikey fits the bill. His format experience is diverse in both English and Spanish. Mikey will not only be launching 100.7 for us, he will also be helping the continuing building process of ‘Bob’ and ‘True Oldies’”
• The group is starting to prepare for the move-in of the former KMCL (now KMXM) at 101.1 FM, and says Fuentes will help shape the new station.