Idaho Radio News Etc.

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.

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.

Maybe it was Boise State Football’s undefeated regular season. Maybe it was some extra caffiene in Jeff Caves’ afternoon coffee… and maybe it was a fluke.

Whatever the reason, KTIK/ESPN Radio 1350 KTIK The Ticket saw a big drop in its spring numbers. Everywhere you look, KTIK saw massive drops from fall to spring — though it is basically right on the nose year-to-year.

And by massive, we’re talking about falling from a 4.1 to a 1.8 – more than two points (persons 12+).

Here’s the thing — this is the third book in a row where we’ve had a station jump from middle of the pack to top of the heap.  In spring 2008, it was KKGL – which saw the best Boise-market ratings of any station in more than four years at the time. It then fell back to its normal ratings range.

In fall 2008 we saw KTIK jump up – and now fall.

This time it is KSRV/96.1 Bob FM, which popped from a 2.9 to a 4.9 — and notched even greater demo growth.

In all three cases, the stations did not make any massive alterations – no staff changes, no major music changes – just a ratings period of staying the course. Will this be a pattern of for Bob – or will it hold on to the numbers?

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.

The Treasure Valley is a beautiful place. Lush trees, a meandering river, relatively low pollution and pristine foothills.

Many local radio stations talk about the quality of life here – in promos, in job ads and in their overall imaging. But most of those same stations think it is OK to junk up the environment with their roll-a-sign banners. Here’s an example from today:

Both KSRV/96.1 Bob FM and KAWO/WOW Country 104.3 left a few segments of those cheap plastic banners hanging on some poles near Bronco Stadium. In this case, there was no active remote going on nearby… in fact — there wasn’t any activity whatsoever.

While this example uses these two stations – they are not alone — it’s something you see all the time.

While I may personally consider this to be unsightly – it’s more than that. It’s a violation of Boise City Code:

No person shall post, paint or attach in any way any sign as defined in this Code on any curbstone, telephone pole, telegraph pole, electric light or power pole, wall, hydrant, bridge or tree on a
public street, sidewalk or on a public property except as provided in Section 4-7-14.

No person shall paint, paste or attach any sign whether or not defined in this Code on any building, structure, sidewalk, street or property of Boise City except as provided in Section 4-7-14.

PS: Section 4-7-14 (referred to twice above) gives “Municipal, County, State and Federal government and special nonprofit” groups some outs to that clause — but there is no special carve out for radio stations.

Not so long ago, banners were an expensive and prized material. The vinyl signs were carefully collected after each remote or event and reused time and again. The 1990s advent of the cheap plastic roll signs changed that practice – and made it easy for stations to leave behind their banners long after they have packed up the station van and headed back to the studio.

Perhaps station personnel think they’ll get some boost in the ratings numbers if they “forget” to take down their signs. Maybe. But I guess I wish they would respect the beauty of our area by collecting their visual collateral rather than leaving it behind.

UPDATE: As of 6:30pm Sunday night, the signs are gone.

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 find unique ways to use its digital billboard deal with Lamar.

This board is posted on the rotating Connector sign:

On my viewing, the data was synced up with the on-air song. Great idea.

PS: Kevoian is Bob from Bob & Tom’s last name. Kevorkian is the suicide doctor’s last name. I’ll forgive you for assuming that was a typo…

Dave Tester, once the general manager of Impact Radio (formerly Tester Broadcasting) is no longer with the group in any capacity.  After leaving the GM role for the group as a whole, he went to work at the group’s AM station serving the Ontario area — KSRV.  He was the station manager for KSRV-AM, but late last week he was dismissed.

Program director Dale Jeffries steps up as <interim station manageroperations manager – with Wayne Dzuback overseeing the BSU sports programming sales effort on the station (part of Peak’s Bronco Sports Network) and sales manager Mark Broz taking a more active role as well.

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.

Bumper on KSRV/96.1 Bob FM:

“Bob and Boise both start with B… pretty cool. 96.1, Bob FM”

They also both start with B-O… I’ll let you fill in the punch line here.

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.

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)

I’m very behind in posting this, but Gordon Capps died August 7th in Ontario. The former owner of KSRV died at the age of 95. After the jump, read his obituary, and please feel free to leave your remembrances in comments.
Read the rest of this entry »

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.

The strange saga at Impact Radio Group continues.

As I totally didn’t report last week – the group hired Darrell Calton as its new GM. Calton previously held the Director of Sales position for Citadel Boise. The group also elevated another Citadel alum – Darla Sturtevant to Director of Sales… though there could be another chapter in this part of the story.

Speaking of chapters – this one’s a doozy. Former GM of the group Dave Tester is back… this time as station manager of KSRV in Ontario. Really.

“Dave brings with him a wealth of knowledge, experience and sales know how,” Calton told the Impact staff.

Dale Jeffries will continue to handle operations duties for the Ontario-based station.

Stay tuned next time for another edition of “As the Impact Turns”

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.

We polled the IRN audience just after the start of the book – and again toward the end, and in both cases, voters picked KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM to make the biggest gains.

The biggest winner depends on if you are looking at year over year gains or book-to-book improvement.

KDBI takes the book to book crown, up 77%, but the station actually LOST ground y2y – down 58%.

Citadel classic rocker KKGL/96.9 The Eagle didn’t need a photo finish to determine its first place victory. KKGL not only topped the 12+ numbers with a 7.4, but jumped 64% from last fall and 54% from spring 2007.

KSRV/96.9 Bob FM saw strong improvement in the year-to-year category – up 140% to land at a 3.6. The station was up 20% from fall.

KSAS saw strong improvement in both categories – but didn’t win the race.

Seen on the streets of SE Boise:

KSRV/96.1 Bob FM attained a 3.0 rating – up 100% from its 1.5 in the spring. Whether or not the station can build momentum is the big question.

You might have noticed something missing though — there’s no data for KTMB/99.1 The Man.

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.

KSRV/96.1 Bob FM wrapped up its “A to Z” stunt this afternoon just before 2 p.m., with “Your Woman” by White Town. An analysis by Idaho Radio News indicates the station played 1515 songs as part of the stunt (with some repeats.) The station went out of A to Z mode during the overnight hours for several days.

The playlist includes 643 artists (for about 2.32 songs per artist). U2, Van Halen, The Cars, Nickelback, John Mellencamp, Elton John, and Aerosmith are top artists – but Billy Joel takes the top spot with 24 cuts. The only local artist (that I could identify) was a single cut by Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Want to see the hole list? Click below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Idaho Daily Statesman columnist Mike Deeds dredged up the strength to write one of those rare columns-on-a-local-topic this week – and looks back at entertainment in the Treasure Valley.

Best Rumor: That Britney Spears was lurking in the Treasure Valley. Sure, I had just written a column with the headline “Britney Spears should take refuge in Idaho,” but I had nothing to do with a September rash of Bigfoot-like Britney sightings. Deejays [sic] had a field day with listeners calling in with details about Britney being at hot spots such as Jack in the Box in Nampa. Some fans reportedly even chased limos in Downtown Boise. I finally got a three-word e-mail denial from Spears’ publicist: “Not in Idaho.”

He didn’t name-check KSAS in the story, but of course the Britney stunt was made out of whole cloth by the gang at 103.3 Kiss FM. And how great is it that he had to ask the publicist if it was true or not. Also, I’m not sure what a “deejay” is… but I think he means “DJ.”

And then there’s KSRV/96.1 Bob FM:

Best New Radio Station: 96.1 Bob FM. I’ve listened to the iPod shuffle-like Bob more than any other station this year while driving. Sad, I know.

Worst New Radio Station: 96.1 Bob FM. No matter where you go, you can’t escape the between-song dolt blabbing, “Bob does this!” and “Bob loves that!” As I listened to that same dude blabbing that same garbage on a Bob station in Austin, Texas, over Christmas, it occurred to me how much I hate that guy.

I’d like to take this chance to thank the Statesman folks for the 1,000+ times they visited ol’ Idaho Radio News in 2007.

It’s that time of the year – when local stations crack out the ol’ calculators and start counting things. KTHI/107.1 K-Hits is counting down the top 500 Billboard hits from 1964-1979 – KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM is doing a bunch of top tens – and of course KSRV/96.1 Bob FM is going A to Z through its playlist (they’ve made it to the letter R today).