Idaho Radio News Etc.

I was looking through an issue of The Blue magazine tonight – the publication dedicated to Boise State sports. KBOI had a full page ad with a large football – and three simple copy points: “Live. Local. Legendary.”

It occurred to me that the station never stopped being the Broncos station. Two years ago, Peak Broadcasting got organized — and paid big — to swipe the rights to broadcast games from KBOI, moving them to KIDO.

But after KBOI accepted defeat – it set its sights on two things: keeping the Broncos as part of its brand, and getting the team back on its airwaves.

KBOI set up shop before each football game at a less-than-glamorous location: Baja Fresh. But they continued to crank out pre and post game shows, and had a big advantage: Paul J. Schneider. The long-time announcer of football and basketball was swept aside as part of the transition, but still was a very strong presence in the mind of fans. He continued to anchor the station’s morning show – and is arguably the best-known personality in Boise radio.

Meanwhile, the station kept its rather large news staff, and as Peak cut KIDO to the bone – KBOI grew. It picked up Rush Limbaugh, strengthened its news team, and kept hammering away on Broncos news. The games might not have aired on the station, but it was very much part of the scene.

Now KBOI gets the games back – and will likely bring Bob Behler on board as well. While Paul J. won’t be behind the play-by-play mic, he’ll continue to be part of the news coverage, and Citadel will likely find creative ways to wrap itself around the Broncos brand even better than it had before.

Peak Broadcasting is out with a Fiesta Bowl song – featuring Jodi Stewart’s vocals, a Kevin Miller show listener’s lyrics and the play-by-play calling of Bob Behler.

Hear it here.

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

KCIX/Mix 106 hosts Mike & Kate are selling a cookbook featuring listener and celebrity recipes. Each copy goes for $10, with proceeds benefiting the Idaho Foodbank. Buy one here.

KAWO/Wow Country 104.3 morning host Don Jarret has been parked out at the Wal-Mart on Fairview near Eagle since midnight Sunday – and plans to stay there until 8am 12/18 – 104 in a row (hours, not minutes).  They are taking donations as part of “Hope for the Holidays,” benefiting the Boise Rescue Mission.  Fiberpipe has the live webcam up here

KSAS/103.3 Kiss FM and its team are broadcasting live from Krispy Kreme for Hooker’s House for the Holidays.  They hope to raise enough cash to feed 1,033 people for the holidays. A meal costs $12.50, so the station is aiming for $12,912.50.  As of about 5pm this evening, they had made it more than a quarter of the way to their goal. Online donations here

KXLT/107.9 Lite FM has the latest edition of Christmas Wish up and going. The decades-old program started on sister station KCIX/then-K106 and is an annual tradition.  The station takes nominations, and grants a wide variety of wishes, including heating oil and other simple life needs.

Peak Broadcasting GM Kevin Godwin issued a statement today on the loss of the rights to Boise State sports to Citadel and KBOI/KKGL.  Godwin says – in a nutshell – that there was no way to make money, and that picking up the rights would have cost jobs and more. He also says current play-by-play man Bob Behler is under contract to Peak until July – and “any mention of his future employment outside of Peak Broadcasting is premature.”

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Here’s the release on the story you read here first:

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Peak SVP Kevin Godwin helped shed a little light on Lisa Adams and her new duties with Peak – and what it will mean for other stations in the cluster.

Adams will take on on-air shift at KXLT/107.9 Lite FM – but they have not decided where she will land quite yet. She interviewed for the KAWO/WOW Country 104.3 job when it was posted, and Godwin says it made sense to give her oversight for Lite too.

Jason Wilmot will still be in the mix for Lite – and keep his other duties.

“This gives Jason more time to concentrate on the KIDO and KCIX brands and work with the talent on each station,” Godwin said. “Jason will work with Lisa more as an OM on KXLT, and focus on the KIDO, KCIX, the BSU brand and our talent, which he is terrific at.”

Does this mean Lite will be movin’ toward Movin’ – or something else? No.

“Lisa was hired because she is a talented broadcaster that has a winning track record,” he said. “Great PD’s can win in any format. We have no plans to change formats.”

Peak has hired Lisa Adams to helm KXLT/107.9 Lite FM and KAWO/Wow Country 104.3. More on this later – find the Peak news release after the jump
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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).

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Longtime former KIDO/580 AM producer Ray Amaya pulled a “Tom Collins.”

Tom Collins (to’m kol’enz)
1) adjective – To be unceremoniously dumped by Peak Broadcasting for reasons only clear to management – only to quickly snag a job with rival Citadel Communications days later
2) noun – A tall iced drink made with liquor, such as gin, and lemon or lime juice

No, he didn’t morph into a nice summer drink — he quickly transitioned to KBOI after KIDO let him go just a few weeks ago. Amaya is being heard all over the airwaves doing news and more for Boise’s only remaining news radio station.

And, in a modified-reverse Collins, Melissa Dawn is back at Peak. “Modified,” because she left Citadel on her own accord, and “reverse” because she went from Citadel to Peak. Dawn took over Claire Day’s morning traffic duties for the cluster more than a month ago.

One other side-note – am I the only that finds LiteOnline.com’s blank staff lineup page ironic — or maybe just appropriate?

UPDATE: I screwed this up. Big time. Kevin Miller – new morning host on KIDO is NOT a syndicated personality. I was a little too quick to scan his online bio. He is helming a new locally based show.

Three notes: First, this leaves the two KIDOs without any regularly scheduled local programming. Let that soak in for a moment. KIDO-AM does not have a local morning show any longer. This leaves Boise AM radio with just one local morning show – and three shows overall (all airing on Citadel stations – two on KBOI and one on KTIK).

The morning slot is being filled by syndicated conservative host Kevin Miller, who will be heard on KIDO from 5am-9am, and on KFXD from 5:30am-7am – the timeslots formerly held by AM Idaho.

Second, all three of these guys have been noted for their work ethic and dedication. I don’t know Sean or Ray personally – but have always heard such great things about them. I worked with Brian for years at KTVB – and he is not only one of the nicest guys in the media game, but his work as a journalist was always exceptional (his story years ago on a local kid who had 867-5309 as his phone number is still one of my favorites).

Third, it makes you wonder what becomes of these job postings…

So far in the last two months, Peak has posted jobs for PT traffic, a sales AE, KAWO program director, directory of digital management, talk show host and a producer slot. That’s six jobs…

Peak’s hiring frenzy continues – with this latest posting for a “producer.” Details after the jump. And (say it with me) if you apply, let them know you saw the posting here!

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Peak Broadcasting is looking to hire a “talk talent/on-air host.” They want someone with 5+ years experience. Details after the jump. If you apply, let them know you saw the posting here!
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As has been noted in comments – and confirmed by Peak Boise SVP Kevin Godwin – Peak Broadcasting has hired Dave Tester in the role of account executive.

Citadel Boise has a new sales executive – one with a long history in the market. Blair Crook, who has stayed in one job as his bosses have changed over and over (independent, Jacor, CC, Peak…). Crook was one of the original AEs for KCIX/K-106 and was a founder of the popular annual Mix 106 Easter Egg Scramble.

He is now on the beat for Citadel…

Here’s another posting from Peak. If you apply, make sure to tell them you saw the posting here!
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You might have noticed the job posting below – for a KCIX/KXLT program director.

This is the latest in a series of moves at Peak involving its AC stations.

• Earlier this year, immediately after Peak announced it would be slashing employee paychecks, Mix/Lite program director Brent Carey decided to hit the road, along with Mix APD/night guy Lucas.
• In March, Peak consolidated responsibility for the stations with KIDO OM Jason Wilmot.
• Earlier this month, Peak parted ways with long-time Mix host Tom Collins — saying the layoff was dictated by the economy.
• Separately – but related – Peak laid off Rick Stewart in March – he was program director at KAWO. Then earlier this month, they decided to hire a new KAWO program director.

You also might want to take a moment to read the job posting.

Peak Broadcasting is looking for a part time traffic reporter. Job posting after the jump. If you apply, make sure to tell them you saw the posting on IdahoRadioNews.com!
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On July 10th, CountryAircheck.com’s e-mail newsletter featured a “gig alert” – with a posting for a program director at KAWO. It said Kevin Godwin “is seeking a PD/personality for the position vacated in March by Rick Stewart.”

One strange thing here – Rick Stewart told IdahoRadioNews.com at the time that he “fell victim to the almighty budget cuts” – a declaration no one at Peak seemed to indicate was untrue. Why is Peak staffing up WOW with an additional position, after cutting utility player Tom Collins earlier this week at KCIX?

Here’s the CountryAircheck.com posting — tapes are due today.

Peak Broadcasting won’t allow employees to look at this website inside its building. I think it’s pretty silly – but at the end of the day folks just go home and read it, so whatever.

But when I saw that someone at Peak copied an entire story from IdahoRadioNews.com and pasted it onto their corporate home page… all I could do was shake my head and laugh.

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.

Peak Broadcasting continues to drop people from its roster – this time letting go of long-time employee Tom Collins. Tommy is one of the nicest guys in the business — and this news frankly comes as a surprise. He worked in production for the group, made appearances with Mike & Kate on KCIX/Mix 106 and held down the mid-day fort with the station.

A note to employees says his layoff “was not a performance issue, but a necessity as we continue to work our way thru the changes that 2009 keeps hitting us with.” I guess that means the economy – but it could mean something else. More on that in a moment.

He has been part of the KCIX fabric for more than a decade – he’s been paired in the mornings with Russ Novacs, Steve & Steph and Mike & Kate. He gained the nickname “Tommy the Stunt Boy,” but his always genial attitude and positive outlook made him a fast friend to many. He even anchored weekend morning weather at KTVB for several years.

Just six months ago, KCIX was a fully staffed station – with live talent in the morning, Tommy mid-day, and live jocks in the afternoon and evening – six on-air employees. Now? Now the station is left with its live morning show and voicetrackers.

There’s more to this story. Just this week, Peak hired Miggy Santos from Citadel and KZMG/Magic 93.1. Rumors continue to swirl – and the official line is he is headed for the group’s Fresno stations. However, Santos was seen in the Peak Boise building yesterday, leaving lots of people to speculate. Peak does not own a CHR or urban station in the Fresno market — instead it has news/talk, oldies, country and a hot AC station. That station – Y101 – is currently well staffed… making you wonder…

“I’m tired of seeing people become unemployed in this town.”
-Todd Lawley, 2/13/09, speaking of the Fresno, CA market

Peak Broadcasting laid off another employee late last week — less than three weeks after employees were forced to take a ten percent pay cut. At the time, folks were told this would help avoid further staff reductions – but now that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Multiple people in the Peak staff meeting where the pay cut was announced say that a Peak manager told the assembled staff that the company was healthy, and would use the cost savings to buy more stations. Either that’s untrue (meaning these cuts are happening because Peak’s in trouble), or the company is taking money from its employees to buy new stations. Either way… it isn’t a good thing.

Previous coverage: Analysis: Peak’s tough situation; Is Peak’s maneuver legal… or fair?

Peak Broadcasting

Rick says he’s thankful to Peak managers for the chance to work at Wow – and names Todd Lawley, Kevin Godwin and Bill Figenshu. You can reach Rick at rick@therickstewart.com, and read his full message after the jump.

Since the first of November, Peak has cut at least seven full-time programming-side staff positions by my unofficial count.

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