Portland Drains Utah Talent

A Happy Halloween from Portland, OR, as they "steal" away some of the talent from the valley: Both Ian Furness (KZNS/KOVO/KSOS) and Scott Simon (KBEE-FM) have accepted jobs with stations in Portland. Furness has accepted a position with "The Fan" in Portland, taking over afternoon drive-time duties. Simon, formerly of "Simon and Brady," has his last day with B98.7 on October 25th. No word of what station he's heading too.

Barb Out at "The End"

KENZ Personality, "Barb," is out. Citadel, "The End" 's owners say it's for "financial reasons." (Basically, budget cuts.) Other stations personalities are filling in the time slot.

Summer Ratings Released

(All ratings copyright Arbitron, all data from Radio and Records) Country music, as a result of the last trend, it way up from the spring book. KKAT (K102) shot from a 2.9 to a 4.2. KSFI (FM 100) still remains Utah's #1 station. KSL falls behind KUBL (K-Bull 93) as it soars from a 4.6 to a 6.1. KSOP (Country 104.3) is in second place for country music, ahead of KKAT at a 4.3. KQMB (Star 102.7) is really pushing on KZHT. The station was only 0.1-share behind, at a 3.5. This is KZHT's lowest book at a 3.6-share. KXRK (X96) plummets from a .9 to a 2.7. Now more people listen to KUUU "U92" (at a 2.9) and KBZN "The Breeze" (at a 2.7) than Simmons' alternative-rock outlet. KUDD (Power 107.9) was up 0.3, to tie at a 2.4-share with it's summer book last year. KBEE (All New B98.7) was down to a 2.2, slightly ahead of KISN and KWLW (700 Classic Country) also both with a 2.2. Is Todd and Erin helping or hurting the Bee? And what about KISN's format identity crisis? KCPX (Channel 105.7) tied with fall last year at a 2.0, but still not pulliun the numbers Clear Channel expected, after flipping the old classic hits format. Spanish broadcasting was also way up. KSVN owned by Azteca Broadcasting, is in the lead with a 1.7-share. Collectively between KSVN, KSGO, and KBJA, the spanish formats pull a 3.4-share in Salt Lake. That's the highest book yet. KKDS not as high as last winter, but pulling a 0.7 share. As for our local sports stations: KFNZ had it's lowest book since the Jazz moved over there - a 0.6 share. KZNS (The Zone) still does not apprear.

"Outdoor Utah Today," Changes Times

According to the man him self, Rodger Bee says that Outdoor Utah Today has moved to 10 AM - 12 Noon, on KALL 910.

UPDATE: Fall Roundup

Here's an update of what's going on at most of the stations along the Wasatch Front: KUUU 92.1 - Plans are still in the works of the local CHR/Rythmic outlet to move to 92.3 next summer. This will allow for greater power to the north. KODJ 94.1 - Utah's only FM oldies station keeps changing names. It has recently been "94.1 KODJ," then returned to "Oldies 94.1," and now uses both at various times. It will be interesting to see which one Clear Channel decides to stick with. KZHT 94.9 - Has a new midday talent, "Corina," and apparently has plans to update it's imaging and jingles in January. KISN 97.1 - As reported earlier has returned to it's Hot AC roots. Although it still plays quite a bit of eighties, it isn't as oriented to the decade as it was a year ago. A second voice-over talent has joined, tweaking the atmosphere a bit. KBEE 98.7 - Is repeating it's early 2002 "Dollar Bill Game." KSFI 100.3 - FM 100 is already running spots advertising their Christmas music, "coming soon," along with their "FM 100 Christmas Volume Two CD." KWKD 102.3 - Is now running a large bus billboard campaign boasting "Mad Dog 102.3." It seems similar to "The Blaze" campaign of earlier this year. KQMB 102.7 - Fisher and Laura dissapoint listeners yesterday when they announce that Creed has postponed his concert. There morning seems to lose focus. KJQN 103.1 (100.7) - Is tweaking toward the AAA format. The music is beginning to sound like the old "105.7 The Mountain." KMDG 103.9 - Is still a simulcast of "Power 107.9." It appears to be a semi-permanate decision by Millcreek Media. The call letters still haven't changed. KSOP 104.3 - Country Joe adds the "10 second gripe." Listeners call in and can say almost everything they want for exactly ten seconds. KMXI 105.1 - Seems ready to come online soon. "Dspete"'s UtahRadioNews.com says it could be on as early as Christmas. KOSY 106.5 (106.9) - Contest: "KOSY Kash Machine." In other words, the Clear Channel nation-wide money give away: See "Clebrity Cash Calls," or "KISN Cash Cow." KSL 1160 - Don Shafer, host on Saturday and Sunday mornings has vanished. KSOP 1370 - Voicetracking at least brings a bit of life to the "Gold Country" station. Country Joe voicetracks mornings for 1370 AM by announcing songs, along with other KSOP-FM personalities. The station hopes to appear in the next book. KLO 1430 - Has done a bit of transmitter work, so their signal should be a bit better than it was before.

KXOL Still Acting Up

KXOL is still in an identity crisis, constantly reverting back to the old format. It appears that Simmons doesn't yet have total control over the station at 1660 AM yet.

Todd "Nuke'em" Noker Writes A Book

According to the man himself, Todd Noker has won an award for his book:

"KJQ Radio Personality / Author Todd "Nuke ‘Em" Noker Receives Award In Writing Competition.

A forthcoming novel from author Todd C. Noker was listed as a winner in the prestigious Utah Arts Council 44th Annual Original Writing Competition for 2002. Noker’s currently unpublished manuscript Terms of the Innocents was awarded Second Place in the Novel Category.

"This is a tremendous honor," says Noker. "Some of Utah’s best writers are recognized in this competition, and I’m extremely fortunate to be part of that."

Terms of the Innocents is a riveting novel about the desperation surrounding life for homeless teens in Salt Lake City.

Todd C. Noker is the author of the acclaimed debut novel Path of Totality, and is currently heard on KJQ (103.1 FM in Salt Lake City and Davis County, and 100.7 FM in Northern Utah) weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Todd "Nuke ‘Em" is a veteran radio personality in Salt Lake City, having worked in the market for fourteen years.

Past winners of the Utah Original Writing Competition have gone on to garner other prestigious awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, The Flannery O’Connor Award, and the International Reading Association Award. The competition is open to Utah writers for their unpublished, original work. First and Second Place awards are given in each category; each award includes a cash prize. For more information about the Utah Arts Council Literature Program, contact Guy Lebeda at (801) 236-7553.

New 96.7 KCFM Levan

It sounds like KCFM is broadcasting a loop of their legal-id.

New AM 820 To Be Sold To Simmons?

(1 OCTOBER 2002) - A tip to Utah Radio Guide says that the new 820 AM, that is scheduled to come on air soon, will be sold by Palmetto Radio Group (a company from the east coast), to Simmons Media, which fills the ownership limits for Simmons Media, to eight stations, and two LMAs. The FCC web site tiped off the new station a while back, but no sign of it's coming into existance has appeared until only recently. Apparently on September 25, 2002, Simmons filed to the FCC to buy the Taylorsville licenced station. The station should be 50,000 watts daytime, and 2,500 night, with 10,000 watts at sunrise and sunset. Perhaps KZNS will move to 820?

(3 OCTOBER 2002) - Another tipster wrote saying that they worked for Marathon Media. According to this tip, Palmetto is just another name for Marathon, and they had plans to move KOVO's people to this new station. However the big bosses have thrown in the towel when it comes to sports reporting, and have decided to LMA KOVO and sell 820 to Simmons Media.

Small Changes At Utah's FM Oldies ...

Remember when Clear Channel "refreshed," KODJ by dropping the "Oldies," name and the fifties music? Remember when they named it "KODJ 94.1 - Superhits of the 60s and 70s?" Well, Clear Channel has apparently thrown that all back out, and has returned to calling the station "Oldies 94.1, Superhits!" Apparently, the fifties music is back in the rotation as well. And I'm sure all of this has nothing to do with all the buzz about KXOL lately, right?

KXOL Returns As Oldies

KXOL is still spinning the hits, but with a more 60's spin, and also from the Simmons Media building on 700 East and 515 South. Brent Larson, accidentally returned to the air, when a power outage apparently triggered an automatic playlist at the transmitter site for a little bit. The station is now back to Simmon's oldies format. **Caution,** if you're trying to write Brent Larson, don't try his e-mail on his web site. One reader did that with some negative comments about Simmons, and accidentally reached Simmons, who apparently has taken over the URL as well. He was kind enough to let us be aware, so we don't accidentally do the same.

Seems Official: KISN Truely Hot AC, Once Again

As tipped off earlier, it appears that KISN is truely returned to it's Hot AC roots. The website, 100000watts.com, a directory service of all TV and Radio stations, reports: "KISN-FM 97.1 Salt Lake City segues back to hot AC from 80s." This trend began last summer (summer 01), when KISN played their "The new sound of Kisn 97 is dead," promotion to pay off power bills.

Clear Channel VP Named

As reported earlier, Radio and Records claimed that new regional programming would bebut for most of Clear Channel. Salt Lake City is now under such policy, as Alan Sldge will become the new regional VP of programming, from Pheonix.