Officials at the local "modern rock" radio station KJQN - better known as "KJQ-FM" - are expressing confidence the station can rebound from recent staff upheaval that has seen 20 employees resign their jobs over the past three weeks.
Nine members of the on-air staff have resigned, as well as five members of the sales staff and six office workers. On-air personalities and programmers Mike Summers, Dom Casual, Mister West, Todd Nuke'em, Andrea Gappmayer, Mark Christiansen, Tony Rumfallo, Chet Tapp and Gina Barberi and several programmers have all resigned since Nov. 25.Only five original employees remain, including the team of Kerry Jackson and Bill Allred, who host the high-rated "Radio From Hell" morning show.
Most employees said their decision to leave was based on a lack of confidence in the station.
"I think that this is basically based on contact with previous employees who have left and the rumor mill," KJQ station manager Scott Gilreath said, explaining the rash of resignations.
"We're sorry that some of the people chose to leave," he said, "Some of them thought they were bigger than the station itself."
Gilreath also said that in spite of some former employees' egos, most were excellent radio professionals, and he is sorry to see them leave.
Summers, the program director, was the first to quit the station, on Nov. 25, because "I do not see the business lasting that long . . . I wanted to get out with a reputation intact," he said.
KJQ hired four new DJs this week to fill the vacancies. Gilreath said it has been difficult to restaff the station and some sales staff positions remain to be filled. He said some of the station's advertisers were initially skeptical of the station's future, but business is now good again.
"The response from the listeners and advertising public is running about 80 percent favorable," he said.
Departed employees are now looking for a new home for their modern rock format and issued a press release on Thursday outlining their reasons for leaving the station. Major concerns listed are:
- Employees say they built the station into a success, both financially and in ratings, but felt little money and support were being given back to the station.
- Despite claims that the station's format has not changed, those who left the station believe it has. All music and formatting are handled by a consulting company in Atlanta that former employees believe has little experience in modern rock and has ignored Utah's modern music tastes.
- New management doesn't understand that KJQ is not traditional radio, they say, adding that treating the station as such will lead to its demise.
- Former employees also believe there were unkept promises from management and stressed that KJQ has had three different general managers in the past 14 months.
"The problem is the employees here thought that they knew all the inner workings of the station . . . quite honestly they don't know everything that is going on, Gilreath said. "They actually perceived it as their station and not the owner's the station . . . These people have not looked at KJQ as a business but as an entertainment . . . There has to be a medium between advertisers and listeners."
Gilreath also stressed that KJQ is not changing format. "We're going forward with modern rock," he said. "We've tuned up our format. Most of our music isn't being played in this market."
He said the station is playing all the songs it was playing a month ago but that to avoid too much repetition, it has added some new titles to the modern rock genre.