Nothing illustrates the numerous changes in the Wasatch Front radio market more than a look back at the year. And the long list that follows is but a part of the changes that took place!January:
KUER begins broadcasting a new NPR program - "Schickele Mix" . . . Tom Barberi becomes a published author . . . "Adam Smasher" becomes the new program director at KZHT . . . KALL becomes a sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival . . . John Berg, Saturday personality on KALL-AM, adds a new segment titled "Saturday's Lawyer" . . . KFMY makes the first format alteration of the year by becoming "K-Family" - a Utah Valley station with community-driven, talk-information radio, a kind of cross between K-Talk, KSL and KKDS . . . Rumors flare up about a format change at KMGR as the station is purchased by Regan A. Henry for $1 million . . . KZHT stops double simulcasting and starts a separate station (KZQQ) and format ("Z-Rock"/heavy metal) on FM-107.9 and FM-92.1 . . . Rumors abound about a new home for former KJQ staff members . . . Bill Allred, a "Radio from Hell" morning personality on KJQ, quits, leaving the station with only one original on-air personality . . . KBCK moves its transmitter from behind Ensign Peak to Farnsworth Peak, giving it a stronger signal . . . Reba L. Keele hosts a weekly U. of U. talk show on Danny Kramer's KTKK show . . . Some stations boycott Arbitron since it may have created a monopoly by buying out the Birch radio ratings service . . . PBS-TV telecasts a history of radio show, "Empire of the Air" . . . KALL-AM's "Freeway Friend" program has assisted more than 890 drivers during its seven months of operation . . . Gary "Wooley' Waldron becomes program director/general manager and part-owner at KUTQ-FM . . . KSL radio, TV and Video West combine their marketing, promotion and engineering departments . . . Jon & Dan stage "The Great Chia Pet Massacre."
February:
The month begins with a blizzard of changes unrivaled in recent years . . . KUER broadcasts numerous specials during Black History Month . . . Newsman Jim Braden leaves KSL radio . . . KMGR and KSFI stage separate big Dan Fogelberg concert ticket contests . . . Jon and Dan visit France and the Winter Olympics . . . Peter B leaves KALL-AM and is replaced by the Rush Limbaugh Show and a medical advice column . . . Mark Van Wagoner leaves KMGR and Clyde Lewis is taken off the air . . . KUTR, the LDS Contemporary Music Station, dies and a simulcast of KCPX takes its place . . . "Tyler" leaves KRSP and "Teri Brown" becomes the other half of the TNT morning show, and Salt Lake once again has a male-female morning radio team . . . KSRR, Utah's lone LDS music station, boosts it power in order to reach more of the Salt Lake Valley . . . Fisher and Todd celebrate their sixth anniversary . . . Mo Mellady joins Kerry Jackson on the "Radio From Hell" show at KJQ to herald the arrival of another male-female radio team . . . KJQ also hires "Tattoe" to be its creative/ production director . . . KZHT adds Dan Kennedy to the 6-10 a.m. show with Jay Stevens . . . KZOL switches to "X-96" and becomes the home for the former KJQ, "modern music," personalities who quit the station last year over a programming dispute . . . Bob Jennings takes over Mark Van Wagoner's KMGR morning spot . . . Terry Schmidt, general manager, leaves KZHT and is replaced by Steve Marriott . . . KJQ experiences more staff changes as Mo Mellady leaves the morning show and Tattoe goes to San Francisco . . . KUTV weatherman Tim Ross starts a Saturday talk show on KTKK . . . Clyde Lewis becomes the new KJQ morning person with Kerry Jackson . . . KBZN is spotlighted in the "Radio & Records" publication for having one of the nation's biggest gains in listeners, ages 25-54.
March:
"Fisher" sits in a truck full of 5,000 pounds of ice while raising food for charity . . . KSRR begins full-power broadcasts to Salt Lake County . . . KZOL (modern music) becomes KXRK (alias "X-96") . . . KSFI teams up with Smith's to provide a free substance abuse pamphlet throughout the state . . . KRCL celebrates "Women's History Month" with two days of special programming . . . Robert Maher is named corporate program director for KZHT and KZQQ . . . Gary Michaels leaves KISN and moves to KUTQ. Jeff Bordner leaves KISN, and the station makes some lineup changes and rehires Rob Boshard and brings in Jim Morales from Phoenix . . . "Sounds of Sunday" expands to 24 hours and moves to KFMY.
April:
April begins with a flurry of April Fools' jokes on local radio. Clyde Lewis and Kerry Jackson (KJQ) steal the show by making it seem as if the station has been sold to the Japanese and has changed format. Jon Carter stages a bogus stunt of walking off the air at KLZX. "Fisher and Todd" and "Todd and Teri" also do their share of bogus features for April Fools' Day . . . KISN starts a big, new contest, "The Mystery Microphone" . . . KLZX initially says rumors about the station renting airtime on other local stations are not true. However, by the end of the month, the station's owner, Citadel Associates, announces a limited partnership to provide programming and marketing for KCPX AM/FM and Price Broadcasting. This is the second `LMA' in Utah, following the KISN/KSOS deal . . . Rumors abound that KKAT/KALL are working on an LMA agreement . . . Danny Kramer leaves KTKK. He's not replaced, and the other talk show hosts are juggled around to fill the lineup . . . KTKK faces legal problems from a vacation package deal where buyers lost thousands of dollars . . . KSFI stages a "Giant Easter Basket" promotion for charity . . . KKAT promotes its "Incredible Free Money Birthday Contest" . . . KSL radio and TV complete their consolidation process. William Murdoch is KSL radio's new general manager, while former manager Russ Wood becomes vice president for BYU and corporate sales . . . Leonard Smart is named general manager of KLZX, KCNR and KCPX, replacing Stu Stanek, promoted to Citadel vice president. Many KCPX employees lose their jobs.
May:
TCI Cablevision launches DMX, a type of CD quality music service with 30 different channels and no commercials or deejays, just 100 percent continuous music . . . Matt Tripper takes over the evening on-air shift at KZHT . . . Allen Handy replaces Greg Tipton on KBER's morning show. Tipton moves to KRSP . . . Gaylen Palmer begins as new morning deejay at KBCK and as station manager . . . KSL celebrates its 70th birthday with a 70-foot-long cake and airline ticket giveaways . . . KKAT and KALL negotiate both a local marketing agreement (LMA) and a contract for possible sale of KALL to KKAT's parent company in August . . . KFMY changes formats, becomes "The Sun," the Student Underground Station . . . KQOL announces an LMA agreement with KBER, and the KQOL format changes to all sports . . . KZHT begins its "Scavenger Hunt" contest . . . KJQ replaces Scott Gilreath, general manager, and John McGann as program director. Station owner Garrett Haston becomes general manager, and Kerry Jackson is the new program director . . . Randy Stewart is named the morning personality on KMGR replacing Bob Jennings . . . A new talk show, "The Bob Lesh Show," begins airing on KTKK weekdays from 7-10 p.m . . . Mike Stalker and Dan Kennedy team up for the new KZHT morning show.
June:
Danny Kramer and Mark Van Wagoner team up for a new morning show on KDYL . . . KUER's Red Butte Gardens Summer Concert Series begins . . . Hans Petersen fails to reach an agreement with Apollo, the future operators of KALL . . . Kelly Monson moves from KLZX to KCPX and Evan Lake joins KLZX . . . Greg Tipton, formerly of KBER, joins Teri Brown on KRSP's morning show, then Robin Morales replaces Brown . . . The FCC steps up enforcement of spontaneous and unannounced telephone calls by deejays . . . KBER's "Ron and Allen" compose a new song, "Let's Get Spocked" on the old "Star Trek" series theme . . . "The King and I" is the new evening sports talk show on "The Score," alias KSRE . . . KSFI wins a Gold Medallion Award at an international broadcasting promotion and marketing gathering for Ken Bell's "JFK" promotional package on the Arbitrons . . . The "Mark and Danny" KDYL show becomes so popular that the station adds a statewide toll-free telephone number and KDYL solicits listener suggestions on what type of entertainment it would like to see in Salt Lake City.
July:
KMGR is one of the sponsors of the 1992 "Stadium of Fire" . . . KSFI sponsors their fourth annual Fourth of July Spectacular at Raging Waters . . . The call letters for Ogden radio station KSOS will be used in the "Leap of Faith" film that stars Steve Martin and Debra Winger . . . Apollo Radio, owner of KKAT, starts its "LMA" agreement with KALL radio, and virtually all KALL's staff, except for the Tom Barberi morning team, are let go . . . Ogden radio station KSOS grants Paramount Pictures permission for its call letters to be used in the "Leap of Faith" movie with Steve Martin . . ."Utah Outdoors" premieres on KSRE . . . KRCL signs a deal with Moab's KZMU to have a portion of its programming broadcast in southeastern Utah . . . KKAT was selected as one of five finalists for the 1992 radio station of the year by Billboard Magazine . . . Jay Bundy becomes the new development director for KRCL . . . KSL begins the most extensive Summer Olympics coverage ever done by a Utah radio station . . . "Jon and Dan" visit the Summer Olympics in Barcelona and broadcast live on location . . . KZQQ switches from a daytime gospel format to country music . . . KJQ-AM changes from a FM station simulcast to a contemporary Christian format . . . The FCC postpones its plans to relax radio station ownersip rules . . . KKAT, KSFI and KLZX are ranked by A Arbitron as Utah's three most listened to radio stations.
August:
Country Joe's syndicated country music TV show gets a trial on Salt Lake's KXIV . . . Mike Carver becomes the operations manager at Logan KBLQ and KLGN and starts doing a morning show on KBLQ . . . Apollo Radio's purchase of KALL AM/FM is delayed by the FCC's postponement of their relaxation of ownership regulations . . . KUER concludes its Red Butte Garden concert series for 1992 with Grammy Award Winner Alison Krauss and her band Union Station . . . KCNR starts a "Campaign Utah 1992" program . . . Former KALL personality Hans Petersen is hired to do a morning show on KISN-AM that begins in September . . . KUER radio wins the 1992 Corporation for Public Broadcasting award for Community Involvement for its "Soundwaves" program . . . KLZX hosts the "Livestock '92" concert with many big-name musicians and bands . . . KZQQ-AM becomes KRGQ . . . Ragan A. Henry, owner of KMGR, begins the process to purchase KBCK and KBBX . . . "Bishop's Interview" on KKAT's "Cano & Simmons" show and the "Girlie-Girl Dateline" on KBER's "Ron and Allen" show are two outrageous features that perk up the ears of morning radio listeners . . . KBZN begins a new morning lineup with Chere Wood and this means Dale Nelson is the only male deejay at "The Breeze" as women dominate the on-air lineup.
September:
Jeff Bordner starts middays at KSFI . . . Hans Petersen begins his new morning show at KISN-AM . . . KSL-TV sportscaster Craig Bolerjack pays a surprise visit to Jon and Dan at Z-93 to deliver greetings from a station they spoof a lot . . . KBCK switches from a traditional country music format to a hip blend of album-oriented rock, and almost simultaneously, KZQQ, alias "Z-Rock," dies and is replaced by a hot country music format on AM/FM . . . KBYU-FM offers live broadcasts of the Utah Symphony's 51st season, starting in September and continuing until May of 1993 . . . "Magic 107.5" becomes "The Mix 107.5" . . . The report of the death of "Z-Rock" music proves to be exaggerated as the album-oriented rock format of the '90 reappears on KZHT, replacing that station's former pop/rap format . . . However, the ink on the KZHT format change isn't even dry when KBER comes in and starts an LMA lease agreement with FM-94.9, forcing it to return to its original pop music format. . . . "Paul Harvey" leaves KALL radio, but because of a legal contract, it will be a 90-day wait until the show resurfaces in this market on KSL radio . . .KSL, KSFI, KISN and KKAT dominate the annual "UBEE" awards night . . . John Berg leaves KALL and moves to KISN with his Saturday morning `How To' shows.
October:
KFSI, alias "FM-100," starts an LMA with KRSP-FM, with a future intent to buy the station with FCC approval . . . KJQ changes format to hit radio, lets it entire staff go and becomes KKBE, the "Killer Bee" . . . Bob Riesen (son of Phil Riesen) and Robyn Wryght begin as the new personalities on "The Mountain," FM-105.7 . . . KMGR changes call letters and becomes KMXB . . . KBER personalities dominate the Celebrity Red Ribbon Football Game . . . KFMY, the Student Underground Network goes off the air and is replaced by a simulcast of "X-96" . . . FM-100 co-sponsors the "Great Pumpkin Race" in Liberty Park . . . KRSP lets Robin Morales go, leaving only Greg Thomas as morning host . . . KUTQ begins a treasure hunt to look for the hidden "Q" . . . Tom Barberi tries being a regular deejay for a day to show the station's new management how dull such a radio style really is.
November:
KISN-FM's "Fisher and Todd" and KSL's Doug Wright help auction off items at the Lake Bonneville Council, Boy Scouts of America, fourth annual dinner and auction at the Ogden Park Hotel . . . KLO's Len Allen is honored for surpassing 45 years on the local radio waves with a special luncheon in Ogden . . . KKAT is ranked as the No. 1 radio station in the summer Arbitron radio ratings. KSFI is second, KLZX third and KSOP fourth . . . General manager Steve Evans leaves KSRE and is replaced by Barry King. The station makes other programming changes . . . S.L.'s flurry of LMA agreements receives national attention in Billboard Magazine . . . Steve Walters finds the hidden "Q" in a KUTQ contests and wins more than $10,000 in cash and prizes . . . KUTQ sponsors the Utah Cheerleading championships . . . Gina Barberi, Tom Barberi's daughter, starts co-hosting with Barry King "The Score," a sports show on KSRE . . . Those old rumors that the FCC is being petitioned to ban all religious programming surfaces again, showing this untruth may never die . . . KALL drops Paul Harvey again, and now most S.L. County listeners must wait until December to hear Harvey when KSL starts its new contract for the popular show . . . Kerry Jackson becomes morning personality on KZHT . . . "McCormick and Scotty" of KUTQ help host the annual S.L. Christmas parade downtown . . . KSRR begins its continuous Christmas music broadcasts.
December:
KLZX teams up with KUTV to sponsor a local "Tonight Show with Jay Leno Comedy Challenge" . . . Electronic Media Magazine reports that KALL AM-FM sold to Apollo Radio (KKAT) for $1.8 million in October . . . KRSP gives away $10,000 at a time to listeners in its 10 in a row contest . . . KCPX's Mick Mackay and Gary Zane host the tree-lighting ceremony at the Red Lion Hotel . . . KCPX also participates in the Humane Society's annual Christmas for the Animals program . . . KSOS and KSFI air their annual continuous holiday music programming just before Christmas . . . The staff of KBER helps serve homeless people a holiday meal at St. Vincent's Soup Kitchen . . . Gary Micheals, Sean Michaels and Tracy Van Wagoner-Rasmussen of KUTQ run in the annual Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis, a 5K race the station co-sponsored . . . KUTQ co-sponsors the sneak preview of the "Toys" movie . . . Paul Harvey premieres on KSL . . . Mark Van Wagoner and Danny Kramer of KDYL host of Make-A-Wish fund-raiser in Layton . . . KBER's Alan Bain and Barry Moll take the lead in "Celebrity Basketball" . . . KSFI, KDYL and KRSP help gather food for needy people during the holiday season . . . Robin Morales, formerly of KRSP, joins KMXB . . . KMXB helps with the Toys for Tots program, while KSL subs for Santa with patients at Primary Children's Medical Center . . . KKBE declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy . . . KBER's "Ron and Allen" get a TV show on Ch. 30 . . . A single mother of four wins KSOP's $10,000 Christmas cash contest.