Kent Rupe, weekend sports anchor for KSTU, Ch. 13, has been hired by KSL radio (AM-1160) as its new sports director to replace Chris Tunis, who left the station last August to take a job at KISN-AM.
Rupe will begin his employment at KSL the week after Christmas, but Rod Arquette, KSL managing editor, said he's planning on Rupe settling in for several weeks before going on the air in early January."We're very excited," Arquette said. "He'll do a good job for us."
Rupe, a University of Utah graduate, will host "SportsCentral" weekdays at 6 p.m. and do sports with Arquette and Maria Shilaos in the afternoon drive time.
Arquette said Rupe is eager to tackle the 90 minutes of sports each weekday, in contrast to the brevity of TV sports reporting.
Finding a replacement for Tunis took longer than expected, Arquette said. He said KSL management is interviewing replacements for reporter Tammy Kikuchi, who left the station earlier this month to take a job in state government.
Greg Wrubell, who has been doing the "SportsCentral" show since Tunis left, will return to his previous morning sports reporting. Arquette said Wrubell has done a great job as a fill-in but is looking forward to returning to morning drive time.
- KSFI (alias "FM-100") is gradually playing more Christmas music. The buildup started on Thanksgiving and culminates Tuesday when the station will begin playing total holiday music through Christmas Day.
KSFI's 21st annual "100 Hours of Christmas Music" is a popular seasonal event. Playlists for the Dec. 21-25 period are available from the station's offices, 57 W. South Temple, or by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to KSFI.
- KCNR (AM-1320) - Joe Redburn, former KTKK talk show host, has been hired by Citadel Communications and is on the air from 10 a.m. until noon weekdays.
Redburn, who started late last month, is followed by two other former "K-Talk" hosts, Martin Davies (noon-3 p.m.) and Mills Cren-shaw (3-6 p.m.).
He said he likes the new station and its approach to talk/news. Redburn also said he was offered another job by KTKK, and that's when he was able to line up his new KCNR spot. KTKK let Redburn go last May when it switched to investigative reporting.
- KUER (FM-90.1) - The station will present a broadcast of the Utah Symphony's "Home for the Holidays" at 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19. The program is one of several holiday-related shows on the schedule:
- At 9 a.m., Monday, Dec. 20, KUER will air a broadcast of "Lessons and Carols" from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City.
- "Solstice Live," featuring the Paul Winter Consort, will air Friday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m.
- At 9 a.m., Friday, Dec. 24, KUER will air "A Baroque Christmas"; "A Jazz Piano Christmas" will be broadcast at 9 p.m.
- KBYU (FM-89.1) will also broadcast "Home for the Holidays" by the Utah Symphony at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 21, the station will air "The BYU Celebration of Christmas." The Friday, Dec. 24, holiday schedule for KBYU includes: "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" (8 a.m.), "Glad Tidings" (11 a.m.), a rebroadcast of the "BYU Celebration of Christmas" (2 p.m.) and a rebroadcast of "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" (9 p.m.).
- ANOTHER RADIO PUBLICITY GIMMICK - A few years ago, a supposed philanthropist back East was tossing $20 bills off a freeway bridge. Speculation was rampant over who he was. As it turned out, it was a radio promotion. History repeated itself this week with a "Secret Santa" who passed out $50 bills in Boston as part of a gimmick by Worcester radio station WAAF-FM.
- MORNING RADIO HAPPENINGS - KSOP is sponsoring the premiere of the new Wyatt Earp movie "Tombstone" on Tuesday, Dec. 21, and is awarding passes to that showing . . . The latest slogan on KRGO is that it plays the best country music station in the universe . . .
Scott Fisher of "Fisher and Todd" on KISN-FM Monday explained the trials of bringing his family's Christmas tree home due to a lack of rope to tie the tree down on the van. Just mentioning "Fisher and Todd" was worth an extra 10 percent off children's apparel at a local clothing store earlier this week. On Tuesday, Todd explained how he got a zoning variance through Salt Lake City for a home construction project. Later, "Fisher and Todd" called the White House's new automated telephone system . . .
One of the latest "Morning Guys" slogans on KKAT is that they have less than 10 calories per serving. KKAT's secret word of the day Monday was worth 15 minutes in free long-distance telephone time to one lucky listener . . .
KALL-FM is still working to build its new oldies-oriented station. Until the end of the year, listeners can call 470-9400 in Provo, 570-9400 in Salt Lake City and 670-9400 in Ogden with suggestions about what the new station should play.
What do movies and the Utah Jazz have in common? "Frankie"' on KRSP Monday required a listener to review the new "Wayne's World 2" movie before he earned free Utah Jazz game tickets . . .
"Kerry and Bill" on KXRK did an "X-Poll" on favorite Christmas gifts Monday. They also continued their holiday coverage with Hildy on "Jew Chat." Louise, the "happy hippie homemaker," a regular caller on the "Radio from Hell" show, told listeners Tuesday how to make their own homemade Christmas decorations. Louise was also concerned about the Salvation Army's lack of Santa attire for their bell ringers. The DJs announced Tuesday their show will be Michael Jackson free (at least temporarily), and they conducted a multiday campaign this week to replace the Deseret News radio editor. They even encouraged listeners to call the newspaper to ask for a different radio writer . . .
"Ron and Allen" on KBER still have their daily "Rock News" at 7:15 a.m. and their "Adventures of Butt Man" at about 7:45 a.m. most days. The DJs' newest slogan is "The Ron and Allen Radio Network - the best of rock." On Tuesday, the DJs were accepting applications for a toilet-cleaning position at the station . . .
KVRI has a "Community Christmas Tree" in front of Dillard's at the Fashion Place Mall. The tree has children's names on hundreds of ornaments and the gift they would like most for Christmas. People select an ornament, buy the gift indicated and take it to the tree. The station said public response has been overwhelming. Meanwhile, Mick Mackay of the "Wakeup Club" is having back problems and was missing from the air earlier this week . . .
"Jon and Dan" of KLZX discussed Tuesday what a perfect mate for Santa Claus would be. They also had a top five list of reasons why Madonna would not make a good mate for Santa . . . As his guest Tuesday, Tom Barberi on KALL-AM talked with a woman who has a degree in massage.