What would you do for a million dollars?
Would you listen to a particular radio station for a chance at that kind of money? KRSP (FM-103.5) is betting the public will listen to them for this outrageous radio offer, likely the largest cash promotion in Utah radio history, in its "Rock 103 Million Dollar Giveaway."Ken Bell, KRSP promotions director, said he thought about calling it "Indecent Promotion," a la the Robert Redford movie, "Indecent Proposal," where the plot also has $1 million at stake.
The qualifying starts Monday, May 3, at 6 a.m. and will continue for an unspecified number of weeks. Every hour, 24 hours a day, a listener has to be the 10th caller when the specific "Million Dollar Classic Song" is played to qualify and enter the drawing.
Now, there is a catch. The random winner will have 20 seconds to carry out as much cash as possible - up to $1 million - that will be stacked in a vault of a Capital City Bank.
- KSFI (alias "FM-100") and the Salt Lake City Parks and Recreation Department will present the Great Salt Lake Beach Fest Saturday, May 1, at Great Salt Lake State Park, starting at 9 a.m.
The event will feature all kinds of fun for the entire family. There will be volleyball games, food booths, kite flying, dog Frisbee competitions, helicopter rides and other events. Things will heat up at 4 p.m. when Utah's "Hot Bod" men and women's swimsuit competition begins. Some families may not want to stay for this particular event: That's why it's being held later in the day.
- KTKK (alias "K-Talk," AM-630) ) is moving toward talk journalism and listener interaction. According to station manager Starley Bush, the next step in that process is the hiring of John Harrington, effective next week.
Harrington, a former KTVX-TV reporter and newspaper reporter, replaces Joe Redburn, who left the station last week. Harrington's new show, "The Best of the West," premieres Monday, May 3, airing noon until 2 p.m. weekdays.
According to Bush, Harrington's hiring represents more than a year of negotiations. Harrington has 20 years of reporting experience and is an award-winning investigative journalist.
Harrington will continue to write for the "Private Eye" weekly and to act as correspondent for New Zealand National TV.
"I'm excited about this new direction the station's going," Bush said of KTKK. He also said the station's new slogan is "New Talk, K-Talk."
Hank Hathaway has been filling in this past week on Redburn's time slot until Harrington comes on board next week.
- JOE REDBURN is bitter he's been pushed out of K-Talk's lineup. He said he recently took a $400-a-month pay cut when his show was shifted from morning to afternoon and then last week he was told by telephone of his firing.
He could have finished this week out on the air but decided not to. He's especially upset because he believes his ratings are as good as that of other K-Talk hosts.
- KUER (FM-90.1) - Despite the lack of new "Star Wars" movies, there seems to be a resurgence in the science-fiction saga, and a re-release of public radio's "Star Wars" series is due out in June.
The audio series was originally produced in 1981, and the new release will present an expanded story in 13 half-hour episodes. The radio series uses sound effects from the motion pictures and music composed by John Williams.
- KUER will also air "Horizons," public radio's multicultural documentary, Monday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m. The first show will be "Kids and Violence: Breaking the Cycle."
- KUER is also available to listeners in Parowan, Paragonah, Summit and Enoch on FM-90.1 thanks to a new translator station. This means travelers along I-15 in that area will also be able to pick up KUER.
The station now has 26 translators, sending the signal to most of Utah and portions of surrounding states.
- KQOL (FM-106.5) - This all-sports station will air the Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Preakness) beginning with the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1, 3-5 p.m.
- KBZN (alias "The Breeze," FM-97.9) - Roach, Reyes and Saiz will be featured on the Sunday, May 2, "Musical Starstreams" show, 8-10 a.m. Later in the day, Richard Elliot will the guest on "Jazz Trax," 7 p.m.-midnight.
- Here's a schedule of the station's "7 O'Clock CD" show next week:
Monday, May 3: "2002," by Cusco.
Tuesday, May 4: "Shades of Shadows," by Quintana and Speer.
Wednesday, May 5: "Kid Gloves," by Larry Carlton.
Thursday, May 6: "Olympus," by Mars Lasar.
Friday, May 7: "Trust," by Boney James.
- MORNING RADIO HAPPENINGS: "Frank and Stone" of KRSP helped celebrate secretaries week last week by camping out on 600 South in Salt Lake City and attracting businessmen who had good things to say about their secretaries. They gave away a trip to Hawaii. Also last week "Frank and Stone" took 60 listeners to the Snowbird tram for a live broadcast on Earth Day . . . "Jon and Dan's" Mr. Twister on KLZX featured "Lawn Commando" on Monday's show. Tuesday they took listener calls on the most popular excuses for getting out of housework . . . "Fisher and Todd" of KISN-FM are scheduled to broadcast live from the Seattle hotel where the Utah Jazz are staying this weekend . . .
"Swing True for Life" is the title of a May 15 baseball seminar in South Jordan sponsored by KSFI and Smith's Food and Drug . . . KRGO is promoting itself as the "Rocky Mountain Legend" of country music . . . The latest new homemade song on KKAT's "Cano and Simmons" show discussed Utah and stated, among other things, "Utah's future is so bright, it can't be anything but bright" . . . "Gary and Mick" on KVRI had a call-in contest Monday; the winner was caller No. 25 when the song "Hey Jude" was played . . .
"McCormick and Scotty" and Q-99.5 have been giving away 100 Utah Jazz playoff tickets this week. On Tuesday, to win a pair of tickets, John Simoson found Scotty, who was undercover in West Valley City . . . When one girl called "Ron and Allen" of KBER to apologize for previously hanging up on Ron, he responded by hanging up on her. "Ron and Allen" have also been discussing a charity basketball game their station is having with "Q-99.5" . . .
KSL's Arquette and Maria discussed honesty Tuesday in conjunction with a weeklong series on KSL-TV . . . a speech in Washington, D.C., by the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual and political leader of Tibet, was carried live Thursday morning by KCPW, Salt Lake's newest public radio station . . . "Dom and Bill' of KXRK decided to check the employment situtation situation in Tooele Wednesday by calling radio station KTLE.