Many DJs put on an act on the air. Off the radio, they hardly seem like the same person. Much like movie or TV actors, they create illusions. While it is certainly true that DJs are entertainers, some radio personalities are also rude, talking above, instead of to, their audience, and some FM DJs don't know when to stop yakking and play music.
One of the exceptions to all these trends is "Kidd Cassidy," the new morning personality who started on KKAT (FM-101.9) last month.How Kidd, 36, sounds on the air is virtually how he is in real life. His voice doesn't change, and he's very personable and polite off the radio.
"I'm a real person. I don't phony up anything. . . . You don't have to be the funniest (on the air), you must be natural," he said.
He also said goofy DJs don't do well anymore.
"I used to be as goofy as they come in the '80s," he admitted.
Not anymore.
John Marks, KKAT operations manager, said he hired Kidd because of how well he relates to his audience. He agrees Kidd knows the fine line of when to stop talking and go to music.
Kidd came to Salt Lake City from Las Vegas where he was morning host on country station KWNR for a decade. Marks tried to hire Kidd about 18 months ago.
"I just wasn't ready," Kidd said of the offer. "I regretted it for a year."
Finally the time was right and he moved to KKAT this spring. He had a very difficult first couple of weeks adjusting and feeling his way into the S.L. market. Since he took over for "Gary and Scotty," he was also under extra scrutiny by listeners.
He's finally hitting his stride in Salt Lake.
Originally from Rochester, N.Y., Kidd began pursuing a business administration degree at Valparai College in Indiana to take over his father's copy-machine business. However, he started doing the morning show at the college radio station and became hooked on radio. His major changed to mass communications. He minored in psychology.
Kidd worked at radio stations in six other cities before Las Vegas, including stints in Reno, Rochester, El Paso and Seattle.
He and his wife, Anne, have been married for five years, and he has a son, 13, from his first marriage. In his spare time, Kidd is an avid runner and health-club member.
Kidd didn't start out in country music but he enjoys it thoroughly.
"I love country. . . . You can't stereotype country," he said. "It's the top 40 of the '90s."
His morning show isn't afraid to discuss sex but stops short of the "Morning Guys" or "Jon and Dan."
When asked if his show is trying to be like the outrageous "Morning Guys" show that used to be on KKAT, Kidd answers a firm no. He said he has listened to tapes of their shows and they represent radio at its bluest. He said he hatesthat kind of "shock" radio.
Kidd admits his show is more adult than "Gary and Scotty" were. He said when he took over for them, all he got were calls from young kids - an indication that the previous show lacked adult content. His show can be risque, but he knows where to stop.
Kidd must retire each night at 8:30 so he can arise by 4 a.m. to get to the station. He likes Salt Lake City and said its size and style reminds him of his hometown of Rochester.
He said his show isn't much different than the one in Las Vegas except he has two colleagues to assist him.
Kidd is joined by his "Mornin' Posse" - Rick Shane and Dawn Kennedy - 5-9 a.m. weekdays.
Shane has been the KKAT morning producer for the last eight years. (His nickname is "Insane Rick Shane.") He agrees with Kidd that the new show does the best job in the market at relating to its audience.
Kennedy, formerly Dawn Ken-nally on KALL with Tom Barberi, adds color, traffic and news to the morning show. She started in radio 18 months ago with Barberi's AM talk show and is now trying to find her niche in FM radio.
"It's a whole different animal," she said of FM vs. AM radio.
The KKAT morning show has many regular features, like "Best Joke of the Day," "Kidd's Puzzler," "Battle of the Sexes" and various trivia and survey-oriented quizzes.
Indeed, a slogan on the studio wall states "preparation, concentration and moderation" while on the radio.
Kidd and his "Mornin" Posse" do that and seem to be getting better and smoother each day.
After the KKAT morning show, the staff goes into the production room to tape promotions for the rest of the day. They also critique their own show and plan the next day's program.
- KISN-FM (97.1) - When Erin Fraser joined the "Fisher and Todd' morning show last year, I was a little surprised. Did the DJs really need a third personality? Did they need more than a woman news anchor, like they had in the past?
After examining some more in-depth Arbitron ratings for the winter of 1995, Fraser has apparently increased the male audience for the show. Among listeners ages 25-54, the show went from a 3.1 percent share last summer to 4.2 in the winter. For men, ages 35-64, the show jumped from 1.2 percent in the summer to 2.9 in winter.
However, among women, the show had a 4.1 percent audience for ages 35-plus, down from 4.2 percent last summer.
It appears that having Fraser as a third personality - not just as the news anchor like Charla Haley and Jan Snyder used to be - has broadened the show's audience.
- RADIO HAPPENINGS - Ashley Lane is the new traffic reporter on KALL with Tom Barberi, replacing Dawn Kennedy . . . Joe Lee, former veteran newsman on the old KCPX, is still around. You can hear him on TV and radio doing occasional commercials . . .
Scott MacNeil, former morning co-host on KSFI, is also still around this market doing some commercial work on TV . . . Danny Jessop, KSFI personality, is the newest radio DJ to enter the TV weatherman world. He's doing occasional FOX-TV weathercasts as a backup to Mark Van Wagoner. Jessop helps program KDYL, where Van Wagner is morning personality with Danny Kramer.