IF YOU'RE READING this column, there's a good chance you're a sports fan. Either that or you're stuck in the waiting room at Q-Lube, and the only other option is a 2-year-old copy of Popular Mechanics. But if you're a FANATIC sports fan, you probably already know that by midnight tonight, the Salt Lake City market will be one all-sports radio station the poorer. Sports Radio 570 (KISN-AM) is gone, having made way for something called "adult standard format," which pretty much means the usual selections from the usual artists.
This, of course, is bad news to the true fan. No more syndicated "Fabulous Sports Babe." No more good-humored musings by "Mastellar and the Coach." And of course, no more Chris Tunis, nursing people through the long, long, loooong commute downtown. Employees were notified a few days ago that they would be needed through today, and that would be it. KFNZ ("KFAN" 1320-AM) now has the all-sports market all to itself. If you want to overdose on sports talk, there's now only one place to do it.The demise of Sports Radio 570 wasn't all about losing money or even ratings. Trumper Communications, the owner of KISN, is trading the 570 AM frequency for KKBK (106.5 FM), which Trumper determined would be more profitable. The cost of running an all-sports station is far greater than running with an FM music format. And radio stations, like all businesses, are eventually all about money.
For Tunis, it was the latest change in a long and sometimes perilous journey through the jungle of radio. Having won seven Utah Sportscaster of the Year awards, he is one of the most familiar sports media personalities in Salt Lake City - or at least his voice is. To some it may seem strange that Tunis would be out of a job for even a short time. Then again, this is radio - not a job for the faint of heart. Most on-air radio jobs have the shelf life of yogurt. It has all of the security of, say, playing in the NBA.
"I have to laugh when they talk about job security. I realize those (NBA) guys don't have the same career expectancy that media people do, but still, I have to chuckle. It's a little like Tom Welch complaining about the $350,000 he was making," said Tunis. "I'll take that."
Uncertainty aside, Tunis is sleeping well nights. He has already had feelers from several local stations and one national radio network. He isn't likely to be out of work for long. When you're the "Tuner in the Morning," and when you've been the Tuner for 16 years in the same market, you bring your audience with you. When Tunis was working for KWMS-AM in 1982, an ownership change resulted in the new management cleaning house. Even so, Tunis was back after three days. The bosses told him the listeners had spoken, and they were saying that they wanted two things to remain: Larry King and Tunis.
Since then, Tunis has had several job changes. He moved from KDYL - the successor to KWMS - to KSL-AM, where he stayed nearly 11 years. A popular figure with KSL, Tunis became a news story all by his lonesome when he jumped to KISN. He has been there since September 1, 1993, when the station - then the flagship station for Jazz broadcasts - went all-sports.
Eventually, the Jazz went with KFAN, as did the Grizzlies and Buzz broadcasts. At least in part that helped speed the demise of KISN. Still, the competition was intriguing during the nearly one year there were two all-sports stations. In the mornings you had Tunis against Kevin Graham and Gordon Monson, followed by the syndicated "Fabulous Sports Babe" against Jim Rome's "Sports Jungle." In the late afternoons it was Nissalke and Mastellar against Ron Boone, Dave Blackwell and Steve Klauke.
Any way you looked at it, it was jock-talk heaven. A windfall for hard core sports fans. Not casual fans, but those who actually care who the second-string outside linebacker is for Tampa Bay. The same people who want to get on the air to discuss how BYU wronged Roger Reid or how Jerry Sloan needs to get more creative in his offense. Want to let off some steam about the BYU-Utah rivalry? There were two numbers you could call. If you couldn't get through to Blackwell, well, then you could switch over and maybe you'd find the Coach on the other end of the line.
But that was yesterday. Trumper Communications, looking at the bottom line, could see that even though Tunis and his colleagues had a loyal following, they couldn't make Sports Radio a big money maker. Now there's one less place where you can spout your opinions on Chris Morris.
"It will be a little melancholy on that last day," said Tunis.
Thus ends the longest-running all-sports radio war in Salt Lake City; a war that lasted almost a year. And while KISN may be perceived as the loser, the real losers are those people whose idea of a good time is listening to sports talk for an hour, then getting on the horn and talking it over with the Tuner. There are certainly worse ways to start your day.