KBER (FM-101.1) has changed its morning show, shifting "Uncle Nasty" to the 2-7 p.m. weekday time spot on "The Bear" starting Monday, Jan. 19.
The new KBER morning show is "Bob and Tom," a syndicated, all-talk rock program that includes music news, entertainment news, national news and sports reports."Darby" does local news during syndicated programming breaks.
The only music will be a few spoofs or parody songs.
Will listeners go for a music-less morning show on a rock station?
Obviously Citadel Communications, owner of KBER, believes they will.
New Arbitron ratings come out later this month, but the most recent ratings from last summer gave the morning "Uncle Nasty" show a sixth-place rating among young adults, ages 18-34.
I have trouble believing a syndicated all-talk rock format can top that ranking.
In fact, last Monday I visited the "Freak Show" with "Mick, Allen and Roxy" on KURR-FM ("Rock 99") for an hour. (This show ranks seventh among age 18-34 morning listeners.)
When Mick Martin asked me how they could improve their ratings I strongly advised him to play more music.
Martin said the station probably only plays an average of four songs per hour during the "Freak Show." He agreed six songs - like his boss advised - might be a better mix.
I'll be surprised next summer when the spring Arbitron ratings arrive if KBER's morning rating isn't even lower.
So far, I'm not impressed with the "Bob and Tom" show. It's not very funny or entertaining, and Bob and Tom laugh too hard at their own jokes.
- MORE SUPERLATIVES - There ended up being so many radio superlatives for 1997 that the editors couldn't find the space to list them all two week ago in the "Radio Dial."
Better late than never, here are more highlights of 1997:
Best coverage of local political speeches - KPCW of Park City and sister station KCPW of Salt Lake, which regularly aired important discourses sponsored by the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
Best melody - "Cano, Bammes, Stormy" and Robert Lund, formerly of KUBL, singing a homemade song to Gov. Mike Leavitt's office (on a voice mail) for his 46th birthday Feb. 11.
Best new advertisement for listeners - KBEE using the voice of Ellis B. Feaster's father to plead for more "Wakeup Club" listeners, to ensure Ellis would keep his job and wouldn't have to move back home.
Biggest marriage - Todd and Erin taking their vows in February to add a married aspect to the "Fisher, Todd and Erin" KISN-FM morning show.
Biggest marriage proposal - Ellis B. Feaster of KBEE and a "Wakeup Club" member, proposing to his girlfriend on the air in September. She accepted.
FM morning show with the least talk - "Country Joe" on KSOP.
FM morning show with the most talk - "Mick and Allen' on KURR.
Funniest radio thing off air - The KBEE "Bee" sign suddenly falling on my 1-year-old son, Taylor, during a "B-Safe" video fingerprint session at Layton's Future Shop store during November. (He wasn't hurt, and it made for a great "Funniest Home Videos" moment.)
Most attention-getting billboard - The poster for "Uncle Nasty" of KBER with bikini-clad women.
Most unusual billboard - The controversial one that KBER almost didn't get to put up because it used the image of two LDS Church missionaries as part of a rock music crusade that stated, "We're on a mission . . . to rock.".
Most unusual voice - "Uncle Nasty" on KBER.
Most unrecognizable voice - "Mr. West" of KENZ, whose on-air voice sounds nothing like his normal tone.
- KCPW (FM-88.3) will air "Chal-lenges to Salt Lake City in 1998," an address by Mayor Deedee Corradini, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 11 a.m.
"Blind Trust: The True Story of Enid Greene and Joe Waldholtz," a book review by the author - Lee Benson - will air Friday, Jan. 23, 11 a.m.
- RADIO HAPPENINGS - Jim Braden is the new morning newsman on KBZN, replacing Michele Morrison. Braden is paired with morning DJ Tom Bock. The station is also planning to air some big interviews next week at the Sundance Film Festival, as one of its sponsors . . . "Johnson and Johnson" on KUBL celebrated Elvis Presley's birthday last week by dropping jelly doughnuts from a 20-foot-high perch and letting listeners try and catch the pastries in their mouth. On Wednesday, the DJs took special requests for the ill-fated helicopter crew . . .
"Mick and Allen" on KURR get the tasteless award of the week. They used a mannequin last week at a local ski resort to test the dummy by letting it ski into trees on the mountainside. They reported the dummy missed every tree in their test runs. The DJs said the moral was "Don't ski like Sonny, ski like a dummy" . . .
KNRS, Utah's newest all-news/talk station, had some technical difficulties Monday that delayed its premiere by several hours. However, by late morning it was on the air and delivered exactly what it promised in a smooth fashion . . .
"Fisher, Todd and Erin" on KISN-FM had another "Most Embarrassing Moments" feature Wednesday . . . "Mick and Ellis" on KBEE encouraged parents with kids under age 7 who have a special talent to contact them for a new contest . . . "Kerry and Bill" on KXRK will travel to Japan next month for special reports on the Winter Games . . .
Jon Carter on KRSP discussed cabin fever Wednesday . . . Jimmy Chunga on KENZ had a segment on "It's great to be a guy" Wednesday . . . "Tom, Dawn and Rick" on KKAT Wednesday offered advice on dogs to listeners . . . The LDS Radio Network reports having passed the 10,000 sales milestone for special radio sets. The sets are needed to pick up the network in areas where a local cable system doesn't carry it.