KLO (AM-1430) will be switching formats — from nostalgic music to all talk . . . or almost all talk — sometime in October.
Rumors about the change, which have been circulating for the past month, were confirmed by KLO program director Dan Jessop as sad but true.
While the age 55-plus listening audience has plenty of disposable income and stays extremely loyal to particular stations, advertising agencies still concentrate on the age 25-54 audience. Hence, according to Jessop, economics has caused the upcoming switch at KLO and also the June change at KDYL (AM-1430) from nostalgic music to all talk. Stations can't make enough money on nostalgic music to survive anymore.
Jessop said the format change could come as early as Oct. 2, depending on how the engineering goes.
When KLO switches, only KKDS (AM-1060) will be airing nostalgic music around the clock along the Wasatch Front.
KLO will continue to play nostalgic music during weekday mornings, however, on Len Allen's continuing program from 6-10 a.m. Allen, who is Utah's radio patriarch at 53 years on the air at KLO, will remain on the air until he decides to retire.
At all other times of the day, KLO will have syndicated talk shows running.
"We looked into this before KDYL changed formats," Jessop said. He admits it will cause a big stir, because for the past three months, since KDYL stopped playing nostalgic music, many of that station's former listeners have discovered KLO and love it. KLO also recently boosted its signal to 10,000 watts and can reach most of the Wasatch Front now.
However, unlike KDYL, which signed on for a particular group of syndicated talk hosts, KLO has hand-picked all its hosts.
"We cherry-picked our shows," he said.
Jessop also said the Salt Lake market is becoming a hotbed of talk radio in the United States. For example, if you count sports talk, Salt Lake City will technically have eight all-talk radio stations here. Contrast that with Boston, a much bigger market that only has two all-talk radio stations.
Besides Allen in the morning, doing what he always does, KLO will soon have Neal Boortz from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and ABC's Mitch Albom from 1-3 p.m. Dave Ramsey will do a late afternoon show and Howie Carr of ABC Radio will do the evening show.
MARK AND DANNY TO RETURN ON A DIFFERENT STATION — Mark Van Wagoner and Danny Kramer, two of Utah's longest-running veteran DJs — with almost 60 years of combined radio experience — will return to the air within the next several weeks, this time on AM-1060.
If all the engineering work on a new KKDS studio for the station at 3606 S. 500 West is completed, the DJs could be on the air as early as Monday, Sept. 25, or, at the latest, by Monday, Oct. 2, according to Kramer.
Van Wagoner, who uses his "Mark in the Morning" ID, will be doing a 6-10 a.m. weekday show and Kramer will host a 3-6 p.m. weekday program.
Kramer said the shows will be identical to what the two DJs did on KDYL before its format change.
KKDS has a nostalgic music format, very similar to what KDYL (AM-1280) used to have. The two personalities spent eight years at KDYL doing the style of shows they like best — friendly, entertainment-based programs.
However, when KDYL switched to an all-talk format at the end of June this year, the two DJs were not pleased about having to do a 3-6 p.m. all-talk show. They left KDYL on Aug. 11, after less than two months with the new format. They prefer not to discuss what happened regarding their exit at KDYL.
KDYL has added more syndicated programming to fill the gap left by Kramer and Van Wagoner's departure. It now has "The Dolans," a financial consulting/advice show on the air weekdays from 3-5 p.m. and the Michael Medved show from 5-8 p.m. weekdays to fill the rest of the gap.
Kramer and Van Wagoner had been at KDYL since 1992. Both are also former KSL radio personalities. Van Wagoner has also worked at KRSP and KMGR, while Kramer has worked at KALL, KQOL, KZOL and KTKK.
Their new shows will have remote broadcasts, Kramer said, and they will also work closely with Morris Travel on trips with listeners, as they have done for the past eight years.
Van Wagoner will take a tour group to China next month, while Kramer will host a tour group in Branson.
KUER (FM-90.1) will air the eighth annual Moab Music Festival, Oct. 3-5 and Oct. 10-13, 9 a.m. until noon. The festival excerpts will be broadcast during the Gene Pack show.
KOSY (FM-106.5, 106.9) — "Show Tunes Saturday Night" is a new feature on the station, airing Saturdays from 9 p.m. until midnight. The program airs songs from musicals and also movie soundtracks, like "South Pacific," "Grease," "The Lion King" and "Oklahoma." Paul Wilson and Vicki Mann host the show.
KCPW (FM-88.3 and FM-105.1) will air "Utah's Nuclear Legacy" on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 11:50 a.m.
RADIO HAPPENINGS — Dave Candland on KFVR, FM-107.9, gave away a 2001 Chrysler P.T. Cruiser on Sept. 15. The station had been registering listeners for the chance to win the $20,000 car over the past three months. Because the new car takes four to six months to receive after ordering, this radio prize was one of the hottest in Utah . . .
KBZN is currently giving away a trip each weekday. Destinations include Hawaii and San Diego. Listeners can enter this contest by fax or e-mail.
E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com