The year 2001 in Utah radio is nearly over. Here's a month-by-month list of highlights:
JANUARY
KSOS becomes a nostalgic music station, dropping its oldies format . . . Chris Tunis begins a new weekday evening talk show on KIQN . . . "The Blaze" disbands its morning show and goes automated, moving its morning DJs to middays and afternoons . . . KSFI and KXRK lead the fall Arbitron ratings, while "Dain and Peggy" of KSFI, "Grant and Amanda" of KSL, and Kerry, Bill and Gina of KXRK are the top three morning shows.
FEBRUARY
Art Bell returns to local radio on KNRS . . . "Fisher, Todd and Erin" on KISN celebrate their 15th anniversary, though Todd and Erin are ill on the actual anniversary . . . KSL stages another radiothon for Primary Children's Medical Center . . .KOVO radio in Provo announces it may return to the air next month after being dark since November . . . "Johnson and Johnson" of KUBL arrange the mass wedding of 93 couples at a Utah Jazz game for Valentine's Day.
MARCH
KSL radio is named as one of 40 finalists for the NAB Crystal Award, a prestigious honors that recognizes outstanding community service . . . KRCL holds its annual spring radiothon . . . KUER drops its classical music in favor of adding four new daytime shows from NPR . . . KPCW, Park City, discontinues its daytime and evening oldies music format and replaces it with rock music like the "Mountain" of Salt Lake station used to have . . . A new Christian rock station, KEFX, prepares to go on the air at FM-88.7 . . . KFVR ("Oldies 107.9") dies and is replaced by a hit-music format, "Dianna." . . . KKAT gets listeners to help rebuild a Magna home destroyed in a fire last year.
APRIL
"Country Joe" Flint of KSOP is named to the National County Music Hall of Fame . . . "Johnson and Johnson" of KUBL orchestrate a yellow-ribbon tying event in the yard of a family who has a serviceman held captive in China . . . KFVR changes its call letters to KUDD and begins a large advertising campaign . . . KFNZ puts a half-dozen men inside its trailer for a marathon event of living in close quarters to try and win Utah Jazz season tickets . . . a "KISN is dead" radio promotion airs for more than three days before announcing the event only heralded a new contest where listeners can have their electric bills paid off.
MAY
KOVO returns to the airwaves after a five-month absence with all-sports programming from the FOX network, plus local baseball and sports play-by-play. . . . KRSP, KISN, KENZ and KUBL all improve significantly in the winter Arbitron ratings . . . "Frankie" and "Danger Boy" of KZHT hitchhike across the county, from Maine to Utah, to raise awareness for the Boys and Girls Clubs . . . Four DJs — Scott Fisher of KISN, Erin Brady of KBEE, "Mister West" of KENZ and Kelly Hammer of KBER — all appear on the "Take 2" TV show on KUTV with Rod Decker to discuss local radio.
JUNE
KXFF, a new oldies station, begins in St. George . . . "The Car," KNFL, is another new oldies station that begins broadcasting from Box Elder County to northern Utah . . . Mark Wan Wagoner, morning host of KKDS, is honored by the VFW for his "Raise the Flag" patriotic show that airs daily on the station . . . Greg Wrubell replaces the retired Paul James as KSL's voice of BYU football and basketball; KSL hires Bill Riley from Florida to replace Wrubell on its evening sport talk show, renamed "Sports Final" . . . Mark Eaton raises $40,000 in underprivileged kids during a 24-hour radio marathon on "K-FAN."
JULY
Tom Barberi celebrates his 30th anniversary at the same station . . . "Mick" Mackay, 43, former Salt Lake radio personality who worked 14 years at FM-98.7, and more than six years at other stations, dies . . .Tim Lewis, KOVO radio personality, has LASIK eye surgery performed live on the air on himself as he comments on the procedure.
AUGUST
KSFI continued to lead the all-age and adult listening categories in the latest Arbitrons, while "Grant and Amanda" of KSL, Jimmy Chunga and Mr. West of KENZ and "Dain and Peggy" of KSFI continue to lead the morning show ratings . . . "Fisher, Todd and Erin," Utah's longest-running morning team ends. Fisher stays solo on KISN and Todd and Erin choose to leave the show . . . Clear Channel Broadcasting purchases KTVX, Ch. 4. KALL is in the process of being sold to Mercury Broadcasting of Salt Lake City . . . Kent Rupe, former KSL radio sportscaster, begins a new sports show on KALL, "Red Zone" . . . Len Allen, KLO's morning DJ since 1947, has throat surgery.
SEPTEMBER
KUBL and KZHT are the big radio stations doing things at the Utah State Fair . . . KRCL begins a new second Wednesday of the month program, "Wednesday Night Live," featuring local bands live . . . Kelli Taylor of the "Zoo" morning show on KZHT leaves the station as her contract is not renewed . . . "Marcus and Pam" on KQMB are replaced by Mike Nelson . . . the four FM stations of Simmons Media Group (KSFI, KRSP, KXRK and KQMB) raise more than $320,000 from listeners for the American Red Cross' disaster relief fund.
OCTOBER
"Johnson and Johnson" on KUBL stage a "Rollin' in the Grits" contest to raise money for the Red Cross . . . KOSY expands the "Sounds of the Sabbath" program by two-and-a-half hours . . . KSFI and KXRK lead the Arbitron summer ratings book, while "Dain and Peggy" on KSFI; "Grant and Amanda" on KSL and Kerry, Bill and Gina on KXRK comprise the top three morning shows . . . Allen Handy leaves the KURR morning "Freak Show" to join Scott Fisher on sister station KISN.
NOVEMBER
"Chunga and Mister" of KENZ stage a smashing-pumpkins event the day after Halloween, letting listeners hurl the orange produce at a dummy representing Osama bin Laden . . . KCPX plays all patriotic music all the time, for a few days and then becomes an alternate music station, "Channel 105.7" . . . Clear Channel of Salt Lake downsizes by trimming two on-air staff, "Gentleman Jim" from KKAT and Greg Smith from KODJ, along with AM program director Larry Crandall of KALL/KNRS . . . KDYL converts to KZNS, an all sports/news/talk station that's the flagship for a new "KZN" intermountain network . . . KLO adds the "Michael Medved" show, a former KDYL program, to its lineup.
DECEMBER
Trips to New York City are the most popular prizes on local radio . . . "Simon and Brady" on KBEE leave the air for good . . . Scott Fisher and Allen Handy are let go from KISN. A new morning show, "Rockett Radio Experiment," begins a week later . . . The KBEE Web site www.b987.com/ starts listing "Todd and Erin" as coming soon to the station . . . KJQN (FM-100.7) a new Simmons station, prepares to go on the air permanently and uses a simulcast of sister station KQMB (FM-102.7) as an occasional test signal.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com