BLANDING — KUTA, "The Voice of the Canyonlands" and the only AM radio station in southeastern Utah, has gone silent after 41 years on the air.
The news/talk station ceased broadcasting at midnight March 3.
"This is Phil Mueller, speaking to you from high atop Radio Hill, with a final commentary from KUTA-AM 790," the station manager said on its last night of broadcasting. "Yes, I did say final. This is a very difficult commentary, because there is nothing I would rather do than continue broadcasting to you forever as 'The Voice of The Canyonlands,' but it is no longer economically feasible to continue operations."
The shutdown of the 1,000-watt station means the nearest Utah AM radio station is now in Price, some 140 miles away. (Neighboring Colorado has some AM stations within 40 air miles.)
"We'll miss the value to the community," Blanding city administrator Chris Webber said. "The station was so supportive of local schools. . . . It was a real link to the community."
He also said Mueller never missed a city council meeting and was well-known locally for providing regional news reports.
Mueller doesn't own, but is involved with, the operations of a 1-year-old FM station in Blanding, KBDX (FM-92.1). That station is temporarily off the air for a review, but Mueller and its California owner hope to get it back on the air with an oldies music format again and a little more news reporting than before.
He said the FM station's future is dependent on increasing its signal, so it can reach Cortez, Colo., the region's economic hub. Without that increase, KBDX also may shut down for good.
Blanding, the largest town in the southeastern corner of the state, has about 3,300 residents. The surrounding rural area has another 1,200 residents, and the station also served area towns, like Monticello, to the north.
This isn't the first time KUTA left the air. Sixteen years ago it went dark for nearly a year before a Mueller family corporation purchased it. Ever since, according to Mueller, the station hasn't made a profit.
"I simply cannot continue to subsidize KUTA and jeopardize my family security," Mueller told his listeners during his last broadcast. "With the state of our economy, small-market radio is failing all across the nation — gone the way of small family farms, mom and pop grocery stores and other small family businesses."
Mueller said he had downsized his staff in recent years and was the only employee left.
The San Juan County Community Development Office in Monticello characterized KUTA as a local landmark whose demise is related to a poor economy.
Despite the area's economic gloom, Webber said the county has some good news. A new UDOT-Blanding visitor's center opened March 11 in town; Alco, a midsize retail store, is preparing to open a 20,000-square-foot facility soon; and a new health/medical clinic is planned for Blanding. Also, he said, the city has been able to preserve its local ambulance service and final planning is under way on a possible future Blanding hospital.
"Lots of things are in the works," he said. "We're a little St. George in the making."
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com