They're less like cousins and more like brothers. "Chet and Brad," who do a morning (5:30-9 a.m. weekdays) show on KJQN (FM-100.7/FM-103.1), are real friends and know each other so well they can almost finish each other's sentences.
They fit well with the "KJQ" format, a resurrection of the original alternative music station in Utah, and it's attracting a lot of old friends of that format. Skewed to an older audience than sister station KXRK, KJQ even has the original old "Bessie" milk truck repainted and ready to roll.
"Our main goal is to make it something fast-paced," Chet Tapp said. Indeed, the morning show plays eight to 10 songs an hour. (You'll probably only hear two to four songs per hour on the "X-96" morning show.)
"Hopefully, we give listeners a nice mix," Brad Mullen said.
Their "Light and Fluffy" news segment explores entertainment, giving listeners a capsule review of what's happening and what's coming that night. With news segments twice and hour, plus traffic updates, this is still a full-service FM morning show.
The DJs say they are surprised that, with only four months of air time, a few bus billboards and without a good broadcast signal to Utah County, they've been able to get a 1.3 percent audience share of listeners, ages 25-54, and 1.9 percent of men in that age group.
Salt Lake natives, Chet and Brad (perhaps more well-known as "Cuzzin Brad") have both worked at other local stations.
Chet worked at the original KJQ in Ogden until its demise, then moved to radio in San Diego. He did some odd jobs and even a stint at "K-Talk" before going to KXRK as it signed on in February of 1992. He then moved to KJQ this year.
Brad got into radio at Weber State University's student station. He then spent two months at the original KJQ before it died, and then eight years as the overnight DJ on KXRK. He tried an 18-month stint at radio in Spokane, Wash., before coming back to KXRK, and finally the new KJQ.
Off-air, these DJs are friends who are likely to be golfing together. Mullen will also take his wife and Tapp his girlfriend on dinner dates around town or to Wendover together.
After their morning show ends each weekday, the station airs 90 minutes of non-stop music, from 9-10:30 a.m., followed by Andrea from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
MORE ON KXRK MORNING RATINGS — Last week's column talked about the fact that "The Radio From Hell" (Kerry, Bill and Gina) morning show on FM-96.3 earned the highest Arbitron ratings of any station during the recent "Winter Book."
The DJs say they aren't sure why they performed so well.
"We've been playing less music and talking more," Kerry Jackson said.
Bill Allred wonders if it isn't a fluke that won't repeat in the next Arbitron book. "We are extremely comfortable with who we are," Allred said, explaining the "X-96" morning show tries to be a sort of a friendly family to listeners.
Jackson said the show doesn't resort to stunts or parody songs like many morning teams do. It also hasn't been promoted or advertised a lot recently.
Gina Barberi wanted to make sure listeners know that the photograph in the Deseret News with this column last week was about 5 years old, and that she was pregnant then.
RADIO HAPPENINGS — "Mick and the China Man" on KURR have a new outrageous feature — "Babe of the Day." They even post pictures each day on the station's Web site . . .
Tom Barberi was not on KALL Monday, May 20. He was playing in a celebrity golf tournament. Filling in for him were Randall Carlisle and Chris Vanocur of KTVX, Ch. 4. "We're going to stick to TV," Carlisle said while on KALL. "It's difficult to do a talk show."
E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com