Here are some month-by-month highlights of the past year in Salt Lake-area radio:
January: "Dexter and Mercedes," formerly of the defunct KISN, reappear under their real names as "Scott and Erica" on sister station KOSY. . . .FM-94.9 becomes KPHT with a rock-music format, while FM-102.3 ceases to be "Mad Dog" and becomes a simulcast of FM-94.9. . . . "Religion on the Line," airing on KTKK returns to its original 1980s name: "Mormon Miscellaneous." . . . KZNS sponsors a chicken-wings eating contest and offers Super Bowl tickets as the prize. . . . KKAT hires back its original programming director, John Marks, to take the job again. . . . KSFI (FM-100) and KXRK (X-96) were the big winners in the latest Arbitron rating estimates; KUUU has its best-ever ranking.
February: FM-94.9 changes its call letters from KPHT to KHTB. . . The call letters on FM-102.3 change to KDUT. . . . Lance Ballance, formerly of KSFI, is the new program director for KOSY. . . . "Steve O" (Steve Carlson) leaves KRSP after nearly 33 years and is replaced by Mike Parsons. . . . Marie Osmond's new radio show, "Marie and Friends," begins on KBEE, which is also the show's flagship station. . . . Dan Jessop returns to KBZN as program director and afternoon host. . . . "Chunga and Mister" of KENZ match up 50 local couples for a pre-Valentine's Day showing of the "50 First Dates" movie; not to be outdone, KQMB holds a wedding on ice for Valentine's during the first intermission of the Grizzlies game; "Johnson and Johnson" on KUBL present the "Valentine's Day Mystery Marriage Proposal." . . . KSL's annual radiothon for Primary Children's Medical Center raises $369,000.
March: A revamped KKAT begins with DJs Tommy Carerra, Brian Hatfield and Brandon Young. . . . Dom Casual leaves KJQN. . . . The "Traffic Babe" begins doing an evening DJ shift on KJQN as "Jessica." . . .Brian Foxx and CeCe Williams are added as DJs on KSFI; Mick Martin and Earl David Reed comprise the new morning team on KURR. . . . Millcreek Broadcasting sells KOBT and KDUT for $2 million to Bustos Media Corporation, which become Spanish-language stations. . . . Gary Michaels is the new evening DJ on KRSP. . . . Steven Kapp Perry is the new host of KSFI's "Soft Sunday Sounds" program. . . . Laura Jones is named the new program director on KJQN, replacing Dom Casual, who left the station. . . . KUBL radio holds its seventh-annual St. Patrick's Day dive into a green tub of Jell-O. . . . KSFI is named one of the top five AC music stations in the country. . . . Tom Barberi of KALL is picked as one of the top 100 radio talk-show hosts in the nation. . . . "Holly" is the new KZHT team member of the "Z-Morning Zoo."
April: KSL radio wins five Murrow awards for broadcast excellence. . . . Jon Smith, formerly on KENZ, replaces Dom Casual in the KJQN afternoon spot. . . . Peggy Ijams leaves the KSFI morning show but Dain Craig remains. . . . KQMB does not renew the contracts of its morning hosts, "Fisher and Laura." . . . KBER DJs pump gas for $1.01 a gallon on April Fool's Day. . . Kevin Stanfield loses his morning-host job at KLO and is replaced by Walter Platz. . . . KUBL radio hosts a pie-throw at the IRS tax guy event on April 15.
May: "Fisher and Laura" get a new morning show, this time on KUDD. . . . Andy Holiday, replaced by "Fisher and Laura," is quickly hired to do weekends on KBEE-FM. . . . KKAT is sold by Millcreek Broadcasting to Citadel Broadcasting. . . .KUBL holds a salsa-eating contest. . . . Simulcasts of KFNZ begin on KKAT, FM-101.9. . . Jill Atwood replaces Peggy Ijams as the co-host with Dain Craig on the KSFI morning show.
June: Tom Barberi's contract with KALL is renewed. . . . KSFI is one of five adult-contemporary stations nationally to be nominated as R&R radio station of the year. . . . FM-101.9 begins the switch to KPQP, a pop-music station geared for young-adult women. . . . KSL wins two national awards, one for its Web site and another for a Ben Winslow story.
July: Sean Hannity returns to Utah to do a live broadcast at the Gallivan Center and also to be master of ceremonies at BYU's "Stadium of Fire" event. . . . "Fisher and Laura" of KUDD stage a Boy Scout fund-raiser selling lemonade. . . . KSL and KSFI lead the ratings but Spanish stations make strong inroads. . . . KURR hosts its second-annual "High Card Harley Showdown." . . . "Shot Gun" Jackson of KUBL radio is buried for 48 hours at an Ogden car dealer in a big radio stunt. . . . Shamus of KBEE-FM rides the Lazy River at Cherry Hill in another stunt to raise donations for the Utah Food Bank. . . . KUBL stages a listener dive into 100 gallons of KFC coleslaw to win backstage passes to a Tim McGraw concert.
August: KSFI and KSL-AM lead the spring Arbitron book. . . . KFYO-AM, Ogden, is sold by Bible Broadcasting to Legacy Communications for $520,000. . . . "Kerry and Bill" of KXRK travel to Athens for the Olympic Games. . . . "Frankie C and Dangerboy" on KZHT, while doing a "Zoovivor 3" broadcast, get dumped out in the Yukon and are on their own to travel the 2,500 miles back to Salt Lake City; it takes them almost seven days . . . The "Morning Pop Squad," with Mike, Tiffany and The Janitor, premieres on FM-101.9. . . . Ed Wright, the "Music Professor" on KODJ, dies.
September: KSFI expands its "Soft Sunday Sounds" program. . . . KSL is back on top in the monthly Arbitron ratings. . . KBEE cancels the "Dream Doctor" show and replaces it with a John Tesh music program. . . . AM-860 is renamed KKAT from KBEE.
October: Bonneville International acquires three radio stations in Phoenix. . . . KCPW's simulcast on AM-1010 extends its audience to much of Utah. . . . Tom Barberi and Brad Stone are let go from KALL, Jon Wright replaces Barberi and a week later, KALL goes to an all-sports format and adds Bill Riley from KSL and Matt Thomas from Houston. . . . KSL discontinues its weeknight sports-talk show, "SportsFinal," with the departure of Riley. . . . KUBL holds a pumpkin-drop event at Trolley Square, including a 900-pound pumpkin.
November: Peggy Ijams returns to radio after a seven-month absence, doing mornings on KEGA, with Paul Koffy. . . . Bret Connor joins KRSP as the full-time news anchor on Jon Carter's show. . . . KCPX airs all three presidential debates over and over for five days prior to Election Day. . . . KURR switches formats and becomes KJMY "My 99.5." and sister station FM-105.7 becomes KXRV, "The River," with morning hosts Erin Brady and Steve Carlson . . . After a four year hiatus, KHQN, "Krishna Radio" returns to the air.
December: KRCL, "Radio Free Utah," celebrates its 25th anniversary. . . . Bonneville International realigns management of its Salt Lake radio stations. . . . KUER welcomes back Tasha Cook, this time as the local host of "All Things Considered," replacing Michael Havey, who becomes operations director. . . . KUBL's "Johnson and Johnson" produce the world's largest Christmas card and send it to troops in Afghanistan.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com