The 2004 year in radio has come and almost gone, so here is Part 1 of my superlatives for Salt Lake-area radio stations and personalities, to be followed by Part 2 next week.
Best overall morning shows: "Dain and Jill" on KSFI, "Johnson and Johnson" on KUBL
Best midday hosts: Helen Powers on KBER, Sue Kelley on KRSP
Best afternoon hosts: "Scott and Maria" on KSL, "Todd Nuke-'em" on KXRK
Best evening DJ: Pat Clark on KUUU ("U-92")
Best news station: KSL, AM-1160
Best all-sports station: KFNZ ("K-Fan")
Best new syndicated show: John Tesh, weeknights on KBEE
Best examples of ideal DJs, with limited but quality chatter and plenty of music: Jon Carter on KRSP, Kelly Monson on KBZN
Best talent not on the air: Tom Barberi, Mick Martin
Best dive: KUBL's listener dive into 100 gallons of KFC coleslaw for backstage passes to a Tim McGraw concert
Best wedding: KQMB's "Wedding on Ice" for Valentine's Day
Best male voices: Olympic Games announcer and KSL host Tim Hughes; KSL's Grant Nielsen, KXRV's Steve Carlson
Best female voices: Sue Kelley on KRSP, Peggy Ijams on KEGA, Helen Powers on KBER, Amanda Dickson on KSL
Best teamup: "Johnson and Johnson" of KUBL; they're consistent, funny, in sync and organized
Best nicknames : "Brotha' Fred," weekends on KZHT; "Hollywood Haze," middays on KODJ; "Clark After Dark," evenings on KUUU
Best Web sites for FM stations : KZHT with photos, daily updates and more at www.971zht.com; KQMB ("Star 102.7"), with its in-depth look at the exploits of morning DJs "Mikey and JJ" at www.star1027.com
Best Web site for AM station: KSL's nationally recognized site at radio.ksl.com
Best source for overall radio information/rumors:www.saltlakeradio.com
Best comebacks: Dan Bammes, mornings on KUER, following a serious illness; "Fisher and Laura" getting a morning show again after a few months lapse, this time on FM-107.9
Best example of traditional DJs: Danny Kramer, and Mark and Gayle Van Wagoner, on KDYL
Best morning-music mix: KSFI and KBEE
Best overall music stations: KRSP, KSOP, KUUU
Biggest station improvements: KUUU, KCPW
Biggest loss: The untimely death on Aug. 25 of Ed Wright, who was the "Music Professor" each evening on KODJ
Biggest change of 2004: The FCC crackdown on indecency, with DJs across the country cleaning up their act
Biggest prize: a new Ford Focus, given away last March by KXRK and LaPoint Ford
Biggest stunt: KQMB ("Star 102") 20 gallons of gasoline given free to each of the first 102 cars at a Taylorsville station on April 1
Biggest hoax: KCPX ("Channel 105.7") advertised an April 1 a $100,000 money drop, which proved to be an April Fool's hoax; 1,000 people turned out and many left angry
Biggest surprises: Peggy Ijams not having her contract renewed with top-ranked KSFI after 14 years; KURR and KCPX changing formats at the same time
Biggest contest: A 900-pound pumpkin falling 75 feet at Trolley Square for "Johnson and Johnson" and KUBL's October "Great American Pumpkin Drop"
Biggest travelers: Mark and Gayle Van Wagoner, and Danny Kramer, on KDYL, who take listeners on regular tours to such places as Branson, Mo., and Hawaii
Easiest voice to pick out: Abby Bonell of KNRS radio, with her British accent
Easiest show to pick out: "Bob and Tom" (syndicated) on KBER, with all its canned laughter
Hardest-working female DJ/talk-show hosts: Erica Hansen on KOSY, Amanda Dickson on KSL
Hardest working male DJ/talk show host: Doug Wright on KSL, who probably does the work of two people
Least talk on FM dial: "Country Joe" Flint on KSOP
Most talking on the local FM dial: "The Radio From Hell Show" (Kerry, Bill and Gina), mornings on KXRK; "Morning Pop Squad" on KPQP
Most popular ongoing segment: "Boners," on the "Radio From Hell Show" on KXRK
Most unusual traffic reporter: "J.T." on KXRK, who gives a one-line bit of probing philosophy at the end of each traffic report
Most entertaining DJs: "Z-Morning Zoo," with Frankie and Dangerboy on KZHT; "Radio From Hell," with Kerry, Bill and Gina on KXRK
Most outrageous billboard: Kerry and Bill of KXRK shown getting married to each other by Gina, who is dressed as a minister
Most risque show on the air in Salt Lake City: "Lovelines" (syndicated) with Dr. Drew Pinksy and Adam, evenings on KBER
Most daring programming moves: Clear Channel's KOSY (FM-106.5), the first station in the nation to begin an all-holiday tunes format on Nov. 1; sister station KURR, FM-99.5, becoming "My 99.5"
Most underrated DJ: "Country Joe" Flint, mornings on KSOP
Most underrated newsman: Dick Jacobson, morning news anchor on KSOP
Most underrated station: KTKK (alias "K-Talk")
Most varied format: KRCL, with a little of everything
Most well-informed radio host: Bob Lonsberry, mornings on KNRS. You may not agree with him, but for living 2,000 miles from Salt Lake City, he's more in touch with the news of Utah than many who live here.
Most energetic DJ: Still Amanda Dickson, mornings on KSL
Most daring stunt: "Zoovivor 3," during which Frankie C and Dangerboy of KZHT were dropped off in the Yukon and had to travel the 2,500 miles back to Salt Lake City with no money or arranged travel
Most unusual prize: KZHT's all-expense paid nip-tuck surgery for a contest winner
Most liberal DJs: Kerry, Bill and Gina on KXRK's "Radio From Hell" show
Most real laughter on a local radio show: "Johnson and Johnson" on KUBL
Smoothest DJ: "Frankie" of the KZHT "Z-Morning Zoo"
Stuffiest stunt: "Shot Gun" Jackson of KUBL radio being buried alive in a special coffin for 48 hours at Ogden's Westland Ford in July
Steadiest traffic reporter: "Lee West" on KSOP, with no frills, just the facts
Worst call letter change: FM-105.7 dumping the historic KCPX call letters to become KXRV, "The River"
Worst music station: Radio Disney (AM-910) with a mismatched musical lineup and annoying rap songs
Worse case of a forced retirement: George L. Gonzalez, who had done the Spanish "El Ranch Rio Grande" show for almost 53 years, most recently on KSOS-AM, was silenced after an ownership change in November
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com