The year has come and almost gone; here are month-by-month highlights of radio happenings in the Salt Lake area:
January: Price's KOAL radio is first in the state to begin broadcasting with a new digital, high-definition radio signal. . . . "Johnson and Johnson" on KUBL support efforts to raise funds for flood victims in southern Utah. . . . KFNZ co-sponsors a local Xbox tournament. . . . Keith Stubbs is added to the existing morning show of Paul Koffy and Peggy Ijams on KEGA. . . . All seven Clear Channel radio stations in Salt Lake combine to raise funds for southern Utah flood victims. . . . "Jack FM" premieres on KJQN, replacing its former alternative-music format. . . . KUUU alters its broadcast frequency. . . . Marie Osmond's radio show is canceled.
February: Jonathan Brown is hired to be an anchor/reporter for KCPW. He will also produce KCPW's "Midday Edition." . . . "Johnson and Johnson" of KUBL stage a "marry-go-round" event on Valentine's Day to marry 20 couples.
March: KSL and KSFI lead the Arbitron ratings. . . . Tom Barberi, formerly of KALL, is honored by the JCI Senate as the "Voice of Reason." . . . "Mick and Allen," a legendary Utah morning team, return to KBER, this time in afternoon drive. . . . "Chunga and Mister" on KENZ stage a contest for U2 tickets. Participants had to physically keep a hand on morning-show sidekick Cort Johnson. . . . KUBL's "Johnson and Johnson" sponsor an Easter Egg Drop and later sponsor a "Speed Dating" contest to help singles meet and mingle. . . . NPR stations have a large increase in their listening audience. . . . Dave Blackwell, pioneer of Utah Jazz talk radio, dies at age 66.
April: April Fools' pranks include the bogus announcement of DJs Pat Clark and Rexxx Loper leaving the air. Clark himself had a four-hour April 1 joke on the air with his "Hurban" format. . . . KALL hosts a junior sportscaster competition and adds Fox Sports to its lineup.
May: KUTR, AM-820, a new station for women, goes on the air, with Kurt Bestor and Rebecca Cressman as its morning team. . . . KZHT "Z-Morning Zoo" has an "Ugly Kids" promotion, with the DJs using their own childhood photos on billboards. . . . KSL celebrates its 83rd birthday. . . "Johnson and Johnson" on KUBL stage a salsa-drinking contest. . . . Jim Sumpter is named the general manager of KTKK. . . . KSRR celebrates its 20th anniversary doing LDS music on Sundays. . . . Jon Carter on KRSP celebrates 25 years on Utah's radio waves. . . . Doug Wright, Gene Pack and Tom Barberi are inducted into the Utah Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
June: Paul Harvey is dropped by KNRS. . . . "Johnson and Johnson" of KUBL holds a "reality-radio" event to see how far listeners will go to win tickets to a Kenny Chesney concert. . . . It was announced that KBER will carry the play-by-play of Utah Jazz basketball games this coming season, along with sister station KFNZ. . . . Kevin Graham returns to co-host "The Big Show" sports contest on KZNS radio with Gordon Monson. Graham replaces Craig Bolerjack. . . . KSL's Nauvoo bell chime returns live at the top of each hour. . . . KSL wins two Murrow awards for excellence.
July: KSL leads the Arbitron ratings. . . . The old KCPX radio personalities of the 1960s and 1970s hold a special, private reunion.
August: KSL begins several Web-only BYU sports programs. . . . KSL adds the ABC Radio Network and drops CBS. . . . "Fisher and Laura" are fired as the KUDD morning hosts. . . . Jimmy Chunga of KENZ breaks his leg in five places in a swimming-pool accident. . . . KCPW begins billboard advertising campaign. . . . Mark Waldi joins KRSP as a full-time afternoon host.
September: KSL makes a surprising move and begins simulcasting on FM-102.7. This kills the former KQMB, "Star 102.7" station. . . . A new Simmons Media station, KFMS, FM-97.5, premieres in Salt Lake with the CBS Radio Network and Tom Barberi. . . . KENZ remains "The End," but switches from FM-107.5 to a better frequency, FM-101.9. . . . Holly leaves KZHT and ends up at KFMS. . . . "Country Joe" Flint leaves KSOP after 34 years to help start up a new classic-country station at FM-107.5. . . . KUTR drops the Rabbi Shmuley show and replaces it with the Dr. Joy Browne Show. . . . Pat Clark leaves KUUU to join top 40 CHR WXSS-FM in Milwaukee. .. . . Dan Jessop leaves the air at KBZN to concentrate on programming and administrative duties for KBZN and sister station KLO. . . . Paul Coffey leaves the KEGA morning show and is replaced by "Gentleman Jim."
October: KKAT, FM-107.5, starts up. . . . The revised "Dream Doctor" show premieres on KUTR. . . . Len Allen, 79, at KLO for 58 years, and Reed Bullen, 98, who helped start the first radio station in Cache Valley, die. . . . KSL leads the "Summer Book" Arbitrons. . . . On Oct. 24, KSRR begins playing holiday music, and KSFI begins an online on-demand holiday-music option on its Web site. . . . Simmons Media buys KOVO radio. . . . KOSY radio begins an all-Christmas-music format on Halloween.
November: "Brandy" returns to radio as a midday DJ on KEGA. . . . Jessica Burtrum-Ferguson joins the KZHT morning team. . . . Tom Barberi of KFMS puts an ad on eBay to sell the bronze cougar statue in front of BYU's football stadium. It's all hype for the upcoming BYU-U. gridiron clash (and Barberi technically only tried to sell a picture of the statue, not the statue itself). . . . KOSY collects food for the Utah Food Bank.
December: Tom Greenleigh is going by the nickname of "Tim Axelrod" on a 4 to 5 a.m. radio show on KLO. . . . KSL and KSFI lead the age 12-plus Arbitrons, but "FM-100" is slipping. . . . KSL radio and KSL-TV celebrate 40 years of doing their "Quarters for Christmas" charity.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com
The Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV/KSL Newsradio 1160 are involved in an ongoing news-gathering partnership.