Two "new" radio stations premiered in Salt Lake this week and both put talk radio firmly onto the FM band.
KSL (AM-1160) is now simulcasting on FM-102.7, as the former "Star 102.7" (KQMB) is gone for good, and KFMS is now on the air at FM-97.5, a new frequency location, as "FM Talk" — with Tom Barberi's new show and the CBS Radio Network. Both stations began Tuesday.
In this day and age when a significant number of radio listeners never venture onto the FM dial, this move means KSL and FM-97.5 are more accessible than ever.
"This is a very good business decision for us," Bruce Christensen, senior vice president and market manager of Bonneville International, said of KSL also being on FM-10.7. "And a strategic move for us to even better serve our listeners and the communities, in which KSL's programming is heard."
He said the KSL simulcast was pulled together only "after careful evaluation."
KQMB was the market's 15th-ranked station (of 31 ranked stations in this market) for listeners, age 12-plus, according to the last Arbitron trends. Not bad, but not top 10 either.
All personnel functions with "Star 102.7" have ceased, but many of the employees will be reassigned to other duties within the company.
Few, if any in local radio, saw this change coming.
KSL has the potential to create an even larger audience for its news-and-information station, which is already the No. 1 broadcast property in Utah. (In the latest Arbitron estimates, KSL has a 6.8 percent audience share, ahead of No. 2 KSFI by 6.6 percent.)
KSL has no doubt had more listeners than usual over the past couple of weeks to hear post-Hurricane Katrina news, and it will likely move way ahead of the competition in the next Arbitrons.
While "Star 102.7" fans have lost their station, there are still other adult-contemporary stations in this market (though none have the exact "Star" accent).
This move also gives KSL increased flexibility, to have the option to occasionally air different programming on the two frequencies.
Meanwhile, "The New Tom Barberi Show" airs weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on FM-97.5 — and for the time being he is the only local talk-show host on the station, though that could change.
He said he is excited and energized about this new show. "The 'Voice of Reason' returns with a whole new show, a whole new station. Radio Free Utah returns," he said in an e-mail.
Barberi did his first show from the Shirodhara Day Spa and was at the mercy of the salon stylists, as well as KUTV's Allie MacKay, and Holly Braithwaite, another new FM-97.5 talk personality. (Braithwaite was previously known as simply "Holly" on KZHT's "Z-Morning Zoo"; she left that station this week.)
This is not the first time on the FM band for Barberi, whose former AM show on KALL was temporarily simulcast for a few months in the early 1990s — and his audience quickly tripled. (Barberi has been off the air since Oct. 5, 2004.) "We are thrilled to be first in the market to custom-create an original FM talk station," said Alan Hague, Simmons vice president of programming. "The 97.5 radio frequency is a new Salt Lake dial position, and we have been working for several months to design a station that will feature the 'best of the best' in news, entertainment and information."
The CBS Radio Network will offer news each half-hour, and Charles Osgood's reports will also be on the station.
KUTV-Ch. 2 has an alliance with the station and will offer news, weather and sports twice each hour. From 5-10 a.m. each morning, the station will broadcast "Mancow's Morning Madhouse" (5-10 a.m.) — a show that is wilder than "Tom and Bob," and which uses lots of profanity, bleeping it out. (Obviously, it's not suitable for kids or teens.)
The "Jerry Doyle Show" is on from 1-4 p.m., followed by Michael Savage from 4-7 p.m. and Rusty Humphries from 7-10 p.m.Bill O'Reilly will be on the station by mid-September.
For more station programming details, go online to www.975fmtalk.com.
THE END IS MOVING — For years, KENZ (FM-107.5), known as "The End," hasn't really been the last station on the right side of the dial, as it originally was. Come Sept. 22, it is moving to FM-101.9, the current site of its sister station KPQP ("Pop FM"), putting it even further from the end of the dial.
The reason for the move is simple — FM-101.9 has a superior Farnsworth Peak transmitter in the Oquirrh Mountains, while Lake Mountain in Utah County is where FM-107.5 transmits.
Davis County, Ogden, Tooele and portions of even Draper, Magna and Cottonwood Heights will also get better reception with this frequency change.
"The End" nickname will remain, despite the move. Although what will happen to "Pop FM" or the old FM-107.5 frequency isn't clear yet.
RADIO HAPPENINGS — KCPW has started to use its AM-1010 frequency for different programming than what airs on FM-88.3 and FM-105.3. The John G. Roberts confirmation hearings were aired beginning Tuesday on AM-1010.
— The Association for Women in Communications recently awarded KUER's Jenny Brundin with a 2005 National Clarion Award for her radio feature, "Amendment 3 — In My Neighborhood." Brundin's piece originally aired in the election season of 2004. During that time, Utah voters were considering a constitutional amendment.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com