St. George/Cedar City radio

[SamSpade]

Hey, could someone please explain the history of these frequencies to me? Most don't seem to have complete Web sites so I'm very lost as to what's happened down there. Here's all I know:

Currently, Bonneville owns 4 stations, all with some local content:
KDXU 890 AM
KUNF 1210 AM
KSNU 93.5 FM
KREC 98.1 FM

Simmons owns 4 stations under a different company name:
KPLD 94.3
KZHK 95.9
KZNU 1450
KONY 99.9

So how did these stations end up on these frequencies? How are signal issues of all the varied terrain down there dealt with? I know some of them have moved around due to Vegas trying to rim-shot more frequencies... and I guess another is coming for Sunny.

What's going on down there? What happened to the other country station Simmons? used to run?

Thanks all.

*scratches head*

[big51unit]

Here's what I know about them. I went to college in SG & CC in the '80s and worked in the area in the until about'94.

KDXU 890 AM - KDXU was St. George's first radio station starting out on 1450 in the 40's or 50's. It was started by the Winkleman family and bought by the Miners (as in Brent Miner's father) in the 60's. It moved from 1450 to 890 somewhere in the 80's...'85 I think? Always a local station it carried Dixie College sports and had a great sports announcer named Larry J-e-w-e-l. (Had to spell it out because the naughty word filter thought I was referring to the Hebrew persuasion. LOL) Also had a blind newsman. No I'm not making that up.

KUNF 1210 AM - The original KONY and the first "non-Miner" station started out in Washington by Tommy Tucker (?name?). Struggled on a shoestring for years until Hal Hickman bought it out of bankruptcy in the mid-80's and gave us Carl Lamar who still to this day will throw on a tuxedo and emcee the opening of a letter. When Hickman bought 103.1 the AM became a simulcast and hasn't done much since.

KSNU 93.5 FM - Started out in the late '60s or early '70s as KDXU FM. Played beautiful music for years with no announcers. Changed calls to KZEZ and added announcers in the late 70's if I remember right. Switched to AC in the early 80's and changed its name to Sunny and has always been pretty bland. Always went for the "local announcer" but most of them sucked...but it kept Brian Benware employed. Why Cindy Olsen didn't slap the crap out of him years ago I'll never know.

KREC 98.1 FM - This one was my favorite. Started out in '86 or '87 licensed to Brian Head but covers about everywhere. At one time the best station around hands down. Ran a combination of satellite and local and you couldn't tell the difference. Had Cal Rollins (had to give my old prof a plug), Ceci Williams, and a manager on-air who's name I don't remember but he was great with a female partner doing remotes...they were hilarious. I never heard either of them work the St. George area again which was a shame. Started to go downhill in the early '90s when the original owners fired their manager. Was still decent when Marathon had it but really went in the toilet when Simmons bought it and basically turned it into a generic voice-track. A sad shell of its former self now...it used to be the best.

KPLD 94.3 - This has to be fairly new, I don't remember it.

KZHK 95.9 - I keep wanting to say this was Jon Hunter's rock station but I think that was 94.9, not 95.9. I'm not sure.

KZNU 1450 - The original KDXU frequency it stayed on the air under a different name after KDXU's move to 890. Someone from KSL or Bonneville or somewhere in Salt Lake bought it after the move then sold it to a crook named Morgan Skinner. Some of Skinner's highlights included being arrested for bouncing employee's paychecks and running the station on a portable generator when St. George shut his power off. The Quail Creek flood wiped the station out but the payout gave Skinner enough money to build...

KONY 99.9 - This was just under construction when I moved out of the area so I don't know much about it. Skinner built it - who knows how many people got ripped off on this one. I don't know anything about its ownership now. DISCLAIMER: Yes, I worked for Morgan Skinner for 3 weeks. After two weeks when I asked him for my check he claimed he had hired me as an intern. A week later he gave me a check for $1.00 an hour less than he had hired me for and it bounced. In case you can't tell I can't stand the man and hope he crawls back under the rock he came out from under.

[FriendLee]

Don't sugarcoat it....tell us how you really feel about the Skinner clan!

(I agree with you, some people just don't belong in broadcasting and it isn't always 'cos they have a voice for print!)

Friend Lee

[lempor]

I called a friend in St. George who used to live up here, she gave me kind of a quick word on some of them. Although she did not know much about the history.

KDXU 890 AM - Currently one of three news talkers in the area. Probably the most successful. I'm guessing thats a big thanks to Sean Hannity

KUNF 1210 AM - AM Oldies....

KSNU 93.5 FM - Hot A/C, Recently moved to 106.1, and got a new logo. Their website looks like a Star SLC knock off. It is at www.sunny106.com . Brian and Cindy were on this station for a while, then they split up, now they are back at 95.9 KZHK
KREC 98.1 FM. Tim Porter recently replaced Brian Benware as PD. Several members of the sales staff quit shortly after.

KREC 98.1 - One of the heritage stations in town, STAR 98 has former Salt Laker Randy Rose as part of the RAndy and Jenny morning show. Simmons/Bonneville have not done much with it latley.

KPLD 94.3 - Alt/Rocker. Led by new PD and morning guy Jon Smith formerly of KENZ and KJQN in Salt Lake. They have a site at www.943theplanet.com

KZHK 95.9 - "The Hawk" The new home to Brian and Cindy. A classic rocker. Rumored to be moving the whole thing to Vegas at sometime soon.

KZNU 1450 am - Fox News, Another of three N/T stations in the area.

KONY 99.9 - The big country station. Seems to have the heritage. GM Carl Lamar and OM Marty Lane do the morning show.

[Sailor]

In the middle 60's KSL was blessed with a GREAT general manager by the name of Joe Kjar. (CARE). A good man, and a truly professional broadcaster. Sometime in the early 70's Joe was moved to Bonneville under Arch Madsen (frankly to keep Arch from screwing anything else up). At that time a Don Bybee, who had been the sales manager for KSL for a few years and was the GM for the Kansas property was tapped to come back to Utah as the General Manager of KSL AM.

Arch Madsen didn't like Kjar looking over his sholder, and convinced 47 East, South Temple to call Joe as a Mission President. When that happend, Don Bybee was kinda pushed out of KSL-AM (he was a jerk anyway in my opinion) and I believe it was Bybee, and maybe Kjar when he returned from his mission, who were involved in the St. George Radio station. They were acting on their own, however, and not affilated with Bonneville in any way! (This bit of radio trivia brought to you by the letters O, L, D, and the number "who cares").

[big51unit]

Thanks for the info, Sailor. I've had a few people e-mail me with some more information and it matches what you have said.

Apparently when the Miner family abandoned 1450 for 890 on KDXU the signal was purchased by a man by the name of Ray Carpenter who's expertise is in cable TV. From what I was told from a former PD while Ray Carpenter was there, Carpenter didn't really have any motivation to do anything with the station other than sell it for a profit which he did.

The Bonneville connection that I didn't understand came when Joe Kjar, who had retired from Bonneville; Don Bybee, also retired (more on that in a bit); and Gary Whipple, the son of Blaine Whipple who was at that time still employed by Bonneville and couldn't take ownership bought the station. When Blaine retired from Bonneville Gary sold his interest to Blaine. A person who worked for Bybee at KSL told me that Bybee had a pretty harsh drinking problem. Surprisingly with that being a Mormon station the high-ups at Bonneville looked the other way. Apparently Joe Kjar felt sorry for Bybee and protected him as best he could. You are correct that Bybee was "phased out" from KSL when Kjar went on his mission and was fully out of the KSL picture when Kjar got back. I guess Bybee could be arrogant but reasonably nice when sober but was a real SOB when he got drunk.

Thanks to the people who sent me this info!

[Sailor]

Well I had the pleasure to work for Joe Kjar, and the displeasure to work for Don Bybee. Once upon a time Don Bybee was sales manager for Joe Kjar at KSL-AM. So Bybee and Kjar go way back. Bybee was sent to Kansas when Bonneville owned properties there. But was brought back to KSL when Joe Kjar was promoted upstairs. (Bonneville Vice President). I believe it was Joe Kjar looking out for an old and loyal employee. (Joe Kjar, Papa-Joe as he was known then, was all about loyalty. If you were loyal to Joe, he was loyal to you unless you just screwed yourself beyond all recognition).

The futures and careers of Top Bonneville management would ebb and flow depending on who was in power at 47 East South Temple Street. With the death of Joseph Fielding Smith as prophet, fortunes started to change at Bonneville. Arch Madsen was falling from grace and *I* believe that Kjar was sent to the top to become heir apparent to the Bonneville Top Job. (Joe Kjar's middle name was Ashton, as in Marvin J. Ashton, hint, hint). But somewhere along the line, the combined power of Arch Madsen, and L. H. "Curt" Curtis, was underestimated. I believe they are the ones that got Joe Kjar called on a mission for the church, and with him out of the way, Curtis had a clear shot at Arch's job. As an aside, Curtis didn't get Arch's job, there was a major reorganization, and Rodney Brady became head of Bonneville.

As soon as Joe Kjar was out of the picture, Don Bybee had no defender, and was soon 'phased out', the GM position passed to Dean Lindsay, a prince of a man, and former Sales Manager.

Anyway, when Joe Kjar got back from his mission, Rodney Brady was firmly in control, and Joe Kjar was shut out. There were hard feelings, I understand that Joe Kjar wouldn't even 'tour' the new studios at the Triad Center. That is when Kjar, Bybee and Whipple got together in St. George. But by then I was out of the market, and not following the rise and fall of the KSL fortunes.

As far as Don Bybee having a drinking problem, I can not confirm or deny that, I just don't have knowledge. Don had a very abrasive management style, and I truly believe he would sell his mother if he got a good offer. He was a good sales man, and probably was a very agressive Sales Manager. As far as General Manager, he was totally out of his element with engineering issues, and not very good about programming.

He was indicisive, and would put off making decisions, until the issue was moot and the opportunity to make a decision was gone. Then he would blame others for what ever happened. He was truly a Sales manager who rose beyond his level of competence when they made him a General Manager.

[big51unit]

Just to clarify one thing that I should have put in my original post, Sailor. The person, who was an ex-employee of Bybee's also, never did say or imply that Bybee would come to work drunk or would be impaired because of drinking while working. His comment was more on the line that after-hours Don would go out and become Mr. Hyde and that it would show the morning after.

I didn't realize that you were at KSL in the true glory days. I've heard that Joe was loyal, sometimes to a fault. If the stories I've heard about Joe are true he must have been a great guy to work under.

[Sailor]

I don't know how 'glorious' those days were. Seems that we always look back and say the past was better times than the present, but regardless, we can't change the past, we can only impact the future.

The thing, in my opinion, that made Joe Kjar a good General Manager was his thorough knowledge of the industry. He had been a DJ, (had a beautiful voice), he had done some engineering (although I don't think he held a FCC 1st Class License), and had worked his way to the GM spot by performing as a Sales guy. There was no job in the station that he hadn't done except maybe tend the transmitter. As a result he couldn't be bull-****ted.

Joe would listen carefully to department heads, weigh the arguments, and then make a decision. He was a stand up guy, who took his lumps when he was wrong, and basked in the glory when he was right. If you can't tell, *I* think he was a wonderful person, and manager and I would have followed him into Hell if he had asked me to.

It didn't hurt that he had the confidence of the ownership (47 East, South Temple Street), and could get a good read on the whims of the Quorum of the 12 when necessary. I am told now that Bonneville is much different to work for, and that church politics and station politics aren't so tightly connected, however back in the 'glory days' (as you put it), you could find yourself out of favor and suffering serious career issues becasue of the death of one appostle.

P.S. I would love to get in touch with your friend who was there during the Joe Kjar, Don Bybee era, we probably know each other, and while I am just as cautious as I am sure he is, if there is a way to communicate through the email I would sure like that!

[big51unit]

Hey, Sailor.

Sorry, I've been gone for a while on vacation. I talked to Rich and he said no problem if you contact him. His name is Rich Fisher. He said you probably wouldn't recognize the name because he was there for a fairly short time. His e-mail is fishercommNOSPAM at comcast dot net

You know the drill on cleaning that up I'll assume. Be patient with him, he's one of these people that checks his personal e-mail every two weeks or so. He can't give out his business addy.

[Sailor]

Don't recognize the name Rich Fisher. What years was he there, I was there from 70 to 74, working in AM radio. I knew most ofthe FM guys, since they were there sharing most of the radio space.

[commanderlumpy]

Hello folks. A few things to say here. First Cal is doing a great job of programming Power 91. I have had a jun time working there during the summer. I am also looking forward to working there in the fall again. I go by Kevin Mcfan on the radio. Second, I know the blind newsman who Bigunit51 talked about. He is cool. What do you all think of Bryan Hid on AM 1450? I am assuming that is a different Bryan then the one who is on The Hock.

[big51unit]

Sorry I've been gone for a bit but I'll still say the Cal Rollins is wasting his talent there. He could do AC anywhere in the US. And I'm glad to hear that someone else knows Kent McGregor. I still remember listening to him doing a report from a gasoline tanker fire on SR-9 around the Virgin River bridge. When someone asked him, "how does a blind reporter describe a fire?" Kent replied, "You don't have to be able to see to know that it's hot."

Kent and Cal were great...and had they wanted to they could have gone on to much bigger and better things, but I guess they were good where they are...as the line goes, not that there's anything wrong with that!

[hansen]

Bryan Hyde on 1450 is not the same Brian as the Hawk, THAT is Brian Benware.

Both of them have been around St. George for years. Hyde was on am 860 for like 10 years, and Benware was on Sunny 93 for quite some time as well.

[oldradio]

big51unit said:

I went to college in SG & CC in the '80s and worked in the area in the until about'94.


KZNU 1450 - The original KDXU frequency it stayed on the air under a different name after KDXU's move to 890. Someone from KSL or Bonneville or somewhere in Salt Lake bought it after the move then sold it to a crook named Morgan Skinner. Some of Skinner's highlights included being arrested for bouncing employee's paychecks and running the station on a portable generator when St. George shut his power off. The Quail Creek flood wiped the station out but the payout gave Skinner enough money to build...

KONY 99.9 - This was just under construction when I moved out of the area so I don't know much about it. Skinner built it - who knows how many people got ripped off on this one. I don't know anything about its ownership now. DISCLAIMER: Yes, I worked for Morgan Skinner for 3 weeks. After two weeks when I asked him for my check he claimed he had hired me as an intern. A week later he gave me a check for $1.00 an hour less than he had hired me for and it bounced. In case you can't tell I can't stand the man and hope he crawls back under the rock he came out from under.

And you worked for Skinner (if you can call it that) where? Logan was it?