Former KTAR-AM 620 Phoenix morning host Bill Heywood and his wife, Susan, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in a Scottsdale hotel room, police said.
Scottsdale, Arizona police Sergeant Mark Clark said that a note was found in the hotel room and they believe it was a murder-suicide. Sergeant Clark would not say what the note said. Bill Heywood became a long-time morning personality on KTAR-AM 620 after several years on the air at KOY-AM 550.
Former Clear Channel Top 40 KDWB-FM 101.3 Minneapolis/St. Paul PD Rob Morris has been named OM of CBS Radio’s KMNB-FM 102.9 (BUZ’N 102.9) and KZJK-FM 104.1 (104.1 Jack FM.) Rob will become PD of BUZ’N once his non-compete clause expires on July 2, 2012. While he’s waiting, Rob will join CBS cousin WJHM-101.9 Daytona Beach/Orlando as an on-site consultant. What a great way to escape Minnesota in January! KMNB’s interim PD Kevin Metheny will stay with the station until Morris arrives this summer.
Prior to his recent departure, Morris had spent the previous 17 years at KDWB. Congratulations, Rob!
This is Drew, the ‘head geek’ here at RadioGeekHeaven.com! Thanks so much for making this site part of your radio hobby this past year. Whether your interest is current broadcast radio news, classic radio airchecks, CB radio, scanning, AM/FM/TV DXing, or any other aspect of the radio world, I’m glad you chose to spend some time here.
My New Year’s resolution is to devote more time and effort to this site in 2012. During 2011, I was busy with several other projects, so I didn’t get to spend as much time on Radio Geek Heaven as I would have liked. In 2012, I will strive to put some more emphasis on this little corner of the Internet universe. If you have comments, suggestions, or submissions, by all means, please contribute! Without your readership and interaction, this site would not be possible. Feel free to use the comment section, located below each posting. If you’d rather not comment publicly, use the e-mail link, located in the ‘About Drew’ section.
Thanks again for making 2011 a great year for RadioGeekHeaven.com. Here’s to an even better 2012. Happy New Year, fellow radio geeks!
The last time the KTWN call letters were heard on Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota was over 28 years ago on 107.9. Northern Lights has confirmed they will be returning as ’96.3 NOW’ KHTC becomes Adult CHR ‘K-TWIN’ on January 1, 2012. Here is the official press release:
“Steve Woodbury, the President and CEO of Northern Lights Broadcasting announced today a shift in programming direction for its Twin Cities radio station, 96.3 NOW, KHTC FM, January 1, 2012. “There is a real opportunity for a locally owned and operated radio station that can personally connect with Twin Cities’ listeners. With the exception of a hand full of Twin Cities’ commercial stations, most are currently owned and operated by large, national radio groups that are programmed and supervised from a national platform.”
On Sunday, KHTC FM, (96.3 Now), will be changing its call letters to heritage call letters, KTWN FM (96.3 K-TWIN) and adjusting its music format from Rhythmic CHR to Adult Top 40. In addition, the station will be introducing a new morning show on 1/4/12 which will feature extensive news, weather, sports, traffic and fun conversation and will be hosted by 12 year KARE 11 news and sports anchor, Eric Perkins & Tony Fly, 20 year Twin Cities radio personality. KTWN FM radio personality and former Miss Minnesota International, Danni Starr will also be a part of the new morning show.
According to Operations Vice President, Sam Elliot, “an extensive research study was done in the Twin Cities in September of this year to determine new opportunities for music and personalities. The move to Adult Top 40 music offers the listener today’s guitar based, pop alternative music as well as similar, gold based, hit music from 1985 to the present. Artists include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Adele, Linkin Park, Daughtry, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, U2, Nickleback, Soul Asylum, Coldplay, Maroon 5, and Foster the People.” According to Elliot, “70% of the songs heard on the new 96.3 K-TWIN will be music that isn’t currently being played in the market”.
Elliot also stated that “in addition, the September research indicated that listeners want more local news, weather, and sports from local personalities they know and trust…and…from people who have homes, raise families, and work in the Twin Cities. In addition to morning show personalities Eric Perkins, Tony Fly, and Danni Starr, KTWN FM’s other shows will be hosted by Twin Cities’ talent Lisa Wright, Dan Riggs, B Wright, and Dan Jordan. Former KARE 11 news anchors Rick Kupchella, Amy Hockert, and others will deliver the local and national news, weather, and sports hourly throughout the day.”
Northern Lights Broadcasting, KTWN’s parent company is locally owned by the Pohlad Family which is known for having extensive community involvement with their various companies including the Minnesota Twins and the Pohlad Charitable Foundation. As Woodbury stated, “We intend to have KTWN FM mirror the community and be responsive to its entertainment and information needs.” KTWN FM will be: ‘Your Town, Your Friends, Your Hits’.”
Just 2 days after WLTE-FM Minneapolis flips to BUZ’N Country 102.9 (see previous story), another heritage Lite AC in the Upper Midwest puts on their cowboy boots. This time, it’s Clear Channel’s WMT-FM, Mix 96.5. The switch took place December 27 at 9:00AM, a day and a half after Mix 96.5 ended it’s seasonal Christmas music format.
Clear Channel had been testing the waters for Kiss Country on the 95.7 frequency, licensed to Anamosa. Unfortunately, the 95.7 signal proved too weak in Cedar Rapids to compete effectively against Cumulus’ KHAK-FM 98.1. By contrast, the WMT-FM signal is a full 100,000 watts and will have coverage parity with KHAK.
For the immediate future, the new Kiss Country will be simulcast on 96.5 and 95.7. The station is currently running jockless, but is expected to add a local morning show in January, 2012.
In case you have not yet heard, there were major fights yesterday at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Police said as many as 200 people were involved in the melee. Nine were arrested for disorderly conduct.
I’ve received several e-mail requests for current Mall of America security and police scanner frequencies. I have to admit, I haven’t kept up on Mall communications and are unaware of what type of equipmeny they are now using. I know they utilize a trunked system, but am not sure whether it is analog or digital. Do you know? If it’s a digital system, is it encrypted or “in the clear” and thus able to be monitored with a consumer grade digital scanning receiver? Information on talkgroups and active frequencies would also be appreciated.
The world’s newest Country station has just been born! BUZ’N 102.9 debuted at 6:00PM on December 25, 2011 in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. CBS decided to jump the gun by 14 hours. (Advertised time of arrival was 8:00AM on December 26.)
First song played: Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party. LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!
Did your radio station celebrate Festivus? My friends at Townsquare Media did! The official Festivus Pole was brought into the building. Staff members then participated in an Airing of the Grievances.
(I’m not sure who was pinned in order to end the Festivus celebration!)
KMXA-AM 1090 in Aurora, CO (suburban Denver) was booming into Minnesota last night. This station is licensed for 50,000 watts daytime, but only 500 watts nighttime with a tight 6 tower directional pattern. The nighttime pattern nulls Little Rock as well as in my direction. I’m guessing someone “forgot” to change to nighttime power/pattern. Anyone else hear this?
I was scanning the AM band, looking for stations that might have already begun playing Christmas music. 1090 in my area is usually a jumble of stations at night with no dominant signal. (A far cry from the “old days” when Little Rock’s Mighty 10-90 KAAY absolutely owned the channel after sunset.) Instead of the usual heterodyne mess, I heard a strong broadcast in Spanish.
I listened until the next stopset and was able to pick out references to “Denver” in the PSAs. These were being used to fill breaks in what I presume to have been a satellite music feed. This is how I determined the station to be KMXA. I’m not real familiar with Spanish satellite services/programming, so if you are, please fill us in!
Radio in the Twin Cities is about to get interesting again! This morning, CBS Radio announced that longtime A/C WLTE-FM “102.9 Lite FM” is about to become BUZ’N 102.9, the “New Buz’n Country.” Ever since Colfax’s BOB 100FM left the local airwaves more than 14 years ago, there has been speculation that someone would fill the void and launch a second full-signalled Country FM in the market. Now, it is about to happen.
What makes this situation particularly intriguing is one Mick Anselmo. Mick was instrumental in the creation and success of K102 (KEEY-FM.) Under his direction, K102 became a dominant force in Twin Cities radio, both in terms of revenue and audience share. He served as General Manager of K102 and President of Clear Channel Minneapolis. In 2007, Mick was relieved of his duties. Shortly thereafter, he became Senior VP Market Manager of CBS Minneapolis. Now, with the vast resources of CBS behind him, Mick and his crew is about to launch a direct competitor against his old station.
According to recorded promos currently airing on WLTE, the new BUZ’N 102.9 will debut on Monday, December 26, 2011 at 8:00AM local time. Needless to say, THIS one will be fun to watch and listen to!
