By Tom Busselberg
March 2004

The return of FM 100 to the Bonneville International Corporation fold, earlier this year, signified completion of a full circle.

That's because the old KSL FM was sold to what was then a fledgling Simmons Communications, in 1978. The sale took place basically to satisfy concerns about federal cross-ownership rules -- rules having to do with one entity, in this case The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- owning a daily newspaper, plus an AM, FM, and TV station (KSL AM, FM, and TV), all in the same market.
Thanks to a change in Federal Communications Commission regulations, approved last year, it was possible to bring the now-powerful FM 100 "back into the fold" of Bonneville. It is a perennial ratings leader on the now-all-powerful FM radio band, with a signal that stretches statewide and beyond, thanks to a strong signal augmented by many translator stations.
While FM 100 has to be the prize of the lot for Bonneville, it also acquired other stations in the extremely competitive, well-developed Salt Lake City market: KQMB, 102.7, The Star; KRSP FM, 103.5, now an oldies station that carries remembrances of the old KRSP AM, which was a favorite of many teenagers and 20-somethings, in the 60s and 70s; a new AM station, yet to debut, at 820 on the dial.
Other stations acquired included two AMs and two FMs in the St. George/Cedar City area, and four FMs and three AMs in the Idaho Falls/Pocatello, Idaho market.
Particularly in the case of Southeastern Idaho, it signals a big return to that market, from when Bonneville, started in the mid 1960s, owned the CBS affiliated AM, FM, TV combination (the old KID) in Idaho Falls.
The move to re-claim FM 100, for instance, is more than just a desire to travel down memory lane.
Richard Mecham, Bonneville International's vice-president general manager for radio, said the acquisitions make it possible to more effectively compete.
"You have to have a certain critical mass," he said. The other big guys in the Salt Lake market, and largely across the country, are Citadel Communications and Clear Channel.
Citadel and Clear Channel each own seven stations in the Salt Lake market. Both are behemoth broadcasting companies -- Citadel, based in Las Vegas, counts hundreds of stations from the East to West Coast, while Clear Channel owns at least 1,200 stations. Bonneville, by comparison, with a few dozen stations, is the 12th largest broadcasting company in the nation.
There are about 10,000 radio stations in the nation.
"If we didn't jump on it, we maybe wouldn't have the chance again," he said of the Bonneville/Simmons deal.
By acquiring the Simmons stations, Bonneville assumes the status as number one broadcaster in the Salt Lake market.
But radio stations are usually anything but cheap. It can cost $250 to $300 million to purchase one station, especially if it's tops in its market.
That required wheeling and dealing, at times, which Bonneville has done to increase market share in some markets, while sacrificing a presence in others, Mecham explains.
"We traded KBIG (at one point the number one L.A. FM station) for a four-station cluster in St. Louis," he says, talking additionally of selling properties in one market to gain two more in the mega Chicago market, where Bonneville now has four.
In the nation's capital, Bonneville owns a station with a long tradition for news radio, WTOP, which used to be the flagship station of the Washington Post.
"It's a powerhouse. It's the only news station in that huge market," Mecham said, gaining many more listeners when an FM station was added to simulcast those areas the AM couldn't read.
As with so much in American business, today, a lot of it seems to revolve around ever-bigger conglomeration -- whether it's in discount department/food stores, like Wal-Mart, or broadcasting.
"It doesn't make any sense" to continue implementing rules that were in place 30 years ago, Mecham says. "In 1977, we had three networks, really no cable, no satellite, and the local newspaper. Today, we must have 10 news channels, 150 some-odd cable, 175 satellite stations.
"It doesn't make any sense. We can't control the editorial content of an area. One group can no more control what you see and hear," he emphasized.
Still, there were protests at the proposed changes, both in Salt Lake City and nationally. Complaints centered on feared homogenization of programming, narrowing down points of view, the power that a few providers would have.
Mecham discounts those concerns. "We probably have more live talent on our stations, more localism, than anyone. Our live talent we will keep live," rather than using taped programs made to sound live.
"No one had anyone (live) from 7 p.m.-midnight, not until 5:30 in the morning," he said. That has been returned to local talent weekdays, and expanded to include at least part of Saturdays.
"We're going to take radio back to where it used to be, do it right -- superserve, give that local feel. And we will win.
"If you want to get pre-recorded music, buy a CD," he said.
"I think Bonneville is very positively perceived, the way we've conducted business in all of our markets," he said.
Simmons and Bonneville are working well during the transition, Mecham said. That means temporarily sharing a building on 700 East and 4th South, in Salt Lake City. Eventually, the now-Bonneville stations, like FM 100, will relocate to "Broadcast House" in the Triad Center on 300 West and North Temple.
With the sale of many of its stations, the former 35-station Simmons Group will continue with three Salt Lake area stations: X96, alternative rock; KJQN, adult alternative, The Eagle, 101.5 KEGA, all FM stations; and Sports 1280, KZNS.
Simmons will also continue to own and operate stations in New Mexico and Texas. It is a Utah-based company, operated by the Simmons family which has been associated with Zions Bank. David Simmons oversees the broadcast group's operations.