Wow—Alpha Broadcasting has blown up heritage rocker KUFO-FM in Portland to make it a simulcast of its Newsradio 750 KXL. KXL-AM/FM will now deliver news and information, featuring in-depth reporting on local, national and international stories, weather and the most frequent and thorough traffic reports throughout the day to a broader audience utilizing the powerful signal at 101.1FM.
No HD-2 simulcast for KUFO, either. Just this at their website, which reverts over to KXL after so many seconds:
However, Susan Reynolds, Alpha’s Director of Marketing & Promotion tells RBR-TVBR KUFO’s ultimate destiny is yet to be decided: “For now, KUFO is gone and the programming on 101.1FM has switched over to NewsTalk.”
Home of the Lars Larson Show, KXL has been honored for its excellence in journalism more than any station on the West Coast, including the Columbia DuPont Award, often referred to as “Broadcasting’s Pulitzer.”
The weekday line-up will remain intact as follows:
5-9am: Portland’s Morning News
9am-12pm: The Glenn Beck Program
12pm-4pm: The Lars Larson Show
4-7pm: Portland’s Afternoon News
7-9pm: The Lars Larson National Show
9pm-12am: The Jason Lewis Show
Weekend shows will also continue on new KXL-AM/FM, including popular lifestyle favorites, In the Garden with Mike Darcy and Around the House with Handyman Bob.
“Today begins a new chapter in Portland radio as we bring the news and information heard on KXL to the FM dial at 101.1,” commented Alpha Broadcasting President/COO Bob Proffitt. “The future of news is on FM and we are excited to be the first to make the move. Alpha Broadcasting is committed to improving KXL’s reach and solidifying our position as the live and local leader in Portland radio, both on-air and online. With our robust news department, solid programming line-up and 85 years of heritage, we now offer our exclusive content on the powerful signal at 101.1 FM, exposing a whole new audience to the station and providing information to them as they’ve never heard it before…with the great fidelity of the FM signal. We have seen this trend growing across the country and are very excited to bring this incredible station to so many more radio listeners of Portland and Southwest Washington.”
RBR-TVBR observation: KUFO was tied for 15th in the latest PPMs, while its sister AAA KINK-FM was up at 13th. Funny, though, their ratings were quite close in January—a 13.0 vs. 13.1. But over the holidays, KUFO was down in the 2.5-2.7 range. This may have been more about money than ratings, with the national trend of all-news and news-talkers moving to FM being a lucrative one—both in ad dollars and ratings.
