Kisc-Fm Back To Its Old Habits
Welcome to the new KISC-FM, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the 1995 KISC-FM.
The station, aka 98 KISS FM, is returning to the formula that served it so well earlier in the decade.
The morning team of Rob Harder and Mark Holman, known as The Wise Guys, went back on the air Monday after a three-year hiatus. Harder and Holman were among the top-rated morning teams in town from 1988 to 1995, but then Harder went off the air to devote his energies to his job as program director and operations manager. In the meantime, Holman worked mornings with several partners, to varying degrees of success.
“What we were doing wasn’t working, so we’re going back to what worked,” admitted Harder, with a candor unusual in the radio biz.
In addition, Terry Holiday, the original host of KISC’s “Love Notes,” has returned to that show after a long bout of wandering in the wilderness (actually, he wandered over to KXLY-FM in 1996). He returned to KISC in June as the production director, and now he and Ian Richards are swapping jobs. Richards becomes production director, and Holiday will be back on “Love Notes,” commiserating with lovestruck callers and taking requests from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Double-threat Peterson
Meanwhile, over at KAEP-FM (105.7, The Peak), listeners have noticed a familiar voice on the morning show: Mark Peterson, who also happens to be KHQ-6’s main weather anchor.
Peterson has been a temporary fill-in at The Peak for about a month, until the station finds a permanent team for mornings. Peterson was a TV and radio man in Montana before coming to Spokane and now he’s back doing both again, if only for a while.
“I don’t know how he does it,” said operations manager Ray Edwards. “I think he’s only getting about three or four hours of sleep.”
He said Peterson has proven to be The Peak’s most popular morning fill-in.
Peterson is teamed with Haley Jones, who is also the program director. Edwards said he is still looking for a long-term solution to what has been a continuing morning problem. He said there has been far too much turnover in that morning slot since The Peak debuted in 1995. (What? More candor in the radio biz?)
A Motley visit
Motley Crue, the quintessential ‘80s bad-boy band, is coming to the Spokane Opera House on Feb. 13.
Yes, that means Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx will be in our fair city. Motley Crue had its first hit about 16 years ago, which means it’s just about ready to ride a nostalgia wave. Tickets go on sale Saturday at all G&B Select-a-Seat outlets.
The opening act, by the way, will be a local band chosen through a series of auditions, sponsored by KHTQFM (Rock 94 and a Half).
A plate of Curry
Standup comic Mark Curry, best known as the star of ABC’s “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” will bring his comedy act to the Ridpath Hotel ballroom on Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are now on sale through G&B.
Curry is a veteran of his own HBO Comedy Special.
Prime-time ratings redux
Last week, I wrote that NBC beat CBS in the prime-time ratings in the Spokane market, but that was only about five-sevenths correct.
I was looking strictly at the Monday through Friday numbers. As Barry Barth at KREM-2 pointed out, if you factor in Saturday and Sunday’s prime-time shows, CBS won here just as it did in the nation at large.
That’s because CBS draws huge numbers on Sunday with “60 Minutes and “Touched by an Angel.”
So the overall prime-time sweeps numbers for the Spokane market are as follows: CBS, 9 rating, 18 share; NBC, 8 rating, 16 share; ABC, 8 rating, 16 share; Fox, 4 rating, 8 share.
Summer shows in CdA
The Carrousel Players of the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre have announced their 1999 season:
“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” - The parable of the coat of many colors, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber at his lightest and campiest. July 8-17.
“Forever Plaid” - The mythical foursome The Plaids will transport you back to the ‘50s era of four-part harmonies. July 22-31.
“The Pajama Game” - A 1954 classic, from the pen of Adler and Ross, about antics at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory. This is a legendary show, long overdue for revival. Aug. 5-14.
“The Will Rogers Follies” - The revue-style musical about the life of Will Rogers, with lots of showgirls thrown in for good measure. Aug. 19-28.
Overall, the lineup reflects this summer-stock theater’s characteristic blend of new and old Broadway hits.
For information on season subscriptions, call (800) 4-CDA-TIX or (208) 769-7780.
`Jacques Brel’
The Spokane Civic Theatre has announced its final selection for the Studio Theatre season: “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.”
This 1968 revue consists of 26 songs by Brel, a famed Belgian balladeer. Topics include love, life, war and death. The tone: largely bittersweet. Susan Smith directs.
This show will run April 16 to May 8, and it replaces the previously announced “How I Learned to Drive” by Paula Vogel, which was snagged by the Interplayers Ensemble instead.
Onyx is up
The Onyx Theatre Troupe, Spokane’s African-American theater group, has announced its next production: “The Colored Museum,” a 1979 series of comic sketches about the black experience, by George C. Wolfe.
It will run Feb. 5-20 at the Spartan Theatre at Spokane Falls Community College. Call 921-5908 for details and tickets.
TCI adds Pax TV
TCI has made a change in the Spokane cable lineup.
Pax TV, a family channel with an emphasis on reruns of an uplifting sort (“Touched by An Angel,” “Dr. Quinn”) along with some original programming, has taken over channel 8 on the Spokane-area cable.
The Prevue Channel has moved to channel 45, and MoviePlex has been deleted.