CARRIE MOTEN JOINS I97.5
A voice familiar to Top 40 listeners has returned to the format she loves—and she's back in her hometown, to boot.
Carrie Moten, who for six years teamed with KRQQ FM 93.7 morning-hosts Johnjay and Rich, has joined new rival Top 40 station KSZR, aka i97.5 FM, in a yet-to-be-designated capacity.
Moten has done a couple of on-site remotes for the CHR (contemporary-hit radio) station, including the Kiss My Kia contest, where she was on hand to give away a new car.
"She has great name recognition with the audience and the clients," said KSZR interim program director Buzz Jackson, who is splitting time between 97.5 and the Cumulus cluster's linchpin station, country-music format KIIM FM 99.5. "She's a great face for the radio station."
Moten has been largely absent from Arizona for the last three years or so. Not terribly long ago, KRQ, owned by Clear Channel, had a bank of local DJs doing on-air shifts, with the popular Johnjay and Rich Show as the anchor. Moten was part of that team from 2003 to 2008, but Johnjay and Rich moved to Phoenix in 2008, and shortly thereafter, management opted for things such as syndicated fare, like Ryan Seacrest's afternoon program. As a result, the station has this huge studio—and even a sponsorship for that huge studio, at its offices on Fort Lowell and Oracle roads—but nobody is ever actually there.
Moten moved to Phoenix as part of the Johnjay and Rich exodus and remained with the show until 2009. Then, she landed a radio gig in Philadelphia before returning to Tucson.
"Philly is (the eighth-largest market). In the morning, you could have 50 shows on at the same time on different radio stations," Moten said. "Coming from that back to a smaller market, to the hometown where I was born and raised, and seeing what the city needs now, you really are empowered to find the voice the city is missing and go after it—and that's where I'm at now. I took a couple of months to figure out what's happening in radio and television here, and now it's time to go after what I think is missing."
KSZR is hoping Moten's familiarity with listeners of the format will give the station a push in its uphill climb to be competitive against the Top 40 juggernaut of KRQ. KSZR has a legacy problem and a signal-strength disadvantage, but it's making gradual strides to enhance its local footprint.
"Our goal is to hire a program director who will be on the air," Jackson said. "We want to be live at some point."
Although exactly how live, and exactly what Moten's role will be, are still to be determined. At the very least, Moten is a veteran of the format, and that can't hurt.
"I bleed CHR," Moten said. "That's what I'm about."
MEYER LANDS NEWS GIG IN VEGAS
Chuck Meyer, who spent six years as program director of KCUB AM 1290 and most recently was the news voice for the Journal radio cluster, has accepted a news position with KXNT FM 100.5 in Las Vegas.
The CBS-owned station is one of many under that ownership group to transition to the FM band for news/talk. KXNT has a familiar syndicated-talk lineup featuring the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
Meyer was called upon to handle program-director duties when KCUB wrested the UA sports contract from KNST AM 790. Prior to his arrival in Tucson, Meyer handled sports programming at the Austin flagship station for University of Texas Longhorns athletics. After leaving KCUB, Meyer handled news responsibilities for multiple Journal stations before the Vegas opportunity presented itself.
On the obligatory disclaimer front: I continue to work at KCUB in a pre- and postgame broadcast capacity for UA football and men's basketball games. I had that position throughout Meyer's tenure at the station.
LOVE IS ON THE AIR
Three Tucsonans with media ties are featured prominently in the summer/fall 2012 edition of Tucson Bride and Groom magazine.
KOLD Channel 13 meteorologist Aaron Pickering, KMSB Channel 11 Daybreak morning-host Gina Trunzo and KGUN Channel 9 weekend-news-anchor Tammy Vo were afforded space in the publication. And while smiles abound in the photos, the best photo of the bunch might be on the magazine's cover, where stoic expressions and flowing five-figure dresses take the day.
Well, I can only assume they're five-figure dresses; weddings are expensive things, I hear. Fortunately, Tucson TV personalities are well-compensated for their services. The cover expressions—saying, "What have I gotten myself into, and how are we going to pay for this?"—are probably just coincidence.
Pickering's bride is Suzanne Stevens. Trunzo married Dr. Richard Ziehmer, and Vo tied the knot with Jake Knapp, who worked in sports at KGUN for six years before landing a TV-sports gig in Phoenix.
KLPX SOCKS FOR SOLDIERS DONATION DRIVE CONTINUES
KLPX FM 96.1 has joined with TAMMS, Tucson Area Marine Moms, to collect socks for soldiers deployed overseas.
The station is running a number of public-service announcements from deployed soldiers explaining the importance of the collection drive. The gist: In the field, the feet take a pounding. As a result, it's easy to go through pairs of socks, and getting more makes the arduous requirements of duty a tad more comfortable.
Socks must be 100 percent cotton, over the calf and dark in color. Drop-off points are Brake Masters locations throughout Tucson and Miller's Surplus.
The Socks for Soldiers collection drive goes through July 4.
