KVNI dons ESPN helmet
<p>Kerri Thoreson, whose Main Street column appears every Wednesday in The Press, will keep her morning show on KVNI from 6-8 a.m. each Monday and Wednesday.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Starting Tuesday, local radio station KVNI is bulking up on a powerful sports diet.
That means its music format of doo-wop and oldies is about to be sacked.
Part of the transition to ESPN sports programming also means KVNI's morning shows will lose a little weight, going from a weekday window of 6-9 a.m. to 6-8 a.m.
"For KVNI to be viable, we need to reflect locally," said Program Director Gary Allen, who's been with the station since 1997. "With doo-wop and oldies, it just seems like a pretty weird dichotomy with the high school game of the week, Seattle Mariners, University of Idaho and other sports."
Brian Paul, general manager of the radio group that includes KVNI and KXLY, said Arbitron ratings helped him decide the switch was needed.
"The audience has been diminishing for the doo-wop and the oldies," he said Friday, "where the audience for the morning shows hasn't."
Paul said ESPN's compelling brand will better connect local programming each morning with ABC news at the top of the hour and the local/regional/national sports KVNI will now deliver.
Allen said the popular local morning shows, hosted Mondays and Wednesdays by Kerri Thoreson and the other weekday mornings by Joe Paisley, will remain intact. They'll just shave an hour each day off those programs, which feature interviews with local personalities and focus on local issues and initiatives.
Allen acknowledged that KVNI (1080 AM) will share some of the same programming as ESPN affiliate KXLX (700 AM) in Spokane, including Spokane sports talk personalities Dennis Patchin, Keith Osso and Steve the Wingman each weekday between 3 and 6 p.m.
"There probably will be some [duplication]," Allen said, "but with all the technology out there these days, some duplication isn't avoidable."
Wherever possible, Allen said, the focus is going to be on local - especially sports.
"On Friday mornings, for instance, Joe's whole approach is going to be what's going on with high school games," he said.
Allen also said KVNI's local advertising inventory will remain strong, particularly during the 6-8 a.m. weekday time slots.