Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 151

Austin American-Statesman Radio Sunday, April 8, 1990 The joke's on the stations in April Fools' flops without a sense of humor. With an The competition between con- board looming over K-98's office only top-40 station in Austin, the temporary hit stations B-93 on West bixth Street. station has been extremely aggres- (KBTS-FM 93.3) and K-98 Since B-93 came into the market sive in going after what used to be (KHFI-FM 98.3) is well character- about three years ago, challenging K-98's audience, although the cam- ized by the enormous B-93 bill- K-98's longstanding position as the paigns have never been waged John Herndon "Jr overwhelming advantage in broadcasting power 100,000 watts vs. K-98's 1,300 B-93 has dominated the ratings competition since its debut. That advantage is disappearing.

And the competition seems likely to intensify. K-98 is upgrading power to 100,000 watts. "This is a real exciting time for us," said station manager Beverly Ray. "This has been a goal for a very long time. Now it's going to be very competitive we'll be going head-to-head." B-93 general manager David Smith discounted the importance of the signal upgrade.

"It's big news that they're going to 100,000 watts," he said. "But they have a real nice signal in town anywav. The 100,000 watts sounds better than it really is. It's not going to improve their in-town signal that much." Because both K-98 and B-93 play hit music that appeals to a young audience, their competition frequently takes on the form of on-air pranks and publicity stunts. Take the recent case of the dueling April Fools' jokes.

Smith found out competitive comedy can sometimes blow up in your face. Morning-show host Mike Butts jumped the gun on April Fools' Day by staging a false-alarm about killer bees in Austin Friday morning, March 30. Butts OR THEY'RE pi rp included ridiculous "facts" in the reports that he thought would give the gag away, Smith said. But some members of the audience, particularly children, were frightened, he said. Butts apologized repeatedly on the air Friday morning, and Smith aired an apology and offered personal apologies to frightened or angry listeners.

K-98 was the winner of this round. K-98's April Fools' joke was a mock-format change from noon to 8 p.m. that day, aimed in part at rumors that the station was about to change to country music. Rumors have been flying in the radio community that K-98 had been sold for $5 million; since it was purchased by Encore Communications for more than $20 million, the sale (which never took place) was erroneously reported in the trade press as the biggest loss in the history of commercial radio. "The rumor was that K-98 had been sold, and we would go country," said morning host Kevin Connor.

"It was not good for business the advertisers didn't like it. It (the mock-format change) was a fun April Fools' joke, and a salute to the people forecasting our demise." The mock-format was cooked up by Connor. He called it "the Rooster," a satirical poke at the recent fad for animal names for radio stations such as B-93, which has a bee for a mascot, and KQFX-FM (96.7). the Fox. Darden Smith, Kelly Willis and Tex Thomas showed up as live guests.

The station got both positive and negative calls on the supposed format change, said manager Ray. "It's all in fun," she said. "It's time this market got back to fun radio." MINI BLINDS Selected Colors 1 Working Day In-Store Sales Only See Store for Details Lifetime Guarantee 255-9622 E3 ES E3 E2 E2E3 E3 D3 E3E2 IS El IS H2 S22 HI S3 El H2 IH IS El Thur- Texas Unlimited Fri Clay Blaker Sal Santa Fe Coming Fri. April 20 SWEETHEARTS OF THE RODEO "KJitne 7U Stat Cat' 16511 BRATTON LANE VERTICALS SPECIAL SALE! Selected Colors (II 11 1 AW Patio door 72" 84" (Valance extra) See Store for Details THE ORIGINAL AUSTIN GUM SHOW AUSTIN, TEXAS CITY COLISEUM South Fiist and Riverside Dr. NEXT WEEKEND APRIL 14 15 Public Invited AM to 6:00 PM AM to 5:00 PM (flBaafe iMii I Quality for your home Blinds Draperies Verticals BUY-SELL-SWAP or JUST LOOK 350 TABLES EARLY BIRD SPECIAL 2 for 1 Admission 9 am-1 0 am both days Children under 1 2 Free with adult 50 Free Parking admission 71 1.