KOVO's new owners plan to keep all-sports format

The Simmons Media Group now owns KOVO (AM-960, Provo), but don't expect any changes to the station.

According to G. Craig Hanson, Simmons president, the deal was closed a few months ago. He said Simmons wanted the station because it has such a strong signal in the Utah County area.

Simmons has been simulcasting KZNS ("The Zone," AM-1280) on KOVO for several years now and he said no changes are expected to the all-sports format.

Simmons had a lease agreement and had been running KOVO for the past few years, so the sale — said to be worth $1 million — is no surprise.

"We consolidated and now we're expanding," Hanson said of Simmons Media's current direction.

The company sold KSFI, KRSP and others to Bonneville several years ago and is now purchasing even more stations outside Utah. Hanson said Simmons more recently has radio acquisitions in Las Vegas but still needs facilities built there.

Simmons also owns stations in Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Idaho and southern Utah.

Hanson said that satellite radio is not really impacting local radio. "It's more like satellite TV," Hanson said.

The two satellite companies have about 8 million U.S. subscribers combined, but Hanson said that doesn't even represent the Los Angeles or New York radio markets alone in total numbers.

"Will it ever eclipse over-the-air radio? No," Hanson said. "Radio is a seasoned traditional media."

What satellite radio is doing is giving the public even more media choices, but the local aspect is the bread and butter of airwave radio.

Regarding radio advertising for 2005, Hanson said ad revenues are up about 4 percent.

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