KVNU rules as voice of Cache Valley

KSL radio may be the state's best-known and most-listened-to news/talk radio station, but in Cache Valley, KVNU (AM-610) is king.

With a live morning news show (6-10 with Al Lewis, Alexis Davies and Jennie Christensen) and an afternoon version (4-6 p.m. with Bill Walter and Eric Frandsen) and Utah State University sports broadcasts, KVNU is truly the voice of the Logan area.

The station started in 1938, and its call letters, "VNU," stand for "voice of northern Utah."

KVNU also has some of the most popular syndicated programming available — Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Sean Hannity and Paul Harvey.

The station even has an "on-demand" option on its Web site, www.610kvnu.com, for those who miss live broadcasts or who are out of the Cache Valley area.

Also, according to Utah Radio Guide (www.utradioguide.com), KVNU's broadcast signal can carry thousands of miles at night. In fact, one report says the station's airwave signal recently traveled some 5,000 miles and has been heard as far away as Finland.

That distance by a Utah radio station could be a record.

Of course, many stations are accessible anywhere in the world these days via the Internet, but the live broadcast signal is the traditional way.

—What's the farthest radio signals from other Utah radio stations have gone? According to posts on the forum of Utah Radio Guide, LDS general conference re-broadcasts overnight on KSL have been heard as far away as Mexico City, Also, Doug Wright's show has been received in Hawaii. KSL is also sometimes received in Guam.

The record for a Utah signal might be when Ogden's former KVOG (now KOGN, AM-1490) was heard in New Zealand about 50 years ago.

• DONNY ON KOSY — Donny Osmond will be live and in-studio at KOSY (FM-106.5) on Monday from 7-8 p.m. on the Kelly Monson and Erica Hansen show. He will play cuts from his new CD, "Love Songs of the '70s," talk about his 45-year career in the music industry and play DJ.

• RADIO HAPPENINGS — "Radio from Hell" show on KXRK last Friday did marathon duty and was hoping to broadcast for some 13 hours straight. I listened as late as 2:30 p.m., and they were still going strong. The DJs likely almost tripled their usual 4.5-hour on-air time that day. This was their second annual attempt, and fans of Kerry, Bill and Gina who missed the broadcast live can still hear it through a download available at www.x96.com.