Considering this blog is linked to the KUPL website, you may think my congratulations are a bit biased. Actually, I'd be wishing them congratulations, regardless of whether I had this blog or not. I've been a KUPL listener for a long time now, and have seen a lot of the changes the station has been through; including moving from 98.5 to 98.7 on the radio dial.
Like any other listener, there's things over the years I've liked, and things I haven't. Let's face it, it doesn't matter who, or what it is, no one/nothing will please everyone all the time. It's life, it's what makes things interesting.
I, like other listeners, wasn't happy about how things happened with Lee & Alana. After Lee, (and Jim E. Chonga), being at the station for so many years, it was sad when it all came to an end. I also realize though, that it was business. That doesn't mean things should have happened how they did...it's just how radio works.
Listeners of Lee & Alana definitely were NOT happy about the change. A lot of things were said about never listening to KUPL again, etc. And a lot of those listeners did stop listening.
I've always felt however, that before giving up on something that's changed, it should be given a chance to prove itself. If I didn't truly believe this, I would have stopped listening to KUPL when Smokey Woods left the station.
On January 4, 2010, KUPL, (now owned by Alpha Broadcasting), started their new morning show, "Simon & Sam in the Morning". It was a rough start. Even listeners who stayed with KUPL were not happy with the new show.
At a station event that same month, the morning show got an earful about what listeners liked and didn't like about the new show. To their credit, the morning show team did take to heart what was said, as the following Monday you could hear some changes taking place. It was still a rough go however.
If it wasn't hard enough trying to get a new morning show running, the afternoon drive time shift was, in my opinion, "all over the place"...It seemed like it took forever to finally have a permanent person at the helm.
Not long after the afternoon drive slot was filled, yet another change took place at KUPL. Rick "Bubba" Taylor was let go after 25+ years at the station. Some listeners who'd stuck out the morning show change began bailing after that. I still had the "stick it out and see how it goes" mind set; though I did check the "other" station occasionally, to hear what they had going on.
I'm a person who likes live DJ's on the air. For me, it's as important as the music that's being played. That's why, even though the "other" station had more music variety at the time, I kept listening to KUPL...The DJ's at the other station just didn't hold my attention. I'm glad I stuck it out with KUPL.
By April, 2010, "Sam" left the morning show and Earthquake Jake became a permanent part of "Simon in the Morning". Things just seemed to steadily take off from that point. "Simon in the Morning" has evolved steadily over the past year, and they really make people laugh. What I like about them is, they're real...You can tell what you hear on the air is what you get in person. The laughter is genuine, not forced, and you can tell, Scott, Jolynn and Jake really get along. While not trying to take anything away from Lee Rogers, or anyone else previously on the KUPL morning shift, to me, this is the best, most real, morning show KUPL has ever had in all the years I've been listening. More proof for me was when a friend of mine, (a die-hard listener of the "other" station), told me she'd switched over permanently to KUPL. This is a person who, guaranteed, wouldn't have done that if she didn't want to.
To be honest, I was excited when Lola came to KUPL. I'd remembered her from the other station in Portland, before I'd started listening to KUPL. Liked her then, and still like her now. Again, just my opinion: I think Lola is a great shot in the arm to middays on KUPL. Like the morning team, Lola is a "what you see is what you get", person; she's real.
Over all, I think KUPL has dialed in well to what listeners want; not just with the DJ's, but with contests, music, the whole station package in general. Obviously it's not something that happened overnight; it's taken over a year to get to the point KUPL is under the leadership of Alpha Broadcasting. As stated at the beginning of this blog though, the latest Arbitron ratings are solid proof of how well KUPL is doing. So congrats again KUPL! Keep up the great work!
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