Radio owner looks to serve and entertain community
Seven radio stations make up the Cache Valley Radio Group and the man behind the music is their president, Kent Frandsen.
He started just out of high school in the small town of Blackfoot, Idaho, as an announcer for the radio there. He loved and was fascinated by the work, he said.
From there, he went to Sun Valley, Idaho, to bring an unsuccessful company to its feet.
“It was a failure from day one,” Frandsen said.
He turned the company around and was able to purchase it four years later, he said. Those beginnings started Frandsen down the path to becoming the top decision-maker for a company that affects the flow of information and entertainment to people throughout Utah and Idaho.
The Cache Valley Radio Group includes five FM stations and two AM stations. Two of the FM stations are licensed in Idaho, and another one is licensed in Smithfield. The rest belong to Logan, Frandsen said.
The FM stations are Q92, 94.5 VFX, Rock 95.9, KIX 96 and the Giant 103.9. The AM stations are Memories 1390 and KVNU 610, which covers news, talk and sports, he said. These stations compete with those from Salt Lake City and Brigham City.
As president of the company, Frandsen’s job is to “do all the things no one else will do,” he said.
Basically, his daily routine includes sorting through a desk covered in paperwork. He also coordinates the activities between the program managers and sales managers. Frandsen is the one to “stand back and look at the whole picture,” he said.
When he started in the business, there was only one station to deal with. So, it can be difficult to pull everything together when seven different radio stations are being pitched in seven different ways, Frandsen said. Their goal is to create a responsible, entertaining presentation that reflects the good things about the community they serve.
“Sometimes we get outside the line,” he said.
The goal of programming is to be informative, relatable and fun. The goal of selling is to create a profitable partnership with local merchants and give them a respectable return for their investment in the radio station, Frandsen said.
Accomplishing daily goals requires “going back to the road map to make sure we are where we want to be and focused on where we want to get,” he said.
Lynn Simmons, program director of the KIX 96 morning show, said Frandsen is the “coolest guy to work for” and is great at pulling together the “seven unique personalities that come across on the radio.”
Frandsen said the radio station plays an important role in the community. They will have done their job if they are “invited to hang out – to go along with” the people of Cache Valley and the students at Utah State University.