Columnist John Katsilometes: Why a second Vegas radio station in a month switched formats

Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005 | 8:55 a.m.

Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun.John Katsilometes can be reaches at 259-2327 or 812-9812, or at kats@lasvegassun.com.

Friday KVGS 107.9-FM switched from its urban R&B format to alternative rock. Monday the station's general sales manager was ready with an explanation.

"Radio stations are judged by revenue and ratings," Cheryl Seminara said Monday afternoon. "You can have good ratings, but if you have no revenue, you are going to be changing formats."

Abruptly, too. Similar to the shift by KJUL 104.3-FM from adult standards to country three weeks ago, listeners were caught unaware Friday afternoon when the format switched at KVGS. The station, which was purchased by Riviera Broadcast Group of Phoenix in September, has braced for complaints from fans of the old format.

But don't expect a huge protest effort -- if there is one -- to force a change.

"The people who made this decision have had a lot of success with it in Phoenix," Seminara said. "You always get response -- good, bad and ugly. There is shock, but after the first seven or 10 days, it becomes accepted."

NoteMart

Ivana way out: After attempting to avoid jury duty in Palm Beach, Fla., famous divorcee and Strip developer Ivana Trump is scheduled to appear Wednesday as part of the jury pool in the 15th Judicial Circuit Court at the Palm Beach County Courthouse.

As reported in the Palm Beach Daily News, Trump wrote a letter to then-Chief Judge Edward Fine asking to be relieved of her duties "due to my visibility within the Palm Beach community." But as circuit court spokesman Rick Hussey, a 27-year veteran of the court, noted Monday, "We've had the William Kennedy Smith trial and Rush Limbaugh case here. We had Jack Nicklaus as a juror for a week. We're used to celebrities" ...

More Trump news: Claiming that his Las Vegas project is "far ahead of schedule," Donald Trump's dealmaker Jack Wishna reports that "most of the $1.1 billion Strip project is sold, and we are in the final stages of selling out the remaining units at Trump International Hotel & Towers."

The Trump camp says the project, due to open in mid-2008, is three months ahead of schedule. Also, the Trump book "TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald," by Timothy O'Brien of The New York Times, is out this week ...

History in the making: The 13th annual Dinosaur Ball, a benefit for the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, was held Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas. On hand were Siegfried and Roy (accepting a 2005 Dino Award for their work with endangered species), who made an unexpected donation to the museum. MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman and his wife, Tina, served as dinner chairmen. The other Dino Awards were given to Nevada Power and Mike Fauci, who for 15 years has donated his time and construction company's resources to the museum ...

Admirable conduct: National Symphony Orchestra conductor Leonard Slatkin, who brings the NSO to Artemus Ham Hall at UNLV on Wednesday, will be interviewd by KNPR's Flo Rogers today. The interview is scheduled for 10 a.m. and repeats at 8 p.m. as part of "State of Nevada" on KNPR 88.9-FM. The performance is to benefit the Las Vegas Philharmonic ...

Oprah winfall: Las Vegas's favorite Oprah Winfrey look-alike, Caroline Hodge (featured in this column Sunday), reports that she has actually been contacted for a gig -- at a birthday party in Sacramento on Dec. 3. An excited Winfrey fan tracked down Hodge on Sunday and asked if she'd appear.