RADIO STATION GETS ATTENTION IT WANTS

Station criticized for drug, sex talk

It's called "Party Radio," but unless your parties include Hits From
the Bong and South Park Bitch, it is unlike any party you ever attended.

KPTY-FM (103.9) since June has let fly with sex and drug references
aimed squarely at a high school- and college-age audience. Some
listeners say the station is most popular with an even younger and
more impressionable audience.

"We're in the attention-getting business," says Mark Waters, the
station's general manager.

The effort to attract attention got so raucous that the station's
best-known personality, the deejay known as Super Snake, left in
mid-September.

"When they started giving away bongs (water pipes typically used to
smoke marijuana), that was it for me," he said. Snake currently is not
on radio.

Station management denies that it promotes drug use, but agrees that
it is doing what it can to get noticed by its target audience.

KPTY may be just another player in a radio environment that includes
the often raw sexual advice of Loveline on KUPD-FM (97.9), the extreme
sex-oriented antics of Howard Stern on KEDJ-FM (106.3) and the
double-entendre humor of almost every FM deejay in town. Even Beth and
Bill, morning hosts on KESZ-FM (99.9), have played "music" by an
artist known as "Mr. Methane."

But with the exception of Stern, whose local audience tends to be
older, KPTY probably is the only station that is making a point of
using frequent sex and drug references.

"It's been a long time since a (Valley) station rocked the boat like
the Party," said Waters, who conveys a businesslike attitude much like
that of other radio general managers.

Some listeners smell something more ominous than merely "rocking the
boat."

Bob Huey of Phoenix said he has a 13-year-old daughter and has
forbidden the station in his home - "not because of the song
selections (some of which are risque), but because of the apparent
station policy of pro drugs and pro sex, as expressed by the deejays."

Several program elements reflect the apparent pro-drug tilt. A
frequently played song is Cypress Hill's Hits From the Bong. The
morning show, hosted by a man called Big Mama, is called "Wake and
Bake," a reference to smoking marijuana. The station for a while did a
bit called "Chronic Calls," in which callers were supposed to act high
on drugs.

The message comes in light of a recent survey that reported one in six
Arizona youths used illegal drugs, especially marijuana, in the past
month, a rate that is one-third higher than the national average.

"We are not in any way supporting the use of drugs," program director
Byron Kennedy said. "But we realize that drugs are part of kids'
lives. We are dealing with their attitudes, things they deal with every day."

Officer Greg Carlin of Scottsdale's Drug Abuse Resistance Education
program said he uses several songs the station plays in talks to
parents and community groups about how music might be a negative influence.

"I don't agree with a lot of the songs and a lot of what they do. It
can send the wrong message to kids," he said.

Richard Ward, who works with drug-addicted young people as clinical
director at Valle del Sol, said parents also could write to
advertisers. Among them are Bank One, Foot-locker, AirTouch Cellular,
Mobil and Health Choice, a health insurance company.

Steve Roman, Bank One Arizona's senior vice president of corporate
relations, said the bank's ads were placed from the national Hispanic
Marketing Group, which has an eye on a station's demographics.

"The buy is done by people who don't know the content," he said. "If
the content is way out of the mainstream, we would have to look at
it."

Waters said that no matter what parents do, advertisers want his
audience - "tomorrow's consumer."

He said the drug references are part of the station's attempt to have
"a distinct difference in presentation" from its competitors.

He also acknowledged that he gets at least two calls a day from
concerned or angry parents. He tells them that people have a variety
of opinions, and that they can register theirs by turning off the station.

Kennedy added, "We're your radio station, not your role
model."

The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates radio
broadcasts, fined the station last spring for playing a song with
explicit sexual references. Waters said that the station has changed
formats since then, and that the station is careful to bleep certain
words in songs. The FCC does not consider drug references to be in
violation of its broadcast standards.

The station, which debuted in May 1997, is owned by New Planet Radio,
a small company that operates a similar station in Hawaii. The success
of that station, which made a rapid climb into the Top 10, led to the
adoption of the format in Phoenix. Stations in Tampa, Fla., Baltimore
and Miami are tailoring the format to their markets.

The music format includes hip-hop and rap, a good dose of alternative
hits and some novelty songs, which Waters calls "identifiers."

One of the identifiers is the marijuana song Hits From the Bong.
Others, chosen for their ability to grab the ear of a college student,
are:

ICP Clown Mix by Insane Clown Posse. The rap duo had its latest album
shelved by the record company (through the orders of parent company
Disney) for obscenity and violence.

South Park Bitch, from the Comedy Central TV program.

Detachable Penis, by King Missile. A spoken "song" with limited
comedic value.

"It's scary to hear 12-year-olds calling up asking for Detachable
Penis," said Eric Stein of Peoria, an occasional listener.

Recent ratings seem to indicate that the station is on the wrong
track.

With ratings dropping from 3.2 to 1.5 during the life of the Party,
the station has lost more than 30,000 listeners, and the time the
remaining 160,500 spend listening is 4 hours 15 minutes a week, down
from 7 hours, according to the Arbitron Co., which measures radio audiences.

SIDEBAR:

Gilbert backs KPTY, under fire for sex-drugs programming

By Edythe Jensen(br) The Arizona Republic Oct. 23, 1998

Gilbert officials are still playing love songs for its first and only
radio station, even though KPTY "Party Radio" is being criticized for
its sex-and-drugs programming.

"The station management has supported Gilbert in a number of ways, and
we consider them an asset," town spokesman David Cannella said.

"If they are promoting negative behavior and drug use, that's not
something we condone. But it's a private enterprise, and we wouldn't
ask them to change their format or play different records."

In May 1977, the station moved its offices to Gilbert after what
Economic Director Greg Tilque called a four-year effort to lure it.

As part of the deal, the station was allowed to build a broadcast
tower near Queen Creek at Ocotillo and Schnepf roads. KPTY currently
has studios inScottsdale and Gilbert.

Two months after the move, the station was fined $7,500 by the Federal
Communications Commission for playing a sexually explicit song.

Station Manager Mark Waters said the "album version was played by
mistake, and we were wrong." A less offensive version was approved for
radio play, he said.

Last month, a deejay known as Super Snake quit when the station
started giving away bongs, water pipes typically used to smoke marijuana.

Parents have criticized the drug-and-sex programming that includes
songs such as Hits From the Bong, South Park Bitch and Detachable Penis.

listened to the station, but both said they have had no complaints
from Gilbert residents.

Mayor Cynthia Dunham and Tilque have been featured guests on KPTY's
Sunday morning talk shows, Cannella said.

"The station management is interested in what's going on in Gilbert,
and they want to be a partner with the town. If they're having
problems with the FCC, they'll need to deal with the FCC," Cannella
said.

Waters said KPTY has contributed funds to the Gilbert Sister Cities
program, has hosted charity carwashes and plans to sponsor a grand
opening of the tax-funded Gilbert skate park next year.

Reporter Michael Clancy contributed to this article

Michael Clancy can be reached via e-mail at mike.clancy@pni.com or at
1-602-444-8550.

Checked-by: Matt Elrod