Paid GOP Talk Show Aired On KIDO/Boise Without Disclosure
disclosure?
A report at BOISEDEV alleges that a weekly program funded by figures from the IDAHO REPUBLICAN PARTY aired on TOWNSQUARE MEDIA news-talk KIDO-A-K298CN/BOISE without it being on the air or until this week in the public file of the channel was announced Paid political programs. The show has become the focus of a rift between the head of the state GOP and the former chairman, who produces and co-hosts the show.
“KEEP IDAHO RED” (formerly “RED WAVE RADIO”), co-hosted by ADA COUNTY GOP Chairman VICTOR MILLER and former IDAHO Committee Chairman TOM LUNA, has been airing on SATURDAY mornings since 2021 on KIDO, and a BOISEDEV -Review of “multiple episodes” of the show found no paid programming disclosures, nor did the show appear in KIDO’s online public file disclosures of paid political programming until MONDAY, when contracts for 2021 and 2022 appeared in the channel’s file. After IDAHODEV had contacted the station WEDNESDAY evening, the 2023 contract was uploaded at 6:47 a.m. MT on THURSDAY morning The 2021 contract shows the time buyer as “IDAHO GOP – TOM LUNA” while the 2022 and 2023 contracts show LUNA and TOM List LUNA & ASSOCIATES as sponsors.
LUNA informed IDAHODEV that the shows’ finances had been properly disclosed and reviewed by the IDAHO Secretary of State, but referred IDAHODEV to the FCC when asked why no on-air disclosure had been made.
A dispute has erupted between MILLER and state GOP Chairwoman DOROTHY MOON over the show, with MOON claiming that MILLER and the ADA COUNTY GOP should pay half the cost of the show and didn’t; The party spent $54,490 on the show in 2021-22 and claims the ADA COUNTY GOP still owes it $32,930. The contracts provide for payments to KIDO of $350 per week plus a $50 talent fee for morning presenter KEVIN MILLER under a contract signed DECEMBER 28, 2020 and $370 per week for 2021-2022 under subsequent contracts. The contracts include ten 30:30 ads per week WEDNESDAY through FRIDAY 6am-7pm, a minimum of five live promos per week on KEVIN MILLER’s morning show, and ten streaming ads per week. MOON pulled the plug from the show’s government GOP funding in AUGUST 2022 and the show was continued by LUNA under their new name.
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