Report: Paid GOP Talk Show Aired On KIDO/Boise Without Disclosure

Disclosure?

A report at BOISEDEV alleges that a weekly program funded by IDAHO REPUBLICAN PARTY figures has been airing on TOWNSQUARE MEDIA News-Talk KIDO-A-K298CN/BOISE without disclosure on the air or, until this week, in the station's public file that it is paid political programming. The show has become the focus of a rift between the head of the state GOP and the former chair 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 KIDO on SATURDAY mornings since 2021, and a BOISEDEV review of "multiple episodes" of the show did not find 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 station's file. After IDAHODEV contacted the station on WEDNESDAY evening, the 2023 contract was uploaded at 6:47a (MT) THURSDAY morning. The 2021 contract shows the time buyer as "IDAHO GOP -- TOM LUNA," while the 2022 and 2023 contracts show LUNA and TOM LUNA & ASSOCIATES as the sponsors.

LUNA told IDAHODEV that the shows' finances were properly disclosed and had been reviewed by the IDAHO Secretary of State, but referred IDAHODEV to the FCC when asked why no disclosure was made on the air.

A dispute between MILLER and state GOP Chairwoman DOROTHY MOON has erupted over the show, with MOON claiming that MILLER and the ADA COUNTY GOP were supposed to pay for half of the cost of the show and failed to do so; the party spent $54,490 on the show in 2021-22 and claims that the ADA COUNTY GOP still owes it $32,930. The contracts show payments to KIDO of $350 per week plus a $50 talent fee for morning host KEVIN MILLER under a contract signed on DECEMBER 28, 2020, and $370 per week for 2021-2022 under subsequent contracts. The contracts include ten :30 ads per week WEDNESDAY through FRIDAY 6a-7p, at least five live promos per week on KEVIN MILLER's morning show, and ten streaming ads per week. MOON pulled the plug on state GOP funding of the show in AUGUST 2022 and the show was continued by LUNA under its new name.

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