NPR's 'Wait Wait' coming to S.L.

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 8, 2007 | by Lynn Arave Deseret Morning News

Another National Public Radio show will be visiting Salt Lake City soon.

"Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" the irreverent and oddly informative radio-news quiz program from NPR, will bring its comic take on the week's headlines to Kingsbury Hall next Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The taping of the show is sold out , so if you don't already have tickets, you will have to wait until June 16, 11 a.m., to hear the show air on KUER (FM-90.1).

Besides taping in Utah, the popular NPR show will also have another local connection. Donny Osmond will be a special guest on the program. He'll take a stab at some questions and provide a short update on his own career, according to NPR media-relations manager Anna Christopher.

"Donny Osmond will join in on the act as the show's 'Not My Job' contestant," Christopher said. "Osmond will answer questions outside his area of expertise to try to win a prize for a listener, joining a growing roster of esteemed 'Not My Job' players, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, actor Tom Hanks and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright."

"Wait Wait" is now in its 10th year and airs on more than 400 stations, with an estimated weekly audience of 2.3 million. The show offers a sometimes raucous twist in the spirit of old-time radio quiz shows, mining NPR news stories for its questions.

The program is hosted by Peter Sagal, an award-winning playwright, and features legendary NPR newscaster Carl Kasell as official judge and scorekeeper. Panelists on the two-hour live show will be humorist/author Tom Bodett, stand-up comic Paula Poundstone, and Mo Rocca, former correspondent for "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."

RADIO HAPPENINGS -- Rumors are flying that the Utah Jazz may be in the process of purchasing KFNZ ("K-FAN," AM-1320) from Citadel Communications. Officially, it can't be confirmed or denied yet, but the recent absence of some former sports personalities on competing station KZNS ("The Zone," AM-1280) adds more plausibility. Also, Larry Miller/Utah Jazz own a TV station, KJZZ, and so why not a radio station, too?

--Danny Kramer of KDYL (AM-1280) is now hosting a new TV show, "Local Matters," Sundays at 11 a.m. on KJZZ Ch. 14. The first program aired June 3. This Sunday's show will address five lifesaving tests for women, with guests Jean Tealey, director of nursing for University Health Care's Community Health Centers; Susan Terry, M.D.; and Shannon Tilly, M.D.

--As a clarification on The Hive TV mentioned last week, it is not a cable-channel product. In fact, anyone with a digital TV can see The Hive TV for free, over the air, on Ch. 4.2. It just happens that Comcast carries it on Ch. 104. Other cable and satellite systems carry it on different channels.

E-mail: lynn@desnews.com