Not so fast: John C. Scott to join Parisi in return to airwaves

Just over a month after what was thought to be his final broadcast comes word that a veteran radio talker will again pick up the microphone. The John C. Scott Show will return as part of a "PowerTalk Radio" lineup organized by talk show host Jim Parisi.

Parisi is taking over a radio station KEVT, broadcasting on AM 1210. Although the station is licensed to Sahaurita, where the radio tower is located, Parisi is moving the station's studios to East Broadway and North Country Club Road, to be more accessible to guests.

Parisi's lineup of shows will begin broadcasting Feb. 17, he said.

"We're going to do what we do, unchained — within the boundaries of the FCC," Scott said of his return. The political talker's show was dropped by AM station KVOI in late December.

"I didn't expect to go back on the air at all," Scott said. The John C. Scott Show, on the air almost continuously since 1989, was in its second run at KVOI, one lasting 2 1/2 years, when the plug was pulled.

Scott will air in his usual time slot, 3-5 p.m., and again be posting archives of his show on TucsonSentinel.com.

Parisi said Monday that he's pulling together a lineup centered on "informative and entertaining" talk radio. "PowerTalk is about the power to think for yourself," he said.

Starting off the day, Steve Kass will broadcast 5-7 a.m. from Providence, R.I., with a show aimed at Tucsonans. Parisi will take over the mic 7-10 a.m., while nationally syndicated programming will run 10 a.m-3 p.m.; Parisi said Michael Smerconish may be one of the talkers during that period.

After Scott's 3-5 p.m. show, Matthew Conde ("a Latino Marine ... he shoots from the hip," said Parisi) will host a show until 7 p.m. Overnight and on weekends, Fox Sports radio programming will be broadcast, with some local talk on Saturday and Sunday, Parisi said.

National news will be provided by Glenn Beck's The Blaze, he said.

"My idea is, I want people to say, 'I don't know if he's left or right," Parisi said of the station's political stance. "There are tremendously under-served audiences out there: females, well-rounded people. There's room for more choices on the dial."

Parisi broadcast his talk show online after leaving the KVOI lineup in 2011 after a two-year stint. Before that, his show aired on KNST.

Parisi said he has a five-year deal to manage the station, which has broadcast a number of Spanish-language formats since being switched on in 1985. It will continue to be owned by Armando Zamorra.

Parisi said he considered a number of stations, including taking over an AM station and purchasing an FM station, before coming to terms for KEVT (the call letters will remain the same, he said).

Parisi played his cards closely when asked about his backers in the venture. "I've been asked not to say," he said, describing his investors as "a couple of listeners."

The operation "is not going to be worried about paying the rent," he said.

KEVT's signal, although broadcast from a tower in Sahaurita, is strong throughout the Tucson metro area, Parisi said. "It's 10,000 watts during the day, and hits the whole valley pretty well."

After the sun sets, the signal is reduced to 1,000 watts, although AM signals travel farther at night.