Randy Barton signed off from KPCW’s airwaves on Dec. 27, 2024. He hosted “The Local View” for almost 20 years — playing a rockin’ mix of eclectic tunes from KPCW’s library of over 3,000 songs in between local, national and international news updates.
Barton said he departed from KPCW for more time to travel, be with family and friends and continue his work leading the Egyptian Theatre on Park City’s Main Street.
Now Claire Wiley is taking the reins. She is the producer and co-host of KPCW’s “This Green Earth” and a volunteer DJ on Tuesdays.
Wiley has many years of experience behind the microphone. She said her first job out of college was in radio. She has hosted a couple of morning shows and also worked in front of the camera in television news. But, Wiley said she’s always preferred community stories rather than hard news.
“I was always vying to do what we called the ‘A kicker’ because it was at the end of the A block to pick everyone up and make everyone happy after all those news stories,” she said. “So I love doing those, and those were usually about nonprofits or things that were good in the community or people in the community.”
Wiley was a morning radio host in Ann Arbor, Michigan when she first visited Park City in 2005. She said one of her best friends was dating a girl living in Park City and he invited Wiley, who is also a filmmaker, to visit the city with him during Sundance.
While her friend was falling in love with the girl, Wiley was falling in love with Park City. She said she loved Sundance and the mountain spoke to her as she loves the outdoors.
“I left, and I was joking, and I said, ‘You know what, if I quit my job and break up with my boyfriend, I'm going to move to Park City,” Wiley said. “And sure enough, I called her a month later and said, ‘I broke up with my boyfriend, I quit my job and I want to move to Park City.’ And she said, ‘I'm in love with Steve, and I want to move to Michigan. Let's swap houses.’ So we did.”
Things worked out for both parties; Wiley’s friend is married and has two kids with the Park City girl, and Wiley has happily lived in the area for 20 years, though she originally didn’t plan on staying long.
Once she settled in Utah, Wiley moved into the marketing world and transitioned to work behind the camera, starting her own production company. And after being a loyal listener for years, she began volunteering as a DJ for KPCW in 2019. About four years ago, she also began producing and hosting KPCW’s “This Green Earth” — a job she plans to keep doing.
Wiley said she’s excited to add host of KPCW’s “The Local View” to her resume.
“There's a special sauce, there's something so unique and cool about KPCW,” she said. “I’ve been a big fan of ‘The Local View,’ a big fan of Randy Barton, and I really enjoyed listening to him, as we all did, the whole community, he's such a unique person, truly one of a kind, and there'll never be another Randy. But luckily, we can still enjoy him at the Egyptian theater.”
Wiley, who will start as host of The Local View on Monday, Feb. 24, said she plans to keep the show community-focused. She wants to bring in new ways to engage listeners and involve local entities while maintaining an eclectic music mix.
KPCW’s General Manager Juliana Allely said the radio station is excited to have Wiley host the show.
“She is already a valuable member of the KPCW team as co-host and producer of ‘This Green Earth’ but to have her in the afternoons every weekday is all the better,” she said. “We know she will keep the carefully curated, intentionally eclectic music spinning and further KPCW’s community engagement during an important time of the day for our listeners.”
Tune in to “The Local View” on weekdays from 3 to 6:30 p.m.
