KSL NewsRadio will say goodbye to the top-rated "The Sean Hannity Show" on Friday, Oct. 1.

Local fans of the conservative talk-show host and firebrand needn't worry. On Monday, Oct. 4, rival talk-radio station KNRS-FM (105.7 FM) will pick up "The Sean Hannity Show" at the same time KSL aired it.

KNRS, a Clear Channel station, will clear air for Hannity by bumping the nationally syndicated Laura Schlessinger broadcast.

The changes at the two stations have been precipitated by scandal (in Schlessinger's case) and a change of emphasis by KSL NewsRadio.

In July, KSL announced its plan to stop airing the Hannity show to emphasize local content. KNRS officials speculated it was because Hannity's often-divisive tone was contradictory to KSL's new mission statement, issued by KSL Broadcasting Chief Executive Officer Mark Willes in January. Willes heads Deseret Management Corp., the for-profit arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns KSL. "We are trusted voices of light and knowledge, reaching hundreds of millions of people worldwide," the company's mission statement says, in part. Among company principles are "integrity, civility, morality and respect for all people."

KNRS jumped at the chance to add Hannity to its lineup, which includes fellow conservative hosts Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, said Greg Foster, the station's program director. In Salt Lake City, Hannity's talk show was the No. 1-rated show in his time slot in total listeners under the now-discarded Arbitron diary ratings system. "The Sean Hannity Show" was also the top-rated program in six of the first nine months of electronic measurement that began last fall, according to a KSL news release in the summer.

Hannity will replace the 1-4 p.m. time slot previously anchored by Schlessinger, who announced she'll end her program in December. She had been under fire for uttering a racial slur 11 times in an August call from a black woman who was asking advice on how to deal with racist comments from her white husband's friends and relatives.

Several calls to KSL NewsRadio executives weren't returned on Thursday afternoon, but Dallas talk-show host Jay McFarland — a Mormon who has written books on politics and marriage relationships — announced on his show on Sept. 24 that he was moving to Salt Lake City to begin a hosting job at KSL.

dburger@sltrib.com