Will Treasure Valley listeners be susceptible to The Virus? No idea. But one thing's for sure: Impact Radio Group had a blast at our expense launching the new alternative station last week.

First, without warning, True Oldies 99.1 FM began playing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" repeatedly, bewildering oldies fans for days. Then, at noon Sept. 4, the station launched "99.1 The Bronco," a country station that turned out to be fake.

Hours later, The Bronco morphed into The Virus.

The temporary cowpoke radio gag may have been amusing, but it felt like a spur in the ear to potential Virus listeners.

When I explained to Statesman sports columnist Brian Murphy that 99.1 wasn't a country station after all, he wondered why Impact would spend days building up hype to a format change, then confuse us for the first few hours: "Seems brilliant," Murphy remarked. "I just wiped it off my dial."

Whether rock listeners venture over to The Virus permanently will depend on two factors. One is signal strength. The Virus is licensed in Mountain Home. Reception can be iffy in certain parts of Boise.

The other obvious consideration is music. Like, what exactly does "alternative" even mean these days?

I asked Virus program director Mikey Fuentes, who also oversees Wild 101.1.

"There's some people that call this format new rock," Fuentes says. "Everybody's got their own take on it. We're calling it alternative. It's everything from the Beastie Boys to Red Hot Chili Peppers. Green Day. That kind of thing."

Fuentes' version of alternative means Nirvana and later. Other acts core to The Virus playlist are the Offspring, Kings of Leon, Three Doors Down and Incubus.

"Linkin Park," Fuentes adds, "you're going to hear on this radio station a lot."

True, unfortunately. And it feels a little odd to hear Linkin Park back to back with R.E.M. Or within a few songs of the White Stripes.

Fuentes' description of The Virus may remind you of another station: 100.3 The X. That's not really the case. The X is heavier. Program director Jeremy Nicolato says The X is "broadcasting to an entirely different audience."

Nevertheless, I sense healthy competition.

Says Fuentes: "There are a lot of radio stations that call themselves alternative. This is not the radio station where you're going to hear AC/DC."

Zing! The X plays AC/DC. Not so long ago, The X was considered alternative. Nowadays, it's evolved (or, devolved, depending on your perspective) into what's known as an active rock format. "We stopped playing that stuff for a reason," Nicolato says.

If The Virus decides to "come over and twiddle in our territory a little bit, then so be it," Nicolato adds, before jabbing: "We'll just have to kick their ass."

Gotta love it.

The Virus uses a blend of live and syndicated radio personalities. The Kevin & Bean morning show - broadcast from KROQ in Los Angeles -airs from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays.

All that's left to do is sit back, sample The Virus, and hope for pleasant symptoms of infection. Just be sure it's not swine flu.

ENTERTAINMENT NOTES

® Where to turn, oldies fan? Your only remaining option is 1140 AM. And that station looks like it will change formats soon. Sorry.

® Speaking of "alternative," Neurolux nightclub in Boise has booked a few interesting fall concerts: Girl in a Coma is back Oct. 20; Pelican will play Oct. 22; the Emmitt-Nershi Band (Drew Emmitt of Leftover Salmon, Bill Nershi of the String Cheese Incident) will gig Oct. 27; and the Electric Six revisits Boise on Nov. 16.

® Here's a thought after last weekend's Marilyn Manson concert: Any "fan" caught pulling a fire alarm at the Knitting Factory should be chained to Buster Bronco and locked in a dark closet with LeGarrette Blount.

Michael Deeds co-hosts "The Other Studio" at 9 p.m. Sundays on 94.9 FM "The River"; he appears Thursdays on Channel 6 News.