KROQ’S POORMAN RICH IN TIME SLOTS

One of the hottest deejays in local radio is KROQ-FM’s the Poorman, who’s been scoring sizable ratings in his 9 p.m.-to-midnight time slot. But now KROQ is asking listeners to make a tough choice: If you want to hear the zany deejay, do you stay up late or get up early?

In what seems like an unprecedented programming move, at least in local radio annals, the Poorman began handling two different shifts last week, continuing his late-night show while joining Richard Blade as part of KROQ’s 6-to-9 morning team.

Why is KROQ putting one of its key deejays through such a torture test? “The Poorman’s been getting tremendous ratings at night, but we’d been disappointed by our morning numbers,” said Rick Carroll, KROQ program director. “So we decided that, instead of recycling the listeners, we’d recycle the jock--and hopefully the listeners will come along too.

“He’s been spoiled doing just three hours a day. He’s a surfer, so he’s got the energy to work more hours. I know he’s a team player and I’m the coach, so he’s willing to do anything to help out the station.”

That sounds like a great deal for KROQ listeners. But we couldn’t help but wonder--when will the Poorman sleep?

“Actually, I have a double-sleep shift,” said the 30-year-old deejay, whose real name is Jim Trenton. “I drift off from around 1:30 a.m. to 5:30, do the morning show and then try to take a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The only tough part is trying to make room for my social life. Luckily, I’m single, so I’m available for anyone that can cope with the strange hours I have.”

The Poorman lives in Huntington Beach, but KROQ has found him a house near the station’s Pasadena headquarters where he can stay to cut down on his morning commute. “But the morning show is a lot of fun for me, because Richard and I get along great--we’re complete opposites. I’m a beach bum and he’s a real suave, Hollywood guy, so we complement each other well.”

While it’s promoting its new lineup, KROQ has also introduced a new on-air slogan. Instead of dubbing the station format, “Rock of the ‘80s,” KROQ deejays now proclaim: “Rock of the ‘80s . . . and ‘90s.”

The move has little to do with the fact that the end of the decade is rapidly approaching. “Actually, we heard that one of our rivals was on the verge of adopting the motto, ‘Rock of the ‘90s,’ ” said Carroll. “And if they were going to come after us, we wanted to beat them to it. Now we’re betting they’ll have to come up with a new slogan instead.”