Old Seattle Radio Saturday: mike siegel at kvi

(Kurt Smith/Seattlepi.com)

Mike Siegel owned Seattle talk radio in 1995, shown here on-air at the old Tower Building studios at KVI.

Mayor Norm Rice's righteous defense of himself after on-air smears ended with Fisher Broadcasting firing Siegel, a fall from which his career, which had national stature, never really recovered.

From the Poynter blog:

The rumor was that Rice had been shot by his wife when she discovered him in a sex act with his male deputy mayor.

The story was told in dozens of letters and faxes to Rice and other officials, and in fliers Hettinger [a disgruntled ex-city employee] distributed in downtown Seattle asking "Who Shot Mayor Norm B. Rice?"

The day Rice announced for governor, a caller brought up the rumor on Mike Siegel's "Hot Talk" show. Siegel, afternoon host on KVI-AM, said he'd heard the rumor and would look into it further. (He did hire a private investigator, and later said the detective could not substantiate the story.)

It was a bad moment for talk radio in Seattle, and tamped down hopes for it to gain the legitimacy and credibility it craved and sought.

Norm Rice never became governor, either.

Comments

[Puget Sound]

Norm Rice went on to head the FHLB of Seattle.

What's interesting is that the day of the Siegel brouhaha was the reaction of his next host that day, John Carlson.
Carlson, rightly so, immediately took issue with Mike Siegel on the air.

Could one ever imagine a Rachel Maddow taking issue with one of Olberman's rants?

I'm just saying...if you ever want to see 'lockstep' mode watch MSNBC.

[Ed Bennett]

Same with Fox News Network.

[OSK]

Um, have you ever seen Rachel Maddow and (Morning) Joe Scarborough try to have a conversation? Sparks fly!

[Puget Sound]

i did, it didn't turn out so well.

The morning show has made reference to getting into trouble if they critique the evening lineup of maddow or olby.

the exception seems to be lawrence o'donnell. i like the fact that he'll come on morning joe and sit across the table to debate with scarborough, etc.

so while i often lampoon msnbc, i normally watch the morning show and the o'donnell show in the evening.

[Puget Sound]

so when i am talking about a lockstep mentality, it's the evening fare -with the exception of lawrence o'donnell- i am talking about.

the olby's of this world can't have credible opponents of their viewpoint. rather, it tends to be of the 'who hates bush more' crap.

[KS]

Same with Fox News Network.

Posted by: Ed Bennett | October 30, 2010 at 06:06 AM

It's easy to see that you rarely watch Fox News. O'Reilly interviews folks from the far left that he openly disagrees with several times/week. There was a show (up until last year) called Hannity and Colmes. Hannity (who I seldom watch) and you neglected to consider Fox News Sunday with both Dems and Repubs being interviewed and a panel who often disagree with each other. Just setting the record straight.

[Sclubby]

Sorry, to this day I don't see the big deal. He said he heard the rumor and would look into it. So what?

Plus I thought Mike was actually a guest on somebody else's Spokane talk show.

AND he was pretty much the token liberal on KVI!

[KS]

If liberals and left-wingers are self-proclaimed as tolerant and compassionate, their intolerance of Fox News is perplexing to me. Is it because they dislike and would really prefer silencing different points of view ? All signs point to it, especially with Mr. Obama and his inner circle...

Mike Siegel is alive and well, but the flub he made back in 1995 short circuited his career here for a number of years, until he went back on KTTH for 3 years. Too bad he did not verify the validity of that story then before he chose to broadcast it on KVI - it could have made a difference to his career and to local talk radio, which is in the currently in the crapper.

[KS]

Siegel was once a liberal (traditional Democrat), but he has since become a libertarian and has been involved at local Tea party rallies.

Oh yes, he must be a turncoat or traitor for doing that.

[Ed Bennett]

KS, I admit I do not watch Fox on a regular basis. But every time I see it, they always slant the news to make things look in the rights favor. I was not aware that they had that morning news show as I work on Sunday mornings. The few times I watch O, Reilly, he always yells at someone to "shut up" Thats why I don,t watch it. I also would listen to Siegel once in a while and he was quick to pounce on Democrats, but always left the Republicans alone. Hmmmm! At least I sometimes criticize people I support.

[OSK]

FYI. You can watch the Sunday news shows on the web.

[BlackRhino]

If liberals and left-wingers are self-proclaimed as tolerant and compassionate, their intolerance of Fox News is perplexing to me. Is it because they dislike….

Posted by: KS | October 30, 2010 at 09:21 PM

It’s like stepping is shit KS…need I say more?

[KS]

Yes, you should have said more - Seems more like goosestepping, characteristic of recent leftwing behavior - just telling it like it us, not like the media wants you to believe.

Bennett - How do you know I don't criticize people I support ? FYI, I think most politicians are absent of integrity, regardless of party affiliation, but yes - admittedly I loathe the party with the D after their name more than the others.

[KS]

BR- for another thing, you cited the quote out of context.

[BlackRhino]

No, KS…I understand your comprehension deficit better than you recognize your ability to spin. You’re either the most over reaching underachiever or the worst engineer turned rhetorical combatant ever. You’re the William Hung of the Blather Blog.

[Puget Sound]

if you want to go with the American Idol-speak, that makes you Blather's version of Sanjaya...

[BlackRhino]

Uhhh, Putz…I think you’ve had too much to drink….

[KS]

You’re either the most over reaching underachiever or the worst engineer turned rhetorical combatant ever. You’re the William Hung of the Blather Blog.

Posted by: BlackRhino | October 31, 2010 at 12:28 AM

How about cutting the arrogance and bullshit and make a substantive argument for a change ? you aren't defending anything..

[CorporateSuit]

Quit picking on Mike Siegel, Hood. He is long dead, and causes no harm. He is just pathetic, now. He's just another one of Fisher's big mistakes.

[PinkFloydForever]

Does anybody remember how Mike Siegel got to Seattle in the first place? I do. Freddie Mertz was hired as the new afternoon talk show host at KING 1090. In his FIRST DAY he frightened, scandalized and shocked the Bullit family. He lasted less than 3 weeks. They realized they had to hire another New York Jew or they would be called racist. Voila! Siegel, a New York (via Florida) liberal was found. Several weeks into his KING gig, he took a call from a Detroit colleague who was leading the TEABAG campaign, getting callers to mail teabags to congress to send a message. Siegel took his advice, got on the teabag bandwagon, and changed his political tune to become more of a conservative. He never looked back.

[Isaac Isaacson]

Speaking of KING-am--Know who I miss?

Jim Althoff. One of the best talk-show hosts ever in Seattle.

Wasn't Althoff on KING when Siegel was there?

[KS]

I remember him - he was good, as was Lee Rodgers, both SF imports.

Aside: Seattle has such an inferiority complex when it comes to competing with San Francisco. Having been in both places, it is as clear as the nose on your face - as Ross Perot used to say.

[PinkFloydForever]

Althoff ended up in St. Louis, where he hosted a talk show for awhile, but was, at last report, mostly unemployed, raising children and still happily married to Andee Beck, former TNT TV correspondent whom he met and fell in love with while she was a guest on his KING 1090 show.

[Bill]

It's criminal that Jim Althoff never resurfaced in this town. There's not enough room in this town for liberal talkers and it's a shame.

[jo curran]

How can you have cut Coast to Coast from yourline-up?
BIG mistake!!

[coach coupon outlet]

I personally support the right to same-sex marriage, but I'm a realist: I know that it will likely be a long, long time before the majority of states have decided to recognize same-sex marriages.

However, it would be in everybody's interest for all states to grant divorces to same-sex couples married in other states.

From a purely economic perspective, letting same-sex couples divorce and move on with their lives would allow the individuals involved to pursue their careers with fewer distractions, and it would allow them to split up any jointly-owned property in an orderly fashion, which would, in turn, lead to them making productive use of it, or sell it. That has to be more economically efficient than tying the property up in a few years of legal disputes.

[siegel, Mike]

I am usure where the future lies.

I listend to , " THE WHO " , " The Beatles " & Stepenwolf.