BlatherWatch

Maybe KINGFM's problem is ... classical music

Not-for-profit KINGFM is the only classical music radio in Seattle, but to the dismay of its ardent listeners, it "disappeared" in the ratings after the PPMs began providing more precise data about the listenership. It's tied up in the basement with KVI.

Dave Ross: will dino rossi ambush me... PLEASE?!

Last week Dori Monson was ambushed by Governor Gregoire that is, called him without prearrangement -- and he's been bragging/complaining ever since.

We loved the whole exchange, it was great radio, and wrote almost lovingly about Dori for once. (It showed that despite he has a girl's name, he is The King Of Seattle Talk Radio)

We realized that one of the things that bugs us about local talk radio now that it's been dry-cleaned, pressed and all the local weirdos removed, is the absence of the unexpected. With just Dori, Dave, The Commentators, Ron and "I would Be" Don, there's none (save maybe Kirby of KVI) of the pure, local, slightly strange, one-of-a-kind hosts that promote (not always intentionally) that tension of the unexpected and take you occasionally by surprise.

(That's some of why we're hooked on Too Beautiful to Live (KIRO m-f, 7-10p -- it's feeling that anything -- though perhaps trivial -- can happen at any time).

SuperMonday Oddems: simpsonization like syndication is cheap & easy; vomitus erroneous: a tower tour; urology on parade; allan prell wants to give you something; wall street cash cows gone dry

Simpsonized Dave Ross Show: Dave Ross, engineer Erynn Rose, and producer Libby Denkmann

~~ Allan Prell writes from Baltimore: "It would appear that live and local programming is on the wane. It's a process I don't fully understand. Syndication is cheap and easy, but it does require paying for the big names, several hundred thousand for the major talkers, and giving up a massive amount of inventory. Syndication is easy, station management can say "Hey we didn't say it, some guy in New York or Miami said it." Also it is evident that finding local talent is difficult especially in medium markets. It is so simple to just push the button..." Help may be hard to find because nobody wants to invest in creating it. Maybe radio wants to die-off like one of those no-fucking-allowed cults in organized religion's hey day. 

~~ Allan Prell might have been lubing us with the above information to get a plug (we never her from him unless he wants something) He pleads, "Do me a favor and let your readers know thay can receive a FREE COPY of my tell all Pulling the Plug on Talk Radio by requesting it at sbpmedia@gmail.com." It's a fun read, and probably has your name in it -- but if you get a hold of it, we can't steal from it.

Another roadside oddems: hemorrhoid watch 2008; internecine KIRO; women masturbating horses; allan prell on the threes; bRyAn StYbLe is not racist, never has been racist; more billified hip-hopcracy; jen andrews exposed; one charming son of a bitch.

~ Like calling the aid car for a hemorrhoid? (or maybe vice-versa, in this case) did anyone besides us find KIRO's Monday night calling in the late Frank Shiers and going into full-on Storm Watch 2008 mode a little silly? While it was really nice to hear our close friend, Frank fill in for the syndicated Phil Hendrie who replaced him, (Frank's weather-talking mastery has earned him the nickname,"Shiver,") having all talk off the table except weather sent us to scurrying for Mike Malloy (KPTK m-f,7-10p). Besides, the weather wasn't all that daunting. Apparently, it was snowing on the Issaquah plateau, the mountain passes,north of the Snoho line, and in the wilds of Queen Anne Hill. The commute promised to be daunting, but WTF? Couldn't that have been well-handled on KIRO's many news breaks? Maybe it was to assuage KIRO's guilt for bringing in their first syndication in the weekdayparts and to assure us that they're still here to serve us live & locally. If the latter is true, it was gross overcompensation.

~ The new KIRO website will be all about "community" and shit; and will be up soon, according to everyone. They're lucky to have David Goldstein (Sat., Sun., 7-10p) already on their payroll. Goldy must have been a great resource since his claim to fame is that he's a NW blogger with national renown whose platform, Horsesass.org is one of the biggest online communities in the region. Nobody will talk to us yet, but with that kind of live and local experience on tap, maybe the site will go from the B- we gave it to an A. (Even KIRO's B- beat all the other talk stations' sites by a mile).

Is there life after seattle talk radio?

Where do you go after you're fired from talk radio job in Seattle? 

The answer, apparently, is Port Orchard if you want to stay anywhere near the Seattle market.

Those regularly scheduled Seattle newstalk spots are coveted ... seems you gotta leave town or get a gig selling cars.

It's the dilemma faced by the recently fired Bryan Suits, and Dan Sytman but also faced by such as Allan Prell, Mike Webb, Mike Siegel, New York Vinnie, Erin Hart, Lou Pate, Fred Ebert, Peter Weissbach, Brian Maloney, and Bryan Styble.

Allan Prell to appear on Horse's Ass radio

Former KIRO talker Allan Prell, will appear on The David Goldstein Show Tuesday, July 17, at 9p. (Goldy's filling-in for Frank Shiers that week).

Prell who took sudden retirement from KIRO in September, 2005 lives in Virginia. He's the author of the cheeky, less-selling collection of New Age  truths and plumbing tips by a gratefully little-known guru we suspect might be Prell himself.

It's Ka-ching: The Repository of Universal Wisdoms, printed grandly in a seemingly infinite collection of fonts and the reverence and spiritual dynamic Prellians have come to expect.

Reviewers are ecstatic:

"Types admirably." ~Rolling Stone
                     
"Mr. Prell's muse is unfettered by such mitigating factors as taste."   ~ The New York Times

"... a real pisser." ~The Wall Street Urinal
                        

Wednesday oddems: fear & loathing; leer & gloaming; beer & foaming; crustine gregoire; right-wing poodle doodle, burgess meridith as dick 'lon' cheney

~ The passing of PD Tom Clendening at KIRO and the eminent take-over of the station by Bonneville  International has bred fear, loathing and hope among staffers over at the East Lake big house.

Wednesday oddems: Van Dyne- dj with no noname; dave reichert- a hoser with no name; ann coulter- hosebag with no name; allan prell- man without a house; and more bala cynwyd conspiracies

~~Who in the hell is Bob Van Dyne? Nobody has ever heard of him; he doesn't google up; he's been a mystery, a horse with no name. We now know why he's been hard to locate. He's the former DJ NoName, the morning (and “Afternoon Experiment”) guy bumped from Entercom rocker, The End (KNDD, 107.7FM) to install Adam Corolla during the musical chairs when Howard Stern went missing last January. Now he's a new voice on KIRO doing fill-in on the weeknightly 9p-1a. He has a sound that's too FM for us; not unlike Ronda & Donna, (m-f, 4-7p) also FM refugees newly given AM talk time on KIRO. Noname Bob is libertarian-leaning and a little lite on the issues, but like Ron & Dumber, he seems to be buckling down each morning to the 4-color meat of USA Today. It's all very depressing, frankly- he's rumored to be favored to get that important slot; which we were hoping would go to a liberal. The good news:  he's not Frank "Shudder" Shiers.

~~What does blog success look like? A way ours does is that if you google, "MSN ratings boy's and girls on toilets" you'll get to BlatherWatch. If you like boys and girls on toilets, you might enjoy this.

~~1000 words you need to know about Rep. Dave Reichert.

Tuesday oddems: battle of the cattle, styble wears a bridle, siegel plays the 'burbs, *******sucks your blood, robots eat KTTH, allan prell returns

~~Gotta say it it, KIRO is working hard on the ol' PR. Lots of personality promos, with all the new talent- at least they now have someone to promote after months of uncertainty, fill-ins, and despair. We've never seen such ado about a Battle of the Talk Show Hosts on Wednesday June 14 at the Everett Events Center (doors open at 6p-- the BOTTSH goes on the air at 7p) Producer Phil Vandervort blogs about it on the KIRO site. On stage debating will be Dave Ross, Dori Monson, and also, as Vandervort describes him- "710 KIRO's ubiquitous New York Vinnie." Plus the 3 newcomers: Ron Reagan, Ron Upshaw, Don O'Neill.  We expect Reagan to shine- he has his dad's ability of putting his sharpest barbs into bouquets of humor and affability.

~~Which reminds us: we were visiting KIRO/KTTH the other day and saw the gorgeous LARGE pics of Syman & Boze (KTTH m-f, 5-9a) front and center in the entry. They've not been totally forgotten in the dustbin of history and robot science that is KTTH. Why aren't they going to BOTTSH? It could use some real conservatives.

~~Last BOTTSH had Frank Shiers and Erin Hart holding down the studio and doing color commentary. They were pretty good together, (together they had one brain) but Hart was riffed in January in the KIRO bloodbath. Wonder if they'll let the new guy- David Goldstein (Sundays, 7-10p) help out? Goldstein could get under the thin skin of Smarmy Frank, and that would be fun to listen to... 

~~Speaking of hairy backs, the great white Bryan Styble (the semi-permanent/permanent full-on fill-in on the KIRO overnight) will be ensconced in The Bat Cave biting heads off chihuahuas during the BOTTSH. He's not quite ready for prime time

~~Goldstein's show is kicking major ass in the blogosphere- he's liable to say just about anything; has a great Rolodex, political street cred and an ear for the politics that can bring listeners to the radie-yo. It's fun reading the comment strings on Sound Politics, Horsesass and Blatherwatch, and seeing what the conservative trolls, and the sorely blemished have to say. Besides the anti-semitic remarks, the puerile cracks about Goldy's looks; there's also some pretty insightful (and inciteful) stuff. We like Goldstein' show because it's getting bloggers interested in talk radio and vice versa. They've had a tendency to see the medium as "old technology," which it is, but has been put to incredible use by the right, even in this liberal town. Sure wish these brave trolls- so outspoken on-line- would get on the phone and pitch Goldy some of the shit they're always threatening him with in the comfy confines of their cozy cubicles.

~~Whatever happened to Mike Siegel? First we heard he was doing fill-in on Fargo's WDAY-AM, but that's not happening any more. Then it went around that the former KTTH morning man and veteran broadcaster was selling cars down at Korum's Puyallup Nissan, a company known for hiring washed-up talk hosts, but that proved apocryphal. Now we're reading that he'll be doing The History of Radio at the Kent Senior Center, 6p, June 15, 600 E Smith St, and introducing Karen Steele, Republican candidate for State Senate, 33rd district. Jesus, Siegel used to own talk radio in this town...

ALLAN PRELL SPEAKS

Hello to all my ex-listeners, ex-employers, and ex-cellent aliens who have heard me in outer space:

As you may well know I have been working on a book about talk radio. For the moment that has been put that on hold. I have formed a partnership with Matt Lutthans, a local business man in the Seattle area who used to advertise on my KIRO broadcasts. He was a loyal listener who believes as I do that there is a very big empty hole in talk radio programing. We are attempting to fill that chasm by inaugurating the all-new Allan Prell Show. It's not that there is a gap in talent, but there is a complete lack of objectivity in presentation.

Yes friends, I am now hosting a new-concept show, the goal of which is to be completely balanced, regardless of the views of the host or any guest hosts. I am now self-identified as "The Man in the Middle," and I will be inviting lively discussion from all sides.