Billy Bob (whose name is neither
Billy nor Bob) worked long in
the Seattle radio market wearing a suit. He says the experience
heightened his sense of irony, augmented his influences, and diminished his circle of friends.
By Bill E. Bob
Whoa, the inbox is keeping me
busier than Mike Siegel at a Hair Club for Men convention. So, as my friends in
the SPD would say, let's go to the video tape...
Dear Billy:
It must really suck to be
a radio program director. When Dennis Kelly left KOMO/KVI they decided to just
let some dudes in TV run the radio stations. Now, I read that Paul Duckworth, a
former KOMO program director has been canned from his job as P.D. of WMAL
in Washington DC. That station is owned by Citadel and they've decided
that the PD of their Chicago station will also be PD of WMAL. From
Chicago! He will run a station in Washington while still being in charge
of his station in Chicago! This must be really bad for people in the
business, no? Signed, Donny Donowitz.
Dear
Donny: It's really bad for the listeners. It's one more sign that
corporate owners don't care about the product. All they care about is profit.
Dear Billy: KPTK seems more and more to be
a waste. Every weekend I hear some infomercial or a re-run. And
during the week there is absolutely zero local content. And, of course there
are no local hosts. Doesn't their program director care? Signed, Archie
Hicox.
Dear Archie: Well,
uh, they don't really have a program director. One of the CBS music stations
PD's runs KPTK on the side. Look at the ratings. You get what you pay for.
Dear Billy:
I still see Pat Cashman
on TV all the time, mostly doing Taco-Time commercials. I think he's great and
it's a shame he's not doing a radio show somewhere. I loved Pat and
Dustin Hornby and Lisa Foster. And even though his show's not on the air he
still has a huge fan club and a fan website, Patpack.org. Why isn't he on
the radio? Signed Frederick Zoller.
Dear Fred: The
Pat-Packers are all older than Clem Flerm and crazier than Ted Crackerwagon.
Dear Billy:
I know that Talkers magazine puts out its so-called Heavy Hundred Talkers list
every year of the most famous talk show hosts around the country. Seattle radio
doesn't seem to be too well represented. Who would you say is the biggest talk
host in Seattle? Signed, Hans Landa
Dear Hans: Kirby Wilbur is the
biggest. Now, if you mean most famous, that would be Dave Ross.
Dear Billy: I see on a Portland radio
website that KXL-AM, the station that Paul Allen used to own, is ranked #4 in
the 25-54 demo and is actually number one in morning drive. Pretty
impressive for an AM station. KXL is actually doing better with the new
People Meters than they did with Arbitron's old diary method of ratings. Do
you think that makes KIRO's decision to switch to FM before People Meters the
worst business decision of all time? Signed, Bridget von Hammersmark
Dear Bridget: No. It's the 5th
worst. Behind the Edsel, Kitchen Fresh Chicken, New Coke and the Red Sox
trading Babe Ruth.
Dear
Billy: KJR was talking non-stop recently about the kerfuffle over
Mariner Ken Griffey, Jr. napping in the clubhouse during a recent game. Have you ever heard of any of our local talk show hosts napping during their
show? Signed, Shoshana Dreyfus
Dear Shoshana: Many KTTH listeners nap during
the Michael Medved show.
Dear Billy: Hi, First-time/long-time here. I see
that weekend money man Bob Brinker is cutting his workload in half and will now
do his show on Sundays only, no more Saturday show. Will KIRO-FM fill this hole
with more national syndication or might we get a local show? Could Tom
Douglas return? Maybe even a return of Phil the News Junkie? Signed, Aldo
Raine
Dear
Aldo: Oddsmakers in Vegas are picking syndication. By the way, no
truth to the vicious rumor that Phil was so despondent over losing his show
that KIRO newsies started calling him "Phil the Noose Junkie."
Dear
Billy: I'm hearing rumors that Q-13 Fox is working with Luke
Burbank to produce a late-night weekend sitcom with local radio types. What's
the scoop? Are Ron & Don involved? Signed, Hugo Stiglitz
Dear Hugo: They're
considering a local remake of Seinfeld. Luke would play Jerry. TBTL's Jen
Andrews would be Elaine. KVI's Bryan Suits will play Kramer. Frank
Shiers gets the nod as George Costanza. Neighbor Newman will be played by
KTTH gabber David Boze. And, yes, Ron & Don get parts. Don plays
Frank Costanza; Ron will be his wife, Estelle. Georgieeee!
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