BlatherWatch

The incredible shrinking seattle talk radio... or ... why we don’t have much to write about any more

Conservative talk radio was invented in Seattle, now it’s as endangered as the wild Puget Sound salmon. and let’s face it, save Dave Ross, there ain’t no local liberal talk.

With the KVI’s elimination of Kirby Wilbur, another block of local airtime went to out-of-town, out-of-touch, syndicated blabbermeisters- sending a butt-load of ad $ somewhere else.

Peter weissbach: KVI’s “prick of pretensions” still has a job- why?

“He’s so detached, he’s dead inside.” says a co-worker.

She’s speaks of KVI's blathering sociopath Peter Weissbach, 62, who opened his bought-and-paid-for talk show (m-f, 5-6p) -the day after the cop murders on… global warming!

This when every other talk host in town was opening phone lines to listeners to vent about the massacre in Lakewood just the day before.

Kirby speaks out!

Kirby Wilbur, freshly dismissed after 16 years at KVI, is speaking out on his blog. Sounds like his is just another case of Fisher Communications acting badly with the trusted help.

GM Jim Clayton said Friday in statement that the termination was for poor ratings.

Kirby says Clayton had to say something after the station was bombarded with 700 emails, a flood of phone calls and the loss of Kiel Mortgage, a significant account.

KVI, as we know it, is gone: what's next?

We gotta say it. Kirby Wilbur, despite we disagree with his antediluvian politics, is one of the nicest guys in Seattle radio.

He’s a friend of BlatherWatch, though we gave him plenty reasons not to be (sorry about the crack about the donuts, Kirb). He wrote a letter of reference for David Goldstein, (a flaming liberal, but a friend too) helping him land a job at KIRO. Young talent including Luke Burbank and David Boze,  Matt Haver, Dave Carson, and Jen Andrews worked for him and owe Kirby plenty. (Read Boze's homage here). Kirby could be conservative without being an asshole- a rarity these days.

UPDATED: Kirby Wilbur, 1993-2009 R.I.P.

UPDATE: Kirby will be replaced with Laura Ingraham and John Gibson. Behold the new syndic-robot KVI. (Weissbach doesn't count- they don't pay him). See below for new schedule.

The Seattle early morning earscape has again felt a seismic shift: With the typical Fisher aplomb, Kirby Wilbur has been fired from KVI, the morning after his birthday!

Floyd brown: GOP toilet-diver pushes for impeachment

 Make no mistake. We're now in the middle of a bloodless coup – the takeover of an entire nation by the hate-America crowd – a cold-blooded gang that despises America's prosperity, our standing in the world, our trust in God and our generosity and goodness. ~~ Floyd Brown

After a brief hiatus, our old friend and Northwest homey, Floyd Brown is back.

Who's Floyd Brown, you ask? 

David brooks: "Rush blared the trumpets, but few of his dittoheads advanced."

We loved reading the NYT's David Brooks (our favorite conservative) Friday, about how little Rush Limbaugh, and other right-wing blabbermeisters media actually effect voters, and real polling numbers. How Republicans have bought the "Media Mythology," that's nothing but a small-ball tactic that retards their wandering back in from the desert.

Who should stay and who should go?

There will be blood.

Seattle talk stations KTTH, KIRO FM, KVI, KIROFM, are all sucking in ratings and the late summer-fall season is the traditional time to give radio stations haircuts if not decapitations.

KIROFM in particular must make some changes... we're not sure what they'll do... flipping back to AM won't be it, and neither will putting Dave Ross out to pasture or in the afternoon drive.

How much would YOU pay... to keep kirby wilbur on the air?

KVI, the KIROs and KTTH begging for money like NPR?

Radio-info's Sean Ross posed an interesting question to radio pros: "What commercial radio station would you pay to keep on the air?" 

So we're asking you the talk radio listeners- who would you actually pay for?

(photo: Kirby Wilbur how much would you pledge?)

Will Rush Limbaugh save KVI?

Negotiations should be wrapped up this Friday (July 10) between Bonneville International, Fisher Communications and Rush Limbaugh. Then the suits, and we hope everybody will know: will Big Pants leave Bonneville's KTTH to jump back to Fisher's KVI?

KVI is hopeful and their very existence as an AM talker in Seattle may depend on it. It's a long shot for sure, but what KVI has going for it is the precipitous drop in the new PPM ratings of KTTH ... even anchored as it is by the Big Fat Genius.