kiro: waiting for godot

“We’re holding our breath,” says a staffer.

There’s an eerie calm around KIRO, like finals week at Auschwitz. The shoe ready to drop (maybe ‘boot’ would be more accurate) is the Winter Book, the decisive quarterly Arbitron ratings, and they're coming soon and inevitably.

It’ll be the first total picture of what’s widely expected to be the devastation wrought by Program Director Tom Clendening’s new programming lineup begun in January.

The midterm report card--the Winter Trends--still looms like a pregnant pole-vaulter over the station. They were the worst anyone at the No.1 Seattle news-talk station can remember.

Trying to save KIRO, execs, informers say, have neglected right-wing l’il sister KTTH. The joke around town is that she’s now only a “life support system for Rush Limbaugh.”

While no one at KIRO admits to reading blatherWatch, they all keep tuned to our end of the dial to see what their colleagues are telling us. “Your info is so accurate, it's downright creepy,” a producer told us, “I read things on blatherWatch before I hear it officially.”

Speaking of creepy, several insiders say that interns and sales people are being required (they’re on a schedule, we’re told) to make fawning calls to the Allen Prell Show (KIRO m-f, 9a-12p) whose phones otherwise ring only when a telemarketer gets by the dozing producer.

A Fisher (KVI, KOMO) exec gives fascinating perspective to these mystifying, counterintuitive programming decisions that seem to have sent KIRO racing for the edge.

“We actually herded them into the position to have to make some of those programming decisions. We've known since we went all news on KOMO (AM1000) we’d put KIRO in a box between KVI (all talk) and KOMO (all news). We didn't know they'd make that box smaller by creating KTTH.”

Eventually, he says, “they had to make this move (more talk, less news)” Sure enough, the new skej dropped KIRO’s long-running hour long news at noon and two news hours at 4 pm and Clendening fired anchor Val Stouffer and business reporter Kevin Ebi.

Fisher never dreamed Clendening and Entercom would make such a
“monumentally stupid move” as hiring Allen Prell. It was a perfect storm. “God bells them for that one,” says our guy at Fisher. “Please don't tell them how awful he really is.”

Somehow we don’t think we have to.

BlatherWatch, with the help of worried Entercom staffers, has detailed the sad deterioration. The new lineup put progressive Dave Ross (said to be fretting) into the afternoon drive (3-6p) where he’s burdened with a heavy spotload, incessant traffic reports which turns off a lot of his liberal former audience hard to pry away from NPR’s “All Things Considered.” This is the guy who in the morning used to kick Rush Limbaugh’s formidable fundament on a daily basis.

We hear they’ve diddled with Ross’ spotload somewhat, (we know that sounds dirty, but ‘spotload’ refers to the number of commercials) but insiders fear it’s too little too late.

Dave was replaced in the morning by Clendening’s ol’ buddy, ass-hat Allen Prell, whose schtick is being an obnoxious little boy, albeit a liberal obnoxious little boy. He ran off Ross’ audience right off the bat, and Air America’s Al Franken (AM1090 m-f, 9a-12p) was poised to welcome them in. 

Dori Monson, (KIRO m-f, 12-3p) flexed his muscles as a longtime host, and even though his own numbers sucked against KTTH’s Medved and KVI’s Hannity, they listened to him, fired the news staff, offed Fred Ebert and hired Monson pal, veteran TV sports-mensch, Tony Ventrella from 6-9p. Ventrella languishes. Jesus wept. 

They gave the liberal Mike Webb an extra hour earlier (m-f, 9p-1a), dropping him into a more mainstream audience who has run away and won’t come back. You can always tell when Mike’s phones aren’t ringing--he plays oldies with a codgerly running monologue down memory lane.

What will happen? Don’t go away, we’ll be right back...
~~
Got any inside talk-radio poop to dish? Blab it at [email protected] Discretion assured.

Comments

[DonD]

Yep, they lost me with the bizarro moves. I used to listen to Dave Ross for an hour or two each morning, but can't stand Allen Prell. Now it's Al Franken or occasionally Tony Snow. I check KIRO once every few weeks to see if there's anyone new there yet. I try to listen to Dave in the afternoons, but the constant interruptions make it unpalatable, especially compared to NPR or even KJR.

I used to like Dori Monson, but he seems to have turned into a one topic guy ("how the government is wrong and stupid today"), and I haven't listened to him in at least a year. Ed Schultz is the way to go in the afternoons, if I listen to anybody. Fred Ebert was the only other guy worth remembering to me on the station.

Hm, if Dave quits and goes satellite radio, I guess I'll have to finally sign up.

[Scott]

Who needs KIRO? They have made themselves a has-been. There are so many right wing stations that KIRO should have grabbed the chance to move left. They lost that bid when Air America moved into 1090.

If Ross would move to AM1090 to be the local voice of liberal talk, Air America Seattle could pull some strong book!

And KIRO could switch to elevator music for all I care.

[bunyip]

I don't even mind Prell that much, but he's just so, so wrong for the morning slot. The whole tempo of his show is S-L-O-O-O-O-W and meandering, to the point where it actually counteracts your coffee.

What that slot needs is someone with an engaging clip, like, say... DAVE ROSS. I've been able to catch maybe an hour total of Dave since the suits exiled him to "drive time" (give me a break -- who's off work by 6 these days anyway?)

And Dancy Moron? Pfffft. The dude's been doing the exact same Professional Victim schtick daily since ribbon magnets became trendy; it's skull-crushingly, unlistenably boring.

Their biggest mistake, however, was canning Fred Ebert. Fred rocked! Any guy who can work a little Physics for Dummies into his show is welcome on my radio any time.

[Kook]

Why did they even make any changes at all? They were strong with Ross and Monson where they were. Sure KVI was picking up some share, but that was a fluke because of the Rossi thing.

Ken Berry knew what he was doing.

I think KTTH was just to steal share from KVI .

[TalkFan]

How nice of Alan Prell to mention this blog on today's show. I knew something was wrong with his highly-edited "listener" comment line but it's nice to know the backstory.

I personally know lots of folks who left comments on that line but somehow they always get edited out. It seems the only negative comments that are included are carefully scripted to make it sound like the caller is a complete idiot. A negative comment left by someone who knows how to put more than two words together gets dropped on the editing room floor.

Today Alan claimed that KIRO would go bankrupt if the sales staff we all required to call his show. Isn't that the point? The ratings are tanking all day because of him (listeners tune out at 9am and don't come back for the flagship Monson/Ross shows) and the sales people have plenty of time to puff up his show.

I read in the PI that Prell got a three-year contract. Let's hope KIRO was smart enough to get an exit clause in there...

[David]

You have now heard that Alan Prell is denying your reports. I hope he is right myself. I enjoy his show. I do miss Fred Ebert, too, and it was better to have Dave Ross on in the morning. Maybe they should just switch places? You know my opinions of Dori, however. I am sick of him. Why does KIRO give him so much power?

[jen]

I can tell you--Allen Prell is either lying or he doesn't know they have interns calling his show to make him look good. Don't ask me how I know. I KNOW.

[Ben]

I was a long time listener to KIRO radio while living down in the Seattle area, but after moving to Alaska four years ago, my ability to listen was pretty much cut off when KIRO killed it's streaming radio. However, after spending a recent dreary weather afternoon wasting time at work surfing the web, I discovered the return of KIRO's online streaming and was horrified to hear the new KIRO line up and about the canceled afternoon news! I was sorry to hear Val and Kevin got the ax, but from what I gather and hear, they might be better off collecting unemployment! And this Allen Prell, who in the hell is that and what was KIRO thinking? And how does Dory still have a job as a talk show host?? Maybe his lack of creativity fits in with the new format. Ever since moving to AK, I've complained about the lack of decent talk radio and news coverage up here and bragged about Dave Ross and KIRO to fellow workers (with the exception of Dorky mind you). Now I feel as if I have egg all over my face, who's brillant idea was this?? Other than Dave Ross, I can't say I know what's holding the station together anymore. I sort of feel sorry I wasted that dreary afternoon checking up on KIRO when I could have been outside getting frost bite in the freezing rain.

[Sandifer]

At first I found Prell hard to listen to. It was such a jarring style after 20 years of Dave Ross in the mornings. But I now find myself listening to Prell more than anything else on the radio. He cracks me up several times a morning. I'm talking laughing-out-loud-in-my-car funny.

Sometimes he does get a little too weird or wacky, but, then again, sometimes Dave would get too high-brow for my tastes.

And Prell is very intelligent and is the one guy on the radio who will actually have civil, respecful conversations with people of all political stripes.