Whenever KOMO radio's veteran Sales Manager Joe Heslet sends out one his wry letters to his sales staff or advertisers, it's leaked to BlatherWatch almost immediately. We know he has an agenda- it's selling ads for KOMO AM and KVI, but we always appreciate his take because it's a fair-minded look at his world (and ours) that's always provocative and funny. We offer it uncensored for your discussion:
Sales Folks:
I haven't addressed KIRO (Their Positioning Slogan: 10 Hours of Plan B Programming Everyday!) for a while now for a variety of reasons:
a) They haven't done anything that's been terribly interesting to talk about.
b) KOMO and KIRO aren't really competitors anymore.
c) A ship this big sinking doesn't really require play-by-play; everyone can see what's happening.
d) I really hate to kick anyone when they are this far down. But...
With ratings coming out tomorrow, it will appear as though KIRO had a good fall book on the "full week face of it." Closer scrutiny will disclose that the Seahawks' success will be driving the full week ratings and can be separated out by doing a simple weekend vs. weekday ranker.
I thought this would be a good time to take a look at the KIRO weekday programming--
5-9a, KIRO Morning News: This is still a mainstay for a lot of Seattle radio news listeners and it's pretty well programmed. CBS News and the local ho sts make it sound a little old and staid, but that seems to be consistent with its audience.
9a-12p, The John Procaccino Show: the explanation for this show being in Dave Ross'/Allen Prell's old time slot seems to be: we simply couldn't come up with anything better to put there. The KIRO website, under 'shows,' still lists this daypart as 9 to noon. So John clearly hasn't won the hearts and minds of the programming powers that be at Eastlake and I suppose they don't believe he has won over the listeners either.
12- 3p, The Dori Monson Show: Dori does a good talk show, but he has a lackluster lead-in. Many people like Dori's show and I must agree, he's developed a fairly loyal following.
3-6p, The Dave Ross Show: Dave is still one of the best in town, although with 'Traffic on the 3's' throughout his show, he gets very little chance to talk. It's been said (although I haven't personally timed it) that Dave only gets to talk for 19 minutes per hour. That means Dave's fans get less than an hour of him everyday in a 3 hour show. A lot of people, conservative and liberal, like Dave regardless of his personal politics because they say he's fair. I would agree, but it isn't fair to Dave or the Seattle radio listeners who like him to muzzle him so and bog him down with services listeners know they can and do get elsewhere.
6pm-9pm, New York Vinnie: The motto for this show is: We couldn't come-up with anything better to put here after Tony Ventrella didn't work out and we were already paying Vinnie anyway. Vinnie and KIRO are lucky to have had the Seahawks to talk about these past few months. But after Seahawks season is over, what will this show be? Sports Talk? The World According to Vinnie? How I became George Bush's English Teacher? Unfortunately, the New York Vinnie Show is unfettered by the services crammed into the Dave Ross show. Less than an hour of Vinnie over a 3 hour period sounds just about right. But at least the is show is acknowledged on the KIRO website.
9pm-1am, The Turi Ryder Show: Actually, this is another one of those shows that is just a time slot on the KIRO website. Apparently, having fired Mike Webb who used to fill this time slot, the programming folks aren't ready to get attached to Turi's show either. It seems the temporary slogan for this show is: She promised not to get arrested, but even if she does, she lives in LA and BlatherWatch may not pick it up.
Some people will say this is being negative and I should just talk about the positive things about my radio stations. But I would argue that, while the above is my opinion of KIRO's programming, I challenge anyone to refute the intellectual honesty of anything stated above.
I write this because it saddens me that advertisers continue to reward this kind of programming by spending so much of their hard earned advertising money with KIRO. National agencies have been the worst at squandering their clients' money. But I doubt KIRO's national rep firm is giving much detail about KIRO's programming these days.
Perhaps someone else should...
Joe Heslet
General Sales Manager
KOMO 1000 News
KVI Fox News & Talk
Sure, good points, but what about KOMO? Dennis Kelly is clueless. KVI's adrift, only saved by dead and buried KTTH. Why didn't KOMO add talk shows 2 yrs. ago? It's a race to see who f's up their stations the most.
Posted by: sclub | January 19, 2006 at 05:32 PM
Adrift?
Are you listening? At least KVI has a PLAN and is sticking to it.
Local. Live. Conservative. Profitable.
Posted by: Scrilla | January 19, 2006 at 05:38 PM
It appears Joe Heslet had better turn on his radio instead of looking at the website. Turi Ryder does not have a weekday show. She filled after Webb departed. Thus far, the time slot has been filled by Erin Hart and all this week by some guys named Ron and Don. It is also suspect that Joe ends his kiro appraisal at 1am and avoids the highly--not sure why--popular Lou Pate. Lou's show is not for me, but whenever you tune in, something is going on. Then again, there are those who go to dog fights.
Posted by: outsidelookingin | January 19, 2006 at 06:27 PM
Joe Heslet: Captain Obvious
Posted by: Andrew | January 19, 2006 at 06:44 PM
god what did we ever do before Blatherwatch? nobody ever shined the light on what these stations do and gave us a place to vent. Michael, what you do is much appreciated, we'll even overlook the poetry.
Posted by: serial listener | January 19, 2006 at 06:48 PM
Scrilla- KVI's ratings are pretty low now. Diluting Carlson's brand between 2 stations is amateur hour. Couldn't find anybody to take on Schrambo? Come on.
Posted by: sclub | January 19, 2006 at 08:18 PM
sclub sez, " KVI's adrift, only saved by dead and buried KTTH. Why didn't KOMO add talk shows 2 yrs. ago? It's a race to see who f's up their stations the most."
Compared to what? You gotta quit hanging with Andrew.
Posted by: Lump | January 19, 2006 at 08:33 PM
Could there be a more compelling argument for moving to satellite radio?
It looks like Blatherwatch is the virtual band on the Titanic at this point - entertaining us amidst the slow-motion disaster that is radio in this town...
Posted by: Trip | January 20, 2006 at 12:21 AM
ahh, I long for the good 'ole days of Dr. Laura shriekfest followed by Dr. joy brown on KOMO.
Anyone remember the money talkshow that was on during the mornings on KIRO?
ahhh.....memories
Posted by: afddsafd | January 20, 2006 at 07:26 AM
I remember listening to Jennifer James...she has completely disappeared....
Posted by: sparky | January 20, 2006 at 08:16 AM
The money show on KIRO was a classic. Maybe, too smart for its time. And on that note why is KOMO's money guy Brian Gregory being ignored?!?
With his background, obviously a hugely overlooked and under-utilized talent!
Where is Gary Christianson anyway?
Posted by: pete | January 20, 2006 at 11:23 PM
Scrilla you must not be on the sales side. No advertiser gives a shit about overnight advertising, expect crappy Direct Response clients.
Posted by: Salesdude | January 21, 2006 at 04:52 PM
I think vinnie needs to change the name of his show from new york Vinnie, to Stock yard Vinnie Because his show smells that bad! Ron And Don good replacment ,
Posted by: Brian | January 22, 2006 at 06:18 AM
Ron and Don: Zzzzzzzzz. Not everyone likes sports. Get a job at ESPN, guys!
Posted by: Critter | January 22, 2006 at 10:57 AM