The big Styblehead is outa there! His last night is Sunday morning. The Committee For A Styble-free Overnight, can disband, but we're afraid they may decide to regroup- sooner than later.
We're losing live and local after midnight, and gettin' a coupla good buddies to lay the hammer down, nodamene? It's trucks, trucks, and trucking truckers all night long. It's "... your national clearinghouse of information, thoughts and opinions of the American Truck Driver. Starting Sunday The Midnight Trucking Radio Network will air on KIRO 12-5a weeknights and 10p-5a weekends.
Hosts Eric Harley and Gary McNamara engage callers with the major issues of the day including current events, legislation, popular culture, family issues, trucker news and information, detailed national weather forecasts, safety tips and interviews with trucking industry leaders.
Whether you're behind the wheel or just can't sleep, you're never alone Midnight to 5a when you've got The Midnight Trucking Radio Network.
There goes the neighborhood. Even though Styble continued to claim 18,000 listeners every night as recently as last week, his actual AQH was only about 200, and it was speculated about half of those were raccoons and ferrets. (Why was he there in the first place? As PD Tom Clendening often told those in the newsroom who liked Styble, "I like different and he is different." He would tell people in the newsroom who didn't like Styble, " I hate him." With that profound ambivalence, Styble stayed a year, and working nearly six nights a week).
It's the end of an era; with the exception of Bob Brinker, (Saturdays, Sundays 1-4p) KIRO's never been syndicated.
One of our sources in radio town writes, "This show SUCKS! As bad as Styblehead, but cheaper, as in free. KIRO has never been syndicated, this is a big, big, big sign that Entercom is throwing in the towel.
Another says, "Never thought I'd say this, but this show makes Ron and Don seem like a natural fit for the frequency."
He adds, "I can't wait to listen to this feature:"
Trucker Buddy Updates
Ongoing call-ins from Trucker Buddy pen pals and teachers sharing stories of truckers across the country educating students on the transportation industry. Since 1992, Trucker Buddy has helped educate over half million schoolchildren and introduced them to a group of caring, compassionate group of men and women, the nation's professional truck drivers.
Hilarity aside, he says it;'s not Syble's fatuousness or bad ratings that has promulgated this decision. Syndicating overnights makes sound business sense.
"I'm surprised they held out this long. A station's overall ratings are only measured from 6a to midnight. Nobody buys ads to run on the overnight show unless you're Art Bell. When you look at the business of it, it's all cost and little (if any) gain ... As little as I think of KIRO, the economics of this decision actually make sense. It allows them to cut costs without sacrificing ratings, and probably allows them to keep a reporter that they would otherwise have to lay off to meet budget."
The overnight is a revenue negative luxury you can afford when times are good.
Times are not good at KIRO.
Overhead. That's why they got rid of Vinnie's producer and the front desk receptionist a few months ago. That's why they've split up the dusting and mopping between the daytime and night time hosts. That's why the vacuuming's done by the robots who operate KTTH.
OK, so lowering overhead is a good thing- but why the hell the trucking truckers!?
Because it's cheap or free, and the Entercom suits at Bala Cynwyd have a tin ear for Seattle.
Keep your ears open, good buddy!
um, wouldn't most truckers be using Sirius?
Posted by: mark | October 12, 2006 at 11:52 PM
Yah fuckin' hoo! the styble head is dead!
Posted by: meaty | October 12, 2006 at 11:57 PM
styble got somewhat better over time - and local talk at night is appreciated.
I'll miss him - if only a little.
I mean - he was still kind of bad - but not as bad as listening to a couple of know-it-all bloggers pretending they can put on a radio show...
Posted by: spambutcher | October 13, 2006 at 01:08 AM
Oh no! sniff sniff.
One last chance to call-in with a "Styblehead Boast-to-Boast", and then toss in a Crap or two.
Buh-bye Styblecrap. Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.
By the way, I love Styblehead's tribute tonight to a certain anonymous internet "Radio insider".
(Caller just called Styblecrap: "The best thing to happen to radio in his life"... dude, get one)
Posted by: mercifurious | October 13, 2006 at 01:50 AM
It comes from Dallas. Will that fly in Seattle?
Posted by: sclub | October 13, 2006 at 02:37 AM
WTF. This is really a delayed April Fools' joke, right? A trucker show? on KIRO? That makes no sense whatsoever.
Posted by: litlnemo | October 13, 2006 at 02:49 AM
Okay, checking my tea-leaves/entrails - attempting a Tom Clendening brain-tap if you will.
Radio-anomaly:
Styblehead Boast-to-boast & crap-to-crap replaces Lou Pate - a show w/ one of the best overnight ratings ever. THEN Styblehead replaced with a trucker syndi-bot.
What really happened:
Tommy C saw the freight train about to run em over, but had a problem - Pate's great overnight ratings.
Solution: Drop Pate. Install Styblehead. Watch the ratings free-fall. And then - au voilla: KIRO takes a step up to Trucker talk bot.
pretty sneaky sis.
Posted by: mercifurious | October 13, 2006 at 03:04 AM
STYBLEHEAD UNHINGED!!!!!!!!
Yet another overheard tribute to Bla'M. Styblecrap called your website "venomous", that you're entire goal was to put "democrats into office", and "democrats onto news/talk radio".
He then gave us this gem:
"And it's funny, because I've been nothing but polite to that jerk"
Funny, I never thought getting up in someone's grill and screaming "don't call me Styblehead" was considered "polite".
Posted by: mercifurious | October 13, 2006 at 03:09 AM
Uh oh... emotions getting a bit melodramatic now. Near tears. (Like Near Beer, but less filling)
An "I love you *sniff sniff*" almost put Styblehead over the top.
Tommy C should really think about putting Styblehead on the chopping block every week - great ratings there.
Posted by: mercifurious | October 13, 2006 at 04:22 AM
I heard the show last and am disappointed to hear that Styble will no longer be the overnight host.
I have been a fan of his show for almost a year. While I do recognize that some of the criticisms made here do ring true, I also respect his earnestness, hardworking attitude and willingness to tackle talk radio in a way I haven't seen before.
I appreciated Styble's kindness (unless someone swore) and also appreciated his conversations with his callers.
Like someone said earlier, he had gotten quite a bit better since December, and I think his caller count was reflecting this.
It sounds like Styble and many others are simply victims of a failing station.
Surely they could have thought of a better replacement than "trucker radio."
Posted by: Liz | October 13, 2006 at 05:53 AM
Surely they could have thought of a better replacement than "trucker radio."
Wake-up. Styble's highest rating was a .08 (Thats a point-oh-eight).
A quartet of semis honking through Yanni's greatest hits will obliterate Styblehead's radioactive-skidmark.
Posted by: mercifurious | October 13, 2006 at 06:16 AM
"A trucker show? on KIRO?"-sclub
yes, they're a captive audience for liberal radio's crappy ratings: just like satellite radio, it's a juicy demographic for the Left. Styble may lack talent, but is far better than Shiers whose only topics are the emotional loss leaders like state execution, armed self defense, etc., with that creepy, baiting vocal inflection..
Posted by: SeaTown | October 13, 2006 at 06:20 AM
I usually endured Styble and his scatterbrained ramblings for an average of seven minutes. I cannot stomach trucker radio for more than seven seconds. Further proof that things can always get worse.
Posted by: umo | October 13, 2006 at 06:25 AM
Having just asked to join the comittee yesterday I had no idea we would have such clout. I am not optimistic about the trucker thing but I will keep an open mind. I was hoping for a sort of varity show, Jim Bohanon or Dirk Van. They are talk lite and eazy on the ears in the early AM.
Posted by: Rich | October 13, 2006 at 06:35 AM
erin hart or rick miller would have been excellent choices for the overnight...and they are willing to work for peanuts.
Posted by: umo | October 13, 2006 at 06:47 AM
I was shocked! Actually got to like Styble and will miss him. I don't know if it was the money, cuz last night he said he'd work for almost nothing, as he likes his job so much. Guess I'll have to find another station to listen to when I can't sleep.
Posted by: Brianne | October 13, 2006 at 07:42 AM
TIP JAR
change is good......
Hmmmmmm. At least Bryan Styble didn't have to beg for money.
Bryan: If you still read this blog (and I hope you don't), these folks are just intimidated by your knowledge and talent. Shake them off and move on. This listener will miss you! This is definitely MY Friday the 13th! God Bless.
Posted by: Critter | October 13, 2006 at 07:46 AM
Career tip for Styble: If you want to succeed in the radio business stop playing Jeopardy trivia games with the audience...that is vomit inducing hack radio.
Posted by: umo | October 13, 2006 at 08:22 AM
Snarling Talkhost Takes Potshots at Blatherwatch Chief (T8 News Service) KIRO's resident overnight prude, and self-appointed censor ("we don't say hell here")Bryan Styble did not go graciously last night, as he announced his departure from KIRO overnight. In an oblique but fairly obvious reference to Blatherwatch Chairman Michael Hood, he feigned amusement as he snarled contemptuously about a certain "clown on the internet", who fancies himself a critic of talk radio, being a day late on getting his Styble Scoop ("haha, he chortled, with strained, faux laughter,"the story has been out since yesterday morning"). Later in his monologue, he derided this same "internet clown" in the same snarling, ugly manner, for supposedly getting it wrong about his exit from KIRO. "I'm not going anywhere!," he protested. However he admitted that his regular Saturday night gig would end this week, but claimed that this was just until "KIRO decides where to put me". hmmmm It doesn't make sense that KIRO would take him off his regular wee hours Sunday morning gig , if they were happy with him. One bright note- he let slip that the big evening weekly show will now end at 12 a.m., thus cutting one quarter of Frank Shiers seemingly interminable and soporific furnace inspector, family outing, and kittykat stories and discussions.
Posted by: Tommy008 | October 13, 2006 at 08:29 AM
correction- in his second attack on the unnamed internet radio talkshow critic (Hood), he referred to him as a "joker" , not a clown.
Posted by: Tommy008 | October 13, 2006 at 08:40 AM
What does it say about the denizens of blatherwatch that no one who WORKS in radio has ever heard Styble?
Overnight trucking show? Brilliant. KIRO has a monster signal ( I mean Idaho and Utah and NorCal), and truckers buy junk. Voila. Also, syndicated shows don't need healthcare and Do NOT sexually harass female news staff.
Posted by: Scrilla | October 13, 2006 at 08:40 AM
WTF are you talking about? I'm STILL ON THE AIR! I'M STILL ON THE KIRO WEBSITE!!
Posted by: Bryan Styble | October 13, 2006 at 08:43 AM
Am curious about ad revenue . . . if syndication is so cheap, who profits most? How do the truckers make their money? Do they profit from lots of stations paying them nominal fees to run their shows? Does ad revenue stay with KIRO? Do both the truckers and KIRO profit from ad revenue? Seems like the truckers are getting a good deal with all that mega-wattage from KIRO.
How does it work? Just curious.
Scrilla?
Posted by: joanie | October 13, 2006 at 09:15 AM
Not to be redundant, but TRUCKER RADIO????????
I think KIRO has given up.
Posted by: AprilMayJune | October 13, 2006 at 09:33 AM
"It's not about the money","the check's in the mail", and also, Erin Hart said she was going to be used as a fillin host, after she lost HER regular gig, Bryan. Damn, I can't get enough of all those fillin gigs Erin Hart has worked at KIRO since then.
Posted by: Tommy008 | October 13, 2006 at 09:34 AM
Funniest. Thread. Ever.
Posted by: sparky | October 13, 2006 at 09:40 AM
Most of the satellite shows work like this: The producers make their money by selling commercial time to national advertisers, based on the number of stations and cumulative audience they reach. The producers allow (encourage) stations to run the programs at no cost to the stations. The good syndicators even provide promotional support (including customized promotional announcements, co-op advertising and so forth).
The local stations make money on the program by selling their own commercials, which they run at specified times during the program called "local availabilities," which are usually public service annnouncements as filler for the time when local stations drop in their own commercials.
So the syndicator sells one block of time in each hour, and the local stations sells another block.
In KIRO's case, they're probably just including overnight placement of the same commercials they run during the day -- it lets the stations sales folks sweeten the deal by adding more "reach" for their money, even if (as apparently was the case for Styble), that reach is an audience in the high two figures.
Posted by: rev | October 13, 2006 at 09:49 AM
Money is made through trade usually. The trucker radio would sell spots that KIRO needs to place... therefore they can tell their (trucker radio) advertisers "You're on x amount of stations, so you will pay me x amount of $$$".
So they make their money from their own syndication companies sales department. The local station spends nothing. Nothing but inventory that they could sell themselves - but if they have it to spare (like KIRO probably does with their low numbers) then it makes sense.
Posted by: SR | October 13, 2006 at 10:03 AM
I hope they play " Teddy Bear"....
Posted by: sparky | October 13, 2006 at 10:26 AM
Oh and " 18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses.."
Posted by: sparky | October 13, 2006 at 10:27 AM
Thanks Rev and SR. Appreciate the information. Hope this "syndication" bug sticks to the overnight slot only . . .
Posted by: joanie | October 13, 2006 at 10:49 AM
Appropriately, as part of his swan song last night, Styble displayed yet again his ignorance of everything outside his own limited experience.
He went on and on last night about how NPR doesn't do "news talk" radio, because "they don't take calls." Apparently, in his sheltered experience with Seattle radio, he hasn't heard of KUOW's "Weekday," or "The Conversation," or any of the syndicated call-in shows on KUOW and KXOT, including Dianne Rehm, "To the Point," "Car Talk," "Talk of the Nation," and Christopher Lydon's "Open Source."
Even "Talkers" magazine lists Rehm and TOTN's Neil Conan in their list of the Top 100 talk hosts.
Oh, and he claimed that the ratings books ignore NPR stations -- wrong again!
Maybe it's bad form to kick somebody when they're down, but if anybody deserves to lose his job in radio, Styble is it.
Posted by: rev | October 13, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Styble coiuld come back and do a impersonation of Red Sovine or CW McCall.
Posted by: coiler | October 13, 2006 at 12:49 PM
I'm glad by the way that KUOW is putting some of the other NPR programs on KOXT,like Science Friday.. can't stand Warren Olney.
Posted by: coiler | October 13, 2006 at 12:53 PM
I stand corrected, it is KOAP coming in thru the fog from Portland
Posted by: coiler | October 13, 2006 at 01:00 PM
Trucker Radio is a dumb idea. The KIRO nighttime pattern has deep nulls to the South, the Southeast, and the East. KIRO doesn't cover any significant stretches of freeway at night, so there are no truckers out there to talk to.
Posted by: Ted Smith | October 13, 2006 at 01:07 PM
I do have trouble getting KIRO up at Birch Bay . . . so what good is all that mega-wattage? Of course, the hills get in the way . . . isn't that a problem in WA state? Too many higher elevations?
I couldn't get KIRO in Chelan except intermittently at night either. Maybe they don't need all the wattage.
When I lived in Centralia and Oakville (there really is an Oakville!), KIRO did come in loud and clear. Of course, that is prairie down there.
Posted by: joanie | October 13, 2006 at 01:50 PM
I for one appreciated Mr Styble and actually LEARNED by listening to his show; how novel instead of learning of only bias on other shows. Good Luck Byran.
Posted by: Duffman | October 13, 2006 at 02:18 PM
Trucker radio has to be a joke, or a mistaken rumor Hood. Trucker radio is in Montana, Idaho and small towns across the country but NO major/large markets and NO West Coast markets.
One of two things are true.
1) Trucker Radio is rumor and just a joke.
2) Trucker Radio is true and KIRO is the joke.
Posted by: NoBS | October 13, 2006 at 02:20 PM
It's real alright: http://www.midnighttrucking.com/
Posted by: David Tatelman | October 13, 2006 at 03:23 PM
NoBS...have you been to Lewis County? Snohomish County? Very much "trucker" and "logger" country...they will LOVE it.
Posted by: sparky | October 13, 2006 at 04:33 PM
Kiro has followed the Bushler logic, they can't seem to find a clear-sighted, strategy with a flashlight and both hands.
Posted by: coiler | October 13, 2006 at 04:40 PM
Why not rebroadcast Dave Ross and Ron Regan. 4 HR of good radio
Posted by: Rich | October 13, 2006 at 05:03 PM
Now that's an idea, Rich! You should be a program director! I'd love that because I don't get to hear their whole shows . . . most of us don't.
And when I do, often I'd listen a second time just like I do with Al Franken no at 10 pm.
Are you reading, Tom?
Posted by: joanie | October 13, 2006 at 05:09 PM
Rich -
Excellent idea!!!
Posted by: Brianne | October 13, 2006 at 05:48 PM
I seem to recall that KIRO once ran syndicated Bruce Williams (in the TalkNet) era at night. So, syndicated nights are not really a new thing.
That doesn't mean I won't long for the days of Bill Gallant or even Dave Dolackey overnight...
Posted by: bn2189 | October 13, 2006 at 06:55 PM
Forget I suggested that, Tom. The last thing I need to be doing is staying up all night listenng to the radio! I used to do that with Webb (not as late I know) and I dragged myself out every morning!
Some of us radioholics can't help ourselves.
Posted by: joanie | October 13, 2006 at 07:20 PM
Yes, Styble will be gone, but he will be back, albeit in a different format, or just as a fill in. I will miss his show, and so should everyone who liked local talk on the overnight. As for Blatherwatch, could you fucks stop jerking off to the fact that Styble's show has gone? I swear, the only reason I check this site anymore is to read the trial reports, so I can see Mike Webb finally get his comeuppance.
Posted by: JR | October 13, 2006 at 10:44 PM
There was another brief period in the early 90's when KIRO had a couple syndicated talk shows.
Before Bill Gallant's talk show started up again and before Dave Dolackey was on the overnight show, there were syndicated shows from, I think, 9 or 10 PM to 5 AM. I think Larry King was on for a couple months, and someone named Greg or Gary Gross. (His last name was Gross, anyway, and no, I don't mean the late Pete Gross who used to do the Seahawks play-by-play.)
I think these shows only lasted on KIRO a few months or so, but I remember one time Greg Gross interviewed John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) when his book came out.
Posted by: Norah | October 14, 2006 at 01:02 AM
Norah I think it was Bruce Williams, not Gary Gross. I can also say with out a dought , Iam glad its over ! the over Baked Brain on the over night , the one the only Styblehead Its not funny It WAS just really bad radio Boast to Boast
Posted by: Brian | October 14, 2006 at 07:28 AM