Dori monson cohort is passed over in KIRO massacre

"This has got Dori's fingerprints all over it," says one KIRO-ite.

"It stinks," writes another. "He finally won." 

The post-massacre KIRO weekend skedge is out and wonder of wonders: The Angel of Death passed over Phil, the news junkie's door! Besides the gardening Cisco and the cookin' Tom Douglas, the only local talk show left on the weekend is The News Junkie, the little show that does no harm, has neither listeners, nor point of view; but does have the tremendous advantage of being hosted by Phil Vandevort, the longtime producer for conservative Dori Monson, the self-proclaimed "King of Seattle Talk Radio."

David Goldstein, Bryan Styble, and Carl Jeffers and the support hours that go with them were eliminated Wednesday.

The Dori Monson Clause that retained Phil kinda blows a hole in the out-of-their-hands, "budgetary concerns" explanation they gave for laying off all these people.

It kinda blows...

"Dori has been after Goldy's hide for a year," says a newsie; "He's pushes his weight around, always has -- I don't know whether he got Goldy fired, but for sure if Phil's $300 a week job was saved, Dori was behind it."   

Dori (whose name is a girl's name) stopped speaking or acknowledging Goldy's presence a few months ago.

KIRO staffers agree: Dori can be a real prick.  "All this reminds me of the bad old Entercom days when you felt like you had to kiss his ass to keep your job."

This means a big loss of employment for the horrifically underpaid Board ops too. That's probably the reason Dustin Hornby walked. We'll be interested in hearing more about that.

It's only weekends, we know. But KIRO's closing them down for fledgling local talent is the end of an era. There is effectively no way for a talk host in this town to get started.

We'll probably pass on The Mutual Fund Show, and we can only listen to Bob Brinker once a week.

But take it from us: NPR is where it's at on weekends: in case you haven't already been driven away from KIRO.  check out the weekend fare on KUOW.

Here's the Saturday line-up (except they don't say who will be in the former Carl Jeffers spot at 10p or on the overnight -- can't wait to find out!):

6am – 9am         KIRO Morning News
9am- 10am        The Mutual Fund Show
10am – 1pm          In the Garden w/Cisco Morris
1pm to 4pm         Bob Brinker Show 
4pm-7pm        In the Kitchen w/Tom Douglas
7pm-10pm        Best of TBTL

Doesn't get much more exciting on Sunday:

6am -9am         KIRO Morning News
9am- 10am         Meet the Press
10am- 1pm         Handel on the Law
1pm- 4pm        Bob Brinker Show
4pm-7pm        The News Junkie
7pm-8pm        CBS News Weekend Round-up
8pm-9pm        Meet the Press (Repeat)   
9pm-Midnite        Leo LaPorte – The Tech Guy
Midnite to 4am     Bob Brinker (Repeat)    

Comments

[PugetSound]

All Right Tommy 008
I know you got a story ready to rip...

[sparky]

Car Talk, Prairie Home Companion, Vinyl Cafe, This American Life, Wait Wait, are all weekly staples in the Spark household.

I am a big believer in Karma. If Dori did indeed have a hand in any of this, payback, whenever and wherever it is, will be a bitch.

[DT]

What a load of crap. It's the radio business. People get fired all the time. Most hosts and dj's have been fired a bunch of times. Trying to lay this at Dori's feet is pathetic.

[Sclub]

Bonneville's dumber than Entercom. Especially to let Dori ru(i)n it.

[DT]

This is called yellow journalism. It's unethical and unprofessional.

[PugetSound]

The American Life is good stuff.
But DT is right, I think there is a bit of:
I don't like Dori, therefore I will attribute all bad acts to Dori.
C'mon. It's a ratings BUSINESS. If they can't make money they won't do it. Even if it means not developing local talent.
I wonder if some of them, like say Goldy, will take advantage of this to start a web based podcast. Incorporate some of his traffic from HorsesAss to the show. Per Blam, it is supposed to be a fairly successful website. See if it translates. And being web based he can go national.
Would be interesting to have heard Mike Webb's take on this. I think he tried this for a short time.
RIP Mike.

[DT]

Use your brain, sclub. Don't just swallow what this guy spoon-feeds you. Think for yourself. Use your head. He is LYING to you.

[DT]

According to BM's logic, Dori has the power to get hosts he dislikes fired, and save the jobs of hosts he likes, regardless of their ratings. The PD is just Dori's puppet. Wait a minute, didn't Dori like Shiers?

[wutitiz]

Imagine a 'battle of the hosts' event today: just Dave, Dori, and perhaps a cardboard cutout of Dave to represent the 'reRoss.'

[Sal]

Oh, DT, does Phil's show have great ratings, then? Hood's not saying Dori is necessarily responsible for the changes, but that he stepped in to save Phil's show which could hardly have been making expenses on Saturdays.
I worked at KIRO for a couple of years, and I know what they say about working with Dori is true. Let's just say he is not well-liked by his mates.

[sparky]

Well I guess all New Year's resolutions come to an end, huh, DT?

[abob]

Jeffers, Goldstein and Styble have two things in common.
1. They generated zero revenue for KIRO.
2. KIRO fired them.

[DT]

Sal, so you've worked in the radio business? Tell me then, in your opinion, what's the average number of times the typical talk radio, or music DJ has been fired?

Sparky, I liked Goldstein's show, and thought he was a good host, and a good fit at KIRO. I did dislike Shiers and Styble.

[KS]

KIRO has shown themselves to be a fickle organization - their decisions usually don't make much sense. Not enamered by any of the hosts let go, but their style is weird. Dori is the reputed villain - that is a subjective judgment and depends on who you are.

[mark]

so much for KIRO.

[AuthenticAndrew]

I don't know DT, you're objections seem unfounded, Dori's producer the only local weekend host not fired? Seems like an open and shut case to me. There is no doubt that connections played a hand in this.

[Mars]

So now we turn off KIRO after Dave Ross, and don't turn it on again 'til he starts up next day. Dor, Ron and Don, then Luke Burbank. It's all for boys. Little boys.

[DT]

AA, Tom Douglas wasn't fired from the weekend.

[Gay Gary]

Does Phil even get paid for his weekend show? I'm 87% sure he doesn't even have a call screener because he never seems to know the callers names until he picks up the phone. If Phil is doing the show as a hobby and KIRO is already paying his salary for Monday through Friday why *wouldn't* they pass him up?

Even if he was getting a pittance it's probably still economically viable to keep his 14 minutes of KIRO owned commercial stock per hour instead of getting a syndicated show in there that would eat up 6 minutes of that for network ads.

However, I hope this is all true about Dori. Rather than make me dislike the Dor-ster, it actually elevates him to a kind of pedestal. I love heavy handed eccentric dudes. I can't stand a radio station where everyone walks around with a limp wrist having benefits meetings and getting show evals from some PD who thinks he's doing some public service. Dori sounds like the spice of life at KIRO! LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! OH YEAH! UH-HHUUH! GIVE IT TO ME, BABY!

[leif-gard swanson-monson]

Would it not be in Dori's interest to keep the lesser talents around so that his star shines that much more brightly?

Phil the news junkie is on the payroll regardless, so there's no monetary savings in axing his show. duh.

Ergo, all these conspiracies make zero sense.

[Maureen McMahan Moore]

Dori tried to get Mike Webb fired. He helped Tony Ventrella get his disastrous 15 minutes on the radio. He sure led the choir about Allen Prell.

[Tommy008]

I'd love to be able to blame Dori for all of this, but Jeffers and Goldstein had critical flaws in the way they handled their shows, which turned off listeners. These flaws have been mentioned many times here. Goldstein had a chance to grow in his chair behind the mike, but he remained the smalltime,often arrogant, insular fellow, shmoozing with his Stranger pals. David never gained a sense of humility. He was abrasive. Jeffers often sounded like a robo-host , endlessly repeating and regurgitating the same stale, canned "schtick" lines , over and over, word for word perfectly. Groundhog's Day on the radio , every Saturday and Sunday. It got old. And the unnecessary anger management problem got old too. As for Cisco and Douglass, i don't get that at all. Someone said Douglass will still be on. Is that true

[ZANZIBAR]

> Handel on the Law
> Leo LaPorte – The Tech Guy

This is awesome! Love Leo LaPorte and haven't been able to get him in Seattle. Handel on the Law is good too, extremely funny, even if it is taped during the week.

[Tommy008]

oh i reread it. Ciscoe and Douglass will be left on KIRO, not fired. This makes more sense now.

[usedtobeinthebiz]

This post by Hood is sladerous/libelous (can't remember which when in print/Web) against Monson. DT is right in his posts, but I'll go further. The main reason Tom and Ciscoe were left in place is that their shows MAKE MONEY. A LOT of money. Both are sponsored each week. Unfortunately, the other shows were not generating anything. Bonneville had a very poor Q4 and this is the result across the board. This whole thing about employees not liking Monson is totally false. I worked there for 3 years and never saw it at all.

I used to get upset reading all the claptrap by Hood, but David Goldstein gave me some excellent insight: it's just a blog. Someone's opinion. Hood is in the biz to make fun and express his opinions (although they will probably bite him in the ass). But statistically, NO ONE reads this blog. It's the same readers, the same posters. I maintain and update one of the top 10 Web sites in the world so readership-wise, BW is just a grain of sand in the Web galaxy and not worth getting upset or taking seriously.

[Duffman]

So, why post on it? Me thinks this blog is similar (in readership) to Drudge...EVERYone reads it but no one will admit.
Have a good life! :)

[drool]

Betcha Phil is doing his show pro-bono. Why fire somebody that works for free?

[DT]

Hey Blathering Michael,

could you please explain to me how Dori did not have the power to save one of his best friends, Tony Ventrella, from being fired, but did have the power to save Phil from being fired from his weekend show?

[AuthenticAndrew]

The real proof that outside forces saved Phil Vandevort is the fact that his show sucks so incredibly hard, and for as bad as Jeffers or Goldy might have been, you simply can't make the case that Phil is better than either of them. To put it in perspective, David Boze is 1000 times better than Phil and David Boze is 1000 worse than Michael Medved.

On the issue of this blog one mans little opnion, thanks to Google that's a specious argument. When people inquire on Google about Seattle talk radio, this blog is one of the few outlets of commentary that's presented and therefor disproportionately represents one man's opinion when there are obviously many more out there, outside of google search results. The lack of an oposing viewpoint gives it undeserved credibility, but the lack of libel lawsuits give it a deserved credibility.

[Duffman]

Yeah! ..and if you followed that, try Suduko. :)

[DT]

Authentic Andrew, please explain your logic to me. I honestly want to understand how this works.

Ok, Dori not only wanted Phil's job saved as his producer, which I can understand, but he also wanted his weekend talk show saved. Explain to me why Dori would fight to save Phil's weekend talk show? And whatever your explanation is, could you then tell me, if Dori has this kind of power, why he didn't save Tony Ventrella's job, who is one of his best friends?

[AuthenticAndrew]

Maybe he has more pull with the PD than the previous one, maybe he's tighter with Phil than Tony, who know, but I notice you don't refute the suckiness of Phil's dull radio show, which stands by itself as evidence of office politics at work, not merit.

[DT]

It's the radio business. People get fired all the time, and often times it doesn't seem fair or logical. I can't count how many times a host I liked has been fired, and they kept a host I thought sucked.

[AuthenticAndrew]

Maybe, but this time it isn't illogical at all, all logic points to favoritism and maneuvering.

[Duffman]

It's all a conspiracy I tell ya...like Puts inferred, was Dori on the 'grassy knoll'? Tune in to TBTL tonite for the possible answer. LOL! :)

[Tony]

"Dori (whose name is a girl's name)..."

Its petty, but I like it.

[Tommy008]

last night i dozed off late after disagreeable meal and i began having a weird dream......I was coming out of the Whole Foods on Westlake after buying a bag of my Three Peckered Goat Coffee. It's always a joy to see the new orange trolley sliding by and when i heard it hurtling down the tracks from the lake i waas dismayed to see it drastically changed as it passed by. The whole paint job had been changed to photos of Dori Monson sprayed across the train. They were not the fast-aging, triple-chinned champ Dori of Blam's recent photo, but pics of a much more presentable, skinnier Dori of yore, taken perhaps 12 years ago. In one pic, Dori was posing shooting a basketball, in front of Star and the girls. In huge, sickening blue letters, running the length of the trolley, it read- DORI MONSON IS THE KING OF SEATTLE! ALL HAIL THE KING!.....

[Duffman]

Soooo, you're dreamin 'bout him now?...merci, merci...might you lend tommy your goat...LOL :)

[Goldy]

You know, I probably shouldn't comment here, but I just want to correct the information I know for a fact is incorrect.

A) In recent months, I had a full spot load -- 15 minutes of local plus the CBS network spot, and almost zero PSAs. So this bullshit about KIRO losing money on me, is just bullshit. I carried my own weight, and have had a steady uptick in ratings... and with zero promotion.

B) Nobody works for free. Phil gets paid the same $XXX.00 for each of his shows as I got paid for mine. Of course, I'd rather be on the air than Phil, but he's a great guy and I wish him the best of luck.

C) I find it hard to believe that Dori had any input in the decision to dump my show... but I doubt he was distressed to hear the news. For whatever reason, Dori just doesn't seem to like me, while personally, I don't really know the guy well enough to like him or not. Sure, I hate what he does on air, but there's no question he's great at it.

A lot of speculation goes on in the comment threads here from folks who obviously know absolutely nothing about the business. KIRO took the budget from our shows and put it toward something else. (Maybe the new website?) Personally, I think it sucks, and I think it undervalues me as an asset -- you'd think the region's most influential political blogger might be worth something during an election year, as they're trying to build their web presence -- but, well, that's the decision they made. It was an honor and a privilege to work at KIRO, and I hope to continue doing fill-in there, until a better opportunity comes along.

[Duffman]

Heads up of you to chime in here and set things straight, Goldy.
If I were you I'd approach KVI...they are hurtin right now and surely they will want to make changes SOON?
Good Luck and hang in there! :)

[chucks]

Goldy
I never liked what you had to say. But you said what you were thinking.
That is the great thing about this country. We don't have to like what you are saying and you still get to say it.
Because you were so disagreeable to me, I tuned in now and again to hear what the other side was up to. I will be one of the first to pee on KIRO's grave when this all settles.
Good luck to you. I hope that you do get a show here locally so you can piss me off more. It really is boring just listening to those with whom you agree.

[Tommy008]

I knew Goldstein wouldn't last much longer on KIRO about a month ago when he started rudely shouting over a guy who dared to disagree with his liberal dogma on gun conrol. The guy asked him whether he was just going to shout over him as a tactic to keep him for being heard, and Goldstein shot back, that he was the one with his own radio show so he guessed he could shout over whoever he liked. Pure smalltime arrogance. He was only really comfortable and respectful while shmoozing and yukking it up (the inside jokes were nonfunny lameass stuff to the rest of us, Dave) with his fellow smartasses from the juvenile Stranger publication, and treated those who disagreed with him with superiority and disdain. Go back to Philly, you're a "better fit" there.

[Tommy008]

Sorry, the "Grammar Lady" just called- it's "whomever he liked", not whoever.

[Seattlenerd]

Having been through it a couple of times myself, stations do this kind of housecleaning from time-to-time, and it's purely financial.

Sure, Dori-like humans may have hinted that they wouldn't mind seeing someone go. But no local weekend host carries the same weight or ratings importance to a station as a weekday host. So while Dori may not be shedding any tears, I doubt he's responsible, either. It's just easier to jettison expense on the weekend.

Bonneville probably thinks the bucks are best spent in the higher-revenue and rated weekday dayparts (though I'm also a big fan of live and local). I'm surprised no one has speculated that the new Luke Burbank show may be sucking up more bucks than what it replaced, but I have no inside knowledge of that.

[wutitiz]

T008, you're a little hard on Goldy, but it's true he would have benefited by more direct engagement w/ opponents. I called him once to challenge a point. He cut me off right after my opening. He answered with a long diatribe that I could have countered, but for the fact that he had hung up on me.

[Gay Gary]

THE REAL QUESTION people are missing here, is, who is going to sub for Dori, Dave, etc. now? Fastlane Philips?

I'd also like to know what kind of sub plan is in place for Luke Burbank. He hasn't been there long enough to be eligible for vacay days but it's only a matter of time. Will they bring in one of his "Time Out New York"-reading, Chelsea Market-shopping friends from NYC on ISDN?

[AuthenticAndrew]

I find it hard to believe that TBTL would suck dollars out of the weekend because Goldy says his show paid for itself. It would mean KIRO axed an asset for no reason while keeping a show that isn't proven, which would be totaly fucking retarded.

I'm not entitled to know anything, I'm but an observer, but I'd like to know why KIRO would cancel any show that pays for itself and replace it with a feed. Could it be that the free syndicated feed with a few paid spots is still more profitable than a local show with all paid spots? Do all spots cost the same or were Goldy's spots go for cheaper than they would have liked?

[storsie]

No, Gary, the REAL question is, who is the mystery person with an arm around Dori in the above pic, and why have they been cut out???

Whoever it is, it's someone very large and very muscular.

That there is an unseen mystery person just out of view says it all.

Also, why does Dori look like he's been drugged?

[Seattlenerd]

AA: I haven't seen KIRO's rate card, but weekends (and overnights) are usually full of ROS spots which sell for less than commercials that are bought to run in a particular daypart or program.

Some weekend shows can command premium spot rates -- such, I suspect, as KIRO's gardening and cooking shows that attract a specific demographic (one of my own subject-specific weekend shows years ago had spots and sponsorships sold for it, at a higher rate than other weekend fare). Not to reflect poorly on Goldy and the others, but I don't know if the cancelled shows were able to attract premium rates.

If they couldn't, it's likely a gardening show could easily outperform a regular-spot rate talk show financially, even if the latter were sold out.

[AuthenticAndrew]

I have to add one more thing; I like that Blatherwatch is cruel, unusual and seemingly mean on a whim because it's the perfect companion to a radio station that asks us to devote our attention to a personality only to rip them away out of nowhere, without a warning or a predictable six months your time is up type of thing. I know that's how the radio business works but so long as that's the case it deserves a Blatherwatch. I bet the management doesn't like that when you google "kiro radio" blatherwatch comes up on the same page but fuck'em they deserve it.