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!

He no longer exists on the KVI site.

Haven’t yet heard the details, but the longtime, Seattle conservative was let go a month before his contract for the early morning show was up.

Big things will henceforth occur on KVI, as the last vestige of live and local and the old KVI order has been wiped clean.

New schedule: John Gibson 3a-6a, Laura Ingraham will snark and scold from 6 to 9a; Dennis Miller has been moved to afternoon drive (3-5p) to make room for more John Gibson (!) from 9 ta noon.

More interesting times ahead.

Yesterday saw 15-year KIRO morning veteran, Jane Shannon shuffled out the door. Read about it here.

Comments

[Rich]

Wow some good news for a change

[fRed]

Any news on Carleen Johnson.

[ryder]

y guess iss that most high priced talent in town will eitheer takke major paay cuts or find themselves collecting unemployment.

[Dr Drew]

Your lover is still employed at KVI, fRed

[fRed]

As is your lover at the Lynnwood Expresso Drive-Thru.

[Bill Wippel]

I hate the way radio axes talent, whether I like them or not.

[jammastahk]

Absolutely crazy...what the heck is going on there at Fisher??

[Puget Sound]

this is horrible news.
kirby was a nice, friendly, and reliable voice of calm even when things were going kablooey.
i will miss not having kirby to turn to in the early am on my way to work or out the door to work out.

lets hope we can find him soon on another local station.

[Michele]

Thank you, Kirby, for all you've done on radio for the last 16 years. Hope you'll still be subbing for Sean Hannity now and then.

[KS]

Times are changin' not necessarily for the better. KVI has always been a bit off in their programming - his format became wierd over the last year. Kirby was knowledgable on local and national politics - but enunciation wasn't his strong point.

John Gibson will be good in the morning - he challenges the liberal progressives who call his show vs. Rush (who I listen to about as much as 1090). I also like Brian and the Judge.

[notalk]

Good riddance. He was always a weak pretender.

Seems like the big question now is where he'll end up. Republicans took another drubbing locally in the November elections, so there's not any prospects for him to land a cushy "communications" job like some of his brethren have in the past.

[chucks]

Whomever gets him is bound to pick up the loyal listeners that have enjoyed his program for years.
I met him a few times through the years. He really is a nice person.
No doubt that he will land something soon.
Mean while, unemployment pays $630.00 per month and seems to go on forever. I promised my bride that I would go back to work after I get done repossessing my tax money that the thieves have extracted from me over the years. But the dummies keep adding more weeks. No wonder people get on the dole and stay. $32,760.00 per year to play on the computer all damned day.
It's a large cut in pay, but great practice for retirement.

[BenSeattle]

There must be at least several dozen loyal listeners who are mourning the demise of this thick-tongued, lisping mumble-mouth whose right-wing bonfides run as deep as the trickle down my driveay. Like Dori Monson, another graduate from "El Rushbo's School of Guaranteed Right-Wing Radio Gold."

The GOOD news is that the often-sensible (and vastly more entertaining) Dennis Miller will help grease the skids for the none-too-soon exit of the mindless chuckleheads "Ron and Don."

[Mark]

Chucks,

And that would be you repossessing MY tax money. Asshole.

[Drew]

Chux should have his street repossessed. Police and fire protection, too. Shut off his water, and cap off the sewer line from his house. He really appreciates having those things around, but he wants them for free. It's time he learned how much he can get for that price.
Anybody else want to add to this list?

[twitter.com/KFIBryan]

Morning AFTER his birthday!? That beats me getting turfed on or about Veteran's Day.

[AuthenticAndrew]

I have to think this is bad news for Dori Monson, because even though he enjoys better ratings than Wilbur did, his industry counterparts are dropping like flies. He's sharing company with a little guy like Frank "oh god don't send me back to teaching" Shiers, who must all but give his services away and they won't even attach his name to the show of which he is the sole host. His leverage must be diminishing pretty fast.

I'd recommend for the newly unemployed talkers to follow John Curley's lead and try running for city or country positions in Snohomish, Pierce or Skagit counties. Their name recognition might get them pretty far.

[MadMenViewer]

KFI Bryan, is that pic right after you made Lt. ?

Oh and Drew I'd wager Chucks has paid more taxes than you. Smartass.

[Rich]

I thought he was mean. I remember him belittling a woman till she cried. It was really good radio if you like bully's. Perhaps the numbers on the Dow and Suzzie race are indicative of the current audience. I am hopping for a format change. There still might be some good in all this. I really feel bad about Jane. She did not have that coming.

[Puget Sound]

Hey Sparkles,
A Bart Stupack Moment.

I wonder what Kirby would have thought about this story:

"The Republican National Committee’s health insurance plan covers elective abortion – a procedure the party’s own platform calls “a fundamental assault on innocent human life.”

Federal Election Commission Records show the RNC purchases its insurance from Cigna. Two sales agents for the company said that the RNC’s policy covers elective abortion.

Informed of the coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho told POLITICO that the policy pre-dates the tenure of current RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

“The current policy has been in effect since 1991, and we are taking steps to address the issue,” Gitcho said."

[katbird_27]

kirby i will mis you. PLEASE be permenent sub for hannity. i want to find you on another station ASAP!

[Unionless]

Why are you lying.

[saintrudy]

just think,all those years of being a lying son of a bitch and a devout republican lackey thrown under the bus. Fox hates to waste these creeps but there is probably space in the same looney bin as the calif.virgin,Joe the Plumber.Palin, Beck, Lush windbag,and THE BIRTHERS &DEATH CAMPERS

[art]

This is all a hoax. Kirby is alive and well on KVI. fucking "blogger."

[mark]

Hope his departure from KVI will mean a reappearance somewhere in the Radioscape.
I'll miss him. He was my son's history teacher for a year, and, truth be told, I really enjoyed his lectures too.

[chucks]

Mark and Drew
Kiss my big ol' lily white donkey. There has been not one year between 1987 and 2007 that I payed less than $40K in income taxes. I still pay a kazillion other taxes including $400.00 per month in property taxes to lease my house from the state and county as well as get my Po Po, Fire, EMS, roads etc. We do the same for our place at Chelan. My power and water comes from a co-op that my neighbors and I own together. So screw you, I am going to take a little back. I am pretending to be a protected class fellow and letting you make my house and car payment plus food. My bride is taking care of the rest plus my medical, again thanks to you.
It's about time I got to get rather than give. None of you ever said thanks any way.
Kirby deserves a little pre-retirement rest as well. He has worked hard and paid faithfully for years. He should get some back to.

[Tigsnort]

Know what's weird? You could transpose "Kirby Wilbur" into "Wilbur Kirby" and no one would even notice. Or even Kirbur Wilby.

[AuthenticAndrew]

I feel bad for all these radio people getting canned. It's not like a normal job where a few coworkers are aware of your demise, it must be tough to take a fall before the many thousands of people who listened to you every day, going from mattering one day to being just another ordinary nobody the next. They must feel an urge to pull a Susan Hutchison and make a grab for the spotlight for that part of them still feels entitled. The higher their ego had climbed, the farther they fall on a day like this.

That's why I say be like Jim Compton, Jean Godden and John Curley and use your name recognition to get onto some city council somewhere. If you're a freshly released conservative talker I recommend looking for a town with lots of sheep, both real and figurative.

[dano]

I used to listen
to Kirby all the
time, until that
dastardly Glen Beck
showed up and hijacked
my listenership by being
just that much funnier than
Kirby. I had dinner with him
and his wife years ago. He was
a true gentleman. I wish him well.

[KShannon]

A penny-wise, pound-foolish move by fisher radio. It's so much cheaper to pipe in the national shows for next to nothing than to pay actual local talent.

This is definitely the end of KVI as a serious talk radio station.

Good luck Kirby, I'll tune it to you wherever you might wind up.

[Tommy008]

Although the axing of Kirb was long overdue (bully masquerading as a nice guy), his replacement continues the trend of moving backwards in Seattle talkradio. We're back to hearing about Frank's daughter ("she for whom the sun both rises and sets" in between his reheating and serving up portions of Monson and Beck's previous show material.

[Jim Palmer]

Getting fired is the dicipline the market imposes on someone doing a bad job.

[Unionless]

Actually, 85% of the time it's not the someone, but the system.
Good Luck Kirby. I'm sure you realized that as a technically correct talk host you were a bit weak, but as a decent human being who seemed to treat everyone with respect you were tops. You are well liked and I seriously do not understand why KVI didn't give you a chance to say good-bye to your fans. May be you could post the facts on your web site? Take care.

[JerseyMike]

Why not have Kirby on KOMO at night from 10pm-midnight? Why does Gibson get 6 hours (including a repeat) and and why should Noory get 6 hours. Put Mark Levin LIVE at 3pm and put Brian and Judge on LIVE at Noon. Fisher needs to make sense ALL the way through. Kirby should be a Fox Analyst and get to go to NY more often- better things coming for him in my opinion.

[JerseyMike]

I meant Brian and the Judge LIVE at 9am Pacific time.

[Mike McGinty]

I will miss Kirby. I did stop listening when KVI started running "Best Of shows (repeats) every once in a while. You can't do that in this fast moving world. I would tune in the morning and say I heard that before. It was a repeat. So over to KIRO or to Glen. I love you Kirby.

[Hank D]

You helped so many people over the years Kirby. Thank you.

I will never forget you.

Never.

[ray]

hallaleyah praise gold marble mouth is gone.there is hope afterall.lets hope dori, ron and don, frank shitshire and medvud are next.shawn hannidy will never go away.