We can’t get hold of many ratings anymore, so we depend on a little help from our friends.
(photo: Don's on the left)
Our friends say there’s long been corporate pressure to reinstall an afternoon news show on KIRO, but the Seattle office is reticent BECAUSE RON & DON GET THE BEST RATINGS ON THE STATION (emphasis ours).
Bonneville's thinking hard before dumping the dopes.
Ron Upshaw and Don O'Neill (m-f, 3-7p) were transient FM losers who stumbled back to town after fleeing New Orleans in the Katrina aftermath. In a year or so of filling-in in the chaos that was the end times of the Entercom’s regime at KIRO, they waggled their way into afternoon drive. The rest, except for many embarrassing moments and a parade of producers, is history... and, unfortunately, the present.
Now they’re the hottest show on the station.
Ron & Don's ascension mirrors KIRO's descension. They still sound like morning zoo animals in a time slot on the station which once rivaled All Things Considered in the ratings.
And they did it with celebrity name-dropping; deep analysis of reality teevee events; sports trivialities; sexual intenuendos; beer google tropes; trumped-up, on-air disagreements with each other, and pretending to be more ignorant than they actually are.
They don’t sound like KIRO… or maybe it's KIRO doesn’t sound like KIRO.
What’s for the future? If not news, what? A fill-in/try-out Friday by ex-morning jocks Marty Reamer and Jodi Brothers, set adrift last year from The Mountain, affronted staffers and had them all, “Who are these guys? " they mumbled, "They suck.” (R & D may be idiots but they're the idiots we know).
A KIRO-ite wrote us recently to say they heard Don bragging that he's been "doing radio so long he doesn't even have to think about it anymore." No shit.
Make of that what you will, but much as we dislike Dori, we for one are "troubled" and "disappointed" that not even the Mighty Mite can coax more signals into those little meters than these two.
That said (and that's said, that that's said) KIRO's got big challenges. And although we love to trash the status quo, we haven't the foggiest notion which way they should go.
Again, I just can't help but think that some how, in some manner KIRO intends to utilize the talents of Luke Burbank again? I just don't understand why they've maintained a connection with him after the end of his show (note: they still post his podcast(s) on MyNorthwest).
Is he still on the payroll in some way (note that he spends time on air with Dave Ross each week). Methinks somethin's up there?
I hope the speculation about buying KJR proves fruitful and that KIRO can go back to amplitude modulation band. That would REALLY be helpful.
I really hope they don't axe Dori Monson, despite what his greatest critic (herein) says...he's ENTERTAINMENT and that is what radio seems to be about currently. There are PLENTY of other sources for raw news, etc.
Hope it all comes down THIS week so they can sort of make a fresh start in June. Good Luck, KIRO!
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 05:58 AM
What does it say about you and those who love Monson that he's "entertainment?" He's not entertainment for me. I can't even understand the desire for that kind of "entertainment."
Some of us find hate-radio boring and unsatisfying. I guess for some of us, informative is entertaining. Chris Hedges wrote a nice comment on the current American desire for spectacle. I'll have to find it and post it.
I wonder if Bonneville wants to claim the mantle of having dumbed down Seattle like Fixed News has dumbed down the hinterlands. Except for KUOW, Dave is about the only centrist and even-handed host out there.
Posted by: joanie | May 25, 2010 at 07:38 AM
Yeah, like someone previously speculated, let's hope IF IN FACT Dave Ross leaves that he goes to an NPR station where he can be properly appreciated by the few who'll be listening. [A nice fit...and he's good at raising money, too!]
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 07:45 AM
That's my point, Duff. Only a "few" of us are smart enough to want to hear interesting talk?
Although, I hear KUOW is doing quite well, thank you.
Posted by: joanie | May 25, 2010 at 07:51 AM
KUOW is doing great, which is driving the commercial talkers crazy. They fought tooth and nail against having public radio show up on the overall ratings grid. Now the calculus seems to be: let the eggheads coalesce around NPR, KUOW, KPLU... while commercial talk is turned into a poo-throwing, screaming circus.
(Look at how broadcast TV networks respond to excellence on basic and pay cable -- not by upping their game, but by going coarser and dumber in pursuit of raw numbers.)
In most US cities local talk is all but gone anyway, replaced by syndicated right-wing demagogues, Dr. Laura, etc. (Morning zoos excepted.) Seattle is kind of a holdout, but it looks like the bell is now tolling. To the extent the commercial market will support any local talk at all it will be of the Neanderthal stripe.
Broadcast programmers never respond to ratings pressure by aiming for quality. They take the low road, which is where R&D and to some extent Dori live.
Assuming KIRO salvages those two shows and sends everyone else to the glue factory, it'll be like the finale of the Mary Tyler Moore show, where WJM fired all the smart people and kept Ted Baxter.
I still say FM terrain problems are half the cause of KIRO's ratings crater anyway. Hate to see Dave Ross and the newsroom pay the price for FM's limitations.
Posted by: TomF | May 25, 2010 at 08:11 AM
R & D do NOT--I repeat--NOT have the highest rated show in Seattle, or on KIRO, or anywhere else. They are simply stating a lie until everyone believes it. I have seen the data and they are nowhere CLOSE to being #1 or "highest rated." They are practicing the, "if you say a lie enough times, people will believe it." Perhaps they have the highest ratings with women 75+ and dead, but not in the money categories or afternoon drive or even 12+.
Posted by: CorporateSuit | May 25, 2010 at 08:46 AM
I haven't posted before and rarely come here anymore due to the dj bashing. Have to say I love the R&D show. It took me awhile, but I realized how much I like it when the replacements came last Friday. Ugh. I think Dori should go to a sports show where he can be as sanctimonious as he wants. Would love to see Luke back and Dave Ross needs to go to an NPR show. He's stale by now...needs to shake it up a bit. You want entertainment? Ron and Don surely give it to you. May not be to YOUR liking, but obviously there are people who like and support the show. (I'm not trailer trash, either).
Posted by: Deborah | May 25, 2010 at 09:09 AM
RON AND DON are the best show on KIRO - PURE ENTERTAINMENT BY TWO GOOD GUYS.... a sharp contrast to the truly bad individual that preceeds them....
Posted by: Tommy008 | May 25, 2010 at 09:16 AM
Somebody swat that little one-note mosquito buzzin around here.
[You need to be payin more attention to the market...it's tanking]
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 09:19 AM
"Good guys?" Yeah, if you consider a stalker a "good guy" and having a baby out of wedlock...
Posted by: CorporateSuit | May 25, 2010 at 09:40 AM
having a baby out of wedlock was hardly his decision.....he had no say......she told him "we're having a baby".......stalker? produce the arrest report and charges/conviction ...you don't have any of that beacaus ethere is none ...just rumors by haters....
Posted by: Tommy008 | May 25, 2010 at 10:24 AM
It might help if R & D would play a little music. Why not?
Posted by: dotty com | May 25, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Obviously there is an audience for Ron and Don... It sure isn't me or anyone else I know.
Nobody can understand why they're on a station like KIRO, but the problem here seems to be that us long time Seattle talk radio listeners aren't the market that means much anymore.
If R&D is good for ad revenue, it makes sense to have them there.
The times I hear them on the radio I've left on after Dori is over is Ron doing his Barney Rubble Laugh and Don saying, "Yeah, that's right". I don't get it.
Dave Ross is reliably good. Always.
This whole Dori bashing thing is clear liberal "hate" which is what makes it funny to constantly call Dori a "Hate monger"...
He does a great job in expressing the anger felt by the tax paying masses.
The people who don't like Dori's politics just simply hate him no matter what he says.
Posted by: Rat Bastard | May 25, 2010 at 11:04 AM
You people are worse than a bunch of old biddies at a Stitch n' Bitch convention.
Posted by: gdog | May 25, 2010 at 11:39 AM
I agree gdog, seems like the only making sense around here is Matilda34Chang
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Bitching?
Isn't that what sites like this are for?
Posted by: Rat Bastard | May 25, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Rat Bastard said: "This whole Dori bashing thing is clear liberal "hate" which is what makes it funny to constantly call Dori a 'Hate monger'..."
Not so fast. Dori is right about several things, from the light rail boondoggle to Gregoire's lying about the budget deficit. But to be provocative he will also adopt cruel, extreme, and/or unhinged positions that alienate thoughtful people. His gleeful verbal tap dance the day Ted Kennedy passed away was stomach-turning and unforgivable; you can admire Ted Kennedy or not, but for Dori to gloat over Ted's death and celebrate it, on a day when leaders all over the spectrum said respectful things, was the mark of a small, small man. It was also the day I concluded KIRO, by sanctioning a such vicious polemic, had lost its moorings.
Dori's a pipsqueak, HO-scale Huey Long whose lust for cheap attention (and home improvement tradeouts) knows no bounds. The basic rightness of his fiscal stance doesn't erase the fact that he comes off as a very, very unpleasant man... intolerant, uncompassionate, and pandering to mankind's darkest instincts.
Posted by: TomF | May 25, 2010 at 12:34 PM
...and so many people 'accidentally' listen to him over and over again. Give me a break!!!
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Ron And Don work well in that time slot what with all the "breaking news" traffic reports and ads this is no time for serious programming.
When they tried Ross there, it was impossible to follow his train of thought most of the time. The other alternative "breaking news on continuous tape loop" was as boring as drying paint.
Posted by: ExPatBrit | May 25, 2010 at 01:14 PM
Very good point about the drive time traffic reports getting in the way of serious radio...
I remember Dave Ross being less than thrilled with the added interruptions.
As far as the "hate thing"...
Dori thrives on the hatred some have for him since those people still listen.
I don't hate Ron and Don, I just have no interest in their show.
(Ok I hate hearing them on ads)
"Hate" did wonders for Howard Stern, and seems to work very well for Dori too.
Posted by: Rat Bastard | May 25, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Dori's grade school teacher just said on the audio they played of Dori visitng her home, that she was so proud that Dori ended up with his own "radio show on KMO"......she obviously isn't a listener.......
Posted by: Tommy008 | May 25, 2010 at 01:45 PM
She's 96 and 1/2...GIVE HER A BREAK!!!
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 01:49 PM
ok enough of this crap.....im off to get my 2 litre bottle of Cherry Coke at QFC for 88 cents...
Posted by: Tommy008 | May 25, 2010 at 01:55 PM
Will you be jumping in the Mercedes or taking your bicycle.
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 02:01 PM
KMO was a Tacoma station (1360 AM) that went away at least 25 years ago.
RB, the issue some of us have with Monson isn't his politics. I disagree with John Carlson, Bryan Suits, and Kirby Wilbur on a lot, but have a ton of respect for them as broadcasters because they're class acts. Monson is their antithesis. And the fact that (as Duffman invariably points out in his defense) Monson has a lot of listeners doesn't make him any less despicable - it just means he's found a way to make a good living with it.
On another topic - who, other than Duffman, is claiming Bonneville might buy KJR-AM? What possible motivation would Clear Channel have to sell it? (And, presumably, KHHO, their Tacoma all-sports sister. If not the whole five-station cluster.) Station sales, esp. major market ones, will be depressed for at least another year until overall billing is up and cash is a bit easier to come by. And even if they do buy the cluster, I doubt it would mean any format changes; KIRO-AM is getting a nice bump in its ratings from the Mariners, but KJR is still holding its own, and there's plenty of billing for two big sports stations in this or any other major market.
Posted by: Pete | May 25, 2010 at 02:17 PM
'KIRO has to remake the station. I believe all on-air folks are in jepordy. My guess is that they will extend their ownership and buy KJR, which will give them the Huskies. And 97.3 will go back to oldies, the only format (forget KIXI)that isn't used in the market. Promotion will have to be intense. It takes an average of 2 years to own the Seattle market. It'll take 5 miliion in ads to get there.
Posted by: Bill Wippel | May 24, 2010 at 08:37 PM '
Here you go 'Pete'!
Posted by: Duffman | May 25, 2010 at 02:25 PM
Good God, get it out of your systems. What's the bottom line? What (or WHO) is cost-effective? How can you generate the highest ratings at the lowest cost? Put those together and you will have your answer. Bonneville has been dragging its' feet for too long. I think R & D are (well, Don more than Ron) are blowhard bores. The grating tone of Don's voice drives me to change the station immediately. God bless them, but their days are done. Buh Bye.
Posted by: Nantuckett | May 25, 2010 at 06:24 PM
I can stomach Ron, but Don is the biggest blowhard on radio. He has a "friend" in every occupation on Earth. I pity his kid. I turn them off if the subject has any depth to it. I also don't listen to Dori...don't mind his politics so much - he's a "Libertarian of convenience" - but have gotten tired of his lectures.
Posted by: Mungo | May 25, 2010 at 07:08 PM
"Libertarian" is indeed a great way to set yourself above both Democrats and Republicans...
Dori likes the title, but doesn't seem sincere enough about personal responsibility to make it stick.
But back to R&D...
They are probably very good people. Don's voice and more importantly his "way of talking" are what anyone mocking traditional FM radio voices sound like.
Sorry to be posting so much on this, but KIRO and the awful choice of R&D is one of my favorite topics.
Only in my opinion of course. They must be doing good for KIRO or they wouldn't still be there.
(Fingers crossed)
please make them go away
Hey, at least John Gibson is back!
Posted by: Rat Bastard | May 25, 2010 at 09:46 PM