take your answer off the air...

  • HorsesAss.Org: the straight poop on WA politics & the press
    progressive brilliance from the guy who pointed out Tim Eyman's nascent horse's-assedness
  • Talker's Magazine
    The quirky talk radio trade mag. Check the Talk Radio Research Project- it's not very scientific, but places on the top 15 talkers list (scroll down to Talk Radio Audiences By Size)) are as hotly contested as Emmys (and mean just about as much).
  • The Advocate
    No, not THAT Advocate... it's the Northwest Progressive Institute's Official Blog.
  • Media Matters
    Documentation of right-wing media in video, audio and text.
  • Orcinus
    home of David Neiwert, freelance investigative journalist and author who writes extensively about far-right hate groups
  • Hominid Views
    "People, politics, science, and whatnot" Darryl is a statistician who fights imperialism with empiricism, gives good links and wry commentary.
  • Jesus' General
    An 11 on the Manly Scale of Absolute Gender, a 12 on the Heavenly Scale of the 10 Commandments and a 6 on the earthly scale of the Immaculately Groomed.
  • Howie in Seattle
    Howie Martin is the Abe Linkin' of progressive Seattle.
  • Streaming Radio Guide
    Hellishly long (5795!) list of radio streaming, steaming on the Internets.
  • The Naked Loon
    News satire -- The Onion in the Seattle petunia patch.
  • Irrational Public Radio
    "informs, challenges, soothes and/or berates, and does so with a pleasing vocal cadence and unmatched enunciation. When you listen to IPR, integrity washes over you like lava, with the pleasing familiarity of a medium-roast coffee and a sensible muffin."
  • The Maddow Blog
    Here's the hyper-interactive La Raych of MSNBC. daily show-vids, freakishly geeky research, and classy graphics.
  • Northwest Broadcasters
    The AM, FM, TV and digital broadcasters of Northwest Washington, USA and Southwest British Columbia, Canada. From Kelso, WA to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, BC - call letters, formats, slogans, networks, technical data, and transmitter maps. Plus "recent" news.
  • News Corpse
    The Internet's chronicle of media decay.
  • The Moderate Voice
    The voice of reason in the age of Obama, and the politics of the far-middle.
  • News Hounds
    Dogged dogging of Fox News by a team who seems to watch every minute of the cable channel so you don't have to.
  • HistoryLink
    Fun to read and free encyclopedia of Washington State history. Founded by the late Walt Crowley, it's an indispensable tool and entertainment source for history wonks and surfers alike.

right-wing blogs we like

  • The Reagan Wing
    Hearin lies the real heart of Washington State Republicans. Doug Parris runs this red-meat social conservative group site which bars no holds when it comes to saying who they are and who they're not; what they believe and what they don't; who their friends are and where the rest of the Republicans can go. Well-written, and flaming.
  • Orbusmax
    inexhaustible Drudgery of NW conservative news
  • The Radio Equalizer
    prolific former Seattle KVI, KIRO talk host speaks authoritatively about radio.
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« KIRO, KTTH: only the techies are safe | Main | Billy Bob: BASEBALL, ROCKSTAR, TAMI-PIE AND BEAUJOLAIS »

May 25, 2010

Comments

Duffman

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!

joanie

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.

Duffman

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!]

joanie

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.

TomF

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.

CorporateSuit

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+.

Deborah

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).

Tommy008

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....

Duffman

Somebody swat that little one-note mosquito buzzin around here.
[You need to be payin more attention to the market...it's tanking]

CorporateSuit

"Good guys?" Yeah, if you consider a stalker a "good guy" and having a baby out of wedlock...

Tommy008

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....

dotty com

It might help if R & D would play a little music. Why not?

Rat Bastard

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.

gdog

You people are worse than a bunch of old biddies at a Stitch n' Bitch convention.

Duffman

I agree gdog, seems like the only making sense around here is Matilda34Chang

Rat Bastard

Bitching?
Isn't that what sites like this are for?

TomF

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.

Duffman

...and so many people 'accidentally' listen to him over and over again. Give me a break!!!

ExPatBrit

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.

Rat Bastard

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.

Tommy008

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.......

Duffman

She's 96 and 1/2...GIVE HER A BREAK!!!

Tommy008

ok enough of this crap.....im off to get my 2 litre bottle of Cherry Coke at QFC for 88 cents...

Duffman

Will you be jumping in the Mercedes or taking your bicycle.

Pete

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.

Duffman

'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'!

Nantuckett

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.

Mungo

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.

Rat Bastard

"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!

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    pacific nw talk stations

    • KIRO 710ESPN Seattle 710 KHz
      Games and sports-blabber
    • KIROFM 97.3
      Multi-format: news and nearly all local talk. This is where classic KIRO AM news talk radio went... hopefully, not to die. The home of Dave Ross & Luke Burbank, Dori Monson, Ron & Don, Frank Shiers, Bill Radke, Linda Thomas, Tony Miner and George Noory.
    • KUOW FM 94.9
      Seattle's foremost public radio news and talk.
    • KVI am 570 KHz
      Visit the burnt-out husk of one of the seminal right-wing talkers in all the land. Here's where once trilled the reactionary tones of Rush Limbaugh, John Carlson, Kirby Wilbur, Mike Siegel, Peter Weissbach, Floyd Brown, Dinky Donkey, and Bryan Suits. Now it's Top 40 hits from the '60's & '70's aimed at that diminishing crowd who still remembers them and can still hear.
    • KTTH am 770 KHz
      Right wing home of local, and a whole bunch of syndicated righties such as Glennn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larsony, and for an hour a day: live & local David Boze.
    • KPTK am 1090 KHz
      Syndicated liberal talk. Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Norman Goldman fill in the large hole to the left on Northwest radio dial.
    • KLFE AM 1590 kHz
      Syndicated right-wing 2nd stringers like Mark Levin, Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Dennis Miller and Hugh Hewitt inhabit this timid-voiced neighbor honker for your radio enjoyment (unless you're behind something large like Costco).
    • KOMOAM
      News, traffic, Ken Schram and John Carlson.
    • Washington State Radio Stations
      Comprehensive list of every danged AM & FM station on the dial.
    • KKOL am 1300 KHz
      Once a rabid right-wing talker, except for Lou Dobbs, it's all business....