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Lee Rodgers, who made a brief appearance on the Seattle airwaves back in 1994, then left after he stunk up the ratings at KIRO following the retirement of Jim French has died after a 13 hour by-pass surgery. His last known radio spot was on San Francisco's KSFO and prior to KIRO, several years at KGO 810. Rodger's was let go in 2010, after 14 years at then Citadel's KSFO, opposite co-host Melanie Morgan who wrote a tribute today . We profiled him earlier when he was let go at KSFO.
Dex Allen reports via Bill Taylor on the passing of former KOL DJ Rhett Hamilton Walker I who died last month in Australia.
After KOL and KRLA (Los Angeles), Rhett returned to his native Australia, earned a master's degree and a doctorate, and became a professor of business administration and marketing, garnering numerous academic awards as a lecturer, researcher and author.
Norm Gregory's website gives background to the hiring of Walker:
"KJR and KOL battle for Top 40 supremacy through out the 1960s. At the
height of the musical “British Invasion” KOL tried English accented
jocks. Leading the air-staff was Rhett Hamilton Walker I. He was a New
Zealander but his unique accent was close enough."
Here's his LaTrobe University bio:
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/law/about/staff/profile?uname=RWalker
From Bill Taylor:
"We've lost some great and talented friends from that Magnificent 7 era at KOL, including Tom Connors, Ray Hutchinson, Greg Connors, Buzz Barr, Bill Munson (BR Bradbury) and Danny Holiday."
KUOW recently began its seventh decade on the air in Seattle. In
the second installment of a three-part series exploring the history of
KUOW, Feliks Banel takes us back to the station’s early years before
pledge drives and NPR, and then on to the rise of public radio in the
1970s.
The first installment can be found here..
From Feliks Banel and the KUOW website
"It's Raining Cats and Dogs with Shawn Stewart" premeres this Sunday 1-3pm on KIRO FM 97.3
But you know it will be mainly about dogs, arent most pet shows?
"Cats and dogs bring us so much joy, but they can also be quirky, mysterious, and downright frustrating," said Stewart, co-host of It's Raining Cats and Dogs and owner of the Ahimsa Dog Training Center. "We hope Seattle's vast population of cat and dog lovers will join us for a lively and informative dialogue about these very important members of our families."
Stewart, formally PD at 103.7 The Mountain, was sacked a little over 2 years ago, in which the station has seen it's ratings go into the shitter after it shifted it's format from AAA to more of a classic rock format.
In 2006 Rolling Stone Magazine named KMTT "The Mountain" one of the top radio stations in the U.S. market.
In the aftermath of the recent mass shootings around the country, the National Rifle Assn (NRA) has come out with yet another ad aimed this time at the President's school age daughters. The ad, later pulled after criticism from conservatives such as Joe Scarborough purported to connect the Presidents use of Secret Service protection for his children at school as hypocritical to the rest of Americans who supposedly face the same type of threat.
Scarborough related on his Morning Joe show via Media Matters: Scarborough, who as a Congressman was a strong supporter of the NRA, responded to the ad, asking "what's wrong with these people?" He continued, pointing out that once Obama decided to run for president, his children "have targets on their backs." Scarborough also said that the NRA is now a "fringe organization with millions of mainstream members." He concluded by saying the ad was "frightening and over the line."
The NRA wasn't the only dog whistle being blown, El Rushbo was also in on the act:
Comparing the executive order signing yesterday with children standing around the President, Limbaugh bellowed: "The children's as human shield show" Others collaborating with Rush on twitter includes FOX radio's Todd Starnes who yapped:
Another spare parts talker, FOX' Tammy Bruce tweeted "Really? How about Obama using dead children as pawns?"
Republicans are threatening to impeach Obama over executive action on gun control, but many presidents have issued executive orders on gun control, including George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Executive orders concerning a ban on assault weapons is nothing new. In 1989 after a mass schoolyard shooting in Stockton Calif, then President George HW Bush signed an executive order banning the importation of certain semi-automatic . This was based on the 1968 gun control act.
1952 Supreme Court ruled Executive Orders cannot be used to make new laws. However, Executive orders can be used to manage the enforcement of an existing law such as the Gun Control act of 1968. Both the 1989 signing and President Clinton's signing in 1998 banning 50 semiautomatic weapons that were modified due to "sporting purposes" exemptions.
The President could also use another existing law to sign additional orders. The National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934,(after the St Valentines Day Massacre,FDR signed) which levied a tax on the transfer of firearms. The President could use an executive order to institute a database and background checks centered on the sale of firearms; in other words, managing an existing law.
42 years in broadcasting comes to an end, or Happy Ending for Atlanta syndicated talker Neal Boortz. Not heard around here but in the backwaters of Aberdeen, Spokane and Tri-Cities
Nearly 5,000 fans and guests gathered in Atlanta the past Saturday, including Jeff Foxworthy, Sean Hannity, and Boortz successor Herman 999 Cain.
Boortz had planned the Happy Ending prior to his last air date of Jan 18th. From Radio Online and his Facebook page he gushes:
"Thanks to the 4,650 people who came to my Happy Ending party at the Fox Theater in Atlanta last night," Boortz posted on his Facebook page. "You're my extended family -- LOVE YOU. And thanks to my Happy Ending guests! Banks & Shane, our emcee Chuck Dowdle, Sean Hannity, Jeff Foxworthy, Rush (no last name needed), a nice greeting from Larry the Cable Guy, Jamie Dupree, Herman Cain, Clark Howard, Erick Erickson, Monica Pearson, the two women I love the most to whom I'm not related, Belinda and Cristina, and my family, THE QUEEN, of course, and my daughter, Laura and her husband. The grandbaby stayed home taking care of a babysitter. Oh ... and Hannity, The Queen and I closed down a particular bar at 2:30 last night. That was the after-party. Love you all -- mean it -- and Royal was deeply missed."'
Boortz is known for creating the kind of on-air controversy his contemporaries live for.
The day after the Nov election, Boortz compared the President to Ted Bundy and Hitler. We've noticed a lot of talk show hosts lately with a fascination with a black Hitler.
Even Hogans Heroes had to be careful when using Ivan Dixon to impersonate a Nazi and only at night.
Boortz also claimed President Obama "is a bigger disaster to this country than 9-11." That comment drew harsh criticism from 9-11 victims' families. According to Talkers Magazine, Boortz holds a national audience of about 6 million weekly listeners, 200 stations.
We find it hard to believe since only so many hosts can claim 6 million listeners and also since his show is not heard around here.
He was ranked by the magazine as the 13th most influential radio talk host in the nation this year.
We talked about the demise of Portland progressive station 620 KPOJ and it's morning host Carl Wolfson, back in November.
Wolfson has reported his goal of raising $40,000 via Kickstarter has been exceeded currently, to the tune of $53k. Carl will also donate 20% of every dollar raised beyond the funding goal of $40k to the memorial funds of the families affected by the recent tragedies in Clackamas, Oregon and Newtown, Connecticut..
Carl's site explains the details: "Carl in the Morning" will return on President Obama's Inauguration Day, January 21, 2013. The 90-minute live show will broadcast weekday mornings from 7AM-8:30AM PST via streaming radio on any internet enabled device and available on Podcast. Enjoy the same guests, callers and features you've started your day with for the past six years."
Carl's Internet/Podcast show starts Inaguration Day, Jan 21st.
Which means its for sale. It's been for sale for some time considering the drain that Fisher Plaza did to their bottom line.
The local owners of KOMO TV-Radio (KING FM managed)and other broadcasting properties announced today that Fisher through it's board "has decided to explore and evaluate potential strategic alternatives intended to enhance shareholder value, which could result in, among other things, a possible sale of the company."
According to reports in the Puget Sound Biz Journal " "In early Thursday trading, shares in Fisher (NASDAQ: FSCI) were up more than 16 percent, rising $4.58 to $33.07."
That giant sucking sound from Hedge Fund Plaza
"The company has not made a decision to pursue any specific strategic transaction or any other strategic alternative, and there is no set timetable for the strategic review process," Fisher said in a statement.
Reuters was more specific that Fisher shares jumped as much as 20 percent to $34.25, valuing the company at $304 million, under pressure from billionaire investor Mario "Gordon Gecko"Gabelli, said it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a sale.
Gabelli, the largest shareholder in the company with a 28.63 percent stake, said however that he still preferred a leveraged restructuring to an outright sale.
"I'd have done a leveraged restructuring because that is the culture of 1980s. That is what Multimedia (Inc) did and that was a very good way to make money for the shareholders," Gabelli told Reuters. Which is Wall Street Speak for 'lunch is for wimps'.
Sun-tzu: If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight, and if not, get Bonneville on the phone.
Gabelli suggested in a letter to Fisher in April last year that they implement a leveraged restructuring similar to the one executed by Multimedia Inc Chief Executive Wilson Wearn in 1985. (link.reuters.com/myn25t)
We don't see a Bud Fox here to save the last locally owned broadcast company in the NW.
Gabelli calling the Fisher suits "pal" when in Seattle
Curley looking east past Bellevue circa 2009
We haven't seen anything like it, a former local teevee star still on the payroll after several attempts to make him into a radio star.
John Curley has been in a staging pattern at KIRO since he left KING 5 Evening Magazine some time ago. He was tried out in the 7-10 slot last year. Then this past Oct, he was tried out on mornings, doing news....
We've followed the on-air career of John Curley, it's clear we don't like him, bodily function,frat-boy radio doesn't seem to cut it here. He's also a republican in a Dori way but as one poster commented, people laugh with Dori while others laugh at Curley. His twitter page hasn't been updated since Aug.
We tried to make the photo smaller, but John's over-sized, Sammamish ego wouldn't call for it
Curley is an easy, go-to guy to shuffle around, he doesn't need the money, he has his own business on the side doing high-end 501-c3 auctions in which he takes a percentage. (when it doesn't conflict with the raydio, which is why he may have been moved to mornings) The suits in radio don't care about what happens after 6p which is why they probably pulled him after 3 months doing the morning commute. It is possible the on air presence was a launching pad for a larger venture into politics beyond his gig as a Sammamish City Council member.
We could put the blame on the choice of programmers at KIRO. Jason Antebi, (rhymes with Raid on Entebbe) Asst PD at KIRO-KTTH, also Jason Rantz on the raydio, whom we profiled earlier as a partisan, crybaby college radio shock-jock and contributor to such august publications as Reader's Digest and Human Events.
His college radio show frequently mocked Occidental's administration, student government, as well as a wide-range of political and social causes. His attorney described his show thus:
"Jason Antebi’s show, like many college radio shows, was intentionally obnoxious—that was why it was named Rant and Rave. The targets of Antebi’s on-air mockery included whites, alcoholics, drug users, “straight-edges,” his cohost, his former co-host, Mormons, Christians, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, doctors, lawyers, Democrats, Republicans, feminists, “hippies,” the Christian Right, Alan Colmes, Greta Van Susteren, Bill O’Reilly, Al Franken, campus safety officers, women, men, children, space aliens, Star Trek fans, too many more to list here..."
And as we posted previously,
The school fired Antebi from the show, and he recruited Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) who wrote a letter condemning the college and pointed out that his speech was clearly protected under the First Amendment.
The school's attorney responded with a letter that, according to his FIRE lawyer, "flatly distorted and misrepresented facts and implied, without a shred of evidence, that Raid on Antebi had committed a variety of serious offenses including vandalizing cars and making harassing phone calls."
Larry Giffords is the Program Director for the Seattle Bonneville cluster. We hear he's a nice guy and has his own website telling others what talent is . But did they both arrive in Seattle with cement feet or is Seattle a difficult market to program?
Moroni fills in next week on Kiro
Is this part of the larger problem at KIRO and parent company Bonneville in that programming choices are being made with little regard to longevity or the Mormon elders in SLC?
KIRO used to not-give-a-shit about weekend programming, now it seems it doesn't care about the rest of the week.
Change is good
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