KIRO radio PD quits

 

KIRO 97.3/KTTH 770  Program Director, Larry Gifford has given notice effective March 1. 

 His email explains the shipwreck that the Bonneville talk cluster in Seattle has become:  

“As I’ve considered where we are and the road ahead, it has become clear to me that the type of leadership needed to keep moving these stations forward requires someone with different strengths and passions than mine."  Gifford was hired by Kiro back in May, 2011.

Comments

[Hank Hill]

Does that mean Curley is finally gone too?

[Gentlemen Rouge]

Thank you KIRO, do yourself a favor, report the news!

[TS]

I've been listening to George Noory at night which means I have it on KIRO in the morning when I wake up. I've enjoyed hearing Dave and Linda Thomas. They finally have a woman with a radio voice. And Dave is a nice compliment to her. I still miss his talk but mature radio voices and mature talk just isn't the fashion any more.

I inadvertently left it on and heard a few seconds of the whiner. That's how long it took me to get to the radio and turn it back to KUOW. Maybe they should just let Dori do his talk show from a shooting range. I bet that would bring all the rural rednecks to bay.

[James Detwiler]

That's about the most pitiful excuse for a resignation statement I've ever seen. This loser's been the programmer? KIRO has brighter days ahead.

[James Detwiler]

5 Linda
6 Linda+Dave
7 Dave+Linda+Tom
8 Dave+Tom+Luke
9 Dave+ Luke+Tom
10 Tom +Luke
11 Luke+Tom

Just make it ONE six hour show instead of two or three or whatever it is now - Seattle Morning News until noon. Multiple, overlapping hosts all showing up at different times. You're already going in that direction. Jump.

[Sinbad]

The end is coming soon.

[patternchange]

Make no mistake: this man did not resign. The same corporate suits that hired him to continue dumbing-down the station fired his ass when it didn't work.

[Andrew]

i dont like that curley is nowhere to be found, or that 10 - 12 has gone full tbtl, otherwise im ok with it.

[Mike Barer]

You can't make too much of this. These things happen all the time in a corporation. Espessially in the radio field when creative people have to deal with acountants CEOs,and what not.

[Steve]

While weekend line-ups mean little in the way of overall revenue for a station they speak volumes of a PD's strategic thinking. One look at KIRO's weekend line-up tells all one needs to know about Gifford's utter lack of vision. Here's hoping the next PD pursues quality programming, rather than some horrific mix of brokered crap and same-old-tired syndicated noise.

[talon]

From what I understand the PD isn't the only person in that building that should be leaving. I've heard some disgusting stories from a few friends who work at these stations about their so called management.

[Phillip J. Longwater III]

Being a radio Program Director has become a total shit job.

You do good work, they fire you.

You do mediocre work, they fire you.

You do a great job, they fire you.

You suck, they fire you.

You do exactly what the GM, CEO, Corporate PD & Consultant say to do, they fire you.

You develop a spine, and tell the GM, CEO, Corporate PD & Consultant that their ideas suck, they fire you.

You refuse to buy girl scout cookies from the GM's daughter, they fire you.

You buy a dozen boxes of girl scout cookies from the GM's daughter, they fire you.

You bang the GM's wife, they fire you.

You refuse to bang the GM's wife, because she's fat, they fire you.

Typically, a General Manager gets to fire 3 Program Directors before the company figures out that maybe the GM is a douche.

At Bonneville, they're a benevolent company. The GM gets to whack 4 PDs.

[sdgfdfs]

I'm getting pretty tired of the "tom tagney experience". That guy has shoehorned his way into way too many on air hours during the day.

I remember the good old days when he was on maybe 1/2 hour at most once a week doing movie reviews.

He doesn't seem to add anything at all other than another talking head.

[Andrew]

i agree, tangney doesnt have more than 30 mins of material on a given day. past that he just acts dumb and friendly

[alan]

Business schools often use "case studies" to examine real-world business successes and failures.

I wonder if anyone in business school uses KIRO radio as an example of a catastropic fall, from the outstanding dominant station they were when I was growing up, to the...choosing my words carefully now...piece of rank shit they've been for so long.

[Sinbad]

'You bang the GM's wife, they fire you.'

If she's smokin hot, it may well be worth it.

[patternchange]

If it's true that "At Bonneville, the the GM gets to whack 4 PDs" before the company figures it's time for him to go... then I'd say Mr. Gardner's time is running out.

[jcmcamano]

It's been back to KOMO for me in the AM even with Dave and Linda. Manda and now Greg Hersholt do a great job, without too much commentary. The only show I listen to on KIRO is Dori's, but that has been watered down by the fastest 15 and all the gimmicks he uses now. Letting Hersholt go started this whole mess. I have been listining to KIRO for years. The only bad spell before this on KIRO was Alan Prell.

[Arty Ziff]

KIRO's problem is that pathetic wannabe "Fat Man" Dori Monson, who is just primping and preening for a national radio show, but HEY DORI, the boat has left. Conservative Talk is WHORE of talk radio, and Dori doesn't suck quite enough.

It's time to cut Dori loose.

[Sinbad]

Dori ROCKS and currently he IS KIRO!!!

[Arnie]

I agree, it started whith the Greg Herschold decision, and just gets worse.I simply CANNOT believe they messed with Dave's show. LB is fine, I guess, he just hems and haws more than I can listen to for long. But Dave's show was the best, because he is the best. Remember the interviews he did,how he actually had time to ask more than a couple of quick questions?You know, follow-up? Remember those great exchanges with callers?Lengthy commentary with his always thoughtful perspective? Oh, I miss Dave's old show.

[Benchminor]

I'm not surprised with the multiple changes in the morning show. KIRO should never have left Radke go. Unfortunately, KIRO morning fans are now stuck with Dave AND Linda. It took less than one week before I switched to KOMO. As for Luke, Luke hasn't been as bad as I thought he would be. I can actually enjoy some of his show. Dori still rocks the station. The other down fall for PD was keeping Ron and Don. Nothing good there. Making Rachell Bell do all the work while they ride on her. RnD can't even take the time to do a little research into topics they discuss.

[asdfsda]

I just can't do it anymore. Tried listening, but the non-stop tagney machine makes it impossible to keep it on KIRO.

I would like to know how the hell he's been able to get so much air time at KIRO? Maybe blatherwatch should do a story on him and give the dori venom a break.

I used to listen pretty much non-stop from 9-3, then sporadically from 3-5. Now I listen to a little bit of Dori, but that also is getting old. Seems like the entire last hour is just a rehash of the previous two. Ahh, well, talk radio had a good run. Time to find some decent podcasts I guess.

[James Detwiler]

We're only hearing Tom so much because Luke - although a very talented production artist - can't do live solo by the seat of his pants. He just suks at it. So they overlap him with Dave for an hour and Tom does the rest. Who else could they use? Curley? With LB?
...come to think of it, that might make some memorable radio.

[patternchange]

Or.... KIRO is just in utter turmoil.

[What a mess]

I was a loyal KIRO listener until recently. It's been all downhill since they removed Curley from the morning show. Instead they give airtime to some of the most unlistenable group of people imaginable. Tangney screams into the microphone, and speaks so fast one can barely hear a word. Ross and Thomas are too boring for first thing in the morning. They put people right back to sleep. The final blow for me was giving any airtime at all to Jason Rantz, who is the most shrill, hysterical, overdramatic host I've ever heard in my life, and has the worst possible voice for radio. How this person has a job at all is a mystery. At this point the only show I listen to on KIRO is Coast. I don't know who's responsible, but someone has completely destroyed this station.

[Sinbad]

Well, it's apparently working. KIRO's goal was to try and get every blatherwatch poster to reject it, (all 5 of them) as the demographic just doesn't work.
Thank you, you're helping make KIRO the leading Pacific NW radio station.

[Phillip J. Longwater III]

I'm not in the radio biz, so forgive me, Sinbad, for not being able to follow your insider explanation of KIRO being the leading radio station.

I just looked at one list where KIRO's rating puts them at #15 in Seattle. Then there's a list for 'cume' (which is explained as total people listening to a station) and KIRO is listed as #16.

I guess in terms of stations ranked 17 through 50, KIRO is the leading Pacific NW radio station.

[Sinbad]

Excuse me, PJL III I was referring to gross revenue, not listening audience.

[James Detwiler]

...there's gold in them there mattresses, cars, dentists shampoos, cabinet makers, and resort communities!

[Dan]

The current morning format is a waste of Dave Ross's talent. Search the archive for a Dave Ross hour that's more than a few years old (pre-Luke Burbank) and you'll hear what I mean.

[Unlistenable indeed]

To add to the above poster's list of voices on KIRO that grate, I must add Brandi Kruse, who somehow thinks speaking like Mrs. Thurston Howell, III makes her sound like a serious journalist. I dive to change stations whenever she starts in.

[John T.]

Well, today is the final nail for me as well. I can't believe Jason Rantz has two hours to whine. Is he related to someone in power at KIRO? That's it. I'm done.