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.
~~Who in the hell is Bob Van Dyne? Nobody has ever heard of him; he doesn't google up; he's been a mystery, a horse with no name. We now know why he's been hard to locate. He's the former DJ NoName, the morning (and “Afternoon Experiment”) guy bumped from Entercom rocker, The End (KNDD, 107.7FM) to install Adam Corolla during the musical chairs when Howard Stern went missing last January. Now he's a new voice on KIRO doing fill-in on the weeknightly 9p-1a. He has a sound that's too FM for us; not unlike Ronda & Donna, (m-f, 4-7p) also FM refugees newly given AM talk time on KIRO. Noname Bob is libertarian-leaning and a little lite on the issues, but like Ron & Dumber, he seems to be buckling down each morning to the 4-color meat of USA Today. It's all very depressing, frankly- he's rumored to be favored to get that important slot; which we were hoping would go to a liberal. The good news: he's not Frank "Shudder" Shiers.
~~What does blog success look like? A way ours does is that if you google, "MSN ratings boy's and girls on toilets" you'll get to BlatherWatch. If you like boys and girls on toilets, you might enjoy this.
~~1000 words you need to know about Rep. Dave Reichert.
~~Gotta say it it, KIRO is working hard on the ol' PR. Lots of personality promos, with all the new talent- at least they now have someone to promote after months of uncertainty, fill-ins, and despair. We've never seen such ado about a Battle of the Talk Show Hosts on Wednesday June 14 at the Everett Events Center (doors open at 6p-- the BOTTSH goes on the air at 7p) Producer Phil Vandervort blogs about it on the KIRO site. On stage debating will be Dave Ross, Dori Monson, and also, as Vandervort describes him- "710 KIRO's ubiquitous New York Vinnie." Plus the 3 newcomers: Ron Reagan, Ron Upshaw, Don O'Neill. We expect Reagan to shine- he has his dad's ability of putting his sharpest barbs into bouquets of humor and affability.
~~Which reminds us: we were visiting KIRO/KTTH the other day and saw the gorgeous LARGE pics of Syman & Boze (KTTH m-f, 5-9a) front and center in the entry. They've not been totally forgotten in the dustbin of history and robot science that is KTTH. Why aren't they going to BOTTSH? It could use some real conservatives.
~~Last BOTTSH had Frank Shiers and Erin Hart holding down the studio and doing color commentary. They were pretty good together, (together they had one brain) but Hart was riffed in January in the KIRO bloodbath. Wonder if they'll let the new guy- David Goldstein (Sundays, 7-10p) help out? Goldstein could get under the thin skin of Smarmy Frank, and that would be fun to listen to...
~~Speaking of hairy backs, the great white Bryan Styble (the semi-permanent/permanent full-on fill-in on the KIRO overnight) will be ensconced in The Bat Cave biting heads off chihuahuas during the BOTTSH. He's not quite ready for prime time
~~Goldstein's show is kicking major ass in the blogosphere- he's liable to say just about anything; has a great Rolodex, political street cred and an ear for the politics that can bring listeners to the radie-yo. It's fun reading the comment strings on Sound Politics, Horsesass and Blatherwatch, and seeing what the conservative trolls, and the sorely blemished have to say. Besides the anti-semitic remarks, the puerile cracks about Goldy's looks; there's also some pretty insightful (and inciteful) stuff. We like Goldstein' show because it's getting bloggers interested in talk radio and vice versa. They've had a tendency to see the medium as "old technology," which it is, but has been put to incredible use by the right, even in this liberal town. Sure wish these brave trolls- so outspoken on-line- would get on the phone and pitch Goldy some of the shit they're always threatening him with in the comfy confines of their cozy cubicles.
~~Whatever happened to Mike Siegel? First we heard he was doing fill-in on Fargo's WDAY-AM, but that's not happening any more. Then it went around that the former KTTH morning man and veteran broadcaster was selling cars down at Korum's Puyallup Nissan, a company known for hiring washed-up talk hosts, but that proved apocryphal. Now we're reading that he'll be doing The History of Radio at the Kent Senior Center, 6p, June 15, 600 E Smith St, and introducing Karen Steele, Republican candidate for State Senate, 33rd district. Jesus, Siegel used to own talk radio in this town...
Hello to all my ex-listeners, ex-employers, and ex-cellent aliens who have heard me in outer space:
As you may well know I have been working on a book about talk radio.
For the moment that has been put that on hold. I have formed a
partnership with Matt Lutthans, a local business man in the Seattle
area who used to advertise on my KIRO broadcasts. He was a loyal
listener who believes as I do that there is a very big empty hole in
talk radio programing. We are attempting to fill that chasm by
inaugurating the all-new Allan Prell Show. It's not that there is a gap
in talent, but there is a complete lack of objectivity in presentation.
Yes friends, I am now hosting a new-concept show, the goal of which is
to be completely balanced, regardless of the views of the host or any
guest hosts. I am now self-identified as "The Man in the Middle," and I
will be inviting lively discussion from all sides.
We have nothing but the greatest of hopes for a new day dawning down at KIRO.
And that's today!
After nearly 8 months, Dave Ross will return to his hallowed 9 ta noon, the spot where he forged a Seattle radio career. He left to run for Congress in 2004, and after he lost, the geniuses had fully replaced him with another veteran, Allan Prell.
All this is so ironic- after Prell was offed abruptly, prematurely, and with no replacement lined up- they let let a fill-in, actor John Procaccino, who hadda learn on the job, (and did a good job doing that) while Ross's and Prell's audience fanned out across the dial.
(More ironic is how lame today is the lackluster Congressman Dave Reichert who beat Dave Ross in the election. He's in real trouble in the moderate 8th district running against sharp business woman Darcy Burner after he voted at the pleasure of the disgraced Delay House Leadership and for most of the failed Bush agenda).
The morning audience once garnered by Ross and increasingly Prell, went to KUOW 's Weekday; to Air America's authoritative and likable Thom Hartmann; to Tony Snow, an amiable neocon bland enough for tepid Seattle conservatives; and to KOMO's The Commentators, the lively radio free-for-all between KVI talker John Carlson and TV contrarian, Ken Schram cooked up by Fisher Broadcasting to finish off Procaccino.
(8 months of fill-ins! while the Entercom suits were dithering, futzing, and focus-groping, the audience went south, north, right and left! If then-station manager Ken Berry had put in fill-ins for just 4 months until he knew whether would Dave return, the station wouldn't be in the crisis it's in today, BlatherWatch woulda had nothing much to write about. We might not have ever heard of Allan Prell, John Procaccino or Frank (shudder) Shiers. And then there's the mystery- why did it take so long to make a decision? Hindsight's cool, ain't it? It's the best we got sometimes, and seems to be the best Entercom can get, most of the time.)
So welcome, Dave. It's nice to have you back where you belong- without that odious spot load and the traffic reports every third sentence! (is that what they mean by traffic on the threes?) Everyone in town- we, our readers, your colleagues, your competitors, Mayor Nickels, Randy Mantooth- the janitor ladies- cried for you and your stymied attempts at real conversation in the afternoon drive- everyone but management, who left you there swinging slowly, slowly 'til all the listeners went away. (is that what you mean by 'one listener at a time?')
How did that happen? pure I-said-so stubbornness? malign neglect? You got your work cut out for you, and good luck. We'll never forget your words of advice to the listeners in July 2004, as you left KIRO, ostensibly forever. You said, "Don't marry just for love, marry for trust. Learn to sing. And if you avoid the temptation to seek only happiness, my friend, you will find it."
KIRO's Ron Reagan hire made the AP wire on Friday- the station issued a press release. His single weekdaily hour (m-f, 12-1p) is so unusual, we'll be baiting up our breaths waiting to grok the format. Who does just one hour on the radio? (well, Tony Miner and the news department DID...until today)
~~David Field, Entercom President & CEO, Regional VP Deborah Kane and Senior VP/Programming Pat Paxton were in town yesterday to oversee the reinstatement of actual programming at KIRO and deliver "a 2006 'State of the State' presentation, share insights regarding the overall media landscape, the radio industry in general and Entercom in particular," according to the email Jerry "Wet Work" McKenna sent to staff.
~~We see dead people. We'da liked to have asked David about the FCC payola investigation of the company, and the Native American spiritual "cleansing" ritual they arranged to get rid of all those negative spirits hanging the crannies of the Bala Cynwyd Entercom home offices. Woo. Woo.
~~The new Ron Reagan show to start May 1- will be just an hour long- it's baffling to many around the KIRO news room. What's really going on? everyone wants to know. Is he getting on-air mileage in order to launch a syndicated show? What can he do in an hour? Could he take calls? Chief political analyst? what happens to Carl "Wall of Words" Jeffers?
~~The big losers: the news department are really deflated after losing that evening news hour they only so recently gained. Expect more newsies to bail. Dori Monson, the whiny weasel, who was bumped up an hour to 1-4p, is
(though Tom Clendening denies it) reportedly pissed and hit the roof in that funny little way he has.
~~What will KIRO do with the long stretch between 9p and 5a? They've gotta do something before May 1- expect more announcements. Dave Dolacky- where are you?
~~ Ouch, that stings, Dep't. John Procaccino, strung along all these months laboring under the illusion he might be picked for the morning slot he so valiantly defended, was defenestrated smartly, and the spot given back to Dave Ross. Most everyone had outspokenly wished it and many had openly predicted it and it couldn't have been easy living with that. Insult to injury: word has it that Procaccino (and Frank Shiers) were paid just $250 per show, while the strange little Bryan Styble, (KIRO Sundays 1-5) who makes even the janitor ladies feel uncomfortable, gets $300. Ironically, after all these months, the nearly normal Styble ended up better off than the loyal Procaccino- at least Styble has a shift, even though it's in the middle of a weekend night.
~~The elephant in the room: what will they do with "The Truth," KTTH that's foundering away downstairs in the Abu Ghraibe of Eastlake?
~~How many of Dave's listeners will come back? That's the real question. A source writes: "As you've seen from your comments section, a number of people who used to listen to his show have already changed their habits, either by switching to NPR or Thom Hartmann. He's effectively been out of that time slot since July 2004 when he left to run for Congress. Unless they're going to back this change up with a major marketing campaign, I'm not sure exactly how they expect to undo that damage."
~~Entercom Market Manager, Jerry "The Axe" McKenna is now focusing on KIRO. Fired are long time General Sales Manager Dennis McCormick and Mike Webb phone-it-in producer Jeremy Grater. Our guy asks, "Why fire the GSM? Can he be responsible for failing sales numbers when a paralyzed programming management is not capable of plugging three on-air time slots?"
~~Ann Wog, Allan Prell's former producer is leaving for a job at WMAL in D.C. Word is, after seven months of Procaccino and uncertainty, she bolted.
~~Another reason why they might be having trouble filling the slots is because no one worth an ounce of salt is applying for the many openings at KIRO. Our guy in San Diego says: The word in the biz is "Stay away from KIRO."
According to the KIRO website, the new weekday lineup to begin May 1 is:
710 KIRO Morning News with Gregg Hersholt and Jane Shannon, 5am-9am "The Dave Ross Show," 9 a.m.-12 noon "The Ron Reagan Show," 12 noon-1 p.m. "The Dori Monson Show," 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. "The Ron and Don Show," 4 p.m.- 7 p.m. "The New York Vinnie Show," 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Besides his one hour nooner, Reagan will also do a daily commentary and "serve as the chief political analyst."
No choice yet for the 9p-1a evening shift created by Mike Webb, and filled in recently by Ron & Don; nor is there a overnight replacement for Lou Pate.
This is a major programing reshuffle for the Entercom station which has been in a morass of disarray and fill-ins since September when Allan Prell and Tony Ventrella were fired; December when Mike Webb was arrested, and January when Lou Pate quit.
We've been told that the conventional wisdom around KIRO is that BlatherWatch is paid for by Fisher Broadcasting (KOMO, KVI).
The myth is that the owner of this blog is related to someone who works for Fisher and that's why we're so nice to KVI, and so mean to KIRO.
While it's true, Blathering Man has a relative at KOMO TV; and we can't deny that KOMO radio execs love every minute of our chronicling of the missteps and peccadilloes of the Entercom stations; we have to sadly say, no one has even offered us a mug or a tote bag, much less a check.
As a matter of fact, KOMO execs have ignored our annoying e-mails like anyone at KIRO.
The truth of the matter is, this blog is news-driven, and no one can deny how much news the former top-dog talker, KIRO and its little sister KTTH has generated in the scant year or so we've been posting- such as:
Desperation rules at KIRO- and it must be getting burdensome. Last night they made a giant gesture at actually soliciting listeners views on their programming.
Program Director Tom Clendening led a focus group attended by our spy, and he got an earful.
(And it's SO fucking about time! Entercom's off-with-their-heads management style is just one reason they've taken such a brilliant leap head-first into the tundra. We're not so sure this focus group stuff is so great- after all, it was a hastily assembled star chamber "focus group" that offed Allan Prell so prematurely and weirdly (Resident Corporate Big Jerry McKenna played King Edward).
Focus groping around Eastlake is done in lieu of authoritative or insightful management).
Two groups of about 20 each were recruited from the Gold Club, an email club you can join by signing up on the website. (Oddly, BlatherWatch has been signed up for a year and we never get invited to anything).
For participating, the gang got $25, dinner (which was, we're told, old MoonPies, Little Debbie® snack cakes and Rockstar, all confiscated from Mike Webb's locker), a goodie bag with Dave Delackey refrigerator magnets, Jim French coffee mugs, and T-shirts that read, ""Taser Dori
Again!"
Ron Reagan, will try out today for KIRO's key 9 ta noon spot, which hasn't had a permanent host since Allan Prell was defenestrated in September.
Trying out Reagan is another Big Idea of the suits who are really running the desperate KIRO ship up onto the tide flats. While BlatherWatch has been hard on program Director Tom Clendening and General Manager Dave Pridemore, we're now told that these two have zero authority and that the real geniuses are Entercom CEO David Field, pulling the strings from Bala Cynwyd with Group Manager Jerry McKenna reactively jerking like an ax murderer in Seattle.
Don't blame Tom & Dave, says our guy.
We're not sure just what Tom & Dave do all day, but our source says adamantly that the brilliance we've been seeing in the past year comes from way upstairs. This includes moving and keeping Dave Ross in the coitus interruptus of the PM drive; Prell's, Erin Hart's, Mike Webb's, Tony Ventrella and Mike Siegel's firings; inflicting the FM schlock-jocks Ron & Don onto the tender sensibilities of a liberal evening AM audience; and putting 1-ply toilet paper in the ladies' rooms.
Trying out Ron Reagan is one of their better decisions. Their other Big Idea- and you won't believe this, but we swear to Buddha we're not kidding here- was to hire either Walter Cronkite, or Dan Rather, or Aaron Brown! None of them are radio guys, nor are they presently working. The latter, naturellement, was the extent of their availability to li'l ol' KIRO radio in Seattle, WA. We're not sure whether any of these TV titans were actually contacted, but they were in a game plan or two until soberer heads prevailed.
John Procaccino, who's been holding down the morning fort, growing in the job, and being real nice in the hopes he'll get the nod, will be helping them pick his replacement- it's like Saddam Hussein making his victims dig their own graves.
Maybe the 9p to 1a will be the consolation prize for John.
Last time they tried this, it was former City Councilwoman Judy Nicastro whom Procaccino ended up interviewing for 3 hours, keeping him in the alpha position and making her look pretty lame. It'll be interesting see how the male dominance works between these two low-key liberals.
Reagan, 47, the only son of President and Nancy Reagan has lived in Seattle since 1994, but has kept a low local profile. His latest venture into national TV as talent ended in November when the MSNBC news show Connected Coast to Coast co-hosted by Nixon biographer and archetypal blonde, neocon snarler/babe Monica Crowley was cancelled after a 9 month run.
Oddems: ~~When Reagan moved to Seattle to help start a now-defunct TV production company called Eagle Island productions, Seattle newsies, ourselves included, tried in vain, to get an interview. He was the interview no one could get. When he got the MSNBC show last year (done live at Microsoft in Redmond) the network flacks started approaching local media offering interviews. The Seattle media, (the effete and above all, pure journalists we are) got wind of the stench of promotion,and Ron Reagan suddenly became just another media whore and few took the offer.
Readers alerted us Sunday that some of those gaping holes on the show skedgeon the KIRO website had been filled in. The key 9-ta-noon hasn't been filled since KIRO fired Allan Prell suddenly in September and the 9p-1a hasn't seen a new host since they fired Mike Webb after his arrest for felony fraud in December. Lou Pate's overnight job is still open. (In all the comings and goings in this KIRO's annus horribilis, the appearance or disappearance of a name on this list has been a sure sign that someone has come or gone. BlatherWatch and loyal listeners watch the list avidly for signs of personnel changes. When Webb or Erin Hart or Prell were frog-walked, their bio under 'Personalities" stayed for a while, but their name under 'Shows' list disappeared quickly. This is how KIRO communicate with listeners after major programming upheavals. Some enlightened public relations, eh?)
We took a look and they were right- it now says it's the John Procaccino Show in the ayem and the Ron & Don Show at night. "Gloryoski!" we screeched, startling a cat devouring a chihuahua nearby, "Somebody's made a decision!"
But when we thought about KIRO, and the Entercom Mothership's management "style" -we deflated, realizing this probably means nothing much.
Because KIRO management is known for nothing much. We're guessing the holes were getting embarrassing, so management inserted the fill-ins' names.
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.
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