BlatherWatch

Peter B Collins talks about the rise and fall of Progressive Radio

40year radio veteran and pod caster Peter B Collins outlines the slow demise of progressive radio and what went wrong along the way in spite of big political wins by the Democratic party. Read the story here 

 

 

 

Some snippets from the article :

As someone who took substantial personal risk in syndication and station ownership, I can tell you that progressive talk has not panned out as a viable business. Clinton's 1996 deregulation of broadcasting and the end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 didn't help. I do think the FCC should require some balance of viewpoints on the stations it regulates, through the license renewal process, but there is simply no interest on the part of Obama and his appointees in regulatory reform - even as the president is pilloried by right-wing radio on a daily basis. Air America's parade of management blunders produced the downward spiral that brought us to this tipping point for progressive talk radio, and most station owners, rightly or wrongly, see that failure as an indication that audiences won't support liberal talk radio.

BREAKING: Dori Monson 1995-2012; Ron Reagan Starts Monday

The King of Seattle Talk Radio has been dethroned.

In an abrupt end to a remarkable 17-year run as one of Seattle's most controversial talk show hosts, at the end of his shift Friday Dori Monson (KIRO-FM 12-3p) was given ten minutes to gather his things. Then, carrying a suitably little box of his desk's contents, Monson was escorted out of the Bonneville radio complex on Eastlake by building security, his long reign over.

A source inside Bonneville says Monson will be replaced, starting this Monday, April 2, by former KIRO host Ron Reagan. After his one-hour KIRO show (12-1p, immediately preceding Monson) was cancelled in 2007, Reagan hosted a national show on Air America until its 2010 demise and then, in 2011, published a memoir of life with his father. Reagan lives in Seattle and has a number of miscellaneous free-lance radio and TV gigs that he will reportedly continue to do along with his KIRO show.

"Management wanted the anti-Dori," says the source, explaining the choice of the genial, mild-mannered Reagan. "It wasn't any one single thing...his ratings were stagnant, and they were just sick of Dori's act. Salt Lake feels that, in this market, bile isn't a sustainable business model. Every other daytime show KIRO is now airing is light, positive, fun.

"Monson's schtick is sustained outrage. It just didn't fit any more, and Larry [new KIRO PD Larry Gifford] was at wit's end trying to pair Dori with foils who would soften his image. Dori wanted none of it, and did everything he could off air to make their jobs miserable.

"Eventually the decision was made that the negatives outweighed the positives. And frankly, when the news broke just about everyone in the building privately cheered. The guy's a prick."

If the source is right, and Monson - who is reportedly still under contract to Bonneville - was bounced because he didn't fit KIRO's move to lifestyle-oriented talk, it's telling that the suits didn't simply move him to conservative sister station KTTH (The Truth). KTTH has been languishing in the ratings of late, with its only local show a peculiar one-hour afternoon stint by former morning guy Dave Boze (KTTH, 3-4p), who was also subbing for Dave Ross last week. Either Monson's contract is up; he was fired with cause; or management decided that the hassle of dealing with Monson's outsized ego so outweight the boost he could give their struggling conservative talk franchise that they would rather pay him to go away. (Hint to anyone in the know over at Eastlake: We'd love to know which it is. E-mail us at [email protected]. Anonymity assured. We especially want to know if he was in a car accident while on a Twinkie run during a news break.)

Left unaddressed by this is the contrast between Monson's often hyperlocal schtick - he could spend entire shows venting about a local politician or a minor news item from Maple Valley - and Reagan, who is a national figure. During his last stint on KIRO, Reagan showed no interest in doing anything but national topics. Will that fit on the new KIRO?

Monson's dismissal creates some other issues for KIRO as well. Monson padded his six-figure salary by doing personal endorsement deals with just about any local company that would have him, and his ubiquitous voice during commercial breaks means a lot of commercial accounts will need new spots (and perhaps new air talent endorsement deals) in the coming weeks. Monson has also, since 2002, played key roles in the Seahawk football broadcast, doing pre- and post-game and halftime hosting and analysis on the Seahawk network. The Seahawks employ Monson and their other announcers separately from Bonneville. Will the team still want the irritating, jock-sniffing Monson after he's no longer on their flagship station?

Aside from his undoubtably bruised ego, which takes up about 80 percent of his body mass, Monson himself is sitting pretty. In the short term, he's financially comfortable, and Bonneville may still be paying him for years. At age 50, he still has plenty of working years left. Monson would doubtless have more opportunities had he not spent so many years being a colossal jackass to so many people; and his future prospects are handicapped by being short, Icelandic, and having a girl's name. Still, somebody will want him, if only for his notoriety.

But not in broadcast radio. Unless it's on infomercials, it's hard to see where else he'd go on air in Seattle. A home boy (he trades heavily on being from Ballard, though he actually lives in Lake Forest Park), Monson's occasional efforts to expand his audience outside Seattle have been dismal failures. And outside KIRO and KTTH, nobody else in Seattle really does commercial political talk any longer.

Monson probably has a standard non-compete clause in his contract that will keep him off Seattle's airwaves for either six months or the length of the contract. But even then, where would he go? KVI's conservative talk is long gone, replaced now by a vapid mix of syndicated and local lifestyle shows with dozens of listeners (on its better days). KOMO's midday talk shows (former "Commentators" John Carlson 9a-12p and Ken Schram 12-3p) are a cheap way to use air talent already under contract without having to spend any money on programming; and KOMO is also big on the genial, happy-talk approach. They're not about to pay out big bucks for the incendiary Monson.

Sports talk is also a non-starter. Bonneville, which just fired Monson, also has one of the two sports-talk stations in town (KIRO-AM, aka ESPN 710). The other, KJR, just eliminated its local evening show for budget reasons and has three decade-plus station veterans parked in its daytime lineup. Even KKOL is gone from the talk stable. The odds are, unless someone undergoes a format change or Dori decides he wants to do a morning show on a music station (think Bob Rivers, only without the likeability), Monson is done in Seattle.

Moreover, he might not be the only one. Given KIRO-FM's move away from acerbic commentary, our source noted: "One of these weeks John Curley is going to wander in to do his show and find that his key card doesn't work any more."

Lastly, under Gifford's watch, KIRO's move has been to not only a softer-edged, politically tinged lifestyle approach, but to having a second voice - either a co-host or a newsie or producer as foil - on each of the daytime shows. Who will bat around the day's entertaining events with Reagan? And will Reagan make his opportunity stick this time?

Tune in Monday at noon to find out.

 

 

Dennis kucinich to KPTK summer blabfest

Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich will speak at the annual KPTK AM1090 Forum, July 23^rd, adding to the growing buzz that the liberal gadfly will move to Seattle and seek the congressional seat in Washington's new 10th District, being created as we speak.

(photo: Kucinich flip-flopping organic, vegan pancakes in Shoreline in May)

There's a strong chance his Ohio congressional district will be altered unfavorably or eliminated next year.

Ron reagan refuses to be bullied by talk jock

We were proud of our homie, Ron Reagan for giving it as good as he got when he was attacked on the radio last month on a Tampa morning show.

On tour with his controversial new book, "My Father at 100." erstwhile KIRO talk host Reagan was jumped right out of the box by co-host Tedd Webb on WFLA-AM's top-rated AM Tampa Bay.

 Blasting Reagan for what he and other right-wing worshipers of the Gipper Cult take as blaspheming The Almighty, Webb took particular offense at Reagan's assertion that his father had early signs of Alzheimer’s before he left office.

The book thoughtfully and carefully explains how that despite having the fatal disease, the elder Reagan, according to his son, didn't get the dementia symptoms until years after he left the White House.

Webb, naturally, hadn't read the book.

He seemed proud of that, (so many wingers are so studiedn and self-righteous about their ignorance) even offering to buy it to use as toilet paper. Reagan told him, "Had you read the book, I think you would have gotten a different impression."

Facts be damned to such as Webb (or Ron's half-witted, half-brother Michael Reagan) or a legion of wingers who saw blood on the moon when the book was published. 

With that famous Southern hospitality, Webb called Reagan “an asshole” and threatened to kick his ass.

Reagan laughed in Webb's face, and invited him to New York so Webb could fulfill his ass-kicking threat. Webb demurred, saying he could never get his ass kicked by a "ballerina," referring, of course to Reagan's one-time career dancing with the Joffrey Ballet.

Such was the "discussion." The other co-host refereed while Webb and Reagan went at it. Reagan refused to be bullied and deflected Webb's ignorant spewage with ease.

We've got to agree with those who say this was some great radio.

Listen to the whole thing here.

Mike reagan tweets: “My brother seems to want [to] sell out his father to sell books”

Michael Reagan tweeted Saturday, “Ron, my brother was an embarrassment to his father when he was alive and today he became an embarrassment to his mother.”

The reach of Mike Reagan's tweeting probably surpasses that of his talk radio work these days, but airing the family laundry was definitely enough to get him weekend headlines on the Yahoo. 

His brother is Ron "Don't call me Junior" Reagan, 52, has speculated lovingly and convincingly in a new memoir (and on ABC's 20-20) that their sainted father, 40th president, Ronaldo Maximus, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease while president.

Seattle talk radio: we make another half-assed attempt to be nice…

We were raised on Thumper’s genteel dictum: “If you can’t say sumpin’ nice, don’t say nuffin’ at all.” (It didn’t really take, but used to get us laid once in a while).

BlatherWatch has long been accused of committing verbicide against the weakest among us - radio talent. We've been mean to radio in general, the media entity bleeding the most after newspapers.

So we decided to find the ponies under the manure piles. Here they are:

Randi's back ... today!

  Even though she's never performed well in the Seattle Market, (even within the limited expectations of KPTK), The Randi Rhodes Show will start 6-9p in Ron Reagan's slot January 28.

UPDATED: Ron reagan to be back on KPTK monday

Ron Reagan will be back doing live radio, (KPTK m-f, 6-9p) Monday.

Additions: As before, Reagan will not be live in Seattle... he'll still be delayed. NorMAN GoldMAN has bought himself onto the radio and hopes to catch on before he runs out of money. It's unsustainable, he will fail.

Ring of Fire (Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio, and David Bender) has signed with Westwood. They're back on the air ... although it's unclear where.

This, after Air America suddenly folded Thursday. 

Producer Tina Nole says the staff knew stuff was coming down to a "go or no" decision that day, but she was called to a "no" meeting by Program director Bill Hess at 4:30p.

It was pretty emotional, Tina says. "I lot of us had been pinching ourselves because we had a radio job that allowed us to live in New York," great impetus, she says for staffers to make AAR "the best radio operation possible."

Air america down: what does it mean?

It’s been a tough week for progressives.

First, the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts severely damaged the prospects for the vital Obama health care measure. Then the same old men who gave us George W. Bush in a radical, precedentless decision made another one Thursday which will open elections to floods of corporate money, a boon for the right (they’re crowing).

Then Air America suddenly turned off the lights.

Ron reagan ain’t local and now… he ain't live!

Ron Reagan, is a Seattleite who’s done his national show live on and from the insufferable, CBS-owned KPTK at 3p since he syndicated with Air America.