Last Day At Dexter!

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Saturday ... KING-TV begins broadcasting from new home @ SODO. Radio moved out of the Dexter building years ago. The FM was initially an experimental effort at KRSC (later KAYO) building @ 2939-4th Ave. South. Dorothy Bullitt bought that (+ its TV counterpart) and paired those with her AM which was operating on 21st floor of Smith Tower (KEVR). All soon renamed to KING, and the company was similarly renamed and became a regional empire, including cable operations throughout the West Coast; AM stretching to St. Louis ... TV as far away as Hawaii ... the mobile operation used by almost all major sports enterprises on the West Coast. AM was perched atop the old furniture warehouse when it moved from Smith Tower...including a DJ cage at one point that hung over Aurora, until too many car crashes proved that to be a bad idea. FM was across the street and sharing attempts of radio soundproofing with the neighboring TV Carpenter Shop. Then to the prestigious bowels of the basement. New building renovation in 1980 moved the "front" door from 320 Aurora to the building flipside @ 333 Dexter ... new space meant AM station moved out of 30+ year-old digs into new spacious studios (WITH A WINDOW!!). FM moved from the bowels of the building to the old AM space. A sale a few years later would move both of those assets to other addresses; though the radio station studios are still obviously found in the building (while there is one).

It's an introspective day. We've had two parties to celebrate the heritage and the building memories....but it is impossible to overstate the impact that company has had on this community --- and journalism standards around the world. Great great people are part of that experience.

 

[Bongwater]

Saturday ... KING-TV begins broadcasting from new home @ SODO. Radio moved out of the Dexter building years ago. The FM was initially an experimental effort at KRSC (later KAYO) building @ 2939-4th Ave. South. Dorothy Bullitt bought that (+ its TV counterpart) and paired those with her AM which was operating on 21st floor of Smith Tower (KEVR). All soon renamed to KING, and the company was similarly renamed and became a regional empire, including cable operations throughout the West Coast; AM stretching to St. Louis ... TV as far away as Hawaii ... the mobile operation used by almost all major sports enterprises on the West Coast. AM was perched atop the old furniture warehouse when it moved from Smith Tower...including a DJ cage at one point that hung over Aurora, until too many car crashes proved that to be a bad idea. FM was across the street and sharing attempts of radio soundproofing with the neighboring TV Carpenter Shop. Then to the prestigious bowels of the basement. New building renovation in 1980 moved the "front" door from 320 Aurora to the building flipside @ 333 Dexter ... new space meant AM station moved out of 30+ year-old digs into new spacious studios (WITH A WINDOW!!). FM moved from the bowels of the building to the old AM space. A sale a few years later would move both of those assets to other addresses; though the radio station studios are still obviously found in the building (while there is one).

It's an introspective day. We've had two parties to celebrate the heritage and the building memories....but it is impossible to overstate the impact that company has had on this community --- and journalism standards around the world. Great great people are part of that experience.

More overpriced yuppie condos. Just exactly what we need more of. That building is pretty damn unique architecturally (at least the Dexter side of it.) Now the only one left in their classic digs is KIRO-TV (at Broadcast House since 1968) and if property values get any crazier in downtown Seattle, I shudder to think what Cox would do.

 

[KMan]

Of course this thread is exiled to the newish TV forum which gets no eyeballs.

In case anyone wanders over here... there's a series of stories on king5.com about closing up Dexter.

Lots of old clips of anchors from years gone by... Mike James, Don Porter, Aaron Brown .... and Barry Judge (who was there for such as short period I wonder if anyone even remembers him). I was surprised though in the montage of old opens and music that the early 90s era opener from the Bob Jordan era didn't appear... that was absolutely iconic and really helped change the direction and reposition KING.

Interesting to note that Jean Enerson, in her much reduced role, is still sharing an office with Dennis Bounds. Also interesting, Jean noted a couple of times that the painting of Dorothy Bullitt in the newsroom will not be relocated. I mean, I understand the station has been through three or four ownership changes since she sold it, but sometimes, its nice to have some recognition of the heritage of your organization when you work in a place that has been around as long as KING.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Yeah....I'm convinced that even though I put specific radio references in the post to KEEP it in Sea-Tac that the moderator have their head up their.....

 

[seatownmedia]

I was on the air on KING-AM when Bruce Murdock uttered the first words from the new studios in 1980. Yes, it was a test, but still monumental in my mind. The upgrade was indeed amazing. I also did many shows from the new location within the building. But KING-AM was not to last as a music station. The news/talk folks came in during the Fall of '82, and KING-AM began their downfall, though had a period where the new format caught a lot of attention, notably, Mike Seigal, a rather brusk talk show host.

The TV station moved to the main studio on the southeast corner of the new building, from the basement of the old furniture store. Their first news set was weak, it had no locality, instead choosing a global map for the background. They quickly moved to a more traditional, localized set around 1983, and replaced it with IMO their best set in circa 1991. Today, of course, they are brand new in SoDo. Bottom line, they still are perceived as the leader in Seattle.

BTW, when I worked there Dorothy Bulllit had not only a mural of her image in the new building, but also a ceremonial office. I was surprised to hear that the mural will not be moved.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

BTW, when I worked there Dorothy Bulllit had not only a mural of her image in the new building, but also a ceremonial office. I was surprised to hear that the mural will not be moved.

Why be surprised? There's been 3 corporate owners since she owned the place and the current one obviously felt there was no need to keep her memory alive.

 

[seatownmedia]

Why be surprised? There's been 3 corporate owners since she owned the place and the current one obviously felt there was no need to keep her memory alive.

Well, if you don't understand why this is surprising, you don't understand the history of KING Broadcasting. No offense meant, but KING was a pioneer as the first TV station in Seattle, and went against the common corporate thinking in the early years, offering a true liberal voice in the 1960's. Some have said that KING was partly responsible for the liberal lean in Seattle today. For more, I would recommend "On The Air, The King Broadcasting Story", authored by Daniel Jack Chasen, published in 1996.

 

[davideduardo]

Well, if you don't understand why this is surprising, you don't understand the history of KING Broadcasting.

And there is much to be said for reminding the current staff, clients and visitors of the tradition, heritage and importance of the station. There are multiple benefits and no downside.

To not move the mural is stupid.

 

[KMan]

And there is much to be said for reminding the current staff, clients and visitors of the tradition, heritage and importance of the station. There are multiple benefits and no downside.

To not move the mural is stupid.

This x10.

There are two kinds of old companies. The ones that recognize their history and heritage and ones that don't. Personally, I've worked at both kinds of companies. It is far more satisfying, and the employees generally take more pride in those that recognize their heritage, the people that came before them, and the accomplishments of the past.

In the "turn out the lights clip" from last Friday night's 11PM news Dennis Bounds noted that he is proud to be just one name on a long roster of great journalists that have worked in this building. That's recognition of the heritage of the company.

While I don't like that they left the mural behind, I did see a story with a tour of the new facility, and it noted they have dozens of pictures honoring the heritage and the history of KING on the walls in the newsrooms. Most likely Ms. Bullitt is in more than one of these... and that the old oil painting would be redundant.

It begs the question... who is taking the old paint home? Or perhaps its off to MOHAI...

I

 

[seatownmedia]

This x10.

There are two kinds of old companies. The ones that recognize their history and heritage and ones that don't. Personally, I've worked at both kinds of companies. It is far more satisfying, and the employees generally take more pride in those that recognize their heritage, the people that came before them, and the accomplishments of the past.

In the "turn out the lights clip" from last Friday night's 11PM news Dennis Bounds noted that he is proud to be just one name on a long roster of great journalists that have worked in this building. That's recognition of the heritage of the company.

While I don't like that they left the mural behind, I did see a story with a tour of the new facility, and it noted they have dozens of pictures honoring the heritage and the history of KING on the walls in the newsrooms. Most likely Ms. Bullitt is in more than one of these... and that the old oil painting would be redundant.

It begs the question... who is taking the old paint home? Or perhaps its off to MOHAI...

I

That is good to know there will be pics of the heritage. Hopefully the mural will either go to the remaining Bullitt family, or if not possible, then the MOHAI would be a good choice as well. KING-TV will always have a place in Seattle history.

 

[frankberry]

Yeah....I'm convinced that even though I put specific radio references in the post to KEEP it in Sea-Tac that the moderator have their head up their.....

It's about a TV station. That's why I put it where it belongs ... in the TV section.

 

[seatownmedia]

Overall, I was impressed with the new KING-TV look. As they have been somewhat "traditional" over the years, they surprise with a very high-tech set that seems very flexible. For example, they can either shoot the anchors in front of the window, or turn it around 180 and shoot the anchors in front of a wall. On the first weekday, the anchors did admit that they were in a tighter space, but the viewer can't really see or feel that. Their new camera angles really show off Seattle, too.

 

[KMan]

I watched a newscast or two online.

Overall, the set refresh is really good. Nice studios, with, as you noted, lots of available camera angles. I think they need a better wide shot to open the newscasts though. I watched a weekend newscast with a solo anchor, and they started so tight on the anchor ... if you've got a great set, show it off. Maybe open the anchor / anchors standing once in a while.

Also, don't really care for the weather wall. You see lots of stations moving away from the green screen to some kind of weather wall that uses an actual image. Of course, this means that you get reflections from the lights, the weatherman actually looking at the screen to read the information (rather than looking at the off camera monitor and reading the reflected image), etc. Also, the weather wall seems to be mounted pretty high. With the green screen, all they had to do was adjust the camera height and the projected image would adjust appropriately, so no matter your talent, the relationship of the body to the graphics was the same.

With the high mounted weather wall, the camera height can't be adjusted much, because it has to capture the image on the monitors. I saw Renner do a weathercast, and he certainly is unable to point to anything in the top 1/3 of the image (like, perhaps a weather system coming down from the Fraser Valley) because it is just too high. Rich Marriott is very short... I don't know what he's doing with this weather wall (maybe they have a platform for him to stand on).