Changes at KVI Radio

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

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One is at Afternoon drive

Veteran conservative talk host Kirby Wilbur announced his retirement during his live show Friday afternoon. He's been with KVI for a combined 20 years and became KVI's longest running and one of its most iconic hosts. He started by hosting weeknights (1993-94) then was promoted to morning drive (1995-2009) and since 2015, aired in afternoon drive from 3-6pm. His last day on the air as a full-time host is Wednesday, January 27.

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The other is on nights.

KVI-AM (Talk Radio 570) Seattle will add syndicated "The Dana Show" to its daily lineup replacing the retiring Michael Savage. The show will run 9-11pm weekdays. Dana Loesch is now heard on talk outlets around the country, airing on over 150 stations nationwide. She appears regularly on FOX News and has provided election analysis for ABC, CNN and FOX. She's appeared on HBO, and has co-hosted "The View."

 

[boombox4]

I think the Dana Show presently runs on weekends, on 1590.

 

[seatownmedia]

KVI my gawd. Certainly a secondary newstalk station to sister Sinclair’s KOMO but without an FM signal. The value of these former AM greats is very low these days. Too bad for these great calls, but very few care about that today.

 

[boombox4]

KVI had its boom years, and it still apparently makes some money. I hear advertising on the station. But yeah, it's sad that it isn't climbing in ratings these days. And the signal is still actually quite good for 5KW. One of the three stations that come in on my
dead-AM boombox (cat knocked it off the counter, and the AM side went wonky).

 

[seatownmedia]

I worked at KVI in the 80's and we would get calls from all over the western US. Unique transmitter pattern that could definitely get out there!

 

[davideduardo]

KVI had its boom years, and it still apparently makes some money. I hear advertising on the station. But yeah, it's sad that it isn't climbing in ratings these days. And the signal is still actually quite good for 5KW. One of the three stations that come in on my
dead-AM boombox (cat knocked it off the counter, and the AM side went wonky).

570 will do that. 1 kw on 550 is as good as 50 at 1500.

 

[Kelly A]

I worked at KVI in the 80's and we would get calls from all over the western US. Unique transmitter pattern that could definitely get out there!

There was no unique pattern. The station is 5kW Non-Directional day and night.
Remember, KVI was originally a Tacoma station with TX site is located on the South end of Vashon Island. Vashon itself has terrible ground conductivity, so the KVI signal suffers North of the island.

 

[bobdavcav]

I wonder if a lot of these talkers need news coverage in order to really make a dent in the ratings? A lot of the talk shows on KVI also run on KXL down here, and KXL with its fm signal and much more news coverage, outperforms KEX.

 

[Kelly A]

I wonder if a lot of these talkers need news coverage in order to really make a dent in the ratings? A lot of the talk shows on KVI also run on KXL down here, and KXL with its fm signal and much more news coverage, outperforms KEX.

They've all gotten good at using social media and the various conspiracy incubators to create news and narratives that may or may not be true. Why would they stop now?

 

[The New Chico]

There was no unique pattern. The station is 5kW Non-Directional day and night.
Remember, KVI was originally a Tacoma station with TX site is located on the South end of Vashon Island. Vashon itself has terrible ground conductivity, so the KVI signal suffers North of the island.

I thought KVI broadcast from KVI Beach (Pt. Heyer) using the salt water conductivity to "get around" the ground conductivity issues. Is that inaccurate?

 

[seatownmedia]

Kelly, yes I was thinking of another common station, KING-AM. I am getting older and slightly confused! That KING signal was totally weird. We got calls from Finland, but would battle XPRS out of Mexico between Federal Way and Tacoma after sundown!

 

[xmtrland]

Kelly you old Goat. I'm not far behind. Is KVI even subscribed to the Neilson? Have not seen them in the Beauty number in a while.

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Is KVI even subscribed to the Neilson? Have not seen them in the Beauty number in a while.

Nope!

 

[Kelly A]

I thought KVI broadcast from KVI Beach (Pt. Heyer) using the salt water conductivity to "get around" the ground conductivity issues. Is that inaccurate?

The KVI tower is indeed on "KVI Beach" located on the Southern end of Vashon. In spite of Vashon being surrounded by salt water, the island itself is made up of granite and hard clay. Those materials make for really poor ground conductivity. Remember that AM ground wave accelerates away from the antenna. Poor ground conductivity decreases the ground wave signal as it crosses that ground. In this case, the KVI ground wave has to cross over the island to the north before reaching populated areas to the North, but has a clear salt water path to areas in Tacoma and South toward Olympia.

 

[Kelly A]

Kelly, yes I was thinking of another common station, KING-AM. I am getting older and slightly confused! That KING signal was totally weird. We got calls from Finland, but would battle XPRS out of Mexico between Federal Way and Tacoma after sundown!

Yes KING had/has two pretty tight night nulls to the Southeast and South. I've probably mentioned this before, but at night you can sit in your car up on a hill in Des Moines and see the tower lights from 1090/770 on Vashon, but not hear 1090. All that extra power has to go somewhere, so it squirts to the North. That's why we used to get QSL card requests from Finland and Russia.