• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Comings and Goings and Other Musings

K

KMan

There's been a lot of minor comings and goings on Seattle radio over the last few months, many of which have not been mentioned on this board. Just a quick rundown of what I've noticed and some other assorted musings.

*KOMO canned Shannon Drayer a few days ago. It was reported in the sports section of the P-I and on a Mariner's fan blog. Apparently she was working w/o a contract this year and when KOMO lost the contract, KOMO jettisoned her. I'm surpised they didn't wait until the end of the season. How long until she shows up at KIRO?

*I woke up this morning to 710KIRO's morning news. Rick Van Cise has been on vacation for a week or two at KIRO 7 (or maybe he's filling in on the evening shift) and Erin Mayovsky, of the weekend weather shifts (Monty Webb's apparent replacement), has been filling in. But today, there was a familiar voice giving me my weather. It was Todd Johnson. I'd love for Todd to replace Monty on weekend evenings, pushing the not very good Mayovsky back to Saturday mornings, but I'm not getting my hopes up. KIRO seems to like blond women doing the weather. But Todd's radio weather reports are still leaps and bounds better than Jim Castillo's, who sounds like he can't wait to get out of the booth as soon as he can.

*I heard New York Vinnie doing some feature on cars on KOMO the other day. First I've heard from him in over a year.

*Is anyone else digging Marina Rockinger on KOMO? She'd been doing weekend mornings for most of the summer (I guess Charlie Harger is on vacation - he's back now), and has been doing reporter work and editor work the rest of the time. I wasn't familiar with her work on KBSG, but she's got a great voice and delivery at KOMO.

*Still missing Steve Sanders doing traffic on KIRO. He was the primary guy for so many years, then he spent his last six months in air two when Shane Kobane was elevated to the chopper. I don't have any issues with Shane and the Eric Kirschner / John Nelson rotation in air two, but I sure miss Steve. He managed to pack more information into a 90 second traffic report than anyone else in this market, and he had the right pacing to keep your attention.

*KNDD sounds sooooo much better with Lazlo out of there. I'm glad that train wreck is over. I'm also glad that I don't have to switch stations at 2:08PM every day. KNDD has one, maybe two (if they ditch the robot) time slots open. Any guesses on who will end up filling them? I heard Bill Reid doing a commercial on Jack, and realized that he's been gone from the End for over 5 years now. Time sure flies.

*KIRO has a new voice. Jessica Gottesman, apparently formerly of 1010 WINS, and one of the voices of the New York City Subway (This is a Bronx Bound Six Train the next stop is 23rd street) filled in a few shifts for Tony Minor two weeks ago. Great voice, great pacing, great fill in for Tony. I'd love to hear more of her.

*I still can't believe that KUOW, a station that caters to people in their cars, ditched their traffic reports. All the more reason to switch to KPLU.

*Sunday morning's The End Unplugged with Pam Wolff is an awesome show. I love it. But it will never replace Resurrection Flashback Sunday. I was sitting in a Vancouver, BC coffee shop on a Sunday morning a few months ago, and they had some station (unknown which one) doing a similar show. And you know what, it just felt right. A lazy Sunday morning, 80s music on the radio.

*Finally, on a non Seattle note, my job takes me up to Vancouver, BC regularly on weekend mornings. Here's hoping that Andy Walsh, the weekend morning news anchor on News 1130 never retires. What a great voice.
 
While the business has always had comings/goings, it seems the times we're in now these changes are more telling than ever. Dumping a high profile Mariners person only TWO MONTHS before the end of the year (because station under enormous budget pressure) tells me more than anything.

If true that KUOW is dumping traffic to eliminate "car clutter" ... or KOMO not even realistically TRYING to bid for team rights, etc. ... all in a window when radio needs more local presence than ever to sustain the future. CBS claims their future is new media, but doesn't backfill a new media mgr. position to save some $$ and appease New York. The old saying...people tripping over dollar bills to pick up dimes seems more true now than ever.

And it comes back to the same overall complaint I have....about how corporate folks keep thinking people are hovering on every word they speak and that all they have to do is SAY something and they seem to think we'll buy that what they SAY is truly "fixing it". I'm not from Missouri but still believe in "SHOW ME". This means everything from NAB marketing campaigns for radio to pushing HD as "the future of radio" to "we really think radio survives because it's local" ... none of that is ACTION ... and all this posturing \ while they're busy finding $1500 here...$2000 there to trim, cannibalizing the product or the image in the process, so that shareholders who don't know S%%T about the industry will stop whining when they get their .08 per share dividend.
 
Some brief comments on your quick rundown:

Spies report Ms. Drayer was seen entering 1820 Eastlake earlier this week. I think the answer to your question is "she'll be on KIRO before long".

NY Vinnie was on KIRO doing a Mariners story the day the rights acquisition was announced.

Marina Rockinger - uh - rocks. Doesn't matter what the format is - she's a consummate pro. KOMO is lucky to have her.
 
I've been listening to KOMO for a couple of weeks now and really like hearing Marina Rockinger deliver.
She's upbeat and clear and she has a great voice to listen to.
 
Another KOMO departure

A report out of the Crystal Palace says Eric Slocum will soon be leaving KOMO "to write his memoir", according to an inside source. The search is on for his successor.

And Bill Yeend's contract is up for renewal this fall. Wanna bet he goes on his second "retirement"?
 
Re: Another KOMO departure

SeattleRadioPro said:
A report out of the Crystal Palace says Eric Slocum will soon be leaving KOMO "to write his memoir", according to an inside source. The search is on for his successor.

And Bill Yeend's contract is up for renewal this fall. Wanna bet he goes on his second "retirement"?
Click to expand...

If I were calling the shots, I'd replace Slocum with Art Sanders, who sounds great with Lisa Brooks. Throw some money at Herb Weisbaum, and pair him with Manda in the mornings. Marina Rockinger to evenings...

BTW, I thought everyone assumed Yeend was going to retire, again, when his contract comes up this fall. To my ear, he sounds like he's getting tired of the grind.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom