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It was a year ago today...

M

Mike Brewer

Guest
...that Sinclair took over Fisher Communications (rest in peace...).

So let's take a look back at what Sinclair has done with the radio division. And PLEASE limit this to RADIO...you want to talk about KOMO-TV, do it on the TV board.

Speculation from many (including me) was that Sinclair had a deal already in the works to spin off the stations. Whoops, got that one wrong. Maybe they couldn't get the multiple they wanted from anyone already operating here.At the time I thought that you wouldn't see anyone new come in, but now I think Alpha is a good candidate to buy the stations if Sinclair wants to sell.

So, they kept the stations. What happened?

Not much to KVI and Star, other than a noticeable drop in marketing muscle. Star TV ads only run on KOMO these days, and KVI's marketing is - well, non existent.

Now, to KOMO. All-news is a VERY expensive format to run and it's been the bulls-eye for cuts. FT staff cut by around 30% (2 anchors, 2 reporters and 2 editors according to sources). The local product gutted outside of 7pm and on weekends replaced with Total Traffic's 24/7 news. More paid programming on Saturdays (up to 4 hours now). I'm thinking the cuts aren't done yet...

Discuss!
 
You can't talk about KOMO Radio without talking about KOMO-TV. They are joined at the hip, at least until Sinclair decides otherwise. Frankly whoever would buy KOMO-AM would be doing so solely for the frequency. You will likely lose the synergy of working with the TV crew, of weather by Steve Pool, etc.

I sometimes forget KVI exists and I'm a big listener to talk radio. Make of that what you will.

As a side note, the insistence on keeping this a radio only forum while moving all TV related talk to a National TV board really does a disservice to people who want to talk about media in Seattle. Every thread that has moved there has simply died immediately after.
 
I also prefer mixing radio and TV under the market banner. If it's so intrusive...maybe we label TV topics with a "TV: " prefix in the thread title and people who hate it can skip it. Of course that takes all the fun out of the semi-national pastime of "I don't agree so I'm going to legislate it out of existence" .... but it's out there for your consideration.
 
I agree with the other responders, you can't talk about KOMO AM without including KOMO TV.

For those who dislike the TV discussion on this radio board and have subsequently been reporting those threads to the mods to be moved to National TV (a board they don't belong on), I wish that behavior would stop. I've been around here for eleven years, Littleboyblue, AQH, Bongwater, and a few others have been here the whole time too. And only within the last year or so has there been outrage with TV discussion on this board.

Now, onto KOMO Radio -

Its been sad the way Sinclair has gutted KOMO radio. However, I'm encouraged by what is left and still on the air.

The negatives:
The loss of the following on air talent:
Bill Rice (retirement... voluntary or pushed?)
Ian Sterling (let go)
Hanna Scott (let go)
Sports department gutted (okay, this happened under Fisher)
No fill-in anchors during drive time... I swear I hear only Manda or Gregg, and only Tom or Jane more than I hear them together during the drive time. Not having weekend staff to develop their talent filling in on these high profile time slots is another symptom of radio's self-perpetuating decline.

The mixed:
Saturday paid programming during midday
24/7 news weekends and weekday nights. This product is actually pretty decent (on par with the old AP Radio service that KOMO carried when they first started up 12 years ago, although only on overnight). It seems they are taking this product because there is no longer a weekday or evening editor, leaving the anchor to take on those tasks while 24/7 runs.

The positive:
Gregg and Manda still sound great in the morning.
They tossed Brian Calvert off his non-clock 9-noon shift and replaced him with a more reasonable four hours of Rick Van Cise, who also sounds great.
Tom and Jane are developing some good chemistry in the PM drive. I'm still not convinced that this particular pairing is the best KOMO has put on in PM drive over the years, but they do sound good.
Paul Tosch is still reporting from the plane... is he the last airborne traffic reporter in the market? Does Metro still send anyone up?
 
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