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New GM for KSER/KXIR 90.7/89.9

It's now official ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2025

EVERETT, WASHINGTON – Everett-based KSER 90.7 FM has named Garett Michaels as the new general manager of the independent community radio station. Michaels, who starts later this month, was selected by the KSER Foundation board of directors after a national search for a new leader.

Michaels is an accomplished broadcast professional with more than 30 years of diverse programming, management, and on-air experience in Philadelphia, Detroit, Seattle, and San Diego. For most of the past decade, Garett has served as director of rock programming for Local Media San Diego and program director of 100.7 BIG FM and 91X.

He said he’s looking forward to helping lead KSER, which will mark its 35th anniversary in 2026.

“Having lived in the Puget Sound region twice over the last 25 years, I have a deep love and appreciation for the culture, lifestyle and natural beauty of the area,” Michaels said. “As a big fan and supporter of public media, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to transition to this side of the broadcast industry, and I am honored to serve as the next general manager of KSER.

“The passion and dedication of the staff, and the many KSER volunteers is inspiring. I cannot wait to join them in the mission to enrich the communities we serve across Snohomish County and Whidbey Island,” he added.

Michaels succeeds Tom Clendening, who retired this spring after 13 years as KSER’s general manager. Steve Ward, longtime program director at KSER, has served as interim general manager in recent weeks.

KSER, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, covers Snohomish County and surrounding areas on 90.7 FM and broadcasts from a Whidbey Island transmitter on KXIR, 89.9 FM. As an independent public radio station, KSER depends largely on individual donors, underwriting and grants to bring an eclectic mix of music shows and informational programming to Snohomish and Island counties.

* * * *

Media note: For more information, please contact Steve Ward, interim KSER general manager, at [email protected] or 425-303-9070, or contact Eric Fetters-Walp, KSER board president, at [email protected] or 425-589-8861.
 
Life is circular sometimes.

Michaels spent a good deal of time as PD of The End (KNDD 107.7 Seattle.) The frequency that was sold by the Jack Straw Foundation, which used some of the money to start KSER.
The old KRAB....

But KSER is no Jack Straw Foundation when it comes to radio management. It seems like they get big league pros. Tom Clendening had KIRO and KGNW management experience. Now Garrett Michaels (which I admit upon seeing his name nearly made me spit my Mountain Dew all over my keyboard when I read the OP's press release. Was not expecting that. At all.) is heading KSER.

How does KSER (of all stations) get Garrett Michaels? I mean, what is it about this little Everett public station that attracts such huge names in radio?

Whatever it is, this is damn impressing.
 
The old KRAB....

But KSER is no Jack Straw Foundation when it comes to radio management. It seems like they get big league pros. Tom Clendening had KIRO and KGNW management experience. Now Garrett Michaels (which I admit upon seeing his name nearly made me spit my Mountain Dew all over my keyboard when I read the OP's press release. Was not expecting that. At all.) is heading KSER.

How does KSER (of all stations) get Garrett Michaels? I mean, what is it about this little Everett public station that attracts such huge names in radio?

Whatever it is, this is damn impressing.

Maybe its the freedom they get with stations like this? Maybe its intangible benefits that come along with it?

Ive been where i am for 5 years, in part cuse not a single finger has been put in the programming pie by anyone on the board for the 5 years ive been here

At a commercial station i was at... one of the intangible benefits was.. as long as my work was done, my "11am to 5pm"{ work day wasnt set in stone.. as long as i got my work done, no big issue was made if i came in at 1130 one day in one week or left at 4 one day a month later. One day I was 90 minutes late because, as i texted my boss, "The fm dial is light up like a christmas tree with stations from 1000 miles away".. i walked in at 1230, the owner looked up from his PC said "Nerrrrrrdddd" and went back to work. That is an intangible benefit to me, and i realize that wont happen anywhere else... but maybe theres an intangible benefit that matters to Garrett.

Maybe they realzie they need something better than all those darn Demoracy now or thom hartman replays but they need a pro to sort out what theyre doing..... and that pro relishes the chance to craft something
 
I don't want to speak for Garett, but as one of the folks who helped make this hiring decision with my fellow board members, I can tell you that Garett seems excited to head up a station where the playlists aren't tightly controlled and where ratings aren't the end-all, be-all goal of everything we do. He also expressed a great desire to return to the Puget Sound area, and the timing worked for his family.

He was the unanimous No. 1 choice of the board for this job, but we had some other finalists with impressive credentials in other parts of the country.

And, yes, one of our goals is to eliminate the "Democracy Now" and Thom Hartmann repeats during drive time and replace them with more music and/or local current affairs programming. The latter sadly went away with the death of Ed Bremer several years ago.

We're always welcoming feedback and ideas. The easiest way is to just email me: [email protected].

Eric Fetters-Walp, KSER Foundation board president
 
It appears that KSER has now added an RDS encoder to their KSER 90.7 signal. It doesn't seem to be programmed yet as all I was getting was the dashed line you see there, but I have never seen RDS from them before. I live at the northern end of West Seattle and KSER and KXIR come in at about equal strength in a couple of different locations, but I didn't see anything on the KXIR 89.9 signal.
Is anybody else seeing this or is this some phantom RDS signal?

Val
IMG_7355.jpeg
 
I think they added the "KSER ..." line since the previous picture. It only comes up when I hit the preset button for it. Still nothing on KXIR.

IMG_7369.jpeg
 


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