New KZOK program director; Bob Corcoran TV talk show changes

February 22, 1976
Victor Stredicke

Norm Gregory is the new program director of KZOK. Eddie Mason, short term PD has returned to San Jose.
Gregory continues with the afternoon air shift.
Musical emphasis will stay the same, but with Gregory’s background it is likely KZOK announcers will be able to inject a little more of their own personality into each air shift.
“We won’t sound mechanical,” Gregory said. “I think the station has already established itself as a no-hype, no-nonsense music station.”
Gregory has served as music director at KZOK the past year. Previously, he had been afternoon drive-time disc jockey at KJR.
“I had a chance at being program director once before,” Gregory reminisced. “… At KJR.
“But I really wasn’t ready, so I never made my move.”
Now Gregory exudes confidence. “I think the air staff will work as a team,” he said. No air staff changes were contemplated, he said, except that he was scheming to get an additional person, maybe shorten shifts. Team Leader was dressed in his usual crumpled corduroys, and lumberjack shirt. He wore a bejeweled star in his jacket lapel.
“Somebody gave that to me a year or so ago,” he shrugged.

The mechanical adjustments at KUUU are complete, and from now on most of the voices you hear on the station will be those of either Mark Allen, new program director, or Gary Mitchell, production director. Don Christi, former program director, has apparently gone home to San Diego…
Disc jockeys do well enough pronouncing their names, but they never tell you how to spell them. Thus, if you are taking notes, KJR’s new all-night disc jockey from 2 AM to 6 AM spells her name “Kacie Sommers”. Right now it is pretty much of a “white-knuckle flight” for the Seattle girl, long a KJR listener, but the station is sure she will develop into a top-40 disc jockey of consequence… Speaking of spelling, it’s Bill Wippel, for the last name of KIRO’s news and program director.

KTNT-TV 11 expands its nightly news program to 45 min. 11 Star News, with Bill Wippell, news editor, introduces a new weather girl, 20–year-old Sandra Viahovich. By December, 11 Star News expands to a full hour each night. [1969]

Turmoil is to be expected at Channel 13, but it was a surprise to regular viewers last week to find Bob Corcoran missing.
Instead of the familiar long-lasting rubber-faced TV host, 7 PM viewers saw one or more scratchy old movies.
Tonight Corcoran returns, ready to face the camera unflinchingly for two hours or more, with no props, few guests and a lot of opinions.
“I was assembling a good package of movies,” Corcoran said. “I just took it easy until my movies could be added to the schedule.”
Corcoran says he has purchased for his own use, TV rights to 182 movies. Many of the films are identical to a 20th Century Fox package that KIRO TV has been running but, Corcoran said, some films may be first-time offerings in this area.
To compensate for day-light-saving time, Corcoran has moved his weeknight program to 9 PM. He will talk on the phone and philosophize for two hours, then crank up the film.
“Counter-programming, that’s what it is,” Corcoran said, raising his right eyebrow. “At 9 PM there is a carload of movies, so I’m going to talk. At 11 PM there are news programs galore, so I’m going to show my movies.”
Corcoran said he would work out a comedy-movie night, a Western night and, beginning Friday, a science-fiction doubleheader.

August 1970
TV-host-turned-politician to buy time

Television politics are getting as complex as Tacoma City Council politics. And Channel 13, Tacoma, is not helping the matter.
For the past couple of weeks, Bob Corcoran, KTVW’s TV-movie host, has been a declared candidate for State House of Representatives from the 27th district.
His Democratic opponent, Mrs. Lorraine Wojahn, incumbent, has asked for “equal time” from the station to compensate for Corcoran’s near – saturation appearances. Corcoran turned the show over to his wife to avoid further time requests.
Corcoran announced over the weekend that instead of appearing as a guest on his wife’s TV show this week, he will purchase an hour of Channel 13 time each weekday.
The purchase coincides with the regular time for the Bob Corcoran talkshow, a familiar fixture at the station until he entered the primary.
The regular Corcoran show, with Mrs. Corcoran as moderator, will be shortened to an hour following the paid broadcast.
A station spokesman said the time was negotiated in the same manner as a similar half-hour political broadcast by Eddie Karnes, Republican candidate for United States House of Representatives.
Mrs. Wojahn has asked for three hours of uninterrupted time the Friday and Monday before primary elections.
“Corcoran used his show on Friday of the date of filing and the Monday thereafter for out-right political campaigning,” Mrs. Wojahn said. She has asked for additional broadcast time. The station has made offers for alternate time, which she has refused.
“They offered some time at 6 PM and sometime after 11 PM,” she said.
“But studying a rating book, I concluded there were few viewers at that time. I at least want TV time that has a “one” rating – whatever that means.”
Mrs. Wojahn, said her campaign has been geared to afternoon teas and door-belling.
She bought space in a Tacoma newspaper and will have some radio commercials on KTNT AM. She said she has not been offered a time purchase at KTVW.
Unable to come to terms with Mrs. Wojahn, Corcoran has been sharing the screen Tuesdays with Bob Satiacum, Republican candidate from the 27th district.
Channel 13, meanwhile, continues to list the time as the Lee Corcoran show.

October 1970
Corcoran on earlier

Bob Corcoran, TV talkshow host, returns to the evening hours on Channel 13 this week.
A daily two-hour show, similar in nature to the summer show, begins at 7 PM. Monday, Corcoran said he expected to have more scheduled guests in the earlier time slot.
First week guests include Ralph Williams, auto salesman, Martin Durkin, State Sen., and Albert D Rosellini, former governor.
Corcoran said the night program he and his wife had chaired through the summer attracted viewers when daylight savings time was in effect, but would benefit by being broadcast earlier during winter months.
Channel 13 has announced a new discussion program at 11 PM, replacing the nightly movies previously scheduled. “Nightbeat,” a two-hour show, will grapple with the network talk shows. Carl Seidel, wrestling-show narrator and host of a Puyallup radio talk show, will be the moderator.
Seidel said the program will bring “a variety of guests and views to the camera.”