11/28/25 — What’s vanished from Seattle’s talk-radio dial? Actual talk. What we have instead is a sterile parade of monologues – hosts and guests who all nod along to the same script, repeating the same talking points in the same tone, hour after hour. There’s no friction, no pushback, no unhinged caller ranting from a flip phone in his pickup at 2 a.m. There’s no moment where the host has to think on his feet because someone just said something outrageous or half-baked or profoundly stupid. The chaos is gone. The unpredictability is gone. The sense that anything could happen – that’s gone. We’ve traded the messy, sometimes infuriating, but undeniably alive format we grew up with for a sanitized podcast-in-radio-clothing experience. Everyone is “on message.” Everyone is safe. Everyone is… boring. Call it the triumph of ideological silos, call it fear of the FCC, call it corporate consolidation – whatever the reason, the result is the same: a medium that used to thrive on argument, eccentricity, and the occasional train wreck now feels like a faculty lounge where tenure was granted decades ago and nobody dares disagree. That raw, electric, sometimes ridiculous conversation – the thing that made you shout at your dashboard or laugh out loud in traffic – has been replaced by the soothing hum of people who already agree with you telling you you’re right. We Boomers remember when talk radio was a brawl, not a hug. And yeah, we miss it. You’re welcome.
11/21/25 — Bonneville International is selling off their San Francisco properties to Connoisseur Media. AC 96.5 KOIT San Francisco, Classic Rock 98.5 KUFX San Jose, CHR 99.7 KMVQ San Francisco, and Adult R&B 102.9 KBLX Berkeley.
Bonneville International (parent company of KIRO AM/FM & KTTH), has consolidated their Salt Lake City TV/Radio/Newspaper operations, resulting in layoffs for 30 employees. Happy holidays, folks!
RAMP reports that KSL Program Director Kevin LaRue has exited in the cuts. LaRue had been in his role since 2006 following a five year run programming WFIR Roanoke VA. Also exiting is reporter/anchor Heather Kelly. She had been with the station since 2012 after previous stints as a producer and traffic reporter for Capital Broadcasting and Clear Channel Salt Lake City.
In what can only be described as a painfully weak effort to defend the state of radio today, a recent segment on CBS Mornings tried to paint a rosy picture of the medium’s supposed vitality by pointing to Sirius XM and the newly revived WCBS-FM as shining examples of “the best radio has to offer.” It was the journalistic equivalent of putting lipstick on a corpse.
Let’s be real: neither of those examples even pretends to represent what terrestrial radio once was—or what millions of listeners actually miss. Sirius XM is a paid satellite subscription service with national programming and niche channels, not the local, personality-driven stations that used to define a city’s identity. And WCBS-FM? It’s a corporate-owned “classic hits” outlet that was brought back largely for nostalgic branding value after years of format flips. Pointing to those as proof that radio is “thriving” completely dodges the real story: decades of ruthless consolidation, cost-cutting, and syndication have gutted local radio of its soul. The quirky DJs who knew their towns, the hyper-local news and traffic reports, the spontaneous phone calls from listeners, the live remotes from the town’s car dealerships —almost all of that is gone, replaced by voice-tracked “talent” in another state reading liners off a computer screen and playlists so tight you can set your watch to them.
And speaking of playlists—good grief. If you scroll through the YouTube comments on basically any “oldies” or “classic rock” video these days, you’ll see the same refrain over and over: “Wow, I haven’t heard this song in YEARS!” That sentence should terrify anyone who claims terrestrial radio is healthy. Think about it: people are genuinely shocked—shocked!—to hear a song they love because commercial radio has beaten the same 300–400 tracks into the ground for two decades while ignoring everything else. The libraries are massive, the licenses are paid for, yet programmers treat them like they’ll be sent to prison for playing a deep cut or (heaven forbid) something new by an artist over 40. So listeners flee to YouTube, Spotify, or their own libraries, and then radio executives act surprised when nobody under 50 listens anymore.
The CBS Mornings piece wasn’t an explanation of radio’s decline—it was an unintentional autopsy performed by people who still don’t understand what they helped kill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YpW2zyaXiI
11/20/25 — TV station giant Nexstar has asked the Federal Communications Commission to sign off on its pending acquisition of Tegna Inc. even though the $6.2 billion deal would breach existing FCC limits on national media ownership.
11/19/25 — Still waiting for the really big sports announcement for Seattle… Roller Derby!
MLB’s New Deals:
ESPN PRESS RELEASE: “ESPN has acquired exclusive, local in-market streaming rights for MLB Clubs. The MLB Clubs currently include the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, SEATTLE MARINERS, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. In 2026, the games will be available to purchase and stream on MLB platforms.”
** The Mariners announced in September that their TV broadcasts would be moving in 2026 as ROOT Sports, which the Mariners had a 100% ownership stake in since the 2023-24 offseason, shut its doors at the conclusion of the 2025 season. (Seattle Sports 710) Radio broadcasts will continue to be free from Seattle Sports either on the Seattle Sports app or on 710 AM. Mariners games on the Seattle Sports app are available to fans in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia and Alaska.
NBCUniversal has secured a new three-year media rights deal with Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 2026-2028 seasons, bringing regular-season and playoff games to NBC, Peacock, and the new NBC Sports Network. The agreement includes Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, the entire Wild Card playoff series, and the return of “MLB Sunday Leadoff” games, which will be exclusive to Peacock/NBCSN except for one simulcast event.
What’s included in the deal:
Sunday Night Baseball: A package of around 25 prime-time games on NBC.
Postseason: The entire Wild Card round of the playoffs.
“MLB Sunday Leadoff”: A revival of this package, featuring 18 late-morning games that were previously on Peacock. Most will be exclusive to Peacock and NBCSN, with one simulcast on both platforms.
Exclusives: Some games will be exclusive to Peacock and the new NBC Sports Network.
The new deal marks MLB’s return to NBC’s network after 26 years. This deal is part of new three-year media rights agreements that MLB has also struck with ESPN and Netflix.
Netflix is also getting some games for its live-broadcast feeds. The streaming service will run the annual Home Run Derby, an opening-night game, and a Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa.
From KCPQ FOX 13, this sports note: The 2025-26 PWHL regular season is set to begin on Friday, fans can catch 24 Torrent games on FOX 13+ (ch. 22.1/cable 110) and streaming on FOX LOCAL in the Seattle-Tacoma DMA. The remaining six games will be broadcast on KONG Tv.
Syndicated SportsTalk KGA sits at the bottom of the latest Spokane radio ratings. Syndicated Talk KQNT comes in 2nd to Syndicated Classic Rock KKZX. Local talent? Fuggedaboudit!
11/16/25 — Frankie Avalon has a podcast. Brandy new, Episode #1 just dropped this week. Find it on Youtube.
KING 5’s Jessica Janner Castro, with baby bump, surrounded by friends and family at a shower this last week. Pic click HERE.
11/15/25 — Re-watching Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. The soundtrack is Robert W. Morgan, The Real Don Steele and the sounds of KHJ. Good stuff. Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Bruce Dern, Al Pacino, (Sydney Sweeney one of the pretty faces) and Kurt Russell.
Hometown radio purchase for Danny and Kait Hill (Frequency Media). Danny jocked at one of the stations the couple picked up from Connoisseur Media in Bakersfield. Live 95.3 KLLY Olidale (where Danny worked), Rhythmic AC Groove 99.3 KKBB Bakersfield, and News/Talk 1560 KNZR Bakersfield/97.7 KNZR-FM Shafter. The couple has a syndicated morning show and already own a couple stations, Rewind 98.1/93.5 KRWI Woffard Heights/K228GB Lakes Isabella and Outlaw Country 1140/95.9 KVLI/K240FH Lake Isabella. Price tag on that deal was not disclosed. Looks like the Hill’s are building a media empire in the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley.
11/14/25 — WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? Controversy over content posted on TikTok by queer weather lesbian, Abby Acone. Will FOX 13 tv step up and clamp down on such trash from FOX employees? Message to straight males working at FOX tv, start posting about your sexual proclivities. All is fair, or is it?
11/13/2025 — One memory of grocery shopping in the Phoenix area…You knew when the retirees had received their social security checks by all the liquor in their shopping carts. AZ grocery stores sold hard liquor. From Sun City, Arizona: SCAZRadio https://streamdb4web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/SCAZ
11/12/2025 — LOCAL RADIO & THE COMMUNITY – This is from a couple years ago, Jeff Slakey (now co-owner of KMAS/Shelton) is interviewed by Joel Meyer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyKLmk-VHUk
TUNE-IN, the online player for radio has been purchased by Stingray Group of Montreal. Price tag $175 million/+ $25 million within one year, based on earnings projections. Stingray owns music, digital and advertising services worldwide
Drive-time listening: KGHP FM while up in Gig Harbor. Music from a computer playlist. An attempt had been made to save the struggling FM, but that failed. (Facebook group-Friends of KGHP) Bottom line: The bottom line! The organization struggled just to come to an agreement on what funding to accept. That equaled ZERO funding and deep debt for organizers. KGHP FM – Any takers? Going…Going…
11/11/2025 — Early on November 9, a fire outside a City of Tacoma facility on Martin Luther King Jr. Way damaged fiber lines, temporarily disrupting several Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) TV channels, including TV Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools TV.
MSNBC has announced it has signed a deal with AccuWeather to provide weather forecasts, content, and expert meteorologists to the cable network, which becomes MS-NOW on Friday. The cable channel failed in their attempt to sign the more precise services of Frankie MacDonald.
11/10/2025 — Register and get your KIXI account, then hang in there, listen online for a few hours, and score some KIXI rewards! https://kixi.com/rewards
(5:39pm) Average White Band – Cut The Cake now playing on 880 KIXI. Wally Nelskog would never!
How early is TOO EARLY to jump onto the Christmas music playlist? WARM 106.9 took the jump TODAY! 17 days before Thanksgiving.
Bonneville International has promoted Christa St. John to Director of Sales for KIRO 710, KTTH 770, and KIRO 97.3 FM. She has been with Bonneville in Seattle since 2018. (details at RadioInsight)
A recent addition at KIRO 7, reporter Jack Bilyeu, from Fox 13/Memphis. Born and raised in McKinney, Texas. He pursued higher education at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science. His professional journey in broadcast journalism began shortly after graduation. In April 2021, he joined WBTW News13 (a Gray Television affiliate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) as a multimedia journalist. In September 2022, Bilyeu relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, to join FOX13 WHBQ-TV as a reporter.
