March 2, 1986 — Radio’s biggest surprise of the week is the firing of Tim Davidson as station manager at KING AM.
Davidson describes it as a friendly parting. Jim Kime, corporate radio vice president, said the change was necessary because KING AM needs positive leadership.
“I have many friends in the King Broadcasting company,” Davidson said from his home, after a day that already included some preliminary job searching.
Davidson’s wife Rebecca is sales manager at the classical sister station KING FM. Davidson previously was station manager of KING FM.
The termination signals another lurch in the machinations of KING AM. Davidson is the second manager to depart abruptly during the station’s three-year tilt at the news format.
Executives aren’t talking, but it’s a sure bet there are high-level battles over whether the station should be all-news, news talk, news-sports, or news-personality.
Davidson’s reign the last year could be characterized as a retractive period, with less news, less staff, less expense, more network-supplied talk.
KLSY begins a new Sunday version of Lights Out, the weeknight program of love songs and dedications on 92.5 MHz. The nine to midnight program will be produced by Ian Sanders, who will take phoned-in dedications, but other segments of the show will feature special moments from the weekday shows, including brief poetry readings by Delilah René.
