Bill Virgin's Radio Beat September 6, 2007

[radiofan]

On Radio: KUBE morning host 'T-Man' Tepper now can be heard in Portland, too
By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER

Another Seattle morning radio host is about to test whether his show will play on the road.

In this case, the syndication effort involves a host who has tried this before -- Rob "the T-Man" Tepper, heard locally on KUBE-FM (93.3).

Tepper, who has been with KUBE since 1996 and has long had one of the Seattle market's top-rated morning shows, added a San Francisco station a year ago.

Now Tepper and crew are the morning voices for Portland's KKRZ-FM (100.3), which, like KUBE, is operated by Clear Channel.

Syndication is hardly new for Tepper. As recently as five years ago he had a syndication deal in which his show was placed on about 10 stations around the country. Syndication opportunities were at the heart of an effort by KBKS-FM (106.1) to recruit Tepper to its station in 2000; Tepper initially said he was moving, then decided to stay at KUBE when that station's owners offered a better deal.

Seattle hosts have a spotty record with syndicating their shows in other markets. Bob Rivers has been another longtime success in Seattle morning radio, most recently on KZOK-FM (102.5). Last year his show was syndicated on a Portland station, but dropped after a few months when the station changed formats. "The Marconi Show" was brought from Portland to host mornings on KNDD-FM (107.7), and was simulcast in Portland; KNDD eventually dropped it. KISW-FM (99.9) tried the Rob, Arnie & Dawn Show as a post-Bob Rivers experiment; the show was simulcast in Sacramento, Calif., and Reno, Nev.

Interestingly, T-Man replaces on the Portland station a local show hosted by Buck Head, who earlier this year was named by Edison Media, an industry consulting group, as one of the "30 under 30" promising talents in radio. Among his career goals, according to a profile on the Edison media Web site: "Working on syndication."

In other radio notes:

KEXP-FM (90.3) broadcasts live from MusicFest Northwest in Portland Thursday through Saturday.

Don Riggs' guests on "Introspect Northwest" at 6 a.m. Sunday on KMPS-FM (94.1) and 9 a.m. Sunday on KPTK-FM (1090) include former Monkees singer Micky Dolenz.

The Dave Peck Trio performs live in the KPLU-FM (88.5) studio at 12:20 p.m. Monday.

Ziggurat Quartet performs live on "Sonarchy" at midnight Saturday on KEXP-FM.

The Sunday edition of Jim French's "Imagination Theatre," heard at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on KIXI-AM (880), includes a new Harry Nile mystery.

"Voices of Diversity" at 6 p.m. Wednesday on KBCS-FM (91.3) looks at Latino political participation in Washington.

P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com.

Bill Virgin's Radio Beat Thursdays in the Seattle P-I