Bill Virgin's On Radio February 26, 2009

[radiofan]

On Radio: L.A. station flip changes Seattle's morning drive
By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER

Morning drive, because of the size of the audience, is considered the centerpiece and anchor of a radio station's schedule, so what happens in that time slot is of concern to both management and listeners.

For three Seattle stations, there are developments to report for morning shows -- one departing, one renewed and one in flux.

For KNDD-FM/107.7, the show that's departing is the nationally syndicated talk show hosted by comedian Adam Carolla.

Carolla's show came to an end when his home-base station in Los Angeles flipped formats. He's now doing a podcast and working on a proposed TV series.

That leaves The End with the question of what to replace Carolla with. Dave Richards, who manages the station, says The End will air "best of" Carolla shows for the next few weeks while it decides what's next.

Asked if the replacement might be local or syndicated, talk or music, Richards answered: "Yes. We're looking for what the best show is for The End. Our minds are open."

Carolla wasn't the only talk host left without a radio home when the Los Angeles station flipped format. Tom Leykis, whose show had been heard at nights on KISW-FM/ 99.9, is also now off the air. Richards, who is also in charge of KISW, said Leykis has been replaced by moving KISW's music show "The Grindhouse" to 10 p.m.

Sticking with KISW, the show that is staying there is BJ Shea's morning talk show, which has been renewed for another five years, according to the industry Web site All Access.

Shea came to KISW in 2005 when parent company Entercom switched a sister FM station from talk to country. His show was KISW's effort to replace Howard Stern when that show moved to satellite radio, and it proved to be one of the most successful successors.

The morning show in flux is on KKOL-AM/1300, which earlier this year switched from conservative talk to business news. Morning drive was anchored by Bloomberg News radio's "On the Money" show, which offered market updates along with interviews of economists, analysts, company and newsmakers in the business world.

But lately KKOL has been running Bloomberg's "The First Word" program. At 8:30 a.m. in Seattle, you can hear an announcer saying "it's 6:30 a.m. on Wall Street" and giving a preview for the upcoming trading session. That means the program is five hours old, and stock-market trading in the U.S. is in full swing, by the time it airs in Seattle.

Officials at Salem Radio in Seattle, the parent of KKOL, weren't available for comment. Bloomberg recently made cuts in its TV and radio operations, but it's not known if those are related to the change in programming heard locally.

In other radio notes:


KTTH-AM/770 is adding Dr. Laura Schlessinger's show 9 p.m. to midnight weekdays beginning Monday. Her program had been running on KVI-AM, which dropped it in favor of Dennis Miller's show. On KTTH, she'll replace Lars Larson.


KUOW-FM/94.9 has done some schedule shuffling in the wake of cancellations of syndicated shows. "The Conversation" with Ross Reynolds moves to noon Monday through Friday. The "BBC News Hour" airs at 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with Tavis Smiley's show in the 1 p.m. slot on Friday. "KUOW Presents" airs noon to 2 p.m. Saturdays, replacing "Weekend America."


Seattle Opera performs Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" and Shoenberg's "Erwartung" in a live broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on KING-FM/98.1.

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

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

[mightymouth]

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