Seattle Traffic Reporter Has Podcast

Tracy Taylor, the Seattle area traffic reporter for KIRO 7 (weekday mornings) and KIRO FM (weekday afternoons), now has a podcast.  She will talk about traffic news throughout the area along with some human interest stories.  To listen, you can subscribe at iTunes or click here.

Ron And Don Praised By Station

Apparently KIRO FM put this meme on the Ron And Don Facebook page praising their accomplishments during their long Seattle radio stint.  It, of course wasn't enough to stop listeners from angry posts on social media.
If not today, soon the afternoon drive on 97.3 will have new hosts. Please give them a chance.  Let's remember that they had no part in Ron and Don leaving.  Many of the fans of Ron And Don may not have liked them at first. The show had a way of growing on you.
Let's remember that someone had that shift before Ron and Don came aboard. If you would like to read some of the old posts that I have made on the show, click here

KIRO Afternoon Drive Personality Bares Soul

KIRO-FM personalities Ron And Don have a certain chemistry that seems to work on the radio.  Every weekday I can't wait to listen to their show on the way home from work.  Don O'Neill is the outspoken one with the deep voice, while Ron Upshaw seems to be the more reasoning soft spoken one.
Although the show is generally light hearted, they don't avoid serious topics. 
Still it was shocking a couple nights ago when O'Neill launch into a very soul baring speech about what he referred to as a family secret.  He was talking about what he said was mental health issues that run in his family, possibly something that involves himself. I had never, in my decades of listening to radio of all kinds, heard an announcer speak so personally.  It was rather refreshing to hear what sounded as unrehearsed honesty in this day in age on the radio.  You can read O'Neill's  speech by clicking here.

Josh Kerns Leaving KIRO FM

 

Long time KIRO 97.3 news reporter Josh Kerns has announced on his Facebook page that he is leaving the station.  He is starting a consultancy firm  known as Cypress Point Strategic.

Popular Radio Team Interview Seattle Mayor

Mayor Ed Murray appeared on the Ron And Don Show after turning down previous offers to speak with them. Ron And Don have held the KIRO Drive Time position for over a decade.  Known more as entertainers than political commentators, Don O'Neill has been famously critical of the mayor's policies.  O'Neill is generally the loudest and most opinionated of the pair.  Ron Upshaw, his partner, is more explanatory and even keeled
  In this segment, O'Neill appears articulate and on point.

Local Writer Under Fire For Atlantic Article

It should have been the hallmark of a journalism career.  Erica C. Barnett, who has written for a number of what I would call non mainstream media publications such as the Seattle Weekly, Crosscut, and the Publicola blog, was getting published by the well respected Atlantic. 
It was a great topic, the abuse city council women reportedly have taken after a controversial vote to not vacate part of Occidental Avenue to make way for a proposed professional basketball arena.  The vote was 5-4 and happened to split along gender lines.  The 4 male council members voted in favor and 5 women voted against. 
What was erroneously reported was that the firestorm of calls were initiated by KIRO afternoon radio hosts Ron and Don gave out the phone numbers of female council members, urging them to call them out on the arena vote.  
The hosts pointed out on air that they did not urge listeners to call on that topic, but had urged callers to call council woman Sally Bagshaw and  Mayor Ed Murray on a topic of how Seattle handles it's homeless. 
The mention of Ron And Don was pulled from the article and Barnett issued a statement.  Barnett stated that she was going on information from her speaking with Bagshaw.  She also stated that she did not listen to the Ron And Don program and had no opinion on the proposed arena. Barnett claimed that she did not speak to the station or the radio hosts because they were not the central part of the story. 
Time will tell on what the ramifications are to this, but it sure it home for me what I still remember Mr. Maxon in my journalism class told me.  To use attribution and to research my topics thoroughly.

Mike Wins! Stays Anonymous

After winning the "Top 5 At 5" I stayed in the car and listened through the network, then the local news, hoping to hear my name, instead, this is what I heard.....

Barers Of Maple Valley Blogger Wins Top 5 At 5 On KIRO

I usually listen to Ron And Don's Top 5 At 5 on the way home from work.  That is a feature on 97.3 Kiro fm where the radio hosts reports on 5 stories after the CBS News at 5 in the evening.  Then listeners can call in and the first to correctly name each story wins a prize. 
Yesterday, I left work in time to catch the entire show.  I carefully noted each story and by the time I got to my destination, they finished the last story and asked listeners to call in.  The first time that I called, I got a busy signal, but then I called again.  The producer Sean answered the phone and I  was able to remember each story. 
1.  Sound Transit party costs city 875 thousand dollars.
2. Donald Trump said to be posing as his publicist and talking to reporters.
3. Seattle Sounders Soccer team is working to find and develop local soccer talent.
4. Money Monster movie review
5. Michael Strahan does last show for Kelly and Michael

My prize was tickets to see Steve Tyler at McCaw Hall and dinner at the Edgewater.  I was disappointed that they did not say my name on the radio.

Afternoon Drive Time Radio Hosts Ron And Don Help Raise Life Saving Money

In one of the great area radio stories of all time, KIRO 97.3FM Ron Upshaw and Don O'Neil helped raise over 140,000 dollars to help Seattle Detective Dave Clement to go to Chicago for a potentially life saving operation. 
Clement suffers from CIPD, a disease where the immune system attacks the nervous system.  KIRO 7 TV, which is no longer tied with KIRO radio, ran a story in the middle of February that the officer was denied his insurance company  the funds who have a surgery at Northwestern University.  Clement's employer, the city of Seattle, which is self insured, also denied the claim on grounds that the surgery is "experimental".
Hosts Ron And Don, used their bully pulpit and huge drive time audience to hammer on Clement's 26 years of service to the community. They used an "us against them" technique to get it's listeners to go to the "go fund me" page and make small donations.  At the time of this post, over 158,000 dollars has been raised, well exceeding the target 145,000.

Ron And Don Humanize Tragedy On 97.3

They are often derided as sophomoric, but Ron Upshaw and Don O'Neil, afternoon hosts at KIRO 97.3 have once again become the go-to people when tragedy hits the area.  Whether it's the Oso Landslide, the Marysville High shooting, death of firemen, or the horrible duck-tour bus crash, Don and Ron have a unique style of comforting the listeners.  They do not report facts like robots, nor do they shed phony tears.  In my opinion, they have a talent for displaying just the right demeanor, while giving information, such as how to help in ways such as giving blood.
Often thought Seattle's guilty pleasure, there is no need to feel guilty listening when disaster hits our area.

Morning Radio Host Jane Shannon

Seatac Media blog announced that former KIRO morning host Jane Shannon died suddenly.    No details were provided but there were multiple tributes on her facebook page.  It's a sad loss for the area.

KIRO Loses Brandi Kruse To TV

Seattle TV station Q-13 has announced the addition of Brandi Kruse to it's news staff, assuming the title of in-depth reporter.  Kruse, the winner of 4 Edward R Murrow Awards at KIRO FM, has been one of the area's most respected broadcast journalists.
Kruse did her journalism studies at University Of Nebraska.  Thank you to SeaTac Media for tipping this story.

KIRO Evening Voice Leaves

Andrew Walsh, a former producer for Dave Ross who was given his own evening show about a year ago,  has left the station for a new gig. A plain spoken amiable everyman, Walsh described himself as a Liberal, but did not seem to be grounded in ideology.  Over the air, he seemed like a young man who had constructed a station in his garage and was having lots of fun.  He related well to his producers Nick and Sean.  For a while, he was teamed up with John Curley, but that ended when Curley was given a daytime spot.  He was fun to listen to and we wish him well in his new endeavors.

KIRO TV Asks Pat O'Day To Return

KIRO-TV has found a place for Seattle radio legend Pat O'Day on it's annual Seafair race coverage.  The station earlier this year, had announce that it was parting ways with the veteran broadcaster.  When an article by Seattle Times reporter Erik Lacitas revealed the move , the city was outraged and word was that the station was run by accountants back east and had lost touch with the community..  Bouyed by Facebook and Twitter, area residents, some who normally would not have cared about the race, expressed their outrage.
According to the SeaTac Media web site. Pat will do background and history reports during the race day.  He will also do reports on KIRO FM, which is no longer associated with the TV station of the same name.  It will no doubt be a busy Sunday for O'Day.

KIRO TV Sacks Pat--KIRO FM Picks Him Up

Seattle area residents reading this morning's Seattle Times (June 21st) were shocked to read that local radio icon Pat O'Day was asked not to return to KIRO 7's Seafair Hydroplane Race broadcast.  This, of course made little sense, since Pat had done the broadcast in some form since 1967.  At that time or soon after, Hydros and the race itself ruled in the city, since major league sports have arrived in town, as well as an influx of people all over the globe, the race's grip on the city has loosened.  In other words, the target audience for the race, is the same target audience that would probably long to hear the Seattle legend.
Enter KIRO-FM, which is no longer affiliated with KIRO TV.  They announced today that Pat O'Day will host a one hour special during the weekend of the Seafair Race.  The announcement was made during the Ron And Don drive time program on 97.3 KIRO FM.

Rachel Rings Seattle's Bell!

She's sassy, zany, and seemingly always enthusiastic, she's the only local radio personality, as far as I know, that has her own jingle (the old Disco standby Ring My Bell), Rachel Belle is KIRO FM's feature reporter.  Rachel reports the news that didn't make the news and has an uncanny knack for humanizing every story no matter what the impact.  Her delivery is mile a minute, yet clear and she is more than able to stand up to wisecracking afternoon hosts Ron And Don.   Rachel can be heard daily at 4:40 and 6:40 on 97.3 KIRO FM. She does radio commercials for a variety of products.  Rachel also has done stand up in local comedy clubs as you can see here.

Ron And Don Drive Seattle Afternoon Radio

It's easy to dismiss Ron and Don.  They can be sophomoric and annoying. It is hard to tell sometimes if they are joking or not.  They had been rumoured to on KIRO's chopping block since they started the afternoon drive time program in 2006.  But they hang in.  If you get beyond their schtick, which includes rimshot sound effects for some silly one-liners, they know what people in the area are talking about.
I think that what works for the pair is their talent for involving listeners  in the show. Several times they have given descriptions of fleeing criminal's cars, allowing for tips that turned into arrests.  Most of their topics deal with local events, and while most talk show invoke politics, Ron and Don are rarely, if ever political.  It looks like Ron Upshaw  And Don O'Neil, who are a well traveled pair are going to be pulling the Seattle afternoon drive for a long time,  perhaps going down in broadcast history as Seattle's guilty pleasure.