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.