MediaMaven

Hoopfest is an annual tradition in Spokane...34 years now...as they shut down streets in downtown and set up hoops for some summer scufflin'.   500 three-person teams, 2,000 players and hundreds of thousands of spectators.  No word yet on how much the city's economy benefited, but the list of people injured in some way during the event is amazing.  189 strains/springs led the way, but, wow, 29 broken bones.   Read all about it and watch a wrapup video from KREM2 News. https://www.krem.com/article/entertainment/events/hoopfest/hoopfest-2024-tradition-growth-riley-stockton-spokane-basketball/293-2389428b-ac38-4199-aa2a-cbe37540213a

ICYMI, it appears COX-APOLLO owned KIRO7 in Seattle has cut almost a dozen staff as cutbacks across the company reportedly continue.   The only names confirmed so far are Sports DIrector Chris Francis, son of longtime NBC correspondent Fred Francis, and his producer, Chris Swanson, who formerly worked for me at the old Northwest Cable News.  No word on how KIRO will cover sports in the market going forward, with the Mariners leading the AL West, the Seahawks and UW football coming soon, not to mention the Kraken's fourth hockey season.  Gonna be interesting to watch.   I already notice  KOMO's weekend news, where the news anchor reads just a minute or two of sports.  Nico Tamurian is the station's only sports reporter/anchor right now.  Courtesy: ftvlive.com                                                                       Chris Francis                                                                    Nico Tamurian

The Summer Olympics start in late July and, for Chris Egan, it will be another long journey and a long time away from his Puyallup home and family.  He will be headed for Paris to cover the Games for KING5.  He has previously traveled to Rio in 2016, South Korea in 2018 and Tokyo in 2021 for the same assignment.   Chris and his wife, Melanie, have three children, one who has played Division One tennis for Portland State Univ., a son who pitches for Edmonton in the West Coast Baseball League and another son, who plays club basketball.   

Been fun to  see Seattle radio news stalwart Brian Calvert freelancing some weathercasts on KOMO4 this week.  He did a some evening shows, but is expected to join news anchor Lee Stoll on weekend mornings as the summer rolls on.  Brian freelanced weather for me at the old Northwest Cable News back in the day and also had a very successful online wine show.  Good luck, Brian.  

For those who want to watch the annual Gas Works Park fireworks on Thursday, the show will air on KONG-TV and KING5+ from 9-11 pm.   It's all part of Seafair's July 4 celebration.    By the way, the big Macy's show in NYC will be on the main KING5 channel.  

My goal is to publish info about media news in the Pacific Northwest, covering Seattle and Spokane, Portland and the Tri-Cities/Yakima.  At times, I might even venture into the sports community.  You can also see some of my posts on X @TVMavenSeattle.  I am a longtime, now retired, broadcast and cable news executive, published author, Kent State Univeristy alum and Pittsburgh native loving life in Seattle for the past 20 years.     Hope you enjoy.