'Do you Hear What I Hear for Holiday Radio Ratings in Seattle?  The PPMs were Warm for WARM.  Plus there was a Dave Ross/Colleen O'Brien retirement at 97.3 KIRO.  Might have hurt a little. Take a peek at the this link. https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb039 Courtesy: Research Director SEATTLE-TACOMA: Multiple Santa Disorder This is the market that is annually lousy with all holiday stations. However, there was one less participant this year, which paved the way for HUBBARD AC KRWM (WARM 106.9) to have a killer book. The station was again #1 6+ (7.3-11.1) and easily outpaced last year’s 9.7 share. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON N/T KUOW stepped up to #2 (6.3-6.7), while iHEARTMEDIA Classic Rock KZOK dipped to #3 with its lowest mark since JANUARY (6.7-5.8). BONNEVILLE Talk KIRO held firm at #4 but with its smallest share since APRIL (5.0-4.4). It had company as AUDACY Country KKWF (100.7 THE WOLF) moved up from #7 (4.4-4.4). iHEARTMEDIA Classic Hits KJEB (95.7 TH...

  Rylee Pay is the new lead voice of the Tacoma Rainiers, coming from Maine, where she broadcast games for the Portland Sea Dogs. TACOMA, WA – The Tacoma Rainiers announced today that Rylee Pay will be the new radio broadcaster for the team. Prior to getting hired by Tacoma, Pay was formerly the Play-by-Play Broadcaster and Media Relations Assistant for the Portland Sea Dogs, Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. She also has broadcast experience in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Cotuit Kettleers. With over 250 applicants for the position, Team President Aaron Artman said that the organization was very thoughtful and purposeful when searching for the new voice of the Rainiers. “Rylee had the right combination of experience and creativity and was the best fit for our culture and brand – two things that we took very seriously when determining the right fit,” Artman said. “From Bob Robertson to Mike Curto, there is a legacy here in Tacoma that is unique, and I look forward ...

 

Our friends at ftvlive.com post this video from the lead female anchor at Fox 13 Seattle.  "You look mmahvelous."  But we don't care.  Juvenile.  Check the video link. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2025/1/27/what-the  

  Maurice Dubois, a local NYC anchor with no national chops, John Dickerson, a network political analyst with no anchor charisma or chops and Margaret Brennan, host of Face The Nation but not a news anchor, team up for the successor show to Norah O'Donnell.   It was solid and non-hyped journalism but it ain't beating Muir or Lester, I don't think.  They emphasize weather with the immersive studio but that talent is weak, IMHO.    I must predict a ratings drop, at least early on.

KING 5 award-winning video journalist and reporter Bridget Chavez spent three days documenting the L.A. Palisades fire and posted this video. https://www.king5.com/video/news/local/wildfire/scenes-of-destruction-3-days-in-la/281-b1af8593-1f98-4b2c-806c-54f302f54ca5  

KTVB, the longtime powerhouse station is Idaho, actually introduced and interviewed its two newest reporters on the 'Idaho Today' Show.  Cool idea.  They are both from Washington.  One is from Tacoma and WSU and the other from Wenatchee and Pepperdine.  Video link below if you are interested in meeting Aspen Schumpert and Abby WIlt. https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-today/meet-aspen-abby-the-two-new-ktvb-reporters-hail-from-washington/277-dc84e459-62bc-4ddb-ae58-84b893dfbf44?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot

State giving money to journalism?   Hmmmm From: mediapost.com Washington state legislators are mulling a bill that would establish an annual $20 million fund to support local journalism. Introduced last week, Senate Bill 5400 would establish the Washington Local News Journalism Corp., a program that would award grants to qualified newsrooms support to “employment of news journalists covering civic affairs in underserved  communities to deepen community understanding of complex community issues and policies,” the bill states. https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/washington-state-bill-would-support-local-journalism/

From Fox 13 web site: Albert James is a television reporter covering state government as part of the Murrow News Fellowship program – a collaborative effort between news outlets statewide, including FOX 13 Seattle, and Washington State University. An award-winning reporter who previously covered the Washington Legislature, Albert serves as the broadcast television correspondent for the 2025 legislative season. He is based at the TVW offices in Olympia, and his news packages are available for free to television stations across the state. Albert is a 2022 graduate of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, interning for KIRO, Seattle’s CBS station. Most recently he was a reporter/anchor/producer in Eugene, Ore., at KEZI, an ABC affiliate

Looks like I am a little late on this one, but still wanted to report that Shawn Chitnis is now with Fox 13 Seattle after stints at KNDO in Tri-Cities, KREM in Spokane, KCNC in Denver and KPIX in San Fran.

Fox 13 Seattle did a story on a new cheese individual pouch cheese product, calling it VelVETTA on its lower third chyron.  VelVEETA makes it and after a search of the so-called first name on various sites mentioning the product, there is no name change from Velveeta.   Cheesy work to say the least.

Watched for a full hour Sunday morning.  NO Theron Zahn, so weather was voiced over several times by one of the anchors and the voices of Hannah Knowles and Kelly Koopmans were impossible to tell apart on VOs.  With Rebecca Stevenson gone, the weather staff is now shorthanded.    Nothing but rerun news packages from Kent, Moreno and Harris, hockey highlights from a Saturday afternoon game (now 16 hours old) and even an interview from the moribund ARC Seattle show. NO live reporter at all.   A canned 'Steals and Deals' and a bunch of mostly innocuous feature stuff to fill out the hour.    Yikes, hardly worth wasting a cup of coffee on.  A half hour news on weekend mornings would suffice,  but two hours are there for ad inventory only on all the stations.    

  Jade Elliott, ballyhooed from Salt Lake to her native WA and Fox 13 Seattle, left the station after a short stint and now has resurfaced at KAPP/KVEW in Central WA. doing 5-7 a.m. https://x.com/JadeElliottTV/status/1882983082682400865

For your Rebecca Stevenson social media on X: Seattle, January is sunny and dry for you because I took my business with me when I packed up my office papers to job hunt. I took all the Cascade Mountain Snow and inserted into my personal Pensacola, FL file. I’ll return it, eventually, I promise.

Gotta say the Kraken Hockey Network show has really pumped up the energy, look, production and enjoyment, especially for casual fans.  In particular, Ian Furness has become so much more confident in his duties, selling the content with oomph that shows his personality.   They also have added an all-game interactive trivia contest and maxed out KIDS DAY by nicely adding a junior reporter and junior analyst to the show.  They also showed cute kid pics of the anchors.   One interesting note is that the booth play-by-play team did the first five minutes of the program before throwing to the panel.  Forslund and Eddie O do fun banter.  Nice work by all.   Still wish they would find a more creative hockey name for the program.  'Pre-game' is way stale.

  Tegna's KING5 has a 'unique program that takes raw talent straight out of school and helps them develop real-life skills.    News Director Julie Wolfe posted about it: Julie Wolfe Julie Wolfe • 2nd News Director at KING 5 Media Group News Director at KING 5 Media Group 1w • 1 week ago Follow How do you recruit, coach, create the next generation of journalists? It’s a question the industry has wrangled with for years. 💡One of the most innovative answers to that question has been TEGNA ’s Producer In Residence program, recruiting top talent straight out of college and placing them in newsrooms for 2-year paid apprenticeships. KING 5 Media Group currently hosts two PIR super stars: Lianna Johnson & Sarah Mahaney . I’m thrilled to share we’re adding a third this summer: Eric Yeh . Congrats to Eric Yeh . Thanks to Noah Cooper . And kudos to Lianna Johnson & Sarah Mahaney for setting the bar so high!

Per: linkedin.com Rob Piercy, who anchored for KING5 and the old NWCN has been promoted at the Allen Institute where he has been doing media/comms work since 2014.   Rob Piercy Rob Piercy • 2nd • 2nd Vice President, Communications & Engagement Vice President, Communications & Engagement 1 hour ago Follow I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Vice President, Communications & Engagement at Allen Institute His wife is fomer Evening co-host Kim Holcomb (now at Amzaon) and, recently, former Seattle anchors Liz Dueweke and Amity Addrisi have joined Allen Media, presumably working for Piercy.