MediaMaven

Julie Wolfe, who was promoted to a Regional News Content VP following her stint as News Director at KING 5, has been ousted by the company after less than a year in the job.   Another Tegna VP, Michael Valentine, who was one of my bosses at Tegna, is also gone from his regional position back east. Wolfe came to Seattle in 2021 from the ND job at the Tegna station in Louisville.   Wolfe 

Fox 13's Washington Sports Wrap replays at 11 a.m. the following day will be dead after Labor Day when The Jennifer Hudson Show moves from 1 pm to 11 am.   Both the Sherri sydicated program and Studio 13 Live are gone.  Also, the station is running a show called 'Battleground' (Midterms) at 11 pm against news on the other three locals.  The sports show was nothing more than a morning placeholder as we already reported.  The original still runs at 6:30 weeknights.   I am also seeing another edition of West Coast News Wrap from KTVU in Oakland running back to back at 7:30, but I don't recall what  p reviously ran in that time slot.  I watch Jeopardy anyway!      Update: A loyal reader says Sports Wrap was airing on a 730 replay weeknights, so looks like it's gone too.

KJR-FM's longtime radio host Softy Mahler is replacing Elise Woodward as sideline reporter on the station's broadcast of the 114th Apple Cup Saturday at Husky Stadium.  Jessamyn McIntyre will be on the opposite sideline as usual for the Cougar Radio Network.  It should be a barnburner, a nailbiter, a cliffhanger and that's just the game! As you may know, Woodward now does the play-by-play now after years on the Husky sideline.

Based on the cable grid, with Sherri's program gone, it appears FOX 13 will simulcast its Live Desk from noon to 2 pm on the main channel after Labor Day.    Live Desk will continue past 2 pm on 13+.    Jennifer Hudson syndie show airing 11-noon.    Meanwhile, Drew Barrymore's show eventually replaces Kelly Clarkson on KOMO at 2 pm weekdays.  Can't tell your shows without a program!

  This clock makes sense.  Deadline approaching for a Seattle teacher's strike.    Next up?  Apple Cup countdown clock for Saturday?   More clocks please!    Gimmick overkill?  Did a consultant recommend this?

KOMO's Senior News Reporter Chris Daniels gets the first sit-down TV interview with ex-Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes.  Barnes also appeared on 97.3 FM radio's 'Gee and Ursula Show' Monday.  This 'exclusive' follows his solo reporting work in Atlanta last week when the NFL okayed the new Seahawks ownership.  On a roll. https://komonews.com/news/local/former-seattle-police-chief-shon-barnes-talks-forced-resignation-unsolved-bite-of-seattle-mass-shooting-response-mayor-katie-wilson-exclusive-interview-delay-public-update-public-safety-crime

For those of you who may not have heard, WMAR-TV in Baltimore, where I worked for 13.8 years, has elinated all anchors from newscasts as part of the Scripps mass layoffs there and elsewhere and its swtich to AI produced and hubbed shows.    It's only the next sad step of this evolution and I had a chance to weigh in for a column written today by Leslie Streeter Smith in The Baltimore Banner, a Pulitzer-winning paper born to compete with the now Sinclair-controlled Baltimore Sun. Submitted for your approval, with some scrolling: In the nautical sense, an anchor is a heavy metal device that, when used, holds a ship in place. In journalism, a news anchor does the same job, as the grounded support that holds down all the moving parts around them, from the meteorologist to the field reporters. So what is a television station without anchors? WMAR-2 , an ABC affiliate owned by E.W. Scripps, is now figuring that out. They laid off more than a dozen producers, photographers and anchor...

Well, I know all of you Seahawks fans watching KOMO Sunday were on pins and needles to know when the opening game will take place, but this is ridiculous.  Just an absolute insult to any of the team's fans, 60,000 plus fans who have tickets and thousands more set to watch.   Not 10 seconds, Not 10 hours, Not 10 minutes.  TEN DAYS!    Whose idea was this?   NBC has the game!     Same person who won't give Menino a riser with Hussion on mornings.   Management gone awry as usual.

ICYMI, Fox 13's weather wizard Abby Acone bade a fond farewell Sunday to her weekend morning co-anchor Taylor Winkel.  You're welcome.  

KING+ will be streaming a big high school football game this Friday night between Graham-Kapowsin and Lake Stevens with play by play and plans for replays.  It's the K5 Big Game.  Developing story, more to come.  Is this a Seattle TV first on the big channels?    

KREM2 in Spokane says goodbye to Regan Gallo-Fenz, who is leaving to tend more to her marriage and family per her social media post.    She says she elected not to renew her expiring contract after a two-year stint.  Regan is an Arizona State U. Cronkite School Masters grad.   She won Miss Pierce County and Miss Washington in 2022.

  "This is an extremely heart-wrenching and personal thing to share, but I need your help. My son ran away from home Wednesday after a tumultuous summer of mental health issues.  He ran with a girl his age; she was found in Gresham, Oregon late Thursday night after separating from him. My friends in the Portland Metro area, can you please share his pictures?  My heart is breaking.  I need your help." 

Her goodbye post below! After an almost five-year stint, FOX 13 meteorologist and part-time news anchor Abby Acone ends her run there with a final show on this Sunday morning.  Married earlier this month, she left no word on what's next.  Not sure if it is fully her decision, but I'm told she had 'favored nation' status with news management.  Before joining 13 in December of 2021, she worked three years at KOMO and also did a stint in Tri-Cities. Fittingly, this last shot on IG is studio appropriate.    I've been frequently critical of her on this site for using the station's studio to post questionable videos (IMO), but for now, good luck.   Here's Abby's goodbye post: My heart is so full as I reflect on my final week at FOX 13 ❤️ 🥹 I’m incredibly grateful for my time here and for the remarkable people who made this place feel like home. I’ve had the joy of working alongside some of the most talented, hardworking, and genuinely wonderful people in th...

BALTIMORE, Aug. 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sinclair today issued the following statement regarding an employee-led vote by KOMO 4 on-air employees in Seattle to determine whether they would continue to be represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). KOMO anchors and reporters voted to end SAG-AFTRA representation, following a decertification petition filed with the National Labor Relations Board in July. Following completion of the NLRB process, SAG-AFTRA will no longer serve as the exclusive bargaining representative for employees in the unit. Sinclair strives to be the employer of choice in every market we serve, and we believe this decision reflects the trust and strong working relationship we have built with our employees. Our employees are the heart of our company, and we value their commitment, contributions and dedication to serving the Seattle community. Same memo went out for the photog union which decertified. Here...

Per social media just in: "A winning partnership continues!  " The @SeattleKraken and @933KJR through @iHeartMedia Seattle have announced a multi-year extension of their broadcast partnership."  I have to add as a personal opinion that listening to hockey on radio is very very difficult unless you're watching the TV broadcast at the same time. 

Ex Fox 13 Seattle chief met Walter Kelley brings in some breakfast for his Florida station peeps. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/192gfYxycY/  

KOMO Senior reporter Chris Daniels gets a word with NFL Commish Roger Goodell on the day the league approves the sale of the Seahawks.   This is one of those cases where having Daniels covering the business side pays dividends.   The NFL knows him to be credible and aggressive.

Netflix is now airing a documentary called 'Freefall, a Reckoning for Boeing, alleging that the compnay put greed and manufacturing pressures above paasenger safety, resulting in hundreds of crash deaths.    Will any station in town try to get reaction from the company or the unions about this?    Is it accurate?  Could a former aviation reporter like Glenn Farley offer a credible review or opinion?    We shall see.  All the people working at Boeing who used to be at KING won't push for it, that's for sure.  I did see a post about KIRO radio's John Curley interviewing an involved whistleblower.  Now, this!     https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/faa-requires-some-boeing-787-inspections-for-fatigue-cracks/?block=ebtopphoto&utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Evening+Brief+08-26-26_8_26_2026&utm_term=

The style advisor for Internet sports writer Corbin Smith has badly and irrevocably lost his/her way.  The worst, distracting, hilarious, poor-fitting scorchingly RED blazer paired with the totally unmatched tie he wore on the Seahawks pre-game show is beyond redemption.   Fox 13 Sports Director Aaron Levine, always dressed professionally, has to shade his eyes for this co-hosts outfit, not to mention the mutton chops.  Stick with the web, Corbin, although I hear he has discontinued his association with something online called 'Locked In.'    People will write me and say he has the right to wear what he wants.  It is NOT a right.  It is a matter of  common sense, viewer taste and on-air credibility.    He's not Steve Harvey. 

Hearing strong rumors that KING5's The Ultimate Seattle Sports Show with Paul Silvi and Chris Egan, originally launched in late April for a 6-month trial run, has apparently passed all of its on-air and streaming goals.  The show reportedly now has a FULL green light going forward as the fall sports season swings into high gear with Mariners, Hawks, Huskies, Cougs, Kraken, et al.    The show is seen now at 3 pm on KING with an 8 pm replay.