MediaMaven

  As predicted here, KIRO 7 is sending main male weeknight anchor Gary Horcher along with weekend evening anchor and sometimes sports reporter Eric Thomas to Santa Clara starting Monday to handle Super Bowl coverage.  I still think 'Play for the Bay' is an absurd, meaningless slogan.  But, despite that, Snoqualmie Casino is sponsoring!  The biggest surprise;  First, Fox 13 has sports boss Aaron Levine, Alyssa Charston-Smith and Ethan McReynolds at the game with reports beginning on the Sunday night sports show.  But, secondly, the station promises 7 straight hours of live coverage on Super Sunday, refusing to concede any sports territory to KING, despite having the game that and the Olympics as well.   Good fight going. Meanwhile, KING sending at least 5 on-air folks, according to one of our readers, including Silvi and Joyce Taylor.    No word from KOMO that I have seen, beyond Niko Tamurian heading to the game with reports starting Mon...

KING smothered the Seahawks departure for the Super Bowl today with reporters stationed along the route from the VMAC, the main road and then the airport with five buses driving by.   Jim Nelson did a smooth anchor job in studio.  I checked on the much ballyhooed Fox Live Desk to see its coverage but nothing there.  Fox lost a major sampling opportunity for its App.  Their FOX LOCAL moniker failed miserably.   Obviously with the game on NBC/KING and the station's partnership with the team, it's plan was a no-brainer.   Paul Silvi already reporting from San Jose State where the team will practice.

Just happened upon a paid Saturday show called Loveable Listings on the Fox duopoly (KJZO), hosted by Erin Mayovsky of Fox 13 mornings and Gaard Swanson, host of KOMO's Seattle Refined weekday afternoon.  They are a moonlighting husband and wife team, ICYMI, and they voice and appear in the pieces. It's sponsored by Compass Real Estate Brokers and shows luxury home listings from Seattle and way beyond.   Highly produced. But wait, there's More: Former KOMO weekend anchor Lee Stoll is on the show, too, billed as a 'Design Expert.'  I thought she left KOMO for Amazon, but she was apparently laid off so she got her real estate broker's license.  Life after TV.   Who knew?

Ed Muir has landed a great spot at the Allen Institute in SLU, joining KING's Rob Piercy, Amity Addrisi and Fox 13's Liz Dueweke there.   I met Ed when I was doing news writing training for Time Warner Cable in 2003 at their new station in Albany, NY.   He was my first hire at Northwest Cable News in 2004, because I knew of his attitude and versatility.   SO happy for him!  Great gig at Allen! https://www.facebook.com/share/1BV11BxiPC/

Niko Tamurian off to Santa Clara to begin reports on Monday, according to a report Friday on KOMO. Have fun and worked hard.   Isn't Chris Daniels going?  Haven't heard yet  .

Stupid line by KOMO's Jeremy Harris at the traguc Rainer shooting. "The two victims were shot before police got there." Huh?  No kidding. Hype, confused reporting.   I don't care if it's breaking but calm yourself and communicate accurately.  I did live shots for 7 years, do it understandably 

  Your chance to see and hear the real me! New podcast out about my reporter horror fiction book on the SPEAKING OF WRITERS podcast.  Video version first link. https://youtu.be/NndZ_eEf9n4?si=3t97EZ3kQxTyZmCU https://open.spotify.com/episode/000urvru38pJNztl3nd3e6?si=5cSRMThNRFGwNu5FwY-PAQ

  KING's Chris Egan tells us how he's packing to cover the Winter Olympics in Milan.  Morning anchor Jake Whittenberg will be heading there too.  Fun video at the link.   Starts Friday a week. https://x.com/i/status/2017054705910972838

Per the Seattle TImes the Mariners will be creating a linear Mariners TV channel replacing Root Sports, but viewers must still await deals with major providers (like Xfinity and Direct TV) to carry it along with the accompanying cost.   Mariners.TV will be the streaming platform for $19.99 a month https://x.com/i/status/2016949693667037483

That's an accurate description of KOMO 's Theron Zahn , who is celebrating 25 years at the station, filling every role and duty over the years.    The Arc Seattle  team feted this versatile guy with a nice award.  Theron co-anchors KOMO's weekend mornings with newcomer Natalie Fahmy. https://www.facebook.com/share/1KjsZe6WuW/

KING senior met Rich Marriott had had a bit of a 'weak back,' but says he'll be 'back in a week.'  See what I did there? He's been on a medical leave, for those who've been missing him on the air.  He's OK!  His message here: https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1JQgqNgS1r/

Rick Boone, who left Seattle's KIRO 7 as it's Managing Editor after just four months, has taken over as leader of the combined news operation of the Wenatchee World and NCWLIVE, apparently available only on Roku, Fire TV, Apple and a TV channel on local  cable access, I am told.  To say the least, Boone has had a checkered recent TV past with a multitude of quickly departed small market jobs, culminating in this gig which is way down the media food chain.  The question is how long will he last this time.   Culture shock dead ahead.     Read more at the links below: https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/local/rick-boone-named-news-director-for-ncwlife-wenatchee-world-operations/article_ba6c5eeb-4329-5fb1-b1f3-af8eefce6617.html Live TV | ncwlife.com https://share.google/6y5BcTwGcbMpGTnfH

The Brock and Salk Show on Seattle Sports 710 landed  a major interview Wednesday with Tom Brady about the HOF snub of his former Super Bowl coach Bill Belichick.  Got mentioned on ABC World News Tonight.   Brock Huard told me: "The outcry from NFL personnel was perfectly articulated by Tom Brady with us. Nothing personal, on point professional."  He's also will be in Santa Clara for live radio shows on KIRO during Super Bowl week. Copy and paste the link below into your browser. https://sports.mynorthwest.com/brock-and-salk/tom-brady-on-bill-belichicks-hof-snub-i-dont-understand-it/1837337

  I know this is off topic, but I tried to read a story on komonews.com Wednesday about a complicated shooting related to a fire.    I couldn't get past the nce.lead sentence without saying, "Huh?"   Here is the sentence.  How many times does it take you to make sense of it??   LAKE FOREST PARK, Wash. —  The man who was wounded in a shooting on Sunday in Lake Forest Park after a reported burglary at a townhouse complex near a home that caught fire hours earlier has been identified, according to a police update Wednesday. First of all, it is passive voice.   The lead of the sentence should be "Police now say they have identified the man...."   That's active voice, where the subject does the action, i.e., police. Given the complexity of this sentence, running 39 words, (that's a run-on sentence, BTW), how about this: "Police now say they have identified the man shot Sunday in Lake Forest Park hours after a reported burglary ...

  Our friends at ftvlive.com noted this Fox 13 Seattle post about a plane crash in Maine.  Let's just say it had lots of errors.  FTV calls it LAZY.  The post was corrected after FTV posted it, but that's too late and a credibility killer.   https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2026/1/26/lazy-post

Words to.live by...or die by! KING reporter gets f-bombed looking for fan reaction post-game.  Warning...graphic language here. https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/seattle-reporter-fails-seahawks-fan-f-bombs.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

KING reporter Drew Mikkelsen asks on X if he can piggyback on a ride to Santa Clara for a story. "Who's driving to the Super Bowl? I am... and @KING5Seattle wants to tag-along and document your epic road trip! Interested? dmikkelsen@king5.com We're leaving Monday, and I promise, I won't eat your snacks." Great, creative idea.   

WARM radio, KWRM-FM, went Christmas-y early and won the massive musical book for the holiday period with double digits.    It knocked KUOW down to #2 with a slight drop in their numbers.   Both KIROs finished in the top 10 with almost identical shares.     https://ratings.radio-online.com/content/arb039 With all of the violent news we are experiencing in January, we should see the news stations shine when the ratings come out.

    After cutting Taylor Mirfendereski, losing Kristin Goodwillie and moving Suzannah Frame to News Director, KING 5 makes a move to fill the void with owner Tegna's help.  Andie Judson, an award-winning reporter at Tegna's Sacramento station will get her transfer papers to Seattle. The key to this story is K5's renewed/continued commitment to investigative reporting, despite personnel changes and Nexstar being poised to buy the company.  Good sign. https://x.com/i/status/2013451332582048136

Rick Rizzs , the longtime, legendary radio voice of the Seattle Mariners will make 2026 his last baseball season behind the mic.   The team made the announcement Tuesday.  He will do home games for sure, but will have a reduced road schedule.    He's had 40 years with the M's, first with the immortal Dave Niehaus and more recently with both Dave Sims, Aaron Goldsmith and Gary Hill.   Wouldn't it be great for Rick to end up calling a World Series in Seattle.  I am betting he hopes that will happen in 2026. https://www.mlb.com/mariners/press-release/mariners-icon-rick-rizzs-announces-plan-to-retire-following-2026-season Meanwhile, the team announced all of last year:'s broadcast team will return.  However no word on where games will be televised that I have heard.  MLB.com will take over production.  Link below: https://www.mlb.com/mariners/press-release/mariners-announce-2026-broadcast-team