MediaMaven

  KING5 reporters Drew Andre and Maddie White are leaving the station and apparently heading for the same San Francisco newsroom.  Both came to Seattle by way of Las Vegas TV.     More defections in the midst of the Tegna/Nexstar quagmire.   These moves follow the departure of reporter Connor Board.   Three major staffing shortages at the big K5.    Not good with ratings sweeps starting Thursday and World Cup looming with Iran coming to Lumen.  Protests galore in the offing.

Mark James is gone from KJR-FM's talk lineup after just 14 months.  He got pretty well beat up on social media for some comments, in particular, about Ryan Rowland-Smith's accent on Mariners baseball broadcasts.    More at the link: https://barrettmedia.com/2026/04/15/marc-james-departs-kjr-as-iheartmedia-continues-ongoing-layoffs/

After doing some digging, I can report that this is a six-month trial run and will be done from a virtual set, with the primary emphasis being streaming weekday mornings on KING5+. KING5 Sports Director Paul Silvi and Chris Egan will debut the weekday Ultimate Seattle Sports Show starting next Monday the 20th at 10-11 am on KONG and streaming on K5+.   They are promising big name guests, too, on promos.    Strange time slot for a linear sports show on KONG, of course, and interesting timing as the May sweeps start on Thursday April 23rd, but that gives advertisers a linear play as well as streaming, which I'm told is strong in the mid-morning.   Management says no one is watching sports on the late news anyway, so a.m. streaming is the play.   With the Nexstar deal still in judicial limbo, you would have to figure this entire experiment was pre-approved. It positions KING for the new Storm WNBA season, the World Cup in June, OTAs and training camp...

Ana Cabrera, whose weekday show was recently ended by MSNow, waent ack to WSU to receive a special achievement award and took the opportunity to boost and request support for the Murrow College there, where she got her early experience. Her video is at this link: https://x.com/i/status/2044464389906915342

Well, it looks like the vilified ex-KIRO7 News Director is off to Berlin, Germany.  She has announced on linkedin.com that she has been selected to return as an ALUM of the RIAS Berlin Kommission Journalism Fellowship.  We reported here that she was recently escorted out of the station after a three year-stint, followed by some harsh social media posts by colleagues.   Anyway, this makes me wonder if she saw the end coming and worked quickly to get back to this group.  Interesting timing.  What a difference 10 days make. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/laura-j-evans_honored-to-be-selected-to-return-to-berlin-share-7450201639455547393-QSQ5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAAFWTKaUBTwc4NGLVz4TARZHYT8qQaNhaM2E

Learfield works with both UW and WSU on their radio broadcasts and hundreds more universities. Now its being taken over by a private equity firm.  The deal is for around $2B "Exciting news at Learfield today! We have agreed to be acquired by TPG, one of the most experienced private equity investors in media, entertainment, and sports. Partnering with TPG will accelerate growth and innovation and will help Learfield and our partners to build an extraordinary future together."  NIL action up ahead: bit.ly/3Og9Ik6

'Let them eat cake' at KIRO 7 after News Director Laura Evans was walked out of the station a week ago. Ouch!  That's a lot.  Looks fake to me.  Cannot verify.  However, one of my insider sources and former KIRO employee put it this way:  "I worked for some bad managers and horrible people. Only one was both." Pic courtesy: ftvlive.com. (Somebody sent it to them)!