RADIO
October 1975 – Gary Shannon, one of the more flexible fixtures at KJR, came from Spokane six years ago, and had just about every job there was to have — from midday jock to the troika program directorship in 1973 of O’Day-Shannon-Gregory. He will probably be longest remembered from the time he worked an overlapping night shift with norm Gregory and co-anchored the zany few minutes called Levity Limelight.
Shannon outlasted most of the KJR superstars, even declared himself a news man when air shifts got scarce. Eventually, he sought peace and tranquility as a midday announcer on KISW FM.
Gary Shannon left town last week for a gig at WQXI Atlanta, where he is to be afternoon disc jockey on AM station once again.
Terry MacDonald, recently called up from a station in Oregon to program KUUU, gave the boot to an executive of station owner Sterling Recreation Organization, literally. The frustrated Program Director had good aim and couldn’t have picked a more deserving target.
A calmer, more dispatched Terry MacDonald is now the afternoon announcer at KISW.
November 10, 1975
Beautiful music falters, and rock rolls on this month, as KBES and KZAM prepare to consolidate once again.
The nonstop rock ‘n roll music got KZAM a wedge in recent rating books, while sister station KBES didn’t show at all. With “no evident listeners” and limited East Side sponsor support, the stations will revert to a simulcast, with Stewart Ballinger, general manager, selecting the most-likely-to-succeed format. (Bellevue, is small enough to avoid the Seattle-station requirement that simulcasting be limited to 50% of the broadcast day.)
The move is expected this week or next, and will coincide with the more precise call letters, KZAM AM and FM and with Federal Communications Commission okay to turn on 5000 Watts on the AM frequency.
One more place to keep up with the new records as they come out — and this for the folks who stay up late.
Each weeknight on KING-AM, Joe Cooper takes the 1 AM hour to spotlight a record album. Cooper stays close to format, however, and alternates tracks from an album with the usual top 40 tunes on KING’s playlist.
August 30, 1974
The NBC Radio Network is in limbo. The network and KING-AM are scheduled to disaffiliat September 1. Although NBC held no secret that KIRO AM will be its new affiliate, KIRO has denied it.
Under its “more music” philosophy, KING-AM has no use for NBC. On the other hand, KING-FM has been using a lot of NBC material, including Meet the Press. NBC wouldn’t be caught dead in a market the size of Seattle with an FM affiliate.
September 1, 1974, KING-AM becomes a secondary affiliate of ABC Contemporary, which, technically at least, gives ABC five outlets in Seattle.
Some comments may be held for moderation. (New users)