GOP Loses Local Radio Voice In Seattle

In its heyday, Seattle talk station KVI-AM was a powerful engine

"Talk radio is to a large degree the base of the Republican Party in the way labor is the base of the Democratic Party," Chris Vance, former chairman of the Washington Republican Party tells Jim Brunner at seattle.nwsource.com. "You could go on those shows and you could communicate to the Republican family. It's how Republicans got motivated and organized," he said. "Now it's gone, and it's a very big deal."

As a virtual arm of the Republican Party, 570 AM KVI for years gave GOP politicians a platform free from what they viewed as liberal bias elsewhere in the Seattle-area media landscape. In 2000, KVI even produced the Republican nominee for governor in Carlson, who lost to Democrat Gary Locke. (KVI recently flipped from talk to an oldies/classic hits format).

While another local station, 770 AM KTTH, fills the Seattle-area conservative-talk niche, its schedule is dominated by national hosts such as Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

"What's been lost is the local part," Vance said.

KTTH's sole local show host, David Boze, recently saw his program cut to one hour, down from three. The other two hours were given to an expanded Hannity show.

"Right now, I feel very privileged to be the last man standing," said Boze, who grew up listening to KVI.

For Democrats and liberals, the end of KVI's conservative talk can't be a cause for tears. The station's hosts were sometimes accused by critics of improperly crossing the line into political campaigns and spreading lies about Democrats.

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