Kirby Wilbur Show Cancelled
November 16, 2009 7 Comments
Photo From Kirby Wilbur Page On Facebook
For many years, people in Seattle have been able to listen to a Conservative talk show with a local host: Kirby Wilbur.
His show has now been cancelled by the KVI radio station management, and will apparently be replaced with nationally syndicated Laura Ingraham.
Seattle listeners are losing a local host for another that is broadcasting out of radio nowhere. Across the state of Washington, Conservatives are upset over the loss, but it unfortunately is part of a nationwide trend in radio.
We have seen a consolidation of radio stations nationwide, with mega corporation ownership. Monster companies like Clear Channel, Citadel, and others own 90%+ of the radio stations in many local markets. In past years, these stations would have their own news departments, but in the bigger cities, they are being combined into just one news department. They then play the same news on all of the company owned stations.
This means you listen to the same news being broadcast on six or more stations! Where they used to compete with each other, you now have just one source of news.
In addition, it is generally cheaper for a station to play syndicated content, and not have staff on its payroll. They don’t have to pay salary and benefits for Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, and the like, but they do have to pay this expense for someone like Kirby Wilbur.
Since I don’t spend much time in Seattle, I don’t listen to Kirby Wilbur very much. I have tuned him in over the Internet occasionally, but I feel the loss of his program anyway. He talked about Washington politics. We are losing one of the watchdogs that helped keep the folks in Olympia under public scrutiny. This is not a good thing for the people of Washington.
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of attending an event in Yakima where Kirby Wilbur was one of the speakers. While I don’t agree with him on many issues, I enjoyed listening to his take on things.
It is too early to know what Kirby Wilbur will be doing next, but I wish him the best of luck in whatever it may be!
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I have listened to Kirby Wilbur for years on KVI radio and really miss him!!! He always kept us informed of all the local news and was a wealth of information. Can’t believe he is off the radio. Please keep me informed as to where I can hear him if he is on another station anywhere. We don’t twitter.
Thanks for the comment. If I get more news about Kirby Wilbur I will do another post on this blog. He certainly is popular among Republicans in Washington. I wish him the best of luck in finding a home on radio, or in whatever he chooses to pursue.
I too am very disappointed that Kirby Wilber is off the air. I listened to him for years. Personally, I am switching from KVI to another station letting KVI know that they have lost one listener. I pray Kirby will end up on another local station. He was great for our troops, great for our children, and great as a source of both information and motivation. Kirby will be missed.
Thanks Roger,
Kirby will be missed, but who knows where he will be going next? We shall have to wait and see.
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Thank you for the information, you did a great service covering the loss of Kirby Wilbur on the air and I liked your approach and willingness to honor Kirby regardless of your differences in political view points. I was writing a post on my blog and this was very helpful. I hope to hear him back on the radio soon.
Heather,
Thank you for your kind words. I enjoyed reading your post, and like you, hope to hear Kirby Wilbur back on the radio soon.