Courtesy Seattle Post Intelligence

(January 12, 2009) KIRO 710 Sports had been quietly approaching its April 1 debut until naming Kevin Calabro host of one of its talk shows this week. Those baby steps now have been replaced by loud thuds as KIRO looks to end KJR 950's years of domination.

The folks at KIRO announced two months ago they were going to an all-sports format, soon after regaining the rights to the Mariners broadcasts. But few knew what that format entailed besides ESPN Radio. With Calabro as the station's first hire, it should be an interesting next 10 weeks in the Seattle sports radio market before KIRO's debut.

The station has promised increased Mariners coverage, beginning with a hot stove show that will debut Saturday at 1 p.m. on 97.3, KIRO's FM affiliate. Program director Rod Arquette has the primary responsibility of building the new KIRO and has been flooded with résumés from local and national talent to add to his sports-talk lineup.

Calabro was a brilliant hire. And it appears KIRO wants to give fans a different flavor than KJR, which sometimes gets too consumed with Huskies talk, inside jokes between co-hosts and personal rants. Arquette said KIRO has much respect for KJR but wants to establish its own niche.

"If we wanted to do this, we had to have the certain elements and kind of perfect storm come together," said Arquette, who arrived at KIRO in 2007 from KSL in Salt Lake City. "We thought, if we do get the Mariners, can we put together an all-sports station? Once we had those pieces in place, we felt like we had the foundation for a really good sports-talk station. Kevin was right on the top of our list. We needed to go get Kevin Calabro."

KIRO will carry Mike & Mike In the Morning and Colin Cowherd, which opens up a 10 a.m. slot for a talk show potentially opposing Dave "Softy" Mahler. Calabro likely will fill the 1 to 4 p.m. slot and then KIRO could go into Mariners programming or another local show.

"I'll be honest with you, KJR is a very good radio station," Arquette said. "These guys have done it a long time and done it very, very well. We've got a mountain to climb, and we're aware of that. But we're also aware that competition makes for a better product. Our goal is to put on a stronger product, and it will be even better for the radio fan in this market."

Arquette promised the station will increase its Seahawks coverage and also hire a full-time Mariners reporter. KIRO will offer listeners an alternative to KJR and more of a pro sports emphasis. KJR has been a staple for area sports fans for several years, and the question is whether KIRO indeed will provide hearty competition.

If anything, it will give us some fresh and more diverse voices along with a mix of national programming from ESPN that we don't get from KJR. But KJR remains the champion until it is overtaken. It will be an interesting sports year.

"There's no doubt this is a risk, it certainly is," Arquette said. "We're trying to build something in a very troubled and tough economy. Any time you create a new format and you're taking on a well-established station like KJR, that's a challenge. We have several challenges, not only the economy but saying, 'OK, we're going to this format similar to what (KJR is) doing and we've got to put a better product on than you do.' And they put on a pretty good product."