Spokane7
49°
July 21, 2010 in City
KXLY drops Rick, Teresa Lukens
Rick and Teresa Lukens, longtime KXLY TV and radio broadcasters, were dropped by KXLY last week.
Rick Lukens, who has been with KXLY for more than 27 years, said they got a call from station management while they were on vacation. The station exercised an option to drop their contracts and give them three months of pay. Lukens said the station cited budgetary reasons.
The couple held many high-profile on-air positions at KXLY over nearly three decades. Rick Lukens was a longtime TV sports reporter, sports anchor and sports director. He also had a popular news-feature segment called “Lukens at Large.”
Teresa Lukens was with the station for almost 26 years. She was a producer and then became co-anchor of “Good Morning Northwest Sunday” beginning in 1999. Her husband later joined her as co-anchor.
In 2002, they moved into radio, as co-hosts of the morning show at KXLY-FM and later to the morning show at KXLY-AM.
At the beginning of this year, they were moved to KVNI-AM, a KXLY Broadcast Group sister station in Coeur d’Alene, where they were co-anchors of the morning show.
Couple acquitted of caging 2 boys 
eagleproducer on July 21 at 5:29 a.m.
What, no more “five iron challenge” from Lukens?
What will Spokane do without these two editorializing while reading the news, injecting their thinly veiled right wing whackdom?
madscientist on July 21 at 8:39 a.m.
Finally! this should have been done years ago!
mikewsu on July 21 at 8:50 a.m.
Have to agree with madscientist on this one. They were tolerable about 5 or 10 years ago.. not so much anymore.
etorreal on July 21 at 9:11 a.m.
Nice move to notify them while they were on vacation. Stay classy, KXLY.
Justin_Galloway on July 21 at 9:15 a.m.
Seriously? Firing them over the phone? While on vacation? After 26 years?
spokanada on July 21 at 9:27 a.m.
Just a lesson to all that loyalty is a one way street. Do what is best for yourself and your family.
MrNatural on July 21 at 9:40 a.m.
I quit listening to KKKXLY a long time ago because of their insidiously conservative bent.
Now if they would just let go of that spin-bully neo-con Fitzsimons I might tune them back in…
But alas…I suppose the conservative-tea partiers need their brain-food too…
Good Luck Rick and Teresa…another casualty of compassionate conservatism…don’t forget to get a copy of your loyalty oath…
spokanecommunistparty on July 21 at 10:40 a.m.
They are so old, they took drama classes with Shakespeare!
I hope they all get replaced by smoking hot chicks, that would be way better to look at than a bunch of old republicans. Watching the news takes too long anyways, it would be worth it for the eye candy.
uncleralph on July 21 at 5:18 p.m.
Business is business is the energy of our economy. I hate to see anyone get fired. Hope they get along fine without KXLY. I also hope someone shows you some compassion when you are down.
bripple37 on July 21 at 8:05 p.m.
KXLY’s upper management has been pulling gutless crap like this for years. Business is business…..yeah right! You should be ashamed, you owed them a lot more respect and consideration than that…..on vacation? phone call? Seriously!!
Once again, a reminder why their perennial 3rd place showing in the Spokane market will always be a record that is never challenged. It ain’t the talents fault, people….
Howard_Martinson on July 21 at 10:14 p.m.
You think firing the Lukens while on vacation was a classy act?
Listen up, Dick Haugen, the morning guy on KVNI (KXLY owned AM CdA station) worked there for 11 years. A couple of days after his dad passed away and just a few days prior to Christmas, Dick was canned.
Always a classy bunch, this KXLY management group. NOT!
eagleproducer on July 21 at 10:15 p.m.
bripple: If people don’t tune into local news for the talent, what do they tune in for, the low production values?
Albert on July 21 at 10:50 p.m.
Remember what KREM did to Nadine and her hubby? Revenues are at the bottom, the internet is taking over the “news” and sponsors are no longer interested in television. It’s really a “money thing”. Not pleasant, however how many good folks throughout the State are facing the same issues? What we all need to do is go to work for the City, County, or State where we have an absolute guarantee that we will never be fired. If we are, then we have our unions and State laws requiring a long-drawn hearing process that will lead to our guaranteed reinstatement.
Scoutster on July 22 at 4:21 a.m.
Does anyone except Faux News junkies even listen to commercial radio anymore?
Why?
mebythesea on July 22 at 7:00 a.m.
I have never listened to this couple on the radio but used to really enjoy them on the Sunday morning show on KXLY before that was dropped. Seemed like KXLY was the only channel to not only keep their employees but to also pick up employees, excellent ones like Leslie Lowe and Nadine Woodward, the other two channels let go. I had decided to only watch KXLY because of this and because I just can’t bear to watch the “sunshine” on KHQ flirting with the “old sunshine” ( you know, the guy that walks towards the camera in that spooky way while telling us the weather…creepy..) every morning. It causes me nausea to see those two in action and her hairdo ruins my breakfast. But back to KXLY…too bad I think. I can’t comment on their radio show, as I don’t listen to AM radio but I really liked this couple on TV. They seemed to have a great chemistry and treated each other with respect….I’ve missed them. Best of luck Rick and Teresa ~ I still miss you on Sunday morning just reading the small town paper headlines…there was something so nice and relaxing about waking up to this on Sunday. I’m getting old…
pdxradioguy on July 22 at 8:33 a.m.
As a former employee of KXLY it has been my pleasure to have known these two wonderful people for over 20 years and it really pains me to see some of the spiteful comments left here by people who don’t know them and/or have no knowledge of the Spokane media business. This move is just another in a long series of poor decisions by a managment team that has absolutely no regard for employee loyalty, common human decency in general and has never been in touch with the needs and wishes of the community it “serves”. All my best to Rick and Teresa - please know that everyone that KXLY has canned in the past has gone on to better things and have proven why Channel 4 will always be number 3 in the ratings in Spokane!
mikeln on July 22 at 9:36 a.m.
Another word for day to day employment most of have to live with now— slavery.
exshooter on July 22 at 9:48 a.m.
I’m saddened by the fact that some people have taken the opportunity to use this article to air their personal feelings about a couple of people they have probably never met instead of noticing the real crux of this story. Yes radio and television are businesses and as such must make decisions to keep themselves profitable in their particular market based on ratings and such - I’m sure Rick and Teresa are well aware of that fact and knew the risks of the business they were in. The part of this that really burns me is the fact that no matter what your company is - if you have 2 people that have been loyal employees for you for more than half of their lives they certainly deserve to be shown a great deal more dignity and consideration than was shown here. Shame on KXLY! Really? A phone call while on vacation? You didn’t even have the balls to tell these folks face to face? Best of luck to the Lukens’, hopefully they can find a new employer that will treat them like human beings instead of cattle.
TheWord on July 22 at 10:26 a.m.
This is typical KXLY.
They consistently are screwing over hard working, talented employees. If viewers in Spokane could see the laundry list of people that have gotten the shaft from KXLY, they would never watch that station again.
Like many people let go from KXLY, Rick and Teresa are top-notch. I have nothing but great things to say about both of them, and I worked with them for almost 10 years. The public need to remember that for every high-profile person who gets effed over at KXLY, there are at least a dozen behind-the-scenes type people who get just as screwed.
The leadership and direction of KXLY has been abysmal for decades. Unfortunately, KREM isn’t any better these days.
Way to be classy, KXLY, Steve Herling and Teddy Gibbons. You suck!
kennyhuston on July 22 at 11:13 a.m.
KXLY should be ashamed over their treatment of these two! Over the phone, while on vacation? Exshooter summed it up best … … … get some balls! EVERY SINGLE KXLY Employee should be taking notes and reading this thread ! Employee loyalty = nothing 2 KXLY ! Best of luck Rick & Theresa - please try not to let this ruin the remainder of your vacation, (yeah right). I know this will DEFINITELY affect which channel I WON’T be viewing in the future EVER again !!!
eagleproducer on July 23 at 12:10 a.m.
just biz folks, just biz…
bripple37 on July 23 at 12:41 p.m.
spoketucky…..you MISSED the point. There are many, many factors that go into TV and radio show production. You could take the best talent in a market, put them in a bad time slot, and give them a lousy theme and they would fail! KXLY management has shown an incredible, consistent, long-term ability to turn ice cream into crap! They consistently fall short for many reasons, but they always blame the people. Witnessed it first-hand for many years. They haven’t made a good “biz” decision in memory, thus the cuts and wholesale slaughter continue. Maybe they should start allocating blame where it really belongs. Good Luck Rick and Teresa. I’ve known you a long time, and you deserved better!!
eagleproducer on July 24 at 10:45 a.m.
bripple: Who is “they” who haven’t made a good biz decision in memory? Call em out into the open, please…
I disagree that talent doesn’t drive ratings. Look at my favorite radio personality, Radio God, Don Geronimo. He has been in first place in ratings in every market he’s worked in and that includes EVERY time slot. He left his nationally syndicated CBS show about fifteen months ago and is back on the air on a tiny radio station in Sacramento, CA. His show started on a format that was garnering a .8 share and in two weeks raised it to a 4.3. He’ll be number one in that market soon for his time slot and will be nationally syndicated again as a result. Fans of Don can tune in on the internet as well and streaming radio has taken market share from terrestrial…
KXLY simply hasn’t responded to shifting demographics/changes in technology and that, along with weak talent, is why they are last among the “big three.” Above the line media people, if they are good, don’t stay in a small market like Spokane their entire careers. They are looking to move to larger markets. If the Lukens were as talented as some of the posters on here would like us to believe, she would be a producer on Good Morning America and he’d be hosting Sports Center. But they aren’t, and it’s not because of management decisions at KXLY. The same goes for Patchin, Dan Kleckner and Vigil at KHQ and a host of other on air personalities who can’t get out of this market based on their talent alone.
bripple37 on July 24 at 3:55 p.m.
If the Radio God, Don Geronimo, took a position with KXLY he would fade into radio obscurity within a year…..it’s that simple.
For as long as Herling has been at the helm, you would think he’d at least be “lucky” in the ratings once in while. I guess, if you look at it from a different perspective, he’s actually the most consistent station manager in the market! Oh well, I guess even a guy like you would argue that being consistently bad for 20 or so years doesn’t prove anything. If memory serves, they once hired a flashy pedigree network guy into Spokane (Barry Judge??) thinking he would run away with the ratings. He made several other news changes to go along with his arrival. Major disappointment! If Herling had produced American Idol, it would have been less watched than C-Span…
I stand by my original statement. In the case of KXLY, it absolutely isn’t the people causing the chronic poor showings.
Go Lukens!!!
robertsangel21 on July 24 at 4:56 p.m.
I happened to like Rick and Teresa Lukens. They were a great pair on KXLY. That is typical of KXLY to call them..while on vacation..to drop their jobs. That is very unethical. First they arranged everyone around on KXLY..then they drop these two..whats next? They going to drop Robyn, Dave or Miss Chock? Geez….
Good luck Rick and Teresa!!!
markmohr on July 24 at 9:00 p.m.
You’d think there are other, better ways to cut costs than to fire homegrown and well known on air personalities who have spent decades in this market. With the continuing erosion of the immediacy and importance of TV news, and the transient nature of local stations’ newest (and youngest) viewers, you would think that station management would rely on the older, more habitual viewers, now more than ever. They’re the ones who are deeply attached to the long time anchors and the ones stunned by news of their departure. Three decades working for the same company and the Lukens are given three months severance pay? There’s something terribly, terribly wrong here.
eagleproducer on July 25 at 3:30 p.m.
The 18-34 age group drives ratings and advertisement. They don’t rely on “old media” and unless ALL the local stations embrace that reality they will soon become more and more irrelevant.
Just like Billy Joel said a generation ago… “…aimed at your average teen…
D Statler on July 28 at 6:59 p.m.
Best wishes Rick and Teresa ! You two are and always will be the perfect picture of Spokane that helped make Spokane the great place to live it is. I hope that you sacked enough dough away to take a couple more weeks off on vacation. That will give the other news stations a chance to get your offers raedy! :^) THANK YOU FREINDS
gardengrunt on August 01 at 10:19 p.m.
It is a shame to see two excellent, professional reporters get fired and in a despicable manner. I have been interviewed by Rick, and he is the best reporter. made me feel quite relaxed, and made me comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. We have enjoyed the two of them, Rick and Teresa Lukens for years here in Spokane.
Here is hoping they find a really good job, and that another station picks them up very soon. We will be looking for them and will be sure and listen or watch them.