Talk Show Host Switches Stations Rick Miller Will Move To Kga-Am From Kxly-Am On July 10

Sat., June 24, 2000

By Jim Kershner jimkershner@comcast.net

Rick Miller, the Spokane area’s highest-rated radio talk show host, is switching from KXLY-AM to KGA-AM.

Miller’s last day at KXLY-AM was Friday, and he will take a vacation before his first day at KGA-AM on July 10. He will fill the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift vacated earlier this year by Miller’s archrival in local talk radio, Richard Clear.

“I’ve wanted Rick for a long time, but with his contract obligations, there was nothing I could do,” said Dean Allen, KGA-AM program director. “He’s the marquee talk show host in Spokane.”

Miller said he made the switch because KXLY-AM declined to renew his contract. Miller said the station gave no reason for cutting him free.

“What I heard was that Steve Herling (the station’s general manager) said, `Why do we have to pay Miller so much money?”’ Miller said.

“They said the show was too expensive. So, basically they said they weren’t going to offer me a renewal. My own personal feeling is that he (Herling) wanted a little bit of peace and quiet.”

Bud Nameck, KXLY-AM program director, said that after five years “it was time to try something else.”

Five years is a long time in the radio business, he added.

Miller announced his exit Friday, during his last day on KXLY. However, he did not say where he was going, because, as he later said, “it wouldn’t be fair to KXLY.”

“Their biggest nightmare is me staying in town and going to KGA,” said Miller, who came to Spokane from Seattle.

“They tried to get me a job in Seattle or Portland, but that didn’t work out. They did not want me to stay in Spokane under any circumstances. They wanted me out of town in the worst way.”

Allen, meanwhile, is thrilled to add Miller to a KGA-AM lineup dominated by Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

“It will give us some variety at KGA,” Allen said. “Rush is predictable and Dr. Laura is predictable. But Rick is totally unpredictable.”

As for KXLY-AM, Paul Seebeck will take over Miller’s morning slot temporarily.

“Then we will have a new local show and a new local host, probably in mid-July,” Nameck said, adding that he is not yet ready announce the details.

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