KUOW ventures into satire with new "Fair Game"

Attention NPR junkies: A programming change goes into effect at KUOW-FM (94.9) tonight that abandons a show about science for one steeped in satire.

"Fair Game From PRI With Faith Salie" is a satirical news and entertainment evening show hosted by a 30-something performer at 8 p.m. Fridays. It replaces "Science Friday," which airs on the nascent public-radio station KXOT-FM. More on that later.

The show is the first public-radio adventure for Salie, a comedian and TV actor. It'll be a mix of popular culture and politics, skewering both ends of the political spectrum.

"Everything's ripe for satire," Salie said in a telephone interview from New York, where the show is produced. "I'd be lying if I said I were conservative, but the goal of the show is to be very fair. We're willing to take on Lieberman and the Republican Lieberman."

Salie's acting credits include "Significant Others" on Bravo; a guest appearance on "Sex and the City"; playing the genetically-enhanced Serena Douglas on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and voicing the character Yuko on "Astro Boy." These two last gigs, she insists, should make her more sensitive to the issues that face genetic mutants and anime characters.

"Fair Game's" head writer, Gideon Evans, used to work on "The Daily Show" and Salie said that TV show's audience is the same one she was after: smart, informed, young.

Each hourlong show will also feature a musical guest.

Tonight's inaugural lineup: Matt Dowd, campaign guru for Bush-Cheney '04; Andy Borowitz, comedian and author of "The Republican Playbook"; Barbara Kopple, whose latest documentary profiles the Dixie Chicks; and a musical guest, Girl Talk.

A sole female host, even on public radio, is still rather novel. And the fact that Salie is hosting a humor show also makes "Fair Game" groundbreaking, says Michael Arnold, director of programming for Public Radio International, the show's producer.

"Fair Game" debuts in Seattle and in 12 other public-radio markets before the program is distributed nationally in January.

New times, new station

The bumped "Science Friday" airs at 11 a.m. Fridays on the Puget Sound area's newest public radio station, KXOT-FM (91.7). A former noncommercial music station, KXOT has aired news and information since August. It's now programmed by KUOW and it carries some station perennials: "Weekday," 'The Beat" and "The Conversation."

For listeners who never tire of hearing Terry Gross, it should be noted that KXOT also broadcasts programs not found on KUOW, like "Fresh Air," "On Point," and "Talk of the Nation."

It's enough to make a public-radio addict swoon.

But KXOT's signal is based in Tacoma, and while the station reaches Pierce County and much of King County, it can be spotty in Seattle.

KUOW says it's working on the glitch.

"The projection for a strong, good quality signal is everything south of the Ship Canal," says Dane Johnson, KUOW operations manager. "Everything north is questionable."

For those living on the Eastside, well, the news isn't good either. Best bet if you're jonesing for a news and information fix: Stick to KUOW.

With only two people devoted entirely to KXOT at the moment, carving out an identity for the station is "a work in progress," says KUOW program director Jeff Hansen. Original programming is being talked about, including its own Tacoma/Pierce County newscasts. But it's not yet known when they would start.

Other changes coming

Removing shows from KUOW that already air on KXOT, Hansen says, helps open up more timeslots for other, different programming.

This means certain listeners reap twice as many programs, and others who might be wedded to certain shows lose out.

Soon to be gone from KUOW, then, because they're already on KXOT: "Latino USA" and "Left, Right and Center." Their replacement is "To The Best of Our Knowledge," an interview program, tentatively scheduled to start Dec. 8.

"This American Life" is also returning to KUOW Friday evenings starting Dec. 15.

One advantage of being a KUOW listener in this pilot phase of "Fair Game," Hansen points out, is that local listener feedback will help shape the show as it figures itself out. "Fair Game" is scheduled to morph into a five-day-a-week show at the beginning of the year.

But a caveat to those who get hooked on Salie and who happen to live in Seattle: In December, "Fair Game" is scheduled to migrate to its permanent KXOT home.

Better head south.

Florangela Davila: 206-464-2916 or fdavila@seattletimes.com