Last Friday, GameTime Sports Talk, heard exclusively on KYIZ 1620 AM in Renton/Seattle and KBMS 1480AM/97.5FM in Vancouver/Portland weekdays from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, celebrated its 20th anniversary on the air. The celebration took place aboard the 85-foot yacht, the MariaBel courtesy of GameTime’s long time sponsor Beacon Plumbing, where the show was broadcast live as part of the five-hour cruise. The cruise was attended by a host of friends and long-time supporters, including Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell who spent several hours aboard with the GameTime faithful, and the original sponsors of GameTime Sports, Lewis Rudd, CEO of Ezell Famous Fried Chicken and Blue Street Towing owner, Delaun Damper
The show, hosted by JB and KB, got its start after local, Black sports fans became disenchanted with the lack of positive coverage of Black professional athletes, particularly those who either play in Seattle or have ties to Seattle.
One local activist, who was a frequent critic of the local media’s treatment of Black athletes, wanted to picket a local sports station not only for their treatment of Black professional athletes, but for the treatment of Black callers as well. One caller even claimed at the time that he had to write down his questions for station approval and schedule a time to call-in to ask the question.
In response and with the encouragement of the local, Black community, Bennett Media Group, known as Kris Bennett Broadcasting at the time, launched GameTime Sports talk in September of 2002 to help fill the void left by majority media with its “unfair treatment” of Black professional athlete, put forth a more positive narrative of Black athletes in general, and to provide a platform where Black callers felt welcomed and comfortable in expressing their views.
“The slight of Black sports figures by local media dates back many years,” said Chris H. Bennett, chairman of Bennett Media Group. “The white-owned media, both print and broadcast, were always downplaying the accomplishments and achievements of Seattle’s Black Professional Athletes. When Lenny Wilkins was head coach of Seattle’s professional basketball team, the Seattle Sonics, there were often quotes in the local daily newspapers that would attribute the team’s success with quotes from the assistant coach and then would blatantly state Coach Lenny Wilkins “concurs”.”
“So, the question, at the time, was what do you do about it?” added Bennett. “Sports certainly was not high on the civil rights “things to do list” in Black community, so it was very doubtful that boycotting would do any good or be successful.”
“The simple answer was to do your own sports show,” continued Bennett. “So, twenty years ago two bright young men – JB and KB – were chosen to co-host the show with a mandate to be innovative, creative, to be highly different than what was currently on the air at the time and to hit the ground running, and they did just that.”
The show originally aired three days a week, and after growing in popularity expanded to five days per week. The show, which let callers express their concerns and sports wit without being cutoff or edited, created their own Hall of Fame for frequent listeners/callers who brought a high-quality narrative to the conversation.
Bennett says that the success of the show is rooted in the community, and that JB, KB and show producer Big P have provided a platform that gives both casual and sophisticated sports fans a voice and insight that they won’t find anywhere else.
“Thank you to hosts JB and KB and Big P the original players that took an idea and went platinum,” says Bennett. “Not just with professionalism, but they grew to be the best in the sports business.”
In a statement to their loyal listeners JB and KB stated, “From our loyal listeners, sponsors, athletes, sports correspondents, community partnerships, and all that make up the GameTime fam … we appreciate you so much and we thank you for all of your contributions over the years.
