Too Beautiful to Live
Encyclopedia
Too Beautiful to Live is a podcast and a former radio show originating from Seattle, Washington
. It first aired on January 7, 2008 and its final broadcast was September 11, 2009. It aired on 97.3 KIRO FM (and 710 KIRO AM
before the station moved to FM) from 7:00 to 10:00 pm weeknights and at the same time on Saturdays for the "Best Of", which includes clips from the past week's shows. News reports about the show characterized it as an attempt by KIRO, and its owner Bonneville International
, to add a younger audience to KIRO's older listener base, however, the Seattle Times noted that the show had only managed to draw 1.4 percent of 25-54 year-olds - the program's target sales demographic - who were listening to a radio at 7:00pm.
" by Ben Lee
. Host Luke Burbank
welcomed the listeners and started the show by revealing his weight and commenting on it, followed by a questioning of his on-air partners, producer
Jennifer Andrews and engineer
Sean DeTore. They revealed their weights and compared it to the previous show’s total. TBTL was a non-caller driven program; listener phone calls were accepted on an infrequent basis. Instead on Wednesdays the shows have a "Call Makers" feature where listeners who previously sent in a phone number and question(s) were called and the question(s) discussed live on-air.
Fans of the show are often referred to as "The Tens", stemming from an early episode where Luke would mention how they only have "tens" of listeners, rather than "hundreds" or "thousands".
s choice as "Best Radio Talk Show" in July 2009, but after a poor showing in the Arbitron
ratings, KIRO cancelled the program in September. Burbank and KIRO said that the program would continue as a daily podcast from Burbank's living room until "at least" January, at which time Burbank's contract with KIRO expires. As of 2011, the podcast continues to be produced and hosted on KIRO's Web site.
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. It first aired on January 7, 2008 and its final broadcast was September 11, 2009. It aired on 97.3 KIRO FM (and 710 KIRO AM
KIRO
KIRO may refer to:* KIRO , a radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States* KIRO-TV, a television station licensed to Seattle, Washington, United States...
before the station moved to FM) from 7:00 to 10:00 pm weeknights and at the same time on Saturdays for the "Best Of", which includes clips from the past week's shows. News reports about the show characterized it as an attempt by KIRO, and its owner Bonneville International
Bonneville International
Bonneville International Corporation is a broadcasting company wholly owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through its for-profit arm, Deseret Management Corporation...
, to add a younger audience to KIRO's older listener base, however, the Seattle Times noted that the show had only managed to draw 1.4 percent of 25-54 year-olds - the program's target sales demographic - who were listening to a radio at 7:00pm.
Format
The show began with the song "Catch My DiseaseCatch My Disease
"Catch My Disease" is a single by Australian artist Ben Lee. It is from the album Awake Is the New Sleep, which was produced in U.S. The song gained moderate popularity and went to #27 in Australia, and also came in second place in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005.The song also got some international...
" by Ben Lee
Ben Lee
Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake...
. Host Luke Burbank
Luke Burbank
Luke Burbank is an American podcaster who currently hosts the Seattle-based former radio program and current podcast Too Beautiful to Live....
welcomed the listeners and started the show by revealing his weight and commenting on it, followed by a questioning of his on-air partners, producer
Radio producer
A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. There are two main types of producer. An audio or creative producer and a content producer. Audio producers create sounds and audio specifically, content producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature...
Jennifer Andrews and engineer
Broadcast engineering
Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering, and now to some extent computer engineering and information technology, which deals with radio and television broadcasting...
Sean DeTore. They revealed their weights and compared it to the previous show’s total. TBTL was a non-caller driven program; listener phone calls were accepted on an infrequent basis. Instead on Wednesdays the shows have a "Call Makers" feature where listeners who previously sent in a phone number and question(s) were called and the question(s) discussed live on-air.
Fans of the show are often referred to as "The Tens", stemming from an early episode where Luke would mention how they only have "tens" of listeners, rather than "hundreds" or "thousands".
Radio cancellation and podcast
Too Beautiful to Live ran on KIRO for 20 months. The program was Seattle WeeklySeattle Weekly
Seattle Weekly is a freely distributed newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded by Darrell Oldham and David Brewster as The Weekly...
s choice as "Best Radio Talk Show" in July 2009, but after a poor showing in the Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings, KIRO cancelled the program in September. Burbank and KIRO said that the program would continue as a daily podcast from Burbank's living room until "at least" January, at which time Burbank's contract with KIRO expires. As of 2011, the podcast continues to be produced and hosted on KIRO's Web site.