For as long as the Inlander has been asking its readers to vote for the region's best radio DJ, the KZZU/KXLY morning show Dave, Ken, and Molly has taken top honors — that's 26 wins if you're keeping track. Yet, even with that overwhelming support, its hosts, Dave Sposito, Ken Hopkins and Molly Allen, were all fired on a random Thursday in June 2024 without the chance to even say goodbye to their listeners.
Typically when a radio show is canceled it's because ratings have been slipping, but Dave, Ken, and Molly was still doing well before its unceremonious end, Allen says. Her initial assumption was that the station just couldn't afford a weekday morning show anymore, but a few weeks later another nationally syndicated morning show took its place.
However, fate can be a funny thing. While the show's abrupt end was shocking and hurtful to its hosts and their listeners, it gave Ken Hopkins the chance to retire and presented new opportunities for Sposito and Allen.
"The good news was we didn't have much time to settle in before the people at KHQ were asking us to come and talk to them," Allen says. "It was like the deal of a lifetime, and just to feel wanted and to feel important and to feel like a company like this would put their efforts behind us gave us hope instantly."
Those conversations with NonStop Local KHQ began last June, and by September of that year the Dave and Molly show began airing each weekday morning from 6 to 10 am. Now, Sposito and Allen's morning podcast has been named the best in the region by Inlander readers less than a year after inception.
While the show is similar to its on-air predecessor, Sposito and Allen both say the podcast format has allowed them to further focus on community by inviting local artists and nonprofits to the table.
"We would have a nonprofit or someone, and they wanted to come in and talk about their event, and we weren't allowed to do that because, well, they're not paying any money," Sposito recalls. "In the podcast form, not only can we have those people on, but we can talk to them in long form."
The new format has also made it easier to find a wider audience in today's streaming age. Interested listeners can find the show as its streaming online or by downloading the NonStop Local app. After 10 am, interested listeners can also find the podcast on popular streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and iHeartRadio.
"We're living in a podcast world, this is kind of the future of where the audience is going and, and we're happy to be here now and hopefully we can keep building," Sposito says with enthusiasm.
2nd PLACE: Grind 365
3rd PLACE: Spokane Soccer Show
