Dave Ross (born April 10, 1952) is a retired talk show host on Seattle's KIRO-FM radio station. He joined KIRO as a news anchor in 1978 and was given his own talk show in 1987. He has sometimes broadcast his show while on assignment in other locations, including overseas, such as Baghdad, Iraq in April 2004. Ross was also heard on the CBS Radio Network, where he provides daily political commentary.
Ross was the 2004 Democratic Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for . For more than three decades in his spare time he has been performing with the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
Broadcast career
Born into a Catholic family in Yorktown Heights, New York, Ross is the son of a commercial artist and has a brother and two sisters. In addition to his talk show, Ross broadcast a national daily commentary on the CBS Radio Network. From 1983 to 2004 he hosted and produced the first syndicated daily radio report on computers, for the Associated Press, called Chip Talk. He was also part of the 1995 Launch Team for CNET, where he contributed segments called The Last Word to c|net central. Since 1992, Ross has also filled in for CBS Radio colleague Charles Osgood on his "Osgood File" commentaries. Ross has broadcast from overseas or outside Seattle to cover various historic events. For example, on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Ross traveled to the Persian Gulf to broadcast his radio show from Qatar. Other field trips included forays to cover the Pope's visit to Britain in 1982, trips to China in 1984 and the Soviet Union in 1987, the toppling of the Berlin Wall and the revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989, the 1992 Rodney King riots Los Angeles, a 2002 trip to Jerusalem after a series of suicide bombings, a trip to Baghdad in April 2004 and many others.
Ross has generally been portrayed as liberal (although he has also been called a moderate), but is also known for bringing those with opposing conservative views on his radio program to interview and debate. According to the Seattle Times: "Ross listens, circles around guests with Socratic questions, then makes sharp observations but never goes for the jugular.... [He] remains gracious."
In 2013, Ross began to host the Seattle Morning News. He retired from radio broadcasting on December 19, 2024, with his last show on SMN. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell appeared on Ross's final episode to read a proclamation that declared that day "Dave Ross Day", and Governor Jay Inslee called in to the show.
CQPolitics described the race this way: "Reichert's record as sheriff – which included capture of the notorious "Green River" serial killer – enabled him to defeat Democrat Dave Ross, a well-known Seattle-based radio talk show host, in 2004 with 51.5 percent and a 5 percentage-point margin." Ross returned to his talk show the following day.
Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society performances
Ross is a member of the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and has regularly appeared in their summer performances at Seattle Center, playing over 30 roles with the company. A 2006 review commented that "Ross, in his 27th season with the company, underplays the Major-General masterfully—snappy, energetic, not too mannered. ... [His] grand and hilarious [entrance] scene, especially at the insouciantly zippy tempo Ross takes, provided a lift and exhilaration I haven't felt in a while from any musical performance." Ross has received many warm reviews for his portrayal of the famous Gilbert & Sullivan "patter" roles and other baritone roles in the Savoy operas. At the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England, he played the role of Rudolph in the company's The Grand Duke in 1999 and also appeared at the festival in 1996.