The "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" wrote in 2005, "The mixture of talk (with such long-running cast members as Spike O'Neill and Joe Bryant), interviews and song parodies has consistently been one of the top-rated morning shows in the Seattle market." A "Kitsap Sun" columnist agreed: "As much as I treasure the information I can get from a couple of hours of NPR, I've found it's hard to pass up the mix of pop-culture info, topical news, off-the-wall humor and wealth of interviews I can get from Bob, Spike and Joe." KING-TV called Rivers "one of the Northwest's most popular personalities." Cynde Slater, a radio talent scout who hired Rivers to work at WAAF in 1985, said of Rivers's talent for making comedy out of topical subjects, "Bob has the ability to seize the opportunity. He does that better than anybody I've ever met."