KBTC's Weekly Public Affairs Show - Friday at 7:30pm

Northwest Now is KBTC's weekly public affairs television show hosted by veteran journalist Tom Layson. Now in its 17th season, Northwest Now takes a closer look at the issues and people who are part of Western Washington. 

WATCH LIVE| Friday nights at 7:30pm on KBTC and the KBTC Livestream.  

STREAM | Available here and on-demand on the free PBS App.  

LISTEN | Listen here, download, or find episodes at Apple Podcasts.

ARCHIVE | Visit the Northwest Now Archive to explore episodes by year.

Explore the Northwest Now Collection  

Northwest Now Digital Extra | Northwest Now Digital First |Open Government | Saving the Salmon |Specials

Northwest Now Host - Tom Layson 

Tom Layson is KBTC's Managing Editor and worked in Yakima, Terre Haute, Louisville, Sacramento, Columbus, and New York-New Jersey. Tom anchored 13 hours of live coverage in the NY/NJ market during 9-11 - just one example of the many thousands of hours he’s been on set or in the field covering politics, natural disasters, courts and crime, economic development, personal finance and the environment the past 40 years. Tom grew up in the Maple Valley area and is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University.

Real Estate 2026

Will Western Washington ever become affordable? There's a good chance that it might for a
while if enough people start running for the exits looking for greener economic pastures and
better weather. That's part of the discussion for our annual program on the state of the local real
estate market.

Audio Preview

Listen to an audio preview of this week's show by Northwest Now's Associate Producer, Chris Anderson. 

Click here to listen:

5/29 Real Estate 2026 Things are not going all that well in Seattle when it comes to the apparent slow bleed of rank-andfile tech jobs and the cadre of highly compensated corporate decisionmakers and business owners who are said to be planning to flee Washington State to avoid taxes. Might buyers finally get the price breaks they’ve been waiting for? That’s part of our annual discussion about Western Washington’s real estate market on this edition of Northwest Now.