Take care 2009; don't let the door hit you on the way out; Bay Area news media notes and comments

NEWS, NOTES, and COMMENTS from a year that can't go away any faster; take care 2009 and have a nice day.

**KGO Radio said adios to news director Paul Hosley, anchor Greg Jarrett, reporter Greg Edmunds and weather minion, Leo Celino. Not to be outdone on the air, they also axed longtime exec producer, Trish Robbins. All of this BEFORE its corporate parent, Citadel, went BK. Should be a swell 2010 at Mickey's mouth club.

**KNBR's corporate yutz dept, Cumulus, decided it had enough of GM Tony Salvadore, and gave him a nice "you're outta here" after nearly thirty years at the company. Salvadore's ouster left knibber and the other alleged Cumulus radio outlets, (KNBR 1050, 107.7 The Bone, KFOG) to the hands of Lee Hammer. That's like having your Lexus serviced at a Ford dealer. Good luck Lee and say hi to the sales dept.

**KCBS continued, beyond all reasonable doubt and problems from corporate, to do what it does best: give us news, sports, even traffic and weather together, without the slightest gimmicks. The station said goodbye to longtime business reporter, Bob Price and Dave McQueen, but continues onward with the likes of Bob Melrose, Barbara Taylor, Stan Bunger and Susan Leigh Taylor.

**After 20 years of describing the action of the 49ers, Joe Starkey retired, (some say he was pushed out) by Ted Robinson. Either way, both Starkey and Robinson are class acts in a business that could use some class.

**Gary Radnich, according to multiple sources, re-signed at both KNBR, (reasonable) and KRON4, (huh?) Good for Gary, nice that he got a deal inked at knibber, and even though his deal at KRON was reportedly for nickels on the dollar, maintains more "Garyness" for those of you who like a guy that talks more about Frank Sinatra than Frank Gore, but hey, the guy's got overhead. Good for you, Gary, no seriously, even though you don't read my "little blog", but refer to it every other week, I'm happy for you. I am.

**Speaking of KRON, and just who couldn't, somehow the little engine that could, still managed to put out a few newscasts, albeit with more tension and angst in a newsroom. The atmosphere inside 1001 Van Ness made Gitmo seem like the set for Mary Poppins. Between the stories of "who's screwing whom" and "he slept with her", I couldn't figure out if KRON were a TV station or General Hospital. Of course, at General Hospital, last I checked, they don't sell lawn furniture.

**Quickies: Jan Wahl? Why? Henry Tennanbaum? Why and How? Amy Guiterrez, (Amy G) Why, How and how many pictures do you have?

**Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area began its signature "Chronicle Live" in April, hosted by the talented Greg Papa, under the stewardship of GM Ted Griggs, a very capable and decent man. Good show and great set, in spite of one particular producer who has more vermin than Karl Rove's bathroom.

**KGO's morning news team of Ed Baxter and Jennifer Jones, all solid for the most part, got a year-log case of the giggles, led mostly by the maddeningly annoying Jones, uh, excuse me, Jones-Lee, who got married recently. Yo guys and girls, you can be funny and conversational without cackling every other five minutes.

**KQED FM's Michael Krasny: good, solid, steady and pleasantly non-invasive, until it comes to interviews. And since when has a Bay Area radio station attract the likes of Phillip Roth and Robert Redford.

**Ted Robinson: a nice guy? Yes. Broadcaster? Even better and steady Teddy tells it like it is. Trust me.

**Dan Dibley, KNBR: a good guy with marginal bordering on truly decent radio content who REFUSES to get caught up in petty personal battles. You're better than me Dan. One day soon, you just may want to get the full info.

**Damon Bruce, KNBR: Good. Not as good as you think you are, Mr. pound it, pound it. But better than most on that Titanic, which has become the sports and betting leader. Bet on it. Memo to DBruce: they need you more than you need them, so don't muzzle up just yet. I mean, if you're going to kiss some major A, at least use it for something more important than the Cumulus clan.

**Brian Copeland, KGO: Copeland defied the odds and has now become a certified must-listen on the Bay Area's airwaves. He's funny, (duh!) isn't afraid to delve into unpopular topics that none of his colleagues would dare enter and managed to become one of KGO's major aces. Keep it going, Copie.

**Ronn Owens: KGO's talk-show emeritus and royalty supremo is still #1, even though his vaction weeks have entered into the Carsonesque era. Then again, Ronn beat Mickey and that alone is good enough for me.

**Michael Savage: Not really as bad as you think he is, but yo, Mike, if you offer dinner, (on the air, no less) and weasel out, that ain't nice. So the KNEW ouster? Karma.

**KNBR "producers": how's the after-dinner mints?

**Frank Somerville, Ken Bastida, Dan Noyes, Wayne Freedman, Mark Ibanez, Diane Dwyer, Tom Sinkovitz, Jessica Aguirre, Don Sanchez, Vernon Glenn, Rita Williams, Ann Notarangelo, Bill Martin, Lawrence Karnow: Good people, great journalists. All solid professionals.

**Special thanks: Doug Harvill, VP CBS and Kevin Barrett, Extra Sports 860

**The huh dept? SF Examiner (how too)

**Still around and making waves: SF Chronicle and SFGate.

**Too good to be true: Drew Remenda, Randy Hahn, Dan Rusanowsky and the San Jose Sharks PR dept.

**Thank You: Raiders chief exec, Amy Trask and PR head, Mike Taylor. John Herrera too. And the Warriors great Raymond Ridder and A's Bob Rose.

**Thumbs down: a truly horrible man, 49ers "PR" director, Bob Lange. This first-year Philly putz from Philly should be forced to sit in a room and watch The View for a year. And then, after that, he should be punished.

**Drinks on me: SFist' Brock Keeling and Baynewser's Jason Turbow. Eve Batey from SF Appeal for good measure.

**And the Oscar goes to: Lowell Cohen, Art Spander, Mark Purdy, and Matt Maiocco. Hooray for Matt Steinmetz too.

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