**It appears that the SF Giants have once again utilized their considerable power over broadcast mothership, KNBR. You'll recall last year, Giants emperor/pres. Larry Baer and the powers that be, unilaterally anointed third-voice, Dave Flemming, to the position of post-game host on all home games. Flemming replaced Damon Bruce, who had the audacity to rip into the Giants if the situation merited.
No official word from the head honchos, but apparently, (again) Bruce will do the PG show on all road games and Fleming will handle all home contests.
This maneuver by the Giants, (which the papers have ignored) is a lose-lose all-around. It speaks volumes about how the Giants upper brass thinks of its fans and reinforces the idea that they have complete power over KNBR, (which owns 5% of the team.)
Flemming, whose pbp is solid, is not too thrilled about the idea of being at the park on weekday nights 'till midnight, (he's a father of two) but doesn't want to rock the boat and is a company guy. Attempts to contact him and the Giants were unsuccessful.
Bruce, whose refreshingly honest analysis of the Giants, (and, lately, the Warriors) wouldn't comment for this story.
You would think that KNBR might want to show some support for one of its core talent; yes, of course, the Giants have a right to frame their radio broadcast, but the manner in which this affair has been handled says a lot about who really pulls the strings.
**The VJ, (video-journalist) format has been implemented at NBC Bay Area. Reporters are now tugging cameras in hand for each story, just like the KRONers.
There's growing speculation that the vj-format will eventually be the system at KPIX, (CBS5) and KGO, (ABC7) At KTVU, (FOX2) mgt. is also said to be trying diligently to get the vj-system enforced. Lots of editors are worried. Gees, I wonder why. Welcome to the world of present-day local news economics.
**Speaking of KRON, looks as if they and NBC, (NBC Bay Area too, owned by Granite broadcasting) are working on a shared-content arrangement. Look at this space in the future for more details.
**Its not earth-shattering news, but small ads have began appearing on the weather segments on CBS5. And during various sports segs, small ads appeared on the bottom crawl. Its not annoying to the point of flipping the channel, but just goes to show that any revenue stream for local news stations will be pursued.
**KNBR was devoid of all its on-air personnel Monday thanks to a mandatory, unpaid holiday furlough brought to you by their wonderful corporate radio parent, Cumulus. Either that, or maybe a community service?
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This guy must have been hammered by KNBR at one time. Talk about misinformation...he's just got a hard on for the company..
ReplyDeleteI like Flem but it is obvious, as the "new" guy, he got the short straw and is being trotted out there to take the slings and arrows after a Giants loss. You can hear it in the callers as they want to vent but Flem's got to defend the team then finally the caller segment is cut short and they call it a night.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Hot Stove show gets recorded half the time, right? No time for callers. Mandatory coffee break for Damon there as he gets to kick up his heels and read the newspaper for an hour.
D-Bruce isn't for everyone and does rub people the wrong way but I've grown to like him. Fans are passionate, or at least you want them to be, and the flip side of that coin is you need a forum after the game to vent and bitch if need be. But the Giants seem to want it soft in a soft market. I guess they feel the kind of passion we see with a group like New York Yankee fans never amounts to anything constructive like championships (Yes, that was irony).
"Come on out to the yard, fans, spend your money on a beer and a cha-cha bowl, get on the cell and wave to the camera, maybe get eliminated, and grab some pine, meat. Hell, maybe you'll notice a game going on down on the field too. Hey, why does that one player get to stand on top of a little mound of dirt like that? The other players don't get to do that!!"
That's okay. Gene Burns and John Rothmann are probably on over on KGO anyway if I don't want to be softballed to.