Who wins? Larry Ellison and his Oracle corp. Ellison needs massive pub as much as I need extra turkey stuffing at Tommys Joynt.
Yeah, I know its a big deal in the yachting world, but at some point, truly, enough is enough.
**A Lisa Kim here, a Dennis Richmond there, bye-bye Randy Shandobil and hello "who's that?" In the past few years, anchors, reporters, many of whom have been here for an extended amount of time are leaving the airwaves in droves. It's not a big deal nationally; its happening all over the industry but in the Bay Area, it seems to be in full throttle mode.
Just be happy every time you see a Rita Williams and a Wayne Freedman still holding court because the mutants that force the hand of some of our senior pros are all out in unison.
**Ronn Owens has been on vacation and his friend and KGO colleague, Brian Copeland has been substituting. Copeland, it can be stated, is not Owens. But then again, Jim Gabbert isn't warm and fizzy, Bill Wattenburg either.
**Speaking of KGO and its veteran Owens, the three! extended seven-minutes of spot clusters is driving many listeners away based on my unscientific survey of listener e-mail. I'd also wager a good cohiba that Owens himself is none too happy about the new time format based on his "we'll be back at 9: 37" spiels every day. The sarcasm is evident, just listen.
**An apology to those of you who told me to stop the kvetching about my trolls, and you were right. I have a sensitive side that ran amok. No more whining, promise.
**Glad that KNBR 1050 tonsil, Damon Bruce has joined the "can we shut down the idiotic '1-800-Kars-for-Kids" jingle that pollutes the Bay Area radio airwaves--yes, great cause, but the jingle sounds like some corny after-school melody sung by a father/son team from Poduke, Iowa. And when its played 500x every hour on the hour, you tend to want say screw this crap!
**Funny line from a reader. If CNN were smart they would have paired the "Situation Room" host with Eliot Spitzer, thereby creating "Spitzer/Blitzer." Rim shot!
**NBC Bay Area situation: Yes, there's been a pretty big turnover scene down in the Southbay. At the heart of it all is the news director, whether you agree or disagree. His defense: the Arbitron numbers at KNTV have seen a steady decline and maybe, indeed, new faces are needed, but at what price? And the Olympics are still over a year and a half away, (remember when NBC could do no wrong? The affiliates do.)
**Again, some of the best radio in SF is NOT in SF: Alan Colmes, Phil Hendrie, Norman Goldman, John Batchelor, to name a few folks with radio shows.
**That water fountain over there in yuppie-friendly/very white and A25-54demo-heavy, Walnut Creek is beginning to get its yearly visitors from the local TV "reporters" who find it a cozy place to ask "people on the street" topical questions the consultants want asked.
**ESPN has Internet partners in NY, Boston, Chicago, LA, Dallas--but why not, I'm often asked, does the World Wide Leader have an affiliate in SF? ESPN doesn't think the Bay Area and SF in particular, is a "hot" sports town. Yes, that's what they say, not me.
TIPS and emails/ company internal memos: Rich.Lieberman@gmail.com (All confidentiality assured)
The second worst commercial? "Hi! I'm Emily and I love Pleasanton,especially the friendly downtown!"
ReplyDeleteWhere there are no blacks without money or other dark skinned inferior non blond woman!..they cut that last part out.But its part of the thinking.
Sensitive Side???
ReplyDeleteHow can you say that with the vitriolic lies you post here about people and stations...Or is it that the alleged Critic can't take criticism.
Wait, Don't you sit on your sensitive side? Perhaps your "Sensitive Side" is irritated because your head is shoved so far up there.
You know Rich, you are considered a JOKE in the
SF Media...WHY? Because you are.
"That Asshole" is the phrase the most often follows the mention of your name.
An international event, the possibility that the city could give away key port land for more than half-a-century, a potential huge boon for the city's economy or a major loss for the city's budget: that's a story. It's layered, nuanced, and important because it affects a lot of people. We could use more coverage of the details behind the deals, hearings, and votes dealing with the America's Cup - not less.
ReplyDeleteAmerica's Cup to SF=harder for Giants/Warriors to build new waterfront arena in SF.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more about the huge commercial breaks on KGO. I use it as an opportunity to check on news/weather/traffic at KCBS. The great part about it, they tell you when to come back!
ReplyDeleteKGO's talk host lineup is becoming like the box of chocolates in Forrest Gump. You never know who's going to be on. Not talking about Owens on vacation. That was scheduled, and Brian Copeland as fill-in was plugged in advance. But, through no fault of his own, Gene Burns is increasingly absent (due, I expect, to health issues). He, Ronn and Brian are my KGO favorites. But it's a real bummer to turn on the radio at 7 pm to hear Gene intelligently discuss the issues of the day and, without any warning, hear Bill Wattenburg, the world's most boring talker. KGO 6 pm news crew: "Dr. Bill, what are you going to talk about tonight?" Dr. Bill: "Well, three years ago, some scientists at Livermore Labs and I talked about a technical solution to solve world hunger. Thought we'd talk about that." Wow! Riveting! This can't be good for ratings. If I were programming, I'd keep Ronn as long as possible and use Rothmann and Christine Kraft in the 7 and 10 slots. Sorry, can't advocate a better slot for Pat Thurston. Used to like her spunk and good humor. But she has become so mono-mindedly left that she's as boring as Wattenburg. Of late, she's become the WikiLeaks lady. Seems like that's all she talks about, when not exclaiming her profound disappointment in Obama and claiming credit for his election in the first place.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I hear Wattenburg, I have this vision of a guy broadcasting from a trailer in the Nevada desert.
ReplyDeleteThe "Kars for Kids" commercial is definitely #1 on my most annoying list. It physically pains me if I'm not able to get to the radio within a few seconds to shut it off!
ReplyDelete