Monday, February 28, 2011

Karel headed back to KGO-- Oh God, are they that desperate? UPDATE--He's back


I just heard a rumor that Karel is headed back to KGO to fill the 7-10 PM shot, formerly held by Gene Burns, who's health has been in decline.

I hope this is false. UPDATE: He's back, weekends, 7-10 PM, CONFIRMED

I don't think much of Karel, straight, gay, whatever...he's really old news and boring. If KGO indeed has re-hired this hack, then they really are desperate.

Keep trying for that "young demo" KGO, yeah, sort of like the old 70 year-old guy trying to get a 35 year-old gf.

Gosh.

UPDATED Account:

**From a radio insider, formerly a PD at a local station that has been up and down the LA/SF/San Diego circuit:

"Swanson, (KGO Opps Mgr) has to be outta his mind--this is a 'hail Mary move."

In reality, as I said before, this is really a desperation move by a once-mighty station that continues down the road of irrelevance on a daily basis.

Karel is a bore. He's the same predictable schlock show night in and night out. His openly-gay status doesn't mean a hill of beans to me. I could care less. He's just a hired hack who hasn't had an original idea in years. And his political rants are repetetive. BORING? Hell yes.

What, KGO? Was Peter B. Collins too expensive? What about Christine Craft? KGO is a farce and this latest move only confirms that.

20 comments:

  1. He's returning to the timeslot he had before-- SAT & SUN 0700p to 1000p. Leaving Green 960 MON to FRI...staying on the air weekdays in the other markets where he's sold the show (Monterey, Anchorage, Eureka and Atlanta, I think...maybe one more).

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  2. He is coming back to KGO, but it will be on the Saturday and Sunday 7-10 spot, not the Gene Burns spot. I just heard from a note that KGO posted on Facebook.

    I am a little worried, though, about what will be happening to Marty Nemko, who has the Sunday show at that time.

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  3. Turns out he's going back on weekends, Sat & Sun 7 - 10 pm. Good riddance to Marty Nemko who pretty much sucked.

    http://www.radiokrl.com/radiokrl/The_Karel_Show.html

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  4. There you go again-taking a potshot at Radnich.

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  5. btw Karel will be working weekend nights...

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  6. Confirmed by Jack Swanson on Ronn's Monday show. But I think it's the 7-10 pm shift on weekends, not Gene's weeknight slot. JW

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  7. Rich, I'm surprised about your dislike of Karel. I remember his very first few shows on KGO and always found him very entertaining and engaging. The only issue I had with him was that he was very short with conservative callers and also would constantly interrupt people who agreed with him. If indeed as some others have posted he is taking the 7-10pm spot on weekends it is great news. It’s been extremely frustrating to me that while Egypt and now Libya are in upheaval we have had to endure Marty Nemko’s inane pomposity for 3 hours on Sundays. Marty, we are not interested in hearing what you tweeted last week. Whoever thought about putting that guy on air should lose his/her job. What a bore!

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  8. Karel? Bleh.

    How is Gene Burns doing?

    (Mark in Walnut Creek.)

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  9. You could do a lot worse than Karel on local AM radio. I've noticed a change in recent months; less shrill, more fun.

    Unlike the Savages and Limbaughs polluting what's left of terrestrial AM radio, Karel is at least entertaining.

    As an added bonus, he's concerned with getting the facts right irrespective of how they affect anyone's political agenda.

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  10. i arrived in the bay area in the early 70s the music scene was big then. coming from nyc i was truly surprised at how lively local tv and talk radio were. i heard abt sherwood. ownen span was the big horse at kgo. after that the comedy scene exploded and since then nothing has happened here in media. san franciscos media moto. dont you remember who we were
    bill rafferty

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  11. I used to enjoy Karel's weekend show on KGO. It was different than the 'news, news, news' topics heard there during the week.
    Yes, he was very short with those who didn't agree with him but so is Wattenburg, Bubba and Taliafero.

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  12. One trick pony...totally predictable once you've heard him once, you've got it.

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  13. I like Karel and am happy that he will be back in his old time slot. I heard Jack Swanson make the announcement on Ronn's show today. Marty Nemko did nothing for me on Sunday, and the Saturday slot was always a rotation of hosts.

    I enjoy Christine Craft and Peter B Collins, and it would be great to hear them on air more often, too. How about weekdays 1-5am, where poor ol' Ray is just loud and tiresome.

    Please post a Gene update. I hope he is doing better and will be returning soon.

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  14. I'd prefer Brian Copeland, since they were going to add a liberal.

    Craft - too shrill and negative.

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  15. I haven't been this underwhelmed since Mike Singletary hired Jimmy Raye as offensive co-ordinator of the 49ers!

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  16. Nor Dr. Bill can really get mad

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  17. Like others have mentioned, my only beef with Karel is he doesn't keep the callers on long. It is almost like he is afraid to get into a discussion with them for fear they might say something bad. So then it becomes almost like a monologue just a couple notches removed from Ray T's approach, which doesn't make for interesting radio.

    Other than that, I love his bumper music (except for any bland diva crap) and I think it is great to have an openly gay host in the SF market since that represents a certain segment of the Bay Area.

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  18. Anything is better than "Dr." Bill or Ray. I think Karel learned a valuable lesson. Give him a chance. I'm old & I'll check it out.

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  19. I'm going to miss Stacy Taylor on Saturday evenings. Though Marty Nemko is boring, his show is at least more education than Karel's repetitive shinola.

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  20. After the earthquake/tsunami I tuned in to Karel to hear him say well maybe the bright side was no more junky copy machines or fax machines from Japan. I was disgusted and tuned out. But that is Karel - it's all about him. Always. If he has to deal with a lousy copier then maybe Japan should be taken out with an earthquake. I hope the PD at KGO pays attention.

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