Did 957Sportsradio, Entercom's new FM kid on the block, buy the domain, "KNBRSucks"? That's the word making the rounds, among other things.
The station is preparing a new launch, as "The Game", August 1st, having raided a bunch of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area "Insiders" to compliment programming. I'm not a big fan; so far all 95.7 has seem to accomplished is to bring paranoia to KNBR, which is in the middle of planning a big shakeout, mostly, the high probability of teaming all-team moron, Eric Byrnes, with stuck-in-professional mid-life crisis, Gary Radnich.
Frankly, the two deserve each other. KNBR DOES suck, has been now for the past few years, with the only valuable entity, the SF Giants, as their gold-star property. If not for the Giants and 49ers, KNBR is mush, with a mostly incompetent, incredulous, and unremarkable staple of hosts who don't do much of anything.
95.7 has shown no ingenuity either in the FM theatre of the absurd. They have utilized the financial resources of Entercom to acquire mostly out-of-market radio has-beens with several NY/East-coast labels. The NY guys don't know the Bay Area model and will probably be mass failures.
The canibalization of CSNBA "Insiders" shows no vision other than an extraordinary amount of broadcast laziness. There's no there there, to steal a phrase. The only pleasure I see in all of this is that Knibber seems to have taken the bait. I wonder, too, if Mychael Urban, has pictures of Cumulus execs. How does he, A. get canned by Knibber, b. get his gig back, and C. then get hired by the FM guys? (I'm surprised Urban wasn't next to Obama at the White House ceremony--wait, wasn't that Hammer guy, old baldie, right there, smack near the POTUS).
*KGO people are shitting in thier pants as Labor Day nears. The last regime, (read: Luckoff), made it a point to make sure the non-AFTRA folks were hired by Metro, (like, for example, Kevin the Rat), to offset non-union KNBR, but long-term, KGO is doomed and everyone in the building knows it.
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Oh man, do I agree with you on this Rich. 95.7 has been a big fail for A's fans. They bring in these guys from wherever and they start bashing the A's on the station's Facebook page before they even get on air. It's KNBR lite.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that they bashed Beane or Wolff-what's wrong with that?..it's they have been obnoxious on EVERYTHING. The whole central valley hick and monster truck thing comes through.
ReplyDeleteI could build a station that brings KNBR down. You grow up in the bay area,you know who's listening..and who KNBR IGNORES.
Radnich and Juiced Eric? -what a trainwreck pairing. In case you haven't noticed-Eric is thin skinned and quite the prima donna-he doesn't see it -they never do,do they?..So Radnich,who has barely mentioned Brynes name in weeks and weeks..will be on eggshells with Byrnes..and heaven help Raddie should he stand up to Byrnes on Baseball. Radman's "You never played the game" mantra will come back to bite him on the ass.
Byrnes has made friends in high places..Speaking of high, his last appearance on Comcast was weeks ago- he was high as a kite. ADHD as an excuse is bullshit..he was on cloud nine. He talked like a drunk at a bar "Hey Barry, check this,man"..eesh. Only on KNBR is your job safe no matter how much you embarrass yourself.
As far as I'm concerned, if KNBR ends up firing Fitz, then 95.7 is an unabashed success....no matter how bad their programming is.
ReplyDelete24/7 sports radio as a format is stupid. At least in this market, you have hosts who generally say the same thing, run the company line, and spend far too much time laughing at their own unfunny comments. They are not comedians. there is simply not enough to talk about, and listening to interviews with the same 3 columnist/ bloggers is f ing boring. The best one is amici boy who hyperventilates while talking all over the guest creating all kinds of awkward moments. Bob and Mr. Bojangles are great too
ReplyDeleteNow there's the most undeserving POTUS White House! Lee Hammer hobnobbing! Poor Prez, even from an opposing view! Yeesh!
ReplyDeleteIt was scary that Hammer had a big grin. It was all he had to eat as a corporate stooge for years paying off...And he's still a stooge.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem with Bay Area sports radio is that those involved in producing it have zero perspective. Granted - there have been some lean years (Giants WS excepted) - but you get the impression that most on the dials either have only followed Bay Area sports for the last five years or just moved here.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with the proceeding comments. Mychal Urban seems to think he knows everything about baseball, which he doesn't; Ralph has gotten old and tired, the mid-day gigglers and the frat boy morning shows are unlistenable, and Damon Bruce, Eric Byrnes needs to tone down his act, and the only talented and creative person on that entire staff has been releated to mid days on KNBR 1050 where no one is listening. Hammer is still running the show, although he doens't make the big decisions, such as who gets hired and fired. Those fall to Lou "The Dickhead" Dickey,who makes an obligatory appearance every once in awhile to SF to make sure KNBR is bringing him a big fat bottom line so he can preen for the shareholders.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too impressed with what I've heard on the new FM sports station either. If they think that
by bringing in a bunch of no-name mid-market talents is going to have any kind of effect on the ratings, they're sadly mistaken. The only local guys they can get are Dibs and Townsend?
I guess they're cheaper than KNBR!
It's a shame though, as our sports teams are doing fairly well 9with the exception of the A's)
and we have very little to listen to on local sports radio, or watch on local sports TV (Comcast is a snooze fest with a bunch of vanilla like talents who don't do much for anyone).
"As far as I'm concerned, if KNBR ends up firing Fitz, then 95.7 is an unabashed success....no matter how bad their programming is."
ReplyDeleteAmen to that
I guess Mychael Urban better hope that the FM sports station is a big success. I can't see him getting hired (a third time) by KNBR again after quitting like that. Smacks of unprofessionalism, in my opinion. And I was one of the people that had a high opinion of him. Before.
ReplyDelete