Who would have thought the impending Cumulus takeover of KGO Radio, (and all of corporate Citadel Broadcasting stations, expected to take shape around Labor Day) would make Clear Channel seem like small potatoes here? (They're not, but it's close)
First rumblings? There' talk that KGO Radio would be uprooted from its 900 Front St. studios and moved over to 55 Hawthorne, where the other Cumulus stations, (KNBR, KFOG, 107.7 The Bone, etc) are housed.
For one, it's cheaper and "cheap" is the operative word for the Dickey brothers who guide the USS Cumulus. Said one local broadcast vet here: "Cumulus makes Clear Channel look like Levi Strauss." Yeah, the interns running Raddy's show should just have a ball: more work, less pay. And don't forget to get receipts for the water bill.
Some other potent notables to consider: Ronn Owens working his last few years in the same building that houses Ralph Barbieri. Maybe they can both nosh on some extra Ameci's pizza....
And:
CAL football radio broadcasts eventually headed to KNBR.
*Weekend syndication, (mostly sports, real estate and syndicated shows at KGO on the weekend--again: read: CHEAP. You don't need air talent for programming--just a board opp--what a bargain!)
*Consolidation of just about everything at KGO...and that includes all discretionary spending. News? Producers? Talk-show hosts who don't have personal-services contracts? Everything is on the table. The Dickey brothers take no prisoners. They hire bean counters to monitor the bean counters. They hate $ signs that pay for some real important things like coffee machines and copiers. They're not especially people-friendly.
TRICKY DICKY: Lew Dickey loves money and bonus. For himself. In the height of the recession back in 2009 when his bottom line was wilting and he and his minions were laying off people at the other Cumulus outlets, Dickey paid himself a nifty million-dollar plus bonus. That's a way to rally the troops.
Gawd, should be a lovely time over there at KGO-KNBR. Just can't wait.
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Cumulus has already ruined KNBR by downsizing its its air staff and support crew, cutting back a lot of other positions in the building, and ruining the morale of the place.
ReplyDeletePeople who still work there will tell you that the atmosphere in the building is "toxic" thanks to dweebs such as Hammer and frequent visits from Lew "the Dickhead," Dickey who is only interested in the beloved bottom line. Dickey is a classic example of a bloodless corporate bean-counter
who is among the vanguard of individuals who are now ruining our media.
Unfortunately, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Dickey slice and dice KGO, getting rid of some of the better broadcast journalists in the area just to say a few miserable dollars, and keep his shareholders happy. After all, the only thing that matters is the bottom line, right!? Dickey could care less about quality, he's only into working in the media to make money and boost his own ego. This is the same turd who told DJs at his radio stations back in the late 1990s that they would not be allowed to play anything by the Dixie Chicks because that singing group had the temerity to criticise Lew's hero, George W Bush. As far as providing good quality broadcasting for the general public, forget about it! Lew Dickey never heard of the term: "Public Service." Public service...what's that? Since the FCC has no teeth left and the government is too wimpish to hold mega media companies such as Cumulus accountable to anything, accountable, slime-bags like Lew Dickey can pretty much do anything they want. To Dickey, the media is just a plaything to make money with and use to impress his airhead, bimbo girlfriends.
Outside of Rupert Murdoch, is there a more contemptable person in media management than Lew, "the Dickhead" Dickey? Don't think so!
1040 sort of beat me to it. I was going to say that things like fairness and diversity in hiring will not be a Lew Dickey trait. Oh,he's going to hire-even as he cuts back. Just who he hires will be more weasel Lee Hammer jr's.
ReplyDeletebtw,The TV shot of Baer,Newkom,Hammer and McGowan at the Phillies game showed that group to run in a 100% non diverse crowd...not a person of color within isles. Or invited. Once they dropped Willie Mays off at the White House,it was back to normal business.
there's no cure for Cumululitus other than to get one's self outta 55 Hawthorne.
ReplyDeleteI love the first comment and agree fully with it. I put Disney in a similar category but not quite as bad.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Public Relations guy who was startled after I recently booked a guest with Ronn. We (me and my client) were thrilled that we were finally able to get some quality time with whom we consider one of the master of the talk-show world.
ReplyDeleteBoy, were we surprised and disappointed!
Ron was his usual excellent self. But we were stunned at how little we actually got on-air during our one-hour slot. Between all of the news, commercials, traffic, stocks, promos, etc, I bet we were actually "on" for a total of 15-minutes of the entire hour. Now granted, 15-minutes at first glance seems like a lot of air time. But it's a disjointed, stretched-out 15-minutes...with the end result being an hour of nothingness.
Geez, I'm afraid that Cumulus is probably going to cut even MORE actual air-time from him. Pretty soon, Ronn will simply be relegated to reading promos and commercials.
Hammer continues to amaze me with some of his hires. Bringing back Mychal Urban to team up with "P-con" is another brilliant move. Urban is taking time away from one of those rare finds in our industry: a guy who loves baseball and understands the history of the game (Marty Lurie). Lurie and Urban shared the mike for about an hour the other day, and Urban was dismissive, rude and impolite to Marty. I felt sorry that a class act like Marfty Lurie had to work with such a pair of bafoons as Urban and "P-Con."
ReplyDeleteWhy Hammer even allows "The Marine" near a live mike is beyond me. This guy "P-Con" or whatever he goes by sounds like a 20-something on speed. It's quite clear he's got some attention deficeit problems, and it's embarassing when he starts telling stories of his recent visits to strip clubs or the latest hot chick he flirted with at hooters. That's entertaining and has value on the air? Give me a f....break!
I thought Marty Lurie had a barter deal?
ReplyDelete