This is hardly news, but if you've listened to KGO Radio's Ronn Owens and/or KNBR/KRON's Gary Radnich the past few years, you know by and large, the end is near.
Twilight of their career? Try sunset is beckoning.
And that's a shame because both at one time ruled the Bay Area airwaves.
Owens still commands a heavy-duty following from 9-Noon but his cachet as one of SF's most pronounced media personalities has faded away. Both on and off the air.
Radnich, who still has some element of industry juice left, but whose own brand of insincere, false shtick on the radio has grown mostly weary with listeners and his bosses alike, has been thrown to the back-tier of broadcast relevance in town. Nobody takes him serious anymore and his star power has been severly marginalized.
He can still elicit a laugh or two and conduct the occasional informative interview, but the fact that his new bosses have insisted to pair him with relatively weak sidekicks, (hello tame Larry Krueger), shows that they acknowledge his impending professional doom.
Owens, on the other hand, seems to be cruising to retirement when his personal services contract is up in January, 2013, (at a shade north of $1,000,000); whereas his dominance as king of SF news talk-show culture remains, and the prime guests touting books and all gets him top priority, his on-air aura has dimmed considerably and he seems, at times, withdrawn from the whole process.
Not helping matters is the new frugality at KGO, (new owner, Cumulus, which also owns KNBR); Owens is one of the last castoffs from the Mickey Luckoff era. While his shows have not deteriorated to the max, you can tell his own style and personality seems detached and sullen.
Granted, Owens still makes money for KGO and corporate, but when his contract is up in 2013, he'll be 67. And the odds on him retaining a seven-figure deal is unlikely. That's not in the Cumulus playbook.
So enjoy these last of the SF market once-behemouths. They are quite likely entering a phase out of the limelight and into the professional sunset. Just the facts, mam.
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that's to bad im a big Gary fan, but he was at his best with tony bruno. i also noticed that the sunday night wrap tv show with gary,tony and the preety youg lady from last year was canned.what happen did gary piss somebody off at comcast? also i need my Bob (RUDY) FATzgerald bashing fix for the week..please tell me you have some breaking news story about him being fired from knbr and the warriors!!PLEASE!!
ReplyDeleteNeither are going to go out "on top". The longer they stay the more pathetic they become.
ReplyDeleteOwens has this "love fest" with the callers & issues he likes and chats back & forth w/ them. When a caller disagrees with him or his position, Owens lets the call talk for a while; then he CUTS THEIR SOUND off and Owens then goes on the Rebuttal ... and you never hear any counter from that caller. Sneaky tactic!!!
I have been using that example for years and when friends and colleagues don't believe me, we take about 20 minutes until a good example comes up and many have contacted me back to report other similar examples. How's that for "ONE-SIDED journalism?"
The cat's out of the bag, Ronn!!
As far as Radnich is concerned, when I stopped listening to him I finally realized, I wasn't listening to HIM ... I was listening to Dan Dibley, P-Con and Tony Bruno! When they left ... so did I.
At least Owens was reasonably respectul to his callers ... Radnich does not attend sporting events and cannot identify with today's sports audience.
The Sunset can be nice for them ...
The Radnich Bruno show after football was good too. That chick Kara? who does the home A's games in the crowd was weak and she seemed scared on the show no chemistry.
ReplyDeleteYou wonder why neither of these guys have started laying the groundwork for the next stage of their careers. They would both be great hosts for once a week interview shows.
ReplyDeleteIn a media world that has the perspective of "what's now" - both Owens and Radnich would be able to remind viewers that the Bay Area didn't just start last week.
What a difference two years makes..Radnich has seen at least a 50% cut in income at KRON..no Comcast pre or post Giant,post 49er,no Comcast at 5,no more Sunday Night hour. And he lost Dibley.
ReplyDeleteWorse,he sounds older now..confused sometimes. And you feel sorry for him when Kate Scott and Kreuger humor him when he's on some strange rant.
And -he's not the all out blow hard he was two years ago. What a mistake that the newer, kinder, Radnich was teamed with pond scum like Kreuger. He might have got his head above water with a good co-host...Kreuger is deadweight.
The bay area has been blessed to have had some terrific broadcasters in both news and sports, and Ronn Owens certainly qualifies as one. Owens knows how to ask the right questions in tough interviews, handles the callers well, is well
ReplyDeleteversed on a lot of important local and national issues, and is a pro's pro. KGO will have a very difficult time finding someone who can adequately replace Ronn Owens when he hangs up his mike.
Gary? While he certainly has talent, (there's no denying that) he falls more into the catagory of entertainer than broadcaster. Gary has never really shown a great interest in covering sports, he'd rather be the centerpiece with his ready quips that illicit guffaws from the sales force and loudmouths such as the obnoxious Tony Salvadore, who used to run KNBR. I think many people really got tired of hearing Gary toady up to Salvadore on the air: "Mr Salvadore was in here earlier today..." but that's how many people
(i.e. Fitz the brown-noser) keep their jobs.
Gary opted to get into TV rather than try to go into showe business, because his act wouldn't have lasted long on stage. And unfortunately his smart-alecky and passive-aggressive behavior smacks of being disengenuous at best, and is not appreciated by those who have dealings with him. Gary always loves to call everyone: "the great...." which is his way of being sarcastic.
Comcast sportsnet could see through Gary's thin act, and although they wanted to bring him aboard to get some recognition, they jettisoned him after a year because he was rapidly becoming a
'retread' (the words of one of Comcast's managers to describe why the local Comcast outlet fails to hire local talent)
.
KRON meanwhile with many of their on-air bimbo-airheads is an absolute joke, but they need to hang on to the few recognizable faces they have left, and Gary should survive there.
The way KRON treats sports veteran Vernon Glenn is disgraceful however, as they have made him and many of their other reporters shoot and edit their own stories to save money (this is what small market TV stations in places such as Bakersfield do becausde of their limited budgets!) while cutting his salary.
KNBR keeps him around because Lee Hammer doesn't have a whole lot of alternatives, although Krueger or Damon Bruce would probably be adequate
replacements.
Gary will make an effort to hang on as long as he can because he has young kids and they'll need
resources down the road for college, so he probably will try to work well past age 70. But my guess is that he'll be gone within a few years, as broadcasting is an unforgiving business and the older you get, the more vulnerable you are.
By the way Rich, where did you get that unflattering picture of Gary looking as if he's faking being scared? That's a pretty funny photo and kind of epitomizes how Gary probably feels el about his impending demise in broadcasting!
Larry Kreuger: Who respect's the Lowell Cohn's of the world?.. In defending Harbaugh's treatment of the long time great columnist.
ReplyDeleteI will take a wild guess that Lowell wasn't on his side in 2005.
Kreuger will never change.
OK, you've done a good job summing up the situation on these two. It's pretty much over for them, and we get it. Now can we move along to other things happening in the market. And there are other things happening in the market. If you could redirect yourself away from KRON, which is really a failed situation, pay some attention to the stations that matter.
ReplyDeleteGary is rude and boring. One or the other is bad.... but both means he needs to go!
ReplyDeleteAnyone noticed that Gary has lot some weight of late? He looks more excited, which I think he realized he needs to do to stick around.
ReplyDeleteI actually like Gary. Was it better when PConn and Dibs and Bruno were on? Sure. But I still enjoy Uncle Gary.
ReplyDeleteGary may be a little on the downside, but I still prefer his "tired schtick" over the too serious Damon Bruce... Honestly, what is sports talk radio around for? It is for people who are lonely, and for people alone in their cars... people (and i include myself in this) who are not always willing or able to just appreciate the soothing tones of silence or something abstract like jazz... its like a baby pacifier for grown ups... looking at it in this way, although Gary does the same thing day after day, that's kind of what the talk radio biz is all about... giving the people their daily dose of comfort and familiarity... if rich is looking for something more unpredictable and innovative, he should tune into the college radio stations that he always bashes and says no one cares about, like KUSF...
ReplyDeleteHow often does Rich have to tell us Radnich is old, tired, finished, whatever?
ReplyDeleteWhy this obsession?
I like Gary and I'm sure many others do too.
An honest question here- Why has Radnich survived the cut for so long? It's obvious that he needs to go. And what about that other guy on KNBR? Ralph something, that guy can't string two coherent sentences together, has no idea on whats going on around him and is never worth listening to as he is so annoying. So how come he hasn't been let go either?
ReplyDeleteRARELY COMPLAINS ABOUT RALPH
ReplyDeleteAnother funny thing about Rich, while he constantly rips Radnich, he barely lays a glove on his old buddy Ralph!!! Why?
In my book, Ralph is as tired as Gary and far more obnoxious.
Here's a name who should replace Gary when his time comes on both KRON and KNBR: Andrew Siciliano.
ReplyDeleteThe longer Gary schticks around the worse he gets.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for rich actually believeing ron ownes makes anywhere near a mil a year
ReplyDeleteLove the 10:27 Post! We know that Rad & Ronn are ending their reigns (Owens when his contract is up in 2013). And in response to the more recent post after this one, we lost a respected, respectful man! So why indeed is Fitz still on the W's payroll? Could be helped by the lockout, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteRemember Dan Sileo? He now works in Tampa but was here briefly around the time that Scott Ferrell was also here in 1997-98. Very talented and creative guy. If Lee Hammer were smart (that would be quite a stretch!) he would team up the upbeat and talented Sileo with the sexy Kate Scott, pay them both peanuts and replace Gary and that loser Krueger (how did that racist get another shot on the air!?) from 9am to noon.
ReplyDeleteAnother good suggestion: Bring back Rich Herrera
to replace the utterly incompetant and obnoxious Eric Brynes after Giants games, and bring in the team of Roxy Bernstein and Brodie Brazil (two of the brightest young talents in the bay area) to take the places of that tired midway team of Fitz and Brooks. May6be then KNBR could hold off that new up and coming all-sports FM station 'The Game', with its talented stable of announcers featuring the likes of Tierney, Lund, and Urban.
In the early days Gary was King of the Hill...But then his act started wear thin, and he was usually on the "wrong" side of issues that were important to the local Bay Area Sports Fans...
ReplyDelete10:17 Sort of hit it on the head..The KRON Raddy is the nice guy you thought he was...then for too long you heard that KNBR conservative blow hard come out too often.
ReplyDeleteBut,since he's mellowed and cut out bashing Pelosi and all things liberal...KNBR just keeps him down with bad pairings. PECON,Bruce,Krueger..just bad,bad,advice from somebody. Its like they feed him junk food co -hosts..and it's catching up to him.
IF they had kept Dibbs,and with Kate Scott..that would be a strong mid morning show easy on the ears.
But hater Larry? blowhard Bruce?,general lee pecon?...terrible.
I keep hearing about Radnich's low ratings... does anyone on this board know that to be factually true? What are his ratings... and if they are so low why is he still at this station?
ReplyDeleteRich, you're lustful yearning for Gary is getting to be a little nauseating. Just admit he rejected you once in the past and we can all move beyone this. C'mon Ponyboy McPussy, inquiring minds want to know!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of old timers..Lisa Argent,the long time weather power blond on ch7,looking good today. Ironic that Argent the rock band years ago had a hit called "Hold your head High"
ReplyDeleteLisa ..well,those nips were high and proud today.
Not surprised at all. Ronn Owens has been calling it in (no pun intended) for a few years now. He's just coasting. He's predictable, has a fake laugh, and he's had his time. Time for someone new.
ReplyDelete