A few of my KGO insiders have told me in recent weeks that longtime allnighter, Ray Taliaferro, (M-F 1-5 AM) is on the way out the door. The terms, no one knows exactly for sure.
Of course, this news, if there's anything to it, (and I do believe it is the case), makes perfect sense. It's a move that's been rumored for years now.
Taliaferro is nearing 73 and is concluding his 40th year in Bay Area broadcasting, (including stints at KGO, KRON-TV, and the late, great KDIA). His late-night shtick has become farcical, even by Taliaferro standards. The bombastic, bizarre and sometimes confounding monologues, combined with the contrived and forced banter with callers seems to have reached its peak.
Moreover, Taliaferro's in-house ally, Jack Swanson has left the building. His relationship with ex-GM, Mickey Luckoff, already strained, was cemented when Luckoff left last year. Now, "RayTal" is hanging on, with some industry awards, (in which he talks about for hours), and mostly hanging on a thread. Were it not for the fact that he's cozy with some of SF's more powerful political people, he would have been long gone.
In any case, Taliaferro, from this corner, figures to finish out the year and move on. And certainly not on his terms. "Cumulitis" has hit the wee hours at 900 Front, and for a change, that's good.
*Follow me on Twitter
Years ago I welcomed insomnia so I could listen to Ray. No more.
ReplyDeleteHis program has become just a nasty harangue fest, painful to the ears and worse for the soul. In the 2008 primaries he really bottomed out.
You suck! I want to know where Ray is right now so that I can listen to him. Hey, I even went into the mattress stores KGO advertises simply because I want to support the companies that support good radio. If Reverend Ray does any more work -- I will support whatever he does next -- He is a winner and he always will be a winner 100%. If he starts talking on another radio station -- then that's my new favorite station. If he finishes his book -- I will buy it. KGO is soulless now like all the other avoidable lint out there. I'm going to give to Thanksgiving Charities every year to protest the de-flavoring of radio. Reverend Ray, if you are out there listening, I appreciate all the Hope and focus that you have provided all these years. You have done your part brilliantly, so if you want to relax now then that is fine -- but if you want to keep going then I promise you that no matter where you go and what you do you will make that endeavor better and thrive because you are the real deal and we know it. Incidentally, anyone who hires you will become rich from it. Anything you do will become successful because of how you rally a loyal and energized grassroots bunch of folks.
DeleteIf it is "...worse for the soul." then you have a hole in your soul.
DeleteThis wouldn't be a surprising move. Citadel (uhh, now Cumulus) has a decent show called Red Eye Radio, with Doug Macintire, that already airs on both WABC and KABC, and maybe other of their AM's. That would be a satisfactory fit for the overnight hours.
ReplyDeleteAlso wouldn't be surprised to see another WABC-originated show, Don Imus, end up replacing Sussman on KSFO. If you have a station devoted to placating the right-wing of the political listenership and tying up the Tier One syndicated programming, this would be a good way to cut local costs as well as get that program into Market #4. The cost savings in salaries and production would probably make up for the lost listeners and lower local ad dollars from not having the morning show be live and local.
The real place where the petal will hit the metal is what they do with Gene Burns and John Rothmann. If and when those hours get gobbled up by syndication, it's time to switch off the ol' AM radio.
I like Ray. And if you have to talk about world matters and life between 1-5 am everyday,I can see getting bombastic and stream of consciousness taking over.
ReplyDeleteI dont think Ray has ever been an advocate for hurting others unlike the KSFO Hosts who run all day long. He's 73,using that brain.
well he did hate the jews pretty good.
Deleteit didnt hurt that much because he was really insignificant.
Nobody cares..
ReplyDeleteAnd Rich ,can I give a salute to Celeste Perry? still looking fine and um,solid as host of Perry Mason on ch20. And to Sylvia Chacon on 98.1 KISS FM who can still say "Chhhacoohhhn" better than her brother Rigo (kidding,have no idea if they are related) and finally to funny Sam Van Zant (KBAY)who no doubt still chases the 25 years old chickys around the office. We have to honor our long time talents every now and then.
ReplyDeleteI used to listen to Ray when Clinton was the President, and then during the Presidental Election of 2000....When we had Gore vs. Bush. Heck, I even called into show once, it was very interesting commentary.
ReplyDeleteOne Sunday night though, when Ray came on the Air you could tell that he had had one too many Cocktails...cause he was extra out of the Box that night!...LOL...
Let's hope you're right.
ReplyDeleteGene Burns could leave KGO and nobody would notice.
ReplyDeleteWillie Brown propping him up. Now he's a scoundrel!
ReplyDelete12:58 PM hits it right on the head...Arbitron doesn't measure those hours he's been on scholarship for a long time.
ReplyDeleteHis time came a long time ago. Aside from morning/afternoon news going away, this makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI remembering listening to Ray Taliaferro when he was on KNEW radio in Oakland (it was called "Metromedia radio" in those days...they used to have a jingle...and this is the god's honest truth that went.."you're up the creek with Ca-noooo....KNEW....Oakland...San Francisco!)
ReplyDeleteKNEW was a prominent newstalk station that carried the Raiders back in the late 1960s and early 70s. Ron Fell, who later became the PD at KNBR in the early 1970s was a producer there, and a very creative one.
(he also produced the Raider broadcasts behind the scenes throughout their glory years in the 1970s).
But what an interesting lineup they had on the air!. They called themselves 'Communicasters' back in those days, and besides Ray, there were two characters named Joe Dolan, who took the left wing point of view and also was really into astrology, and Pat Michaels, the rabid-dog right winger (kind of like Joe Pyne who is you remember did a syndicated late night TV talk show for awhile during those days), who was always feuding with Dolan. Michaels would stir it up by saying things such as : "I was over in Marin county yesterday to try andget some info on the attempted Communist take over of the College of Marin!" And he loved to insult people with such riprostes as : "Man you're so gullible you'd buy hair restorer from a bald barber!" or, "You're the kind of a person who would run around a cracker box because it says 'rip around the top'!" Then there were the middle of the road guys, kind of like Burns and Rothman. There was Robin King, who had the most wonderful radio voice. He died recently at about 80 years of age.
Robin he did a lot of radio commercials), and used to close his show with the famous line: "and remember, love too, is a four letter word!"
Hilly Rose was probably the most inoffensive,
normal guys of the bunch.
Van Amberg (before he became a TV news anchor also hosted a show...and Van also did sports as well, doing color on the Raiders' radio broadcasts with Bill King doing play by play, this before Scotty Sterling took the spot from 1969-75. SF native Steve Somers also was a fill in guy (he did some TV sports fill in as well at KPIX in those days) before heading east and becoming the long time overnight talk show host of the alls-sports NYC station WFAN. And they had two sports guys...an old duffer named Barney Lee, and a young up and comer who eventually landed in Philly named Mike Forrest.."Hello...I'm Mike Forrest, listen to my afternoon sports updates...I do it my way...Monday through Friday rioght here on KNEW!" What an interesting group of characters! I never figured out why KNEW dropped the all talk format. They were still doing it in the 1970s when they had a guy named Don Chamberlain who hosted a show called "California Girls," which let women talk about their private lives in lurid detail on the air.
But I always liked Ray, and even though he's gotten a bit bizarre at times over the recent years, he's very entertaining to listen to at 3am if you've got insomnia. I never figured out though why he was consigned to that ungodly shift for so many years. Doing an overnight talk show has got to be difficult. But I find myself agreeing with most everything he has to say politically, as he's always been unafraid to take an unpopular or politically correct stand.
You gotta give ol' Ray his props for keeping people listening to KGO for so many years! Hate to see him go!
Who's a bigger farce, Ray Tal or Phil Hendrie, whose act I still don't get.
ReplyDeleteMr. T and the All Night Scream is on the way out?!?!?! Hells Bells! HELLS BELLS!
ReplyDeleteI have been listening to ray since my college days at stanford. I will miss him when he leaves someday..... hope and pray they wont replace him with that god awful thirston woman.
ReplyDeleteWho is the heck Phil Hendrie? Never heard of the guy. And don't diss Ray! I'd like to see you work on-air in radio for 40 plus years!
ReplyDeleteWhat have you done in life that is so wonderful that you can rip someone else with impunity? That's what I never understand about some of the people who respond to these threads. They like to rip other people indiscriminately. Perhaps they're frustrated by the fact that they didn't have the balls to try and get into broadcasting, or washed out because they weren't good enough to be on the air. Anyone who has been in the biz for over 20 years, whether you think they're good or bad deserves some respect..if for no other reason than because they hung in there and survived in a very tough profession.
If it was a dialogue instead of a monologue, he'd have a better show. But I don't care for the hours of preaching, even if I might be close to him politically. It doesn't make for good radio.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years, the best Ray T shows were when he'd talk about S.F. history like the Fun House at the Beach. You can tell he was into it.
10:14, you are a nut case. You go off because of the word "farce". I see why you love Ray, you are his perfect demographic: a delusional, paranoid, liberal shut-in. I hope that works out well for you.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Phil Hendrie? Have you ever heard of Google? Try it next time 10:14.
ReplyDeleteWhen these guys like Ray, Ronn, Bill, Gene, Gil, Dean Edel started in the business radio and TV were the only game in town. AM/FM, most of us grew up with a dozen or so broadcast TV stations. The torch is being passed but it's an entirely different ball game with satellite, cable and the internet. We can always hope for a local Jim Gabbert to come along again after the conglomerates run these stations into the ground. The question is whether or not anyone will be watching or listening. So why do we need another clear channel station broadcasting the same syndicated crap already tunable on 6 other frequencies? How many Coast to Coast AM stations do we need? And if I listen to blow hards it's not going to be NY clowns like Imus.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand Ray anymore. He repeats himself CONSTANTLY, keeps flemning into the microphone (and breaking his voice), and is dumb as hell about his topics. It sounds like he does NOTHING to prepare for his show. 40 mins plus of bragging and repetitions before even getting to a call. The constant program breaks are so goddamn annoying..He is just so ignorant, and I've heard him recently act like he has Alzheimer by going off on tangents that have NOTHING to do with what was just discussed. No wonder he was moved into the dead zone slot he is in now. I tried to call him one time and was on hold for over 100 minutes LOL~!
ReplyDeleteI'd rather have Christine Craft or Pat Thurstin than him ANY DAY. (Unlike others I like Phil Hendrie, at least his old show format.)
On a finishing note, Gene Burns should also be removed. Ever since his health issue and return, he can't keep his breath and stumbles constantly.
KGO TAKE NOTE AND MAKE A MOVE PLEASE!
Craft is so full of herself. She has this victim mentality and attacks anybody who challenges her. She is- what we call- a "tight &%$&*"....
DeleteI since Ray is no longer wth kgo I will no be tunning on kgo ever again until you get of the
ReplyDeletesatellite and being synicated
the old ex kgo listener
Ray was a clown, in a bad way.
ReplyDeleteAM Radio sucks. I hope Ray gets picked up by XM radio left channel 128. buy satellite and you will never go back to grandparent radio!
ReplyDeleteWhat I will always remember Ray for was his support for the Obama candidacy and his rabid disaffection for Bush/Cheney which vented for so many American's feelings of incoate revulsion for the US war in Iraq. Ray...thank's for carrying the torch for all the lateniters listening in the dark and hoping your words would help spur the changes this country so desperately needs.
ReplyDeleteWhen I would go to sleep listening to Ray every night I felt I was as much a part of his life as he was mine. Being able to predict what he was going to say next was great. Literally. Waking up to Mr. Ego himself Ron Owens is like my bowl of cheerios. Its well rounded and balanced yet without milk its terrible. Milk being his callers. Dr. Dean, well whatever. Len, realities check on what our bay area partially consists of. Gene, hands down the best at discussing issues of the day. Weekends, traveling around, tech guy, Joanie, Carrel, Bill, Kristen, and some pre recorded. But KGO already knows this.
ReplyDeleteThere was no other station on the west coast that could compete with the quality of broadcasting like KGO. A flagship station. The more you listen the more you know.
I want to hear what others are thinking about regarding the topics of the day that were discussed by your talk show hosts.
These discussions I would hear would enlighten me to what other listeners were thinking. Keeping me more open minded than I typically would have been.
This change has been devastating to me and I'm sure to others across the west coast as well.
Lets 86 the best and highest paid talk show host known to am radio. Except 1 in the morning. Bring in more advertising. As it happens news with updates all day into the night. Then some mystery out of Nevada that calls himself Red eye radio.
A RED EYE IS A BUTT HOLE for crying out loud. DAH.
Or a cocktail made into a movie.
Cool, I hope the ratings plummet. Advertisers leave. And KGO gets sold to a company that slowly restores it back to the way it use to be. Providing the hosts are willing to return.
Return for the love of their job and how they influence the listeners.
Cold turkey is hard to handle in this case. Weaning I could have handled. This Stinks.
In time I will get use to this. Until I hear of a change I’m not listening to the radio unless I'm on the road.
Devon
The dead honesty of Ray T. was KGO's sole justification for existence, Wrong Owens notwithstanding. So long KGO.
ReplyDeleteI haven't listened to one minute of KGO since the programming shift. I used to listen at every opportunity throughout the day and night, ultimately for much of my free hours. It was good to check the pulse of local opinion on all sorts of matters. I refuse to patronize the media conglomerate. There is a true absence of the local voice on radio now. SHame on Cumulus!
ReplyDeleteIn the 90's,living in L.A., I got a bang out of listening to KGO with Bernie Ward and Ray Taliaferro on at night--a great refreshing progressive alternative to the right-wing wall of noise that continues to infect talk radio across the country. You can bet that more syndicated talk..like Red-Eye Radio will be used to cut costs in other day-parts of KGO's broadcasting day. What a shame..as KGO loses its identity with the uniqueness that is San Francisco!
ReplyDeleteI sooo miss Ray. I was a faithful 1-5 am listener for years. Now that he's gone, I'm no longer tuning to KGO.
ReplyDeleteMega companies sucking up other companies all over the country, just a few "too big to fail" companies will survive. Even AM radio is becoming all syndicated crap--no local issues, shows become "entertainment" with guests hawking books, etc. instead of people exchanging ideas. More dumbing down of the ordinary people.
ReplyDeleteWhen Karel goes....so do I. Best to you Ray for years of information and lovely music.
ReplyDeleteThe article makes it seem as if Ray Taliaferro was the only target when in fact it was a complete format change and staff firing. KGO fired longtime hosts Gene Burns, John Rothmann, Ray Taliaferro, Gil Gross, Bill Wattenburg, Joanie Greggains, and Len Tillem.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/headlines-in-san-francisco/kgo-radio-format-change-listeners-contin
I live in San Diego and used to love listening in the late evening/early morning hours. KGO is now unlistenable, plain-Jane vanilla Red Eye radio with no local feel. Essentially outsourced overnight radio. Goodbye KGO.
ReplyDeleteHopefully more radio personalities will look at satellite or podcasting.
I used to like Ray a lot when he used to talk about politics and the world and bringing the truth specially in Gorge B & Dick C era. Lately People want the truth and telling the way like it happening.
ReplyDeleteAfter Obama eleted he was twisiting and talking about useless things that mad people bored, Specially when he bashes God. He should undrestand theree are over 5 billion believers on erath. I hope he comes back some where whit bit change as he used to be talking about the world and the politics which is the most important to the human on earth.
Thank you.
Ray Taliaferro shot himself in the foot when he uncritically supported Barack Obama for the presidency, leaving the Afghanistan war ib Taliaferro's lap. Poor Ray. I warned him several times that his career would not survive the Obama presidency, and I was right.
ReplyDelete“'You’ve come a long way, baby.' No, this is not a reference to Virgina’s Slims’ iconic advertising slogan, but rather to William Kristol’s recent blog post on the Weekly Standard, where he declares with glee that Obama is 'a born-again Neo-con.'”
All I Want to know is when will Ray return to the air and what station!
ReplyDeleteCannot stand listening to news repeating ALL DAY LONG! KGO must think we are a bunch of idiots! If I wanted that I would listen to KCBS...
ReplyDeleteac
If I were to start listening to radio today (late night) it wouldn't be KGO and guess what? I still tune in late night (early morning) and it is not Red Eye (should be black eye). Also, I just found Dr. Bill this morning! I have hope we'll be hearing Taliaferro, Rothman, and others SOON.
ReplyDeleteI am a long-time listener to KGO; from my residence here in Calgary, Canada. He was the star of KGO late-night radio.
ReplyDeleteI loved his shows that dealt with religion and the way he called it out for the fraud that it is. I also enjoyed his political views as I am of the same Liberal persuasion.
But I did not like his obsessive, incessant gay tirades as well as his poetry nights. Those nights sucked!
If anyone can tell me if Ray is on another late-night radio, it would be much appreciated.
Red eye radio? Obnoxious. I will never listen to KGO again after being a steady listener for 30 years. Ray dont leave us man..will be waiting for your return on some staition..oh how we miss you. Goodbye you stupid KGO.
ReplyDeleteKgo is dead now!
ReplyDeleteI discovered our old boy Ray was gone and I smiled! I feel I am open minded with most everything in my life but listening to him "rip up" a caller simply because the caller did not agree with what Ray was producing made me want to scream. Ray never allowed a caller to freely express themselves and he constantly cut them off by calling them terrible names and trying to belittle them for their thoughts. Ray, it seems was so full of hate,...just pure old hate for so many things and I often wondered if he was playing with a full deck! This world has enough hate in it. I stopped listening to his program because it became stressful for me. What a nut he was (and I am sure he still is). I do not wish him any harm in any way but it is time for him to relax and start learning to just like folks if they agree with him or not. Whew!, what a mouth he had! And we won't even get started on his extreme pointed race "stuff".....I am glad he is gone!
ReplyDeleteI hope Ray can somehow end up on Satellite radio. Satrad currently has a lot of duds, but Ray would have one of the best shows. I live 2,000 miles from San Francisco but thanks to the Internet, I was able to listen to Ray off and on since the Arnold Schwarzenegger first campaign. I've even personally recorded many of Ray's best moments, including the long call from 2005 where the woman asked him if he accepts Jesus Christ. Ray had a lot of fun with that one. So, KGO has gone all news? That's a step down. All-news radio sucks, for one thing, you can listen for a whole hour and only get spoon fed around 6 stories.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (dated Feb. 24th) said " Ray never allowed a caller to freely express themselves and he constantly cut them off by calling them terrible names and trying to belittle them for their thoughts. Ray, it seems was so full of hate,...just pure old hate for so many things "
ReplyDelete------------------------
the topic is Ray Taliaferro. The person you seem to be describing is Mark Levin.
btw, your comment should read "never allowed a caller to freely express himself " not "themselves".
Would love to know whether any of them ended up on a different station. I miss the variety of the talk show host and having the option to listen to the different styles at different times of the day, evening and morning. :(
ReplyDeleteRay is an a-sshole...a white hating racist...
ReplyDelete"Ray is an a-sshole...a white hating racist"
DeleteConsidering all of the crap he and other blacks endured from white racists for years he was still even keeled. A little truth geared to all of those white racists needed to be said...too bad they couldn't take it....
He did seem racist But had to laugh...ummm lol Long pauses..miss it. Where is he?
ReplyDeleteYes, most went to 910 am talk radio and are doing great. Len the lawyer is on during the week from 3 -4 p.m. and Gene is on from 4 - 7 pm, they even have dinning around on the weekend but i can't pickup the station once i get home. I enjoy 910 radio and am happy i can still hear my favorites. Ray and Joanie did not follow but i'm pretty sure they are doing well. It would be nice if there was a spot for them at 910 am talk radio.
ReplyDeleteJohn Rothman and Whattenburg are also on 910 Radio.
DeleteGene is not on at all -- he's still recovering from his stroke last December. GIL GROSS is on from 4 to 7pm weeknights, I'm delighted to say. He's great.
DeleteI listened to KGO since the time I was a child, before cable tv/cable radio (was included with cable tv). That means I was probably one of the youngest listeners ever to Ira Blue...and all the way through, through the years, too many names to remember. Ray was a fave during the rupungnicant years...
ReplyDeleteSeeing this wholesale change, is sad, tragic. It is an end of an era....not unlike silent film to sound film....woosh...all these characters are gone in quick succession.
An era has passed, sadly.
With it went not only our youth, but everything after youth.
Sad, sad, sad, sad. KGO was such an anchor of the community of the bay area.
Earthquake? Winter Storm, first place you tuned was KGO 810.
Kind of worthless now. Sad.
I guess it was inevitable. What a long strange trip and end it was.
Bernie Ward's odd exit from freedom. Gene Burns decline (intelligence and class available nightly on the radio...a respite from the angry echo chamber that media became...)
Sadly (have I used the word "sad" enough yet?) Bernie had gotten overly angry, over the top in later years, and, sadly, Ray had gotten overly angry...even for him...and off the rails the last 6-8 years....I could only take him in small doses.
We'll never see Ray on the radio, or even in podcast form again. He's 73...and is, probably, I am sure...just happy to focus on his private life, art, poetry, jazz music (the guy had immaculate taste in these, just phenomenal).
Losing all those personalities from the air, and KGO as the entity it was in the bay area communities...is like losing extended family. KGO was an touchstone for me at night, to my roots... The times I lived out of the bay area, all on the west coast, I could "come home" for a few hours every night...from Seattle, LA, Oregon, anywhere on the west coast.
Now, no more.
Even over the last few years I got tired of the anger of Bernie and Ray, I could take Karel (sp) he was / is entertaining. Gene Burns, smart and classy and comfortable...you felt lifted up by his erudition (is that a word?).
Ah, I ramble.
Sad I am, a large piece of my cultural life...my touchstone in the night...
Gone.
Since KGO's 50,000 watt signal booms down here to San Diego at night, I used to tune in on Saturdays & Sundays to listen to Dr Bill for his extensive scientific knowledge and practical common sense. Just for laughs, I would stay tuned in for Ray Tal, to see what the the "Old Jive Turkey" was ranting about. Like I say, within a few minutes, I could usually count on hearing something ridiculous to laugh about, and then move on to get a good night's sleep. I wish Ray a blissful retirement.
ReplyDeleteI've always liked Shortwave or AM night radio: Larry King, Art Bell, Ray Taliaferro, the Masters of Night-Radio. North of Seattle, KGO was centered on my CCRadio-plus, beside my bed all night. I possibly ruined my health, working all day, listening much of most nights.
ReplyDeleteRay anchored the AM-band from 900-miles away. He was a very special person with an apparently rich influential day and night schedule. The monologs, poetry-nights, music, jazz, call-ins from Internet listeners around the world -- and yes, politically spot-on: leading, well ahead of the crowd.
To Ray's accomplishments add: Breaking the PNAC "Project for a New American Century" story -- the key (Rosetta Stone) document that explains most of the last 15-years and what brought us to today's geo-political quagmire.
Away for a while, when I returned everyone was gone; what happened? I miss the KGO night-shift crew, especially now that the Mighty-KGO has become a shadow of what it once used to be.
Ray is a PASSIONATE Radio Host. He is also an Intelligent man. I Disagree with much of what he has to say, but I LOVE his show. Someone has to counter the FAR Rong..., I mean Right. The year we went to "WAR" with Iraq, Ray was the FIRST person to talk about permanent military bases being built there. He was First to go on record AGAINST the War and he was Right. Ray said we would NEVER LEAVE IRAQ. It's 2012 and we are still there. Obama's Campaign was based on "Bringing the Troops Home". I guess Ray KNEW something the President did not.
ReplyDeleteThanks for Everything Ray!
Good bye KGO, it was you who was hanging on a thread.
I heard FOX is looking for another Radio Station. Good luck with that
HE IS A EGO MANAIC WITH LESS THAN ZERO REASON TO BELIEVE ANY THING HE HA DONE IS WORTH A SHIT AS THE WHITE CODE GOES he is jan.
ReplyDeleteWhat? If Ray T is gone I might tune in again. I have NEVER heard anyone as hateful, rude and bigoted, and outright racist as Ray. What an awful human being. One more thing, is Bernie Ward out of jail yet? I pray not.
ReplyDeleteTaliaferro embarrassed himself by sticking around many years after his sell-by date.
ReplyDeleteWord has it that Taliaferro has retired to the Russian River area where he rants incoherently and foams at the mouth every time someone asks him, as they did on his radio ordeal, if he is gay. Rather than provide an honest answer, he merely shouted down(and unplugged) any caller who had the audacity to challenge his well-protected egomania. What an only-in-SF clown. Spoken as an SF native.