You know, I just got one of those signs in my sloppy mess from a poster who wrote a big lettered email that says,
"AT THE FREAKING EDITOR'S DESK I AM RICH LIEBERMAN AND YOU'RE FREAKIN' NOT!"
You know it didn't take long for 30 posters to make it plainly obviously that my little ol' blog report does mean something to you people, who, like at KGO Radio, have too much time on their hands (because this isn't about writing compelling news over there, as many people agree,) and no where else to turn.
Thanks to the interns at KGO who, while learning their for-free gig (because interns don't get paid, but often in coupons like SweetJack stuff,) and under all the turmoil that these college trained minds of mush are finding out (thanks, Rush --- now moving to KKSF-910 on Tuesday,) are figuring out that radio is a bitch.
Especially when working for Cumulus. You, dear learning-for-free interns are THEIR bitches now!
Now, interns, who post here of late (I know that, in fact,) please -- I am merely the messenger as I said yesterday. And don't you have nooze to write? And lots more OF IT? Cumulus has heard this junk before in market after market. This is nothing new to them.
Sort of makes some wish back for the "good old days" of Farid Suleman and Citadel Media. Well, maybe not. But definitely Mickey Luckoff, Jack Swanson and the very successful team of legends that once graced KGO as we knew it.
Life is like reincarnation. It dies and some come back to life as flies on the wall. Thank goodness for those people. Those are the true messengers. I just spread the compost heap and there has been a lot over the last month. So, as we close the books on 2011 for yet another year today, I sincerely thank you -- and the knuckleheaded bankers and accountants from Atlanta who came to our City to truly show us how it is done.
We like diversity of opinion, here, on the Lieberman Report / Blog thing. We also love the 90-year-old owner of KSCO Radio 10-80 in Santa Cruz who actually said to the vast audience of 5 last Saturday -- on the air -- "GET OFF THE AIR NOW GOD DAMN IT! Michael, get him off the air NOW!" Now that was some classic stuff and it was on the ray-dee-oh my gosh just a week ago!
Man, it just doesn't get anymore priceless than that.
And yes, I am looking to smooth things like style, technique, fire-breathing brimstone, chest beating and more for being on the air in the area soon. Maybe I can replace Karel (who couldn't?) Maybe I'll be on KSCO (if I can bet MZ to get me past mama.) Maybe I'll be on someplace else, but it all starts with you, my great readers, posters, angry people, calm people, working folks, unemployed folks. I am an equal opportunity diversity seeker.
Hey, lots of good things covered this past year THANKS to YOU. Let's do more starting this weekend.
And remember, radio fans -- it's better to be pissed off than pissed on.
Just ask the people who work for free or not at Cumulus.
Happy New Year! Follow me on Twitter
I was totally turned off by the way Mama Zwerling attacked you and Ray when you both were invited on the show to share your thoughts and opinions. So much for diversity on this station as it is totally right-wing, conservative driven. So, I will no longer listen to that wacky station with the control-freak matriarch.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Cumulus interns, I would ignore them as they will be gone soon. They are just imature and inexperienced nobodys.
So let's forget about the crazy people and leave them and 2011 behind as we enter 2012.
God, I can't wait to tune in to Len and Gene so I can hear some sanity and intelligence again.
Happy New Year to Rich and all the Former KGO listeners that are soon to be KKSF AM listeners. YAY!!
As a Bay Area native who moved to southern California just a few years ago and now up here for a week during the holidays, I have observed quite some change, much of it for the worse, on the Bay Area airwaves. Ironically, I found your blog yesterday and read several of your posts. For starters, KGO really sounds nothing like I remember it -- the quality of everything is currently so BAD and sounds so amateurish that I couldn't take it anymore. Some folks who don't know what they're doing have really screwed up a great radio station. Then I flipped the dial to the KCBS which I listened to quite often when I lived in the Bay Area, and was really impressed to find out that they are on FM too. Their overall production value has really improved since I listened last time -- I like the jingles, bumpers, quality of reporting -- I think overall the quality of KCBS is perhaps even better to that of KNX in Los Angeles, which I tune in to on a daily basis, especially when commuting. But too bad for KGO -- I expect an audience nosedive -- and with hardly any listeners that means they can charge less for advertising -- and with much less revenue coming in that means they won't really be making the big bucks like they used to. Does that make any business sense? I think not. Oh well...
ReplyDeleteFor anon poster @ 8:48: Here's the basic economics (using all made up numbers): Lets say that KGO was selling advertising at a rate of $10,000 a day, and spending $7000 a day to run the station, including talent, transmitters, real estate, etc. If Cumulus comes in and cuts the daily operating costs to $4000 a day by killing off premium talent salaries and consolidating studios, they'll still be ahead when revenue drops to $8,000 a day. They also have the synergy of national sales and content networks plus their Sweetjack cobranding (if you notice, all Cumulus stations have Sweetjack ads running 24/7). As has been said, these guys are in it strictly for the $$, quality of content -- technical or talent -- is of no concern as long as they're increasing their take and improving their operating "efficiency." Concern for collateral damage to culture or employee lives or those pesky listeners is not even tertiary.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened at KGO is just the beginning of the end. As Cumulus takes over more local market places, thousands of people will lose their jobs and homes. And Cumulus Execs and the Sharholders will get richer and richer as the 99% in the radio biz become poorer and poorer.
ReplyDeleteCumulus/KGO has an arrangement where interns on not being paid, except for some "Sweetjack" coupon stuff? Hey current and prospective interns: please don't get involved with Cumulus/KGO unless you have a "paid internship" which is only proper, even if it's minimum wage. Otherwise you are simply being USED. While corporate execs rake in millions for themselves, you are assigned to do various tasks around the station which should be fairly compensated. I have always believed in paid internships. They are just taking advantage of you because you think that a big time radio job is just around the corner. Being that Cumulus is so cheap, there will be no big time high paying job with them. I'd get involved with another company/broadcaster which at least provides some monetary compensation for all your hard work. And they are out there if you look.
ReplyDeleteAnd Rich-add haters of the Beane-Wolff-Fisher family who couldn't care less about Oakland,the A's home for a near half century. "V" on their asses!
ReplyDeleteI think fitz by himself is better than fitz and brooks as a team - much more interesting and less back slapping nonsense
ReplyDeleteYes....
ReplyDeleteKSCO
What to make of them? While I appreciate MZ for having a post-Dec. 1st KGO forum (and certainly he saw it as an opportunity for his station as well), it does seem like he and Mama Zwerling have owned that station for 20 years without moving it from amateur hour to the big leagues.
Are people getting paid there? Would they have any money for ex-KGO listeners or is it a pay-to-play deal? If you pass the Mama Zwerling "Get the hell off my Conservative Lawn" test, do you have to be a comfortably rich doctor with the free time and a yearning to have a show to speak your mind to be on? And then there was the incident of them yanking one of their shows post-9/11 because they thought the DJ wasn't being patriotic enough.
Anyway, these are some of the questions I have about the station. While MZ plays the "should we or shouldn't we" with the ex-KGO listeners, it seems Mama with the purse strings and the callers don't want anything contrary to their opinions. So, I'll give 910 a try next week.
Oh and Rich? If you still do your KSCO spot and show up in person, I might suggest a Trump-type toupee and a copy of his latest book under your arms. :)
Have a good New Year!!
And Tiernys jab at you for no press passes? lol,like Rusty and Kev and..well,that SF Gate Crew should have a "yellow" sports page.
ReplyDeleteAnd you forgive Bruce? I sure remember his rant at something you wrote, on KNBR..maybe his head wasnt right since he was co hosting with Raddy?.
December 30, 2011 10:19 AM -- you are so wrong. There are so many options now. So many ways to circumvent the corporate suits. What an exciting time in human history. Thank God for the Wattenburg's, the Taliafero's, the Zwerling's, Lieberman's and all the others who live in a wonderful country that allows us the freedom to express ourselves and find our own pathway. F@#$, the Suits. You don't have to buy anything from them and you don't have to invest anything with them.
ReplyDelete“Every problem contains within itself the seeds of its own solution.”
Since you do not bother with fact and do not mind smearing people for your own gain, so it will be done to you when the campaign against your sponsors kicks off in 2012. Happy New Years , cause 2012 will be miserable.
ReplyDeletewhy is everyone bent out of shape re what happened on ksco? that is great radio...and mama has tons of spunk for a 90 year old
ReplyDeletehey rich, will you also be delving into the increasing trend of voice tracking in major markets?
i understand (though didnt like) when it was done in tiny markets (how is a dj supposed to get started in the biz?) but in the top 10?
and rich, if you can, maybe you can talk gene or len in booking Rachel Stilwell, who wrote a brilliant paper about the conglomeration of the media back in 2006. she is now a pretty high powered entertainment atty (although she should be the chair of the fcc, imho)
here is a link to the article....its long, but well worth the read
http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/elr/vol26/iss3/1/
@9:48, looks like a solid economics term paper, except the Dickies overlooked one essential ingredient: Content is king, and crap is, well, crap. They also don't know the Bay Area: If a team is winning/interesting, the bandwagon fills up pretty fast. If the team is a loser, meh.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how Sweetjack-ass can succeed if not many are listening. And, when the ratings plummet, the advertisers will follow the winning talent to another station. Just like when #16 went to the Chiefs, many of our hearts were with too-old-Joe over the Niners – and payback was a bitch!
Lew Limp Dickey = Epic Fail
Always a lot of confusion, disinformation, and now paranoia, on this site. Wouldn't know where to start with trying to correct any of this, but let me attempt to at least dissuade you of the fear that everyone who posts here, and who strays slightly from the herd-speak, is an "intern" at KGO. Radio internships are pretty well controlled and monitored by the college that the intern attends. Interns in broadcasting are never paid. When you get paid in broadcasting, you're referred to as an "employee", not an intern. Maybe everybody is confusing this with the medical profession. The radio intern gets credit and a little hands-on experience. Isn't it even remotely possible that every so often someone might stray to this site who's not in lockstep with everybody else's opinion? And is it possible that they don't work for KGO? There's a certain grandiosity in thinking that anyone who disagrees with you has to be a shill. I posted here a couple weeks back, and the next guy up was sure that he detected (in my post) the writing style of Christine Craft! I'm not Christine Craft and I'm not an intern at KGO.
ReplyDeleteAnon poster@9:48 ... you have flat nailed it. I'm betting that the number is over $10k a day and $3.6 million a year. I'd estimate five or six times that amount. Probably in the top 20 - 30 in national billing. In 2010, WTOP in Washington, DC alone did $57-million. WCBS in New York about $49-million. KFI LA about $46. Several of the other top 10 billied $35-million plus.
ReplyDeleteThe next tier could well have included KGO, even if it made it to the Top 30 of national billers and still make $25-mill to $35-mill pre "blow up" by Cumulus. KGO has long been a cash cow in the market.
Anon poster@5:29 ...sounds like a Cumulus suit or a Cumulus attorney trying to smooth things over. But your slick words don't work, not in this day and age. So get with it. And pay up! Show some more respect for your interns! I simply can't stand cheap folks and I can't stand sleaze. It's unacceptable.
ReplyDelete5:29, when I was in college, to get credit for the internship, the internship had to provide some form of compensation.
ReplyDeleteThat's usually compensation of class credits or minimum wage if that. I've done it.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't compensation of class credits, it had to be some sort of financial compensation. Yes, minimum wage for work that was worth more than that, but compensation nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteHere ya go.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the area and the station, but mostly, it's freebie work for class credit.
Three of them. First, KGO Radio. Then, one from the mighty WGN in Chicago where former KGOer Gregg Jarret just got bounced out after not "fitting in" for morning drive after a couple of years.
KGO 810 - http://www.kgoam810.com/Article.asp?id=1670427&spid=31497
WGN
http://radio.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=radio&cdn=gadgets&tm=197&f=11&su=p504.6.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&st=11&zu=http%3A//www.wgnradio.com/about/internships/
And this from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Assoc.
http://radio.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=radio&cdn=gadgets&tm=89&f=11&su=p504.6.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&st=11&zu=http%3A//www.wi-broadcasters.org/wba/index.php/careers/college-corner/radio-internships/
KSCO has always been and will always be, "amateur night in the valley". Many of the shows and hosts on the air are on a "pay to play" basis. I don't think any of the ex-KGO hosts will ever work regularly for MZ - I can't see any of those folks paying cash money out of pocket for the glory of being on a low-rated radio station in the 89th-ranked Arbitron market. For conservative talk in that area, I listen to KION in Salinas. It may be full of syndicated programs, but at least it has a professional presentation and the owners don't ask you to donate to their PayPal account to the keep the station on-the-air. The other talk station I like is KFI. I listen to them on my computer and mobile device and it's a very contemporary talk format. It's not stodgy and full of old gasbags like the old KGO.
ReplyDeleteKSCO is in the 88th Arbitron rated market. While KGO in Dec. has a reported 4.1 share in the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz market ... KSCO has:
ReplyDeleteKSCO-AM – 0.0 0.0 – – Talk Zwerling
KOMY-AM - 0.0 0.0 - - Oldies Zwerling
Mon-Sun 6a.m. to Midnight 12+
The last time they had ratings was in 2009 when they had a 2.0 share. The market leader, KDON had a 10 share.
Today, they have no ratings.
Any wonder why?