Several staffers I have contacted are worried about their own jobs. No one, obviously, will go on the record for fear of reprisal.
This account of the atmosphere inside the radio station is from a news staffer. The person spoke on condition of anonymity.
"The transition has been awful. The newsroom change was an afterthought. I love Paul, (Hosely, ND)--we all do--but there was no real thought to this. So far, the on-air product is so incredibly bad. They are understaffed for newsradio. There's little direction. Everybody's freaked. They moved all kinds of shifts around. Engineers that man the boards were swapped around so that whoever was on a new shift was unaware of the subtleties of that program."
And what's the atmosphere at the station like? "It's been really bad. And unfortunate. They should have scheduled practice runs. There's lots of angry e-mails. And the number of listeners calling the station to protest the format switch has overwhelmed the newsroom phone system. There have been threats too."
*Follow me on Twitter (@RichLieberman)
Rich, I hope no one goes bonkers at KGO!
ReplyDeleteWhat a clash of environments. When I worked at both the Golden Gate Avenue and front Street sites, it was true family with munificent. I was a NABET engineer and parties were often thrown after Arbitron published its quarterlies. The personalities were divergent but we all loved our jobs and station. Of course, KGO had real talent then: Dunbar and Wygant, Baxter and Jan Black, Owen Spann Bob trebor, Jazzbeau Collins, Art Finley, Russ Coughlin, Monty Stickles, Joe Starkey, Lou Hurley, Carl Haeberle, and the list goes on and on. What a shell it has become.
ReplyDeleteA tragedy really.
I feel really bad for the employees. KGO must have been such a fun place to work at one time. As a former Cumulus employee, I can say this isn't the first place they've trashed and thrashed. They really don't give a rip about their employees, their listeners, or their advertisers. Seems counter-intuitive, but their actions always speak for themselves. They blew up a great radio station (even though it did need some improvements) because it didn't fit their business model. They'll try for this pie-in-the-sky all-news powerhouse, but they'll get bored after a few months and move on to the next market on their list. Ratings will languish, they'll lay more people off, and eventually turn KGO into what KSFO is now. Cumulus really is among the worst-managed companies. May they rot in their own filth.
ReplyDeleteWhy couldn't this have happened at knbr istead?
ReplyDeletewishful thinking on my part..cumulussssss, the power of radiooooooooooooooooooo
12:23 pm really said it all. Those were the primary talents that made KGO a giant.
ReplyDeleteThreats of violence are out of line. Are there any voodoo or santeria witch doctors out there? How about sending a curse out to our good friends the "Dickies"? On a serious note, my condolensces go out the KGO staffers. The work environment must be horrible. You can hear the lack of enthusiasm in their voices.
ReplyDeleteWe had layoffs at my company a few weeks ago, 10% across the board dictate by corporate. No area untouched. 20 year employees let go. Result ? Productivity dropped off the charts, goals not met. Paranoia rampant. No more trust of management, more talented people bailed by themselves rather than wait for another round of layoffs. Now we're understaffed and having a hard time recruiting. Like KGO we are now a place people join only if they are unemployed and desperate.
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing. I'm pretty sure this isn't about format per se. They fired Ray Tal and replaced him with another talk radio host (Red Eye Radio ->Doug MyIntyre). In my humble opinion, that's the only show that will remain on KGO 13 months from now (or whenever Ronn's contract expires).
ReplyDeleteThink about how p1ssed we all are...but imagine if instead of "changing formats", they fired guys like John, Gene, Gil, Bill & Ray and brought in nothing by the b-list syndicated programs. They probably know that there'd be rioting in the streets. But my guess is that's where this is all headed. We'll all forget about KGO and just find other stations (KCBS, KQED...etc)...and a year or so from now, they'll let Ronn go and get rid of most of the remaining news staff and go for the Dennis Miller, Savage, Levin, Hannity, Rush type stuff. We'll all be gone, so all that will happen is a bunch of staunch conservatives will have another 50,000 watt station to listen to.
Honestly, it's impressive that KGO lasted this long with this format. I think it speaks to the quality of the hosts and guys like Mickey Luckoff.
A knee-jerk action all around. No thought put into it, of course. I've asked to see their "market research" that they did. I'll hold my breath for that ;-) I have written to Lew Dickey, written to 3 advertisers, and added my support to the various Facebook groups and put in a one-star review on Yelp. I'm doing whatever I can. They don't know what they've messed with.
ReplyDeleteI was asked by my son whether they're going to go the syndicate route if 24 news, traffic, sports and weather doesn't pan out. That could spell the end .... and you can never put humpty back together again.
ReplyDeleteSad, sad sad.
Someone should pull some money together and buy KGO from rotten Cumulus. I think I liked it better when ABC and later, Citadel, owned them.
ReplyDeleteTerrible. I have been listening to KGO Radio for over 40 years and now this. Maybe enough complaints to cumulus will work but after getting off the phone with them I doubt it. The people I talked to seemed very unconcerned and wanted to corral me to a "complaint line" very quickly so they wouldn't have to talk live with me.
ReplyDeleteShame on you cumulus. Bad move but it's all about the money isn't it?
breaking news...dont know if this is gonna be a regular slot, but tomorrow, dr bill is doing the 12-2 gig on ksco
ReplyDeletegotta hand it to the owner of that 2 bit station...he is using the debacle to attempt to make his mark on bay area radio
support the indies...death to corporate radio
I gave the new KGO a chance yesterday, just like the remaining hosts suggested. I was even thinking they might be putting together some serious news programming because of their connection to the Bay Citizen – but it was absolutely awful.
ReplyDeleteOne door closes, another opens: I've switched my dial to Green 960. I understand they are moving from the AM dial to HD in January, but I will try to follow it where ever it lands because it's a keeper.
And they've got a Stanford grad at their helm? What are they teaching there these days and is the tuition worth it?
ReplyDeleteSuch things tend to happen when you pretend that you listen to your listeners, and mess up the product.
ReplyDeleteGood move, Cumulus. Not.
Len Tillem is going to be starting a podcast according to his facebook page.
ReplyDeleteAlso remember to thank the advertisers who have pulled their ads. In fact I'll be dining at Burgermeister tonight.
KGO's actions and the resulting mood of remaining staff parallels what happened to another local entertainment company a few months ago. Many long-time employees were given the brush and the result was the remaining folks were looking over their shoulders, keeping their heads down and just coming to work and going home. No emotion. No passion. Just paranoia. Any fun that was at that place went right out the window that day. Ownership said the moves were made because things were getting stale and a change of direction was needed. Yeah, right. It's all about the buckaroos. The truth does hurt...and it hurt those who were escorted out of the building.
ReplyDeleteWhy do media conglomerates get to own more than one station in a marketplace? Not fair for competition and jobs. Sadly, things won't change. The one percent won't allow it. Meanwhile, good people have been forced out -- some may have wanted to leave, but some may have been hitting their professional stride and now have to find something new.
But the catch is trying to find the next brass ring. It's hard out there. If you don't know the right people and/or don't have the right background, you're *&^% out of luck. It will take longer to find work.
How many voice-over jobs are available? How many in-house corporate media jobs are for the taking?
If you're in the business, make sure you start a side business that you like and can turn to, just in case your current media/entertainment job goes sour. If you go out, try to depart on your terms, not theirs.
What a wonderful world we live in!
1:11 ..arbitron research is only shown legally ..to those who contract for it..so unless you want to cough up several thousand dollars a month..you'll not be seeing anything..
ReplyDeletethe overall numbers are readily accessible...if you are a member
www.allaccess.com
When does a new set of ratings come out? Obviously interested in what happens to their viewership and wonder when we'll first know.
ReplyDeleteBTW (KGO's new 1am show) "Red Eye Radio" will be changing hosts and format as of Jan 1. The new hosts currently host an all night trucking show. This should be good programming for Ray's old bunch of lefties & malcontents. Keep on Trucking on KGO. Seems Cumulus didn't like the current host.
ReplyDeleteI wrote to C Crane to thank them for pulling their ads. They responded:
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to contact our company. The radical change of the core staff at KGO has taken C. Crane by surprise also. We are as disappointed as you are. We have put our advertising relationship with KGO on hold until we can reflect and try and make sense of what happened. C. Crane loves to support and encourage good radio and credible hosts of all persuasions.
My god what a bunch of whiners. Life happens things change. Thankfully change is afoot at KGO. It needed to happen. Gradually would have been nice but hey that is business.
ReplyDeleteGuess what kids life is rough and the world is rough and if you do not perform or your role in the company does not fit for their move forward you will lose your job.
The KGO hosts did not perform or did not have a personal services contract like RO has. I wonder why no one else had a contract like that. If they had they would still be there.
Where is the precious union in this?
Changed happened there is a ton of people pissed off that talk about rally this or boycott that. But I do not hear one person saying pool the money and lets compete for it. Trust me you would lose as Cumulus has the money to drown it out the competition.
KGO is not going back. Get over it and move on. Go read a book go outside for a walk. But life happens and change happens. First lesson I learned in business school. The only constant in business is change!
Cumulus SUCKS. They'll do the "All News" for 6 months - then declare it a failure. Next - Satellite delivered right wing talk shows.
ReplyDeleteAnother step towards the death of AM...and eventually FM radio. Sad. VERY sad.
Too much griping and moaning. Guess what? Life is hard. My company just laid off a bunch of people. Sack up and find something else you can do.
ReplyDelete@ Mad as Hell: Everyone should give KGO a chance when Damon Bruce goes on...only he knows how to live it up!
ReplyDeleteIn the Bay Area, Arbitron releases ratings monthly. We should see the results of this by early February.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting to me is to hear from friends about how very angry they are about this. I cannot think of another radio station in this country that had such a feeling of "community". The only outrage from a similar change could probably be seen at a BBC Radio 4, or Radio New Zealand. The response has been amazing and reading comments on various pages from all over the world tells me that the true audience share of KGO was undercounted.
ReplyDeletewow....not satisfied with programming a syndicated show overnights, cumulus has shitcanned the creator of "red eye radio" doug macintyre, and the weekend host, marc germaine, and replaced them with even cheaper talents
ReplyDeletethis is one amazing company
Thank you for your updates on the situation at KGO. But I'm still at a loss of what we (former) listeners can do. I've e-mailed KGO, but what else is there??
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that Len Tillem is planning to do a podcast. But that would just mean I sit at home on this computer to listen. I miss hearing him in the car, kept me company on my commute, made me laugh. What I need is to hear him, and our beloved Gene, Gil too -- on the RADIO!
I'm "newsed out". I miss, and need, my talk radio. This is just devastating. Please continue to keep us posted Rich! Thanks.
I'VE WRITTEN THIS SEVERAL TIMES ON RICH'S BLOG, BUT I'M HOPING THAT PEOPLE WILL PAY ATTENTION THIS TIME AND READ THIS CAREFULLY...
ReplyDeleteThe reason companies such as Cumulus ar able to operate with impunity is because the Communications Act of 1996 passed in the Senate and was signed into law, by of all people, President Bill Clinton.
This allowed companies to buy more than one radio station per market and that has directly led to the increased numbers of syndicated programs, and a elimination of jobs for local broadcasters. Local programming, (especially in the smaller markets such as Fresno, Stockton, Redding, and Eureka) is now taking up many fewer hours on the air than ever before.
It's much cheaper to run shows like Rush Limbaugh than to pay a local talk show host to talk about important local issues.
This is one of the many reason why the US government needs to step in NOW and repudiate the communications act. Unfortunately, with all of the other problems in this country, that will not happen. So get used to more syndicated, out of town programming and less local news coverage,
more reliance on the wire services, fewer local voices, and fewer broadcasters on the air.
Major corporations want to make money first...and serve the public second. The FCC no longer has any power to tell them to honor their licenses. Those licenses are pretty much a joke now anyway. You can say just about anything you want on the air, short of threatening to kill someone, and the FCC will do NOTHING.
With our media shrinking, and more major corporate owned media out there than ever , is it any surprise then why this country is in trouble up to its ears!?
Peter Finch is awful. That playful tone in his voice gets to irritation level very quickly. No more KGO
ReplyDeleteThis is probably the reason Cumulus isn't worried about losing advertisers as it partners with Clear Channel to push its own version of Group On.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/business/media/clear-channel-and-cumulus-form-daily-deal-alliance.html
Clear Channel as you know has taken over Metro Traffic which does small ads at the end of each report, which you can expect will be promoting this Sweet Jack idea.
All News may make more sense to them, because it effectively allows you to build high cum (short burst of listening) rather than higher hourlies.
You have to also consider the possibility that Clear Channel and Cumulus are looking how to slice up the Bay Area market between them and maximize the value of low listenership AM properties that they can use as platforms for niche talk and specialty programs that they will stream through this new joint service.
I don't mention this as justification. Only to point out that they clearly have a longterm stratagy that they're working toward and yes that means they don't give a damn about indvidual radio stations which they'll change around as often as they like regardless of community feeling.
If you want a revolution, stop hassling the people doing the job of filling up the air time and call on Congress and the FCC to reform the way the public airways are sliced and diced.
I for one would love to see radio and TV seen as local entities only which can not as a whole be owned by anyone other than nonprofits or not for profits. Short of that, we leave in the world owned by the corporate elite you might as well get used to being a peasant.
Why do media conglomerates get to own more than one station in a marketplace? You need to ask the FCC about that. Oh, btw- It was that "B" movie actor Ronald Reagan, who de-regulated the FCC. Remember him?
ReplyDeleteNone of what has happened at KGO surprises me. What surprises me is this "deer in the headlights" shock voiced by some of the people posting to these threads. . . yeah, like what happened at KGO has never happened before. It is obvious to anyone who has kept abreast of this story (or at least it should be) all the Dickeys care about (aside from themselves) is making sure all who are invested in Cumulus get a sizable return on their investment. And that is it. End of story. They couldn't care less about any behind-the-scenes people (e.g. engineers, programmers, IT people, sales / marketing staff, etc. . . ), let alone the on-air personalities they let go last week. To these creeps, all employees at KGO are regarded as nothing more than commodities to be bought and sold. Nor could they care less about the "culture" of KGO. It is all market research, EXCEL spreadsheets, bottom lines and nothing else.
Such things tend to happen when you pretend that you listen to your listeners, and mess up the product?
No, such things happen when you de-regulate and industry that didn't need de-regulating in the first place. . . thus allowing for the creation of conditions within an industry that gives rise to the emergence of people like Lew Dickey and companies like Cumulus to exist (and thrive) in the first place.
Man, some of you people posting here need to get a clue.
This is to 2:22 AM. You need to get a clue. As several people have already brought up Ronald Reagan had nothing to do with the deregulation of the radio business. That happened under President Clinton when he signed the Telecom Act. But your story sounds cooler, blame Reagan. Uninformed idiot.
ReplyDeleteInteresting: Part 1
ReplyDeleteHow Cumulus Media's Purchase of Citadel Broadcasting Will Destroy Nashville Sports Radio - Again
published by etaylor on Fri, 04/01/2011 - 9:31pm
Cumulus Media officially announced the purchase of Citadel Broadcasting on March 9, 2011 with much of the attention coming today as we enter a new quarter. The announcement was not a surprise, but it is a dose of reality for sports-talk radio fans who have lived in Nashville since, at least, 2003. July of 2003 was the first time Cumulus came to town and took over a dominating format with extremely popular programming and turned it into a syndicated nightmare.
The victim of this nightmare was the 100,000-Watt blowtorch known as SuperTalk 99.7 WTN. The programming was a mix of political talk and sports. George Plaster, Willy Daunic, and Joe Biddle were a 4:00 P.M. staple that followed Dave Ramsey's closing line, "The only way to true financial peace is to follow the prince of peace, Christ Jesus." The show (Sports Night) owned the coveted 25-54 year-old male demographic. From Los Angeles to New York, every radio station formatted for talk wants that demographic (as well the $75,000+ household income) because they would actually have the buying power to afford the high-end advertisers that would spend high-end dollars for George Plaster to read a spot about how their business "Has gift wrapping, which is nice." If you look at overall ratings, Hip-Hop and Top 40 gets higher marks than sports-talk, but advertisers stray from those formats due to the listenership being majority teen audiences with no money or attention span. The theory behind advertising success with talk-formats is the fact that you have an audience that's vested in the programming and captive. Music from the radio is usually background noise in a car. Talk radio is more personal and the transition from programming to commercial breaks are less obvious, causing the listener to actually hear the ad rather than change the channel to find a song they like.
There were small changes to the on-air talent from 2000 to 2003, but Sports Night was an overall success. Well, until our buddies from the Atlanta Market, Michael and John Dickey came to town in overpriced suits, ostentatious cars, and over-valued educations. Plaster saw the writing on the wall and got out. He had hopes of joining 104.5 WGFX to help in the transition they were about to make from a tired Classic Rock format to the first 24-hour FM sports talk station in Nashville.
Interesting Part 2
ReplyDeleteOur buddies Mike and John Dickey were "radio goobs"(term coined by Rick and Bubba to describe radio suits who know nothing about radio) who appeared to be on a mission to keep George Plaster from being on air as well as display their enormous lack of knowledge about the Nashville market. They succeeded at both... well, until October of 2003 when Plaster was back on air at 104.5 The Zone.
The Zone has destroyed everything the Dickeys have thrown at it since it's inception. They tried an all-sports station with 106.7 The Fan. It was backed by ESPN. It failed miserably. The smartest move John and Mike Dickey made was giving up completely on sports all-together and changing the format of 106.7 The Fan to the "We have no talent and nothing else to offer" Top 40 format that plays Lady Gaga and other music you can hear on 200 other stations.
So, what does Cumulus do on April 1, 2011? They buy Citadel Broadcasting. Citadel owns 104.5 The Zone. Willy Daunic and Chad Withrow say that Plaster will be back on Monday. Ok, fine. He comes back on Monday. Check back when Plaster's contract expires. Will he and/or Cumulus renew the contract? I'm willing to bet the house that they will not. The Dickeys don't like George and George isn't baking cookies for the Dickeys anytime soon. If Plaster leaves, the dominos start to fall.
What about the other talent on The Zone? Whether you like all the talent or not, you more than likely listen and you more than likely listen the majority of your day. The Wake Up Zone is the morning drive-time show and was the first show to push Gerry House from his comfortable top spot high above the Arbitron ratings. Now that House is gone, the Wake Up Zone is untouchable. Sure, people complain that the show gets stale or that it's not as good as it was two or three years ago. Seven years of radio is a lot of material produce. If being a little stale is the worst thing about your show after seven years on air, then life is pretty good.
3 Hour Lunch is a show that has taken the station and Nashville market by storm. Midday day parts are normally filler between drive-time morning and drive-time afternoon programming. 3 Hour Lunch has actually been a huge surprise and extremely successful. Again, the entire cast of talent is not liked by everyone, but everyone listens. As popular as Jim Rome was in the same time slot, "'Lunch" has doubled his ratings.
With a Plaster departure, someone has to fill his empty seat. Someone at The Zone will feel they deserve it. Who gets it? Who knows. The main issue may not be who will replace Plaster, but who will be walking out behind him as other contracts expire. That's when Cumulus will begin to show their expertise in ignorance.
Instead of a great local show like 3 Hour Lunch, Cumulus will air something from ESPN. Canned, somewhat interesting, but nothing local. It costs money to pay three people to sit behind a mic and talk for each and every day part. Cumulus likes to pay one syndication rights fee and let whoever is sitting in a chair behind a mic a thousand miles away talk generally about a little bit of everything.
This is only my opinion, but be ready for change with the most popular radio station in Nashville. As in many walks of business, the only constant in radio is change. The only way to prevent change is to take the radio goobs' pocketbooks and throw them in the Cumberland River. Tell Cumulus you will no longer listen to the station or support any advertisers dumb enough to spend one penny with their company. Otherwise, be prepared to turn on the radio on the way home from work the week of the Third Saturday in October, UT-Florida, or Titans-Colts and hear some syndicated host talking about the Giants, Jets, Yankees, Raiders and any other team not within 500 miles of Nashville.
Local always wins. Always... or until Cumulus comes to town.
FYI guys, Arbitron releases data WEEKLY now that they've migrated to the digital Portable People Meter(PPM)methodology.
ReplyDeleteKGO, the perennial #1 station in this market dropped to 5th or 6th position or worse once PPM was adopted.
It's all about numbers. Listeners, dollars, debt service.
Anon 7:29, before we start calling people "idiot" please understand that there is a lot of confusion here between the Fairness Doctrine (which the Reagan FCC repealed in 1987, and when Congress passed to make it law Reagan vetoed it, again in 1987) and the Telecommunications Act which Clinton signed in 1966.
ReplyDeleteThat Peter Finch is a turd. I agree with some of the other posts. I tuned in for a minute going through the stations and they were making dick jokes. No kidding.
ReplyDeleteDr. Bill filling in on Afternoons 4-7 on KSCO 1080 Friday. They are taking every opportunity to put him on. I wouldn't be surprised if they were asking some of their regulars to take a day off now and again so they can get him on. Stay patient people... Other stations may reach out to some of these great talents...any of these hosts can originate a show from their living room. Some under performing station, perhaps smaller company owned, may seriously consider making a move with this much available audience that is crying out for local talk. All it takes is a few research studies by said smaller company to find a glaring hole in the market to fill with something that could be potentially competitive.
One more thing regarding 10:43AM's post regarding ratings... The PPM (portable people meter) measurement system is a JOKE. If you walked into a shopping center and they were playing K101, it registers YOU listen to K101. Not to mention, if you left it home and your kids listened to 94.9, it would give 94.9 the credit. its a piss poor measurement system. Many advertisers buy radio based on what they like (the smaller companies) while the biggies, buy mostly on ratings. 25-54 female is the money demo that everyone wants. Thankfully, in my radio market, which is not bay area, they use the old school diary method. Still a shitty measurement - they need a new phone polling system that measures weekly.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Awesome article dude! Thank you
ReplyDeleteso much, However I am going through issues with your RSS.
I don't understand why I am unable to join it. Is there anybody else having identical RSS issues? Anyone that knows the solution can you kindly respond? Thanx!!
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