*KGO Radio rolled out a mish-mash new format Monday, with anchors frequently flubbing the new "KGO 810" moniker. At times, the old "KGO Radio News" was uttered, but that wasn't the only problems facing the talkers, (no pun intended) at 900 Front.
*Morning anchors Jennifer Jones-Lee and Jon Bristow sounded noticeably affected by the big brouhaha that shook the station last week. For starters, working earlier, (in the lovely 4AM hour), both read stories with a droll attitude and who could blame them.
The news contents were simply soft, repeated local stories; (a Redwood City shooting repeated ad nauseum) lots of innocuous chit-chat, ( a rather banal back-and-forth between Lee and sports reporter, Rich Walcoff on the 49ers) and an over-abundance of traffic and yes, commercial spots.
KCBS-lite? Hardly. KCBS has been doing news for over five decades. It's their brand. They're not in any ways perfect, much the same as 1010 WINS in NY and KNX in LA. But most Bay Area listeners that want news turn to 740 AM.
KGO has quite a battle on their hand as they launch this new format. A huge backlash over the mass blowout of talk hosts has invaded the internet, including several groups on Facebook and Twitter. It wasn't surprising not to hear Jones-Lee to plug the "KGO Facebook page." I wonder why.
Maybe nixing Facebook allowed Bristow and Jones-Lee to chat with a cooking guy around the 7: 35 AM time slot. This is your "new KGO 810", folks. A five-minute segment on how to make dressing. How COOOL! (Makes a Jan Wahl report on CBS sound like Charles Osgood). I can imagine some listeners stuck on the Bay Bridge screaming obscenities; of course, assuming anyone with a brain wanted to listen to KGO's new chef. (Wonder if he can make a Lou Dickey stew?)
That's your KGO Radio pedigree for the future. Innocuous chit-chat, cooking bits, extended, drawn-out overblown "special reports" that will give new meaning to fluff. Oh sure, if something of real news takes place, you'll get a lot of "team coverage", but all it really amounts to is silly putty provided by the usual suspects and a few other mutts that were corralled by Paul Hosely, the news director.
Seriously, can you imagine what it's going to sound like at 2 PM on a slow Monday? This is your TV dinner at 810 AM from 2 PM to Midnight. Maybe they'll buy another 40 phone lines for all those new phoners they'll be doing with zookeepers in Mountain View about the mountain lions.
Thank God for Stan Burford. The traffic guru at least sounds as if he knows that mostly all of this is gimmick-central. Traffic, weather, commercials, fluffy pieces galore, blah, blah, blah.
It's day one on the Embarcadero. I can hardly wait for more. Honey, can you call XM and see what we've been missing? Sure, dear.
*Follow me on Twitter
I saw Mr. Dickey on Bloomberg this morning touting his merger with Clear Channel to take on Pandora. What a greedy Bastard.
ReplyDeleteI'll ask it again. Why on earth do you let a former NETWORK NEWSCASTER with the name of Gil Gross go? You've got a bunch of nobodies running these 'casts while you had a genuine STAR to elevate this "new commitment to news". Oh yeah, maybe he wouldn't work for AFTRA base salary, or no one thought to retain him?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just that my expectations were so very, very low, but even despite my profound disappointment in the moves and the way they were handled - I thought the hosts over the weekend did a pretty good job handling the situation, considering the grenade that was dropped into their laps.
ReplyDeleteThe overnight syndicated show isn't terrible, and the fact that the host plays a bit of jazz and talks about many different topics and isn't a total right-wing shill or play sound effects helps, but he's no Ray Taliaferro.
And Spencer Hughes does live in the Bay Area and didn't go out of his way to antagonize his callers. So that's something.
Will I still listen? I'll give it a shot, maybe it will be one of those things I check in with now and then, just to make sure its still there.
When Ronn comes back from his 2 week 'vacation' does walk or pucker up?
ReplyDeleteI started listening to KGO in 1955 when I was 10 years old. I became hooked on KGO when Les Crane arrived around 1960. He was a controversial host for the radio powerhouse and a pioneer in the development of the radio talk shows.
ReplyDeleteDuring late night He introduced personalities like Enrico Banducci and interviewing such talents as Barbra Streisand and Professor Irwin Corey.
From the late 50's until now I've listen to KGO nonstop. I even became a major advertiser on the station. This is a terrible terrible mistake they made and I will never listen to KGO again. I'm hoping that the personalities get hired on another local station which should drive this new station to the number one in the Bay Area marketplace.
Darryl Bellach
Rich, you are so against change I would be surprised if you changed your underwear.
ReplyDeleteHoward Stern is looking a lot better these days. Kiss off KGO.
ReplyDeleteFunny how people freak out about change. KCBS was once a news and talk station too, but they went all news years back. Who remembers "news and more on 74?" They weren't always all news all day all night.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad people lost their jobs, but with change that happens new people got hired. It's part of life and how our ecomony works. I feel much worse for those that lost their jobs at places like Solyndra then those that lost their high paying jobs at KGO, most will get hired back or will do quite well in their retirements. I feel more for the back office and sales staff who don't make the big $$ that got forced out. I wouldn't be shocked to see some of the former KGO hosts end up at other Bay Area stations with all the changes.
This weekend, I researched both buying a new car and buying a satellite radio for my existing car. No decisions made on that yet, but it was absolutely spurred by "the new KGO."
ReplyDeleteAs long is Rothman is not on air, I'm good.
ReplyDeleteA couple of morning observations: Kelly without Regis is a dying show. Dull.
ReplyDeleteKRON: Do they save much using less lighting then the other channels? It like they broadcast in subHD because the cheapness of lower lighting of the news shows look softer,blurrier. Look at ch11-you can see every follicle on the heads of the anchors. KRON is like from a cave.
Longtime listeners like Daryl probably listened to KGO all around the clock, but seldom if ever purchased anything from its advertisers. Making him essentially "worthless" from a marketing standpoint.
ReplyDelete(Apologies if this isn't true Daryl. I'm just using you as a convenient example.)
What really should happen is that KGO should be recognized as a Bay Area institution, and the station placed into some kind of "trust". Is this going to happen? Probably not.
If I'm not mistaken, Daryl Bellach owned a hugh furniture company for a few decades, and advertised on KGO. Yes, I know you used him to make a point, but you sure used the wrong guy.
DeleteWhen I wanted to buy a mattress this year, this first place I went was Sleeptrain. I ended up with something from Macy's, but I went because of Ronn (whom I will never listen to again). You generalize without the facts. The sponsors didn't have a problem with KGO. Right wing corporate management wanted to get rid of LOCAL talk in the Bay Area. They have no history here, they have no connection, and they are not San Francisco. They destroyed a living entity, hosts and their audiences, who shared a lot of love and joy.
Two yeas ago I went to the KGO Allstars event and it was a blast seeing so many people in that audience rooting for their favorites, feeling like a community. That's what Cumulous destroyed. It will never happen again. It's like you say goodbye to your wife and kids, leave the house and go to work, return home and the lights are out, the furniture is gone and your wife and kids are nowhere to be found. You find out that all of this was perfectly legal, and why should you make a stink? You don't have to take care of the mortgage or the family anymore...there's plenty more money for you. Now you can Facebook or Tweet as much as you like. The world goes on. Doesn't it?
This is the face of greed and we are seeing what will become more and more obvious as time goes by. Everyone will be fragmented, living in their little pods, doing their social media on their little technological marvels, talking to no one at all, but we won't have the hassles of real life. Thank goodness.
I have not heard the nasal sceptic tank guy in a couple of days. Getting rid of his annoying promos might be the only positive to come out of this madness
ReplyDeleteChange is often uncomfortable. I know that. But, my reaction to the KGO's "change" isn't a desire to stay static. I was already annoyed by the thin reporting at KGO, so going to more news without staffing up doesn't feel right. Going with a syndicated night show is obnoxious, and KGO's decisions on who to keep seem to value low pay at the expense of quality. Except, for Ronn Ownens, of course. We all know Ronn has found J. Edgar Hoover's private files.
ReplyDelete810 is going off my preset in the car. Hell, I haven't used it in a long time, so what's the difference???
ReplyDeleteI don't think those of us who are upset are against change, but I for one am just confused. This reminds of a popular Chinese restaurant in L.A. that used to have a line out the door that decided to change to a sushi menu, when they were famous for their Chinese food. Why change when it was working?
ReplyDeleteKGO was NOT a failure! I find the new ratings counting system suspect, and from looking at the Former Listeners Facebook page, the average listener was NOT an ancient shut-in, but from all ages, incomes and races. (for the record, I am 35 years old)
KGO was a unique institution that reflected the uniqueness of the Bay Area.
So was Ronn's vacation planned or a last minute thing?
ReplyDeleteWill he pull a Radnich and demand Damon be gone by the time he returns?
(Sorry, gotta work Gary in there somewhere.)
Ronn has got to get out of there or lose all respect.
ReplyDelete"Longtime listeners like Daryl probably listened to KGO all around the clock, but seldom if ever purchased anything from its advertisers. Making him essentially "worthless" from a marketing standpoint. "
ReplyDeleteBetter yet, he purchased ad time and said he became a long time advertiser. I think that's even better, right? Money directly to KGO.
I have to think most advertising is "wasted" and most listeners don't immediately go out and buy that product. But when a situation arises where you suddenly NEED that new mattress or whatever, having that commercial fresh in your mind helps influence that purchase.
Most are going to turn a "blind" ear to Karel and Vitucci's seminar commercial BUT, if you happen to be one of those few thinking about your retirement lately, suddenly you have an interest when you hear that commercial. Otherwise, how often are you going to buy a mattress or donate a car?
Keep up the good work covering the KGO debacle, Rich!
ReplyDeleteDerp. I didn't see that Daryl was an advertiser. Mea culpa.
ReplyDeleteThe Bay Area is in mourning over the loss of its only source of intellect, insight and thought stimulation on commercial radio.
ReplyDeleteIt's times like this when you shine.
ReplyDeleteRonn's producer just wrote on FB that he's shut off comments because Ronn's on vacation and won't be reading them until he returns.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the KRON equation is-Radnich and Moore are put together over 120 years old..thats a lot of HD age spots. But still..
ReplyDeleteAll these posts are excellent. I second the last one @ 11:09 AM. I am very impressed by Rich's reporting. I, too, am former KGO listener. Tried to hear news this morning, but also noticed the subtle 'changes' and don't like it. The weekend hosts are not the same and am not interested. Like many other postings, I too, will change dial in car. Does anyone know how we can find the former hosts and stay in touch? I went through withdrawal pains on Saturday when I first heard the sad news. How do we find out where these hosts have gone so we can still listen to them? I am soooo bummed!
ReplyDeleteIn case you wondered how much boneheaded management types make:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rbr.com/radio/three-more-years-for-cumulus-executive-team.html
Oh, and before they pop the champagne on their new multimillion dollar salaries, they file for bankruptcy two weeks ago? Huh?
ReplyDeletehttp://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/headline_id=n23478
The "new" format is dreck. "All news" format is not new. Where is Len Tillem? I miss Gene and Gil, too, but during the time he was on Len provided a real service to the community with his informative, entertaining show--sorry to see him go.
ReplyDeleteLeft (or center left talk in Ronn's case) won't fit at Cumulus. It's a conservative company in a conservative business headquartered in a conservative part of the country. I honestly believe that's at least part of why all this happened.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Ronn will stick around. He'll go to management and they'll buy him out. Why would they want him around under these conditions?
I've been saying since the beginning that Lew Dickey would bring Red Eye Radio here as a cost savings move. They did just that.
That station went from being almost exclusively liberal to centrist or even center right in the blink of an eye. Pat Thurston and Karel are still there but you just bet their rhetoric will be throttled back if they want to be kept around.
Doncha miss the days of Paul Harvey? I would love it if Mickey Luckoff was put at the helm of a new station and reinvented the talk show format that he perfected to a tee!!! Even if it were done on the web, I would listen 24/7.
ReplyDeleteNo, quite a few of the stars do NOT have Facebook or Twitter pages thus there is really no way to stay in touch or hear what their plans are. I miss Lloyd.. he made me smile every day.
Aruuuuuuuuuuu
Here's something else: Considering what KGO is turning into, why should they keep KSFO around?
ReplyDeleteMy gut tells me they won't.
I miss Gil Gross at 2pm! I can't believe KGO is doing news at this hour. I am boycotting too. Currently I am listening to a health show on KPFA about feet. From Gil Gross to bunions, bone spurs, hammer toe and plantar fasciatis...damn you Lou Dickey!!!
ReplyDeleteJust heard a spot on KCBS that begins, "If you're a new listener to KCBS ..."
ReplyDeleteI get bored after a while by any all-news station, but at least KCBS still carries the network news feed at the top of the hour. It's incredible that KGO, in its shift to a mostly-news station, has dropped the ABC network news.
It will be interesting to check the next set of radio ratings to see how much KCBS and KQED go up and how much KGO goes down.
Lloyd said once that he lived here in Danville...don't know where, he didn't say. He was close to retirement age anyway. Most people don't know he had a long career with WOR channel 9 in New York. People all over the country used to watch him on cable in the seventies and eighties.
ReplyDeleteI hate to break the news to you, but I don't see Lew Dickey as someone likely to be intimidated by any of our threats. Most southerners look upon those of us who live out here as subhuman anyway.
ReplyDeleteI propose we all call Ron Owens "mattress boy" from now on. If you call KGO and get through use "mattress boy" to address him.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrible weekend to listen to KGO. Spencer Hughes talked for two hours about why fat people have no one to blame but themselves. He went on to describe his homemade salads (crushed walnuts, parmesan cheese), salmon burgers, you know the typical lunch people should be able to prepare when they are working. Then lambasted unemployed people for not landing jobs--he once got fired and a had new job that afternoon due to determination. That's the kind of crap you'd expect on right wing radio, not a station that is heard up and down the west coast with 80,000 watts. Yep -- KGO is off my preprogrammed list. KCBS, KQED just moved ahead.
ReplyDeleteI believe that after the all news format fails (and everyone knows it will), the conservative owners of Cumulus just might be inclined to switch the KSFO side of the shop over to KGO's bigger transmitters and blanket the western US with conservative radio.
ReplyDeleteI tried to tell Sleep Train I would no longer shop there after what happened at KGO. Their mailbox is full...
ReplyDeleteHit KGO where it will make a difference. Listen to find out sponsors. Contact them to say how opposed you are to the mass firing.
ReplyDeleteI wish someone could start up a new station with all the people fired.
I covered earthquakes, wars, Democratic uprisings,and communist take-overs, but I hate covering the demise of KGO radio in San Francisco, a beloved institution.
ReplyDeleteI worked for KGO for 9 years and its sister station KSFO for 14 years.
Now is the time to speak out, and I'll attach my name to my opinion. Read more here.
http://www.melaniemorgan.com/latest/2635-talking-about-kgo.html
Hey KGO, please, PLEASE hire that puker Jeff Bell away from KCBS. You guys deserve each other (and my ulterior motive is to make KCBS more listenable).
ReplyDeleteI thought what I heard over the weekend was better stuff than the all-news (except no top-of-hour ABC) on Monday. This "also ran" all news is the low payroll Kansas City Royals against the Yankees or Red Sox. JW
ReplyDeleteI had been moving away from KGO the commercials had become way too much. One call then 5-8 minutes of commercials.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all that, I still listened from time to time, especially Gene's monologues. No one could rip out a stem winder better than Gene.
I dunno, I suppose it could turn out fort the best if some one picks up those who were fired and fills the hole KGO left. A KGO without Ronn wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Are you related to Diedra Lieberman?
ReplyDeleteIn the space of five minutes, I heard Peter Finch read the "breast cancer" newscopy as "breast cancel", and "revered President" as "reverred"...
ReplyDeleteHe corrected himself in each instance, but REALLY!
Is he anxious, are they using a dot matrix printer with an exhausted printer ribbon, or are they trying to compete with The Onion and Saturday Night Live???
Given how much stumbling there has been and how many misfires there have been, I'm guessing it's the dot matrix printer and the cheap paper that Cumulus provided.
Oh, Boy. Now Finch is recycling the olive oil harvest story from Kim Foster's phone interview midday.
Great job by Finch and the news-rippers screwing up the American Licorice labor story. Completely missed the fact that the company "began operations on the West Coast in 1925."
Apparently Cumulus is not providing an internet connection for the newsroom either.
/s/ P.O.'ed in Walnut Creek
I was a loyal listener of 15 years and now will never listen to KGO again. I am so upset with what you have done to this station and the people who have made it great. Good luck to my longtime favorite hosts Gene and len and Dr. Dean too. I will miss you all very much.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Talkers.com:
ReplyDelete"Doug McIntyre’s 'Red Eye Radio' (midnight to 4:00 am) is a Cumulus Media Networks production and costs the station nothing....."
To quote Claude Rains from Casablanca, "Why I'm shocked, SHOCKED, to discover that there is opportunistic, self-serving, public-be-damned programming going on here!!!"
It's funny. State Farm has been warning us for many, many weeks about "a pet baboon with one robotic arm." Is it possible that Cumulus actually put that primate in charge of programming?
Here's the good news. If you heard Peter Finch reading the news today, Mike Amatori is going to have GOLD MINE of material from which he can produce side-splitting, host-ridiculing promos.
Hey. Everybody's mentioning Dunbar and Jarrett and Baxter... Let's give Harv Morgan and Ted Wygant some props!
I wonder if Cumulus has ever heard of the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame? I wonder if Hall of Fame status is an automatic disqualifier for prospective applicants.
On a related note, I wonder if Cumulus' moves last week will expedite the process of breaking ground for the new, now-ya-need-me-more-than-ever Bay Area Radio Hall of Shame...
I spoke with the Dickeys earlier today, and during idle chatter mentioned John Rothmann's extensive library of political tomes and biographies that used to be touted as part of his profile on KGO's website. Maybe I had a bad phone connection, but the only question that they asked me was, "What's a 'library'???"
Oh, hey, Newt Gingrich just called. He wanted to express his heart-felt appreciation for the programming changes.
Governor Brown issued an Open Letter to the people of California today.
http://www.jerrybrown.org/sites/default/files/GovernorsLetter12_5_11-1.pdf
Kind of important. Hasn't gotten any play on "the news."
Do you suppose that Gene or John might have spent an hour on that this evening? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh. We need to hear recycled stories repeated fourteen times over about bodies in the Merced River, olive harvesting and processing, Oaksterdam, giant black holes, teen sexting, and purse snatching in Walnut Creek from last Saturday.
You know, there might be one other positive development that could come out of this... since Dr. Bill has some free time on his hands for a while, perhaps he can develop a device to harness the energy from subterranean, spinning corpses. I mean, you KNOW that Ira Blue, Duane Garrett, Owen Spann, Pete Wilson, Jazzbeaux Collins, and many, many more have been turning over in their graves for the past four days.
/s/ P.O.'ed in Walnut Creek
Listening to Moneytalk with Bob Brinker yesterday (Sunday) an announcement was made saying that effective next Sunday the show from now on would be heard on KSFO 560. Brinker's web site also lists KSFO as the San Francisco station.
ReplyDeleteWhat passes for "news" on the new KGO is pretty pathetic. I tuned in a few times maybe because a trainwreck is fascinating. But sadly, this trainwreck wasn't fascinating--just amateurish.
ReplyDeleteI could see opinion, not reporting with the way Occupy demonstrators were being denigrated
With the bloodbath at KGO and with KKGN disappearing, I'm suffering withdrawal. I feel grief at the loss of KGO people who were like friends. I'm also very angry. This was like a mass execution. Bravo to the advertisers who pulled their advertising.
Congrats Mr. Liebermann, your $10 a year to "Go Daddy" has paid off big. Your blog has gotten you a little air time on some radio stations and a place for understandably upset KGO listeners to land.
ReplyDeleteI was one of those folks putting on the news today. I won't talk about what a challenge it is and what jerks critics are for picking apart the opening act, that is after all what critics do.
Instead let me talk about the listeners who got through to my desk, where I was running as fast as I could to make things work.
I'll use a couple of analogies, first that of a terrible car accident that wiped out half the family. For some callers I felt like the person breaking the news to the latest on a long list of people, first they express pain and shock then anger and finally a little sympathy realizing that I had survived the wreck. In those moments I was able to say thank you and we missed them too.
The second type of caller was more akin to the people going to Starbucks and screaming at the unfamiliar barrista because their favorite Pumpkin Latte was no longer on the menu. There was little I could do but give them the comment line and occasionally hang up. The saddest part was that it was easy to mix-up the two. One time I was able to talk to the same person again who called complaining about the jerk he had just talked to who was rude. I was able to interrupt and say "I'm sorry that was me you were talking to and I apologize."
The truth is Rich that you're the guy always angry about the fact that they don't make Pumpkin Lattes anymore not the kind fellow who recognizes that they're are car accidents and wants to know if everyone else is okay.
I know Gene and Gil and John and Llyod "Hello KGO!" Lindsey Young. I've worked with them and their producers, spoke with them in the break room no something about their family and what they do for fun. So by the way do the direct managers who are implementing the changes at the station as do the sales men and women and engineers and other folks who make a station work. My grief and survivor guilt is real.
For you this is just another hot topic to send people to a blog that outside of times like these isn't read by anyone except those of us in the business.
The tragedy is that you know good and well that your rabble rousing won't cause the people far above both me and my managers to change things back to the way "you" want them to be.
There aren't many jobs left in radio. Certainly not many on air, behind the scenes or even in sales. It's a pretty sad commentary that the only gig you can build is the one to tear down what's left standing. Being excited about being interviewed a couple of times is well, kinda sad.
I got one call from a real journalist at a local paper looking for a comment. He commiserated with me about the layoffs having seen many of his friends lose their jobs. I was happy to pass him on to my boss.
I don't expect you to leave a tip in the tip jar.
Next please!
@Melanie: You're one of the most hateful, divisive people I heard on local radio.
ReplyDeleteI have no sympathy that Cumulus/Citadel fired you. I just wished you had shown some concern for those less fortunate that you'd like us to express for the right-wing hosts that were canned
Look everyone--it is bottom line. The fcc rule that used not allow a company to own more then one station in a market needs to come back. Used to be only one am and one fm. Till the old KGO comes back i listne to sirious and kged.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to see such wholesale changes. Yes, change is often difficult, but done gradually works best.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss Gene Burns, Len Tillem and possibly John Rothmann.
-I'll not miss Gil Gross. Gawd, if ever there was a person "full of himself" it was Gil Gross.
So the 0.0001% of $$$$$$ got to KGO810 to eliminate talk show hosts who are highly educated, well-read, concerned over the fate of the United States and the rest of the world, thoughtful, interesting, know how to draw out the callers to make the program worthwhile and are courteous to callers.
ReplyDeleteWhen you dived/dove for dollars, you raced to the bottom...a heady Rusch.
Being able to listen to the direct broadcast KGO810 in the Antelope Valley was a real challenge. The only way to get consistent reception after the local electric utility, through multiple power outages, fried my C Crane WiFi radio, was to listen on line. As such I no longer had the privilege of setting a time to shut off, in case I fell off to sleep as the time approached 1:00 a.m. If I have to forage for nourishment by computer, there is a wide world of stimulating broadcasting out of KGO810's Fermat box.
I've always thought that KGO Newstalk represents what San Francisco and America was all about. Ordinary people actually discussing issues over the radio with the hosts. It was refreshing. I find it rather suspicious that the firing came right after the radio hosts discussed on the way the authorities handled the Occupy San Francisco. Pressure from major corporations?
ReplyDeleteDarryl Bellach is an idiot...
ReplyDelete