Another "KGO 810", (as they call themselves now) news staffer, says it's a virtual hell in the newsroom. Management is working reporters and writers, producers, to death, some reporters are feeling ill and things are getting worse by the day.
More venom from a reporter, who like all, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal:
"We simply do not have enough staff.
Producers on all shifts are being. worked to the bone.....have no time to breathe.
24 hour news requires adequate staffing.
The newsroom equipment needs to be kept in working condition.....here engineers take days to fix equipment.
The news cars always seem to have dead batteries.....just as soon as we need them....not good for breaking news.
No lunches, no breaks....the pace is characteristic of 24 hour news cycles but little or no support from the news directors and especially Paul Hosley and his hatchet man, Jared Hart who is Ronn Owens' producer and Assistant Program Director who walks around and threatens employees like Mike Amatori that they are under the radar.
No communication between management and worker bees. You have to go into their office for continuous clarification.
In all my years in this business, (television and radio) I have never seen such total and utter confusion.
It is simply exhausting...and in clear violation of labor laws."
Meanwhile, how was your day?
*Follow me on Twitter
It is simply exhausting...and in clear violation of labor laws."
ReplyDeletethey are all union members....right?
they can file an immediate grievance and cannot face retribution...right?
they will then be given legal rep and cumulus can face heavy fines and penalties...right?
they should call a wildcat strike...post haste
shut down the faux kgo
Wow.
ReplyDeleteThat was just like my old job just before the company went bankrupt. I literally got an ulcer. I feel for them.
Ronn Owens and his producer will be out of work soon enough. Karma is a bitch, Ronn.
Shouldn't that say that he is threatening employees that they are ON someones radar?? Staying under the radar would be a good thing right about now.
ReplyDeleteCan't thank you enough Rich for these updates. Many of us enjoyed listening to the news personalities as well. Extend our warm regards to them and we're sorry they have to work like this. They don't deserve it. Hope they can land somewhere more positive to work soon. It must be an embarrassment for them to be part of such an unprofessional product being delivered on the radio.
ReplyDeleteI want information on the background of Jared Hart. Is he the same jerk who pled with the voice of treason not to take calls after the summary firings? Is it the same jerk who told Ronnnnn to take calls about cell phones instead of the community? Rich, tell us more about this Jared jerk please. The situation at KGO sounda horrible and it comes through on the voices of the anchors. Sad sad sad
ReplyDeleteRich.... You've made your point about KGO and we get it. But all of this hue and cry and finger pointing isn't going to change anything.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of like global warming....there's not a whole lot anyone can do. Things should have happened to change KGO awhile back, but they didn't.
So get 'mad as hell!' okay, I get that. But there are a lot more important problems in the media world than this just one in our great city.
Unfortunately, KGO's ratings were tanking and they had gotten somewhat slovenly and perhaps too comfortable for the last few years. Yes, they sounded familiar and comfortable, but at some point, a change needed to be made.
Yes, I agree, it's far from classy to do what Cumulus did and summarily fire a bunch of veterans, but this is a business. Yes, commercial radio is also supposed to serve the public, but it can't exist without revenue and revenue will eventually dry up if ratings continue to plummet.
Taking on KCBS as an all-news operation is a very tough chore and I don't see KGO making a huge dent in KCBS' dominance any time soon. Radio listeners in the bay area who want news have been relying on KCBS for years and their habits are pretty much set. KGO has some very good news people, and they'll give it their best shot, but it's going to be a tough, uphill climb.
News Director Paul Hosley is a good man, a solid pro, and has been through a lot in recent years at KGO. (You also remember he was KCBS' asst News Director awhile back?) Paul also deserves a chance. He's been put in a tough position. He hasn't bullied or threatened anyone, but he also has a tough job to do as the news director. Jared Hart is a bright young man who has been given an rare opportunity, but he's also been put in a very challenging spot.
And with all due respect to Mark Silverstein, Jared is a terrific producer, and Ronn Owens has made that quite clear as well.
I know you grew up listening to KGO as did a lot of people who read this blog did, and it's sad when an 'institution' in the industry goes through a traumatic and seemingly unfair change.
But this is the broadcasting business. It's not that much different than 'show business' and unfortunately, people get fired and laid off all the time in radio. It happens to virtually everyone, at least once at some time in their career.
So please lay off the folks who are left standing at KGO and give them a chance to see if they are able to keep the KGO 'brand' solid in the market. I think when the 'dust finally clears' that KGO will still always have a pretty solid reputation in the Bay Area media scene
All I've heard about Jared from Ronn is that he's about 27 or so, so I guess he's from that younger demographic that they are trying to attract. What his credentials are to be asst program director at that age, who knows? Hasn't even been of working age for very many years. Yes, he's the one Ronn talked over the situation with on Friday - more or less deferring to Jared to make the final call. Brian has been mentioning him a lot too as in "Jared and I were discussing this issue off the air and he thinks........" Ronn was doing some of that recently too, leading me to believe he wasn't as stunned as he claimed to be about the major changes at the station
ReplyDeleteKGO should be facing fines for this treatment of their works. No lunches and no breaks is against California labor laws.
ReplyDeleteI feel for the news department. It sounds like they'd never prepared for this move to the 24 hour news format. I believe Paul Hoseley/Cumulus wants KGO to fail. They want everything to be in the cheap.
Just like a pissing contest, KCBS took the bait and is running these promos that they're the only station for 24/7 news. Who f-ing cares? It's like when the competition jumps, the other says, how high? Just juvenile by management on KCBS's part to get involved. So so stupid!!!
ReplyDeleteSeeing as you gave him about three days to figure out the tone and content of his show before trying to make him into a punchline, why not blame Peter Finch for this "newsroom hell"?
ReplyDeleteWow 5:07. You must be an employee trying to make us believe it is just business and it will all work out OK. I'm not buying it. By the way, it's Mark Silverman, not Silverstein.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous from 5:07...It is QUITE obvious that you are a Cumulus hack. And you might be trying to sell the soap--but we are NOT buying it! "All this hue and cry won't make a difference?" Really.
ReplyDelete@5:07. What KGO Brand? They shit all over their brand when they fired all the talk show hosts.
ReplyDeleteFuck the new KGO.
as a long time purveyor of blogs and entertainment related sites, i can spot a plant a mile away, and 507 is a plant
ReplyDeleteand not even a good one
shoulda stopped before you got into the whole, "hes a great producer..." crap
there is no good biz model that says you should destroy the moral of your staff and work them to the bone
oh wait...there is
its called gecko economics 101 and has nothing to do with broadcasting, and everything to do with destroying a company so you can pick at its bones for change
@5:07, try this on for size:
ReplyDeleteSee, what you wrote doesn't mesh with my fantasy where Bay Area angel investors are lining up to help Mickey launch a new station.
They are doing this because no one comes into our town and creates so much pain and suffering – right before the Holidays – and gets away with it.
After Mickey sets up his new freedom of speech factory, he'll post a craigslist ad and the entire staff at the former KGO will walk out leaving nothing but dead air.
We'll then have a big party down at the ballpark where people 55-years and older will get first crack at bashing the living hell out of piñatas resembling those good mannerly southern boys from Atlanta tryin' so hard to make their mama proud.
For the grand finale, we'll stand arm in arm singing "San Francisco" while am 81-ft tall papier-mâché statue of the evil Dickey Brothers is set a fire.
Get it, yet? Oh, and it's just business.
Welcome to California – now go home.
San Francisco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2VS_l4ejc
Too bad AFTRA is so toothless anymore, but the workload and the wholesale overnight changing of working conditions for many staffers, without a change in compensation, needs union intervention. But perhaps the bankruptcy filing protects them from having to deal with previous union contract??? Either way, this does zero for morale and creates a toxic work environment.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy for people outside of the biz to say, "if you don't like it get another job". In this dwindling industry, other jobs are just not there or in very very short supply. How many stations need news readers, beat reporters, sportscasters and traffic anchors?
I have no ill will towards anyone on a personal level. I seriously doubt if anyone is (or can be) as malevolent as they come across to the KGO listeners.
ReplyDeleteManagement/Cumulus keeps saying "it's just business, it can't be helped. We know you want more news and that's the way it is.", I say: "You're right. It IS just business, and, direct from a few thousand listeners, you can also be fired. So, 'You're fired'" And that's the way it is, too.
@5:07pm was doing well reading straight from the Jared/Lowenstein/Copeland/Cumulus handbook until he decided to improvise. I bet the author is close in proximity to Jared "ain't got no" Hart. If the Luckoff dream becomes a reality, I hope Jared, Copie and Lowenstein are not invited on board.
ReplyDeleteCould 5:07 be Karel? Sounds like just what he's been saying both weekends he's been on. And of course he'd want the station to survive.
ReplyDelete5:07. So It sounds to me like Hosley & Jared perhaps need to spend a couple years in Bakersfield or Fresno to get their act together. This isn't the minor leagues boy, we don't give a shit about excuses. The news department stinks, personalities? Hell, they are news readers at best, and not very good at it.
ReplyDeleteI think there are about 3 union workers left at KGO, and they've been without a contract since Citadel took over (before Cumulus). The rest of the staff are strictly at-will and union-less.
ReplyDeleteI know this from experience: Jared Hart is a piece-of-shit little prick. Young, entitled, and clueless. Sleazebag to the fullest. Oh Rich, the stories I could tell about the oafy ginger.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many of the people who respond to this blog have actually ever worked on-air in the media. I have, and I have also been fired a few times, so I know how it feels. When I got into broadcasting many years ago, I knew that was part of the deal.
ReplyDeleteOne time I read about my demise on the bulletin board in the lunchroom of a radio station. The gutless GM didn't even have the balls to tell me in person I was getting the axe.
Another time I had a boss who was drunk at a company party which we were both attending and we were sitting down at a table alone. Suddenly he blurted out: "I got some bad news...they're firing your ass on Monday!"
And yet another time I was called into the GM's office and he told me, "Got some bad news for you. As you know, there were 13 people let go today, but you're actually 14th and last one on the list. Sorry pal! But the good news is...here's a severance check for 20 weeks because you worked here for 17 years and you had three weeks vacation pay coming! So you're one of the lucky ones! You get paid for the next four months!"
I don't know how many of you out there have had to go home and deal with your friends, your family, and your kids after something like this has happened, but in broadcasting, it's unfortunately part of the deal. People get fired, and it's usually not because they were doing a bad job. It could be poor ratings, a personality conflict with the boss, or even new ownership that wants to cut costs.
So please try to refrain from all of the whining! I've done it myself and it accomplishes NOTHING!
I know that there are good folks who still work at KGO and they will continue to work hard under sometimes difficult circumstances. Stop bashing them! They're workers, just trying to enjoy their careers and make a living.
I completely understand how frustrated listeners are with the changes....believe me...I've been frustrated myself after getting 'knocked out of the box' myself a few times and seeing formats change and popular personalities sent packing. But that's what has been happening in our profession since radio first started in the late 1920s.
Unfortunately, this country is going through some major upheaval. Deregulation has hurt more than just the broadcasting industry, and Congress and our government should be held accountable for letting this lax attitude allow businesses to throw people out of work and chip away at our middle class. This is cutting our own throats, because who's going to buy the services and products that these businesses sell
when we've got 25 percent unemployment?
And by the way...to the nit-wit who earlier called me a ''Cumulus plant,' for your information, I was let go by Cumulus myself when they took over another radio
station in the market. So I have no love lost for them either. But this is a business...and unfortunately they have a right to run their business in the manner that they have been allowed by our government.
So blame Congress, blame the president (It was Clinton of all people who signed into law the communications act of 1996 to his everlasting regret!) and blame yourselves for letting electing or not voting for people who helped to make this happen.
Unfortunately, those of us who have worked and have been fired before in broadcasting know that this has always been a 'dog-eat-dog'
profession. It shouldn't be, but we shouldn't have wars or dysfunctional relationships, or global warming, but people are very flawed.
Oh 5:07 you plant you. Obviously, you're not from the Bay Area. KGO's ratings were NOT plummeting. Furthermore, the new KGO is a mish mash of cold boring left overs. Anyone in their right mind can see hear that. So classless that fired hosts' voices still play! If you think this is something we'll get over, then you don't know the Bay Area. I won't care once the former hosts land somewhere else, but until then, we won't back down. Now toddle back to Georgia where you belong.
ReplyDeleteBull. We're working out the bugs. My bosses are keeping us informed. I've worked in far more stressful newsrooms here in the Bay Area, Metro Traffic as a case in point. Try working for Special Ed or the clowns at KPIX and tell me you have it tough. Are union contracts are intact and we make a good wage for this market. Try working for Bay City News or KRON.
ReplyDeleteWe expect more staff to be added as time goes on. Management trusts us to be adults and make editorial decisions.
Whoever feels they need to blast us in public at this tough transition time can try to find a gig at another station.
No, I'm not a manager. I miss Gene and Gil and John too. They are great guys, They have wished us well, not given more grist to the mill for this rather sad blogger who seems to have only one thing to write about.
By the way, it's interesting isn't it that the Chronicle isn't linking to this blog since the first story broke. They must think it isn't providing any worthwhile coverage.
As I read Anonymous at 5:07, for some reason I kept hearing Ronn Owens' voice.
ReplyDeleteTragic, an absolute tragedy of errors. How dare they misuse our wonderful news, traffic and ad (and humor!) people--who do they think they are? Shame on them!
ReplyDeleteIf they are breaking labor laws, I hope affected people are keeping logs and documentation--and file complaints. If they are this overworked, they will need our help to do that! ♥
I have a question and a comment.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Someone somewhere on this blog mentioned someone being thrown under the bus regarding Ronn & Mark S. - what is this about?
Comment: I am as annoyed as anyone with Ronn in general - the peevishness over protestors blocking roads, the cluelessness about what OWS "*wants*," his complacency, etc. (That said, he really is skilled as a talk show host.) But the idea that he would just walk off his job in solidarity with the fired hosts confounds me. Who would really do that? The fact is, Cumulus put him in a very awkward position by keeping only him out of all the major hosts, and (to be paranoid) one wonders if they think it might work well in their larger plan, i.e., KGO ultimately failing, partly due to all the animosity towards Ronn (which they have encouraged, and which listeners feel out of loyalty to the fired ones), leading to the whole bankrupcy idea someone here expressed...My point is, I just don't see how Ronn deserves all the hatred over keeping his job. Imagine sitting in that position that morning - would you really dis your bosses on the air? Or allowing the callers to express their fury towards the station? - it was too overwhelming to be in the station's interest. He didn't handle it in a way that satisfied loyal listeners, but *hatred*? That seems more properly directed at Cumulus.
I listened to Jared on the Dec. 2 show with Ronn where the changes were only discussed for the first 30 minutes of Ronn's show. I was not impressed. There seemed to be a lack of understanding of the profundity of the changes. As far as Ronn's comments on his show that day about the changes, I am still having difficulty wrapping my mind around them. After listening to him for so many years, I thought I knew his approach to topics, and his values. Dec. 2 it was like listening to a different person.
ReplyDeletefour more years MR. LEAKER lol GARY
ReplyDeletewhat a load...sounds like typical spoiled union workers who have to actually be on their toes for 8 hrs a day instead of the usual half-hour break here and there, nice long lunch, etc. Take a job in manual labor like ditch digger, farm worker, etc etc and then complain about tough working conditions, until then STFU you lousy whiners. (OMG, the ABSOLUTE HORROR of working in a newsroom, lol)
ReplyDeletedear 8:23 ..you are so full of yourself...probably young and think you know all about how things should be. Well surprise! There are significant penalties for not providing certain basics in an employment setting in California specifically and the United States generally.. You are about to find out.. With those attitudes, say just supposing if you were placed in a management position sent to do some dirty work for your employer..you would find yourself costing that employer lots of unnecessary expenditures and a ton of grief because of your ignorance..and find yourself unemployed in a very particular business..should be fun to watch. Pay no attention to this warning. You probably think it's cool for a company to ripoff and mislead the public about a charity drive also..and say..skim 20% of the funds for corporate gain..That could cost the employer their broadcast license..which in this case would have you whining all the way back to mama. pity.
ReplyDelete@ 8:23, you are obviously someone who actively opposes any kind of labor laws or worker's rights. Why are union worker's "spoiled" and "whiners"? They pay dues, are represented, and provide the model for better working conditions and pay for all of us indirectly. Evidently, you don't believe anyone should be protected from exploitation - we should all be out digging ditches and doing manual labor, regardless of age, physical ability, education, skills, and experience in other fields. I guess you'd also rather see our firefighters, teachers, nurses, and police out in the fields picking produce 16 hours a day too, since that is the only way you can define "real" work, although I doubt you'd care about working conditions there either. Sounds like you'd like to reinstate and slavery and child labor as well. We no longer live in the 19th century, @ 8:23, and breaks have become part of our labor laws that need to be adhered to like any other law, and usually don't include "nice long lunches". The next time you need emergency services, you might show a little gratitude for the dedicated public servants and other union workers who are able to provide those services with reliability and competence because their jobs are protected by unions. The next time your house catches on fire, I hope you're not disappointed that no one could get to it because they had to take jobs digging ditches for minimum wage instead. The next time we have a terrorist attack, I hope you're not disappointed that it couldn't be reported in a timely enough manner because the news was being provided by 9 year olds working part-time for $5.00 an hour. But since you sound like a "plant", I think we should weed you out and throw you back in the compost heap where you belong.
ReplyDeleteNo one can write faster than they talk. That's a simple fact. An understaffed newsroom means there are not enough people generating stuff to put on the air. Commercials fill time. Traffic and weather fills time (just ask KRON.) Repeating stories too often... taking phone calls from listeners... interviewing newsmakers live on the phone... all of that can fill the time, but it's all to the detriment of fresh, original, well-written and well-produced news reports that attract and hold listeners.
ReplyDeleteRemember the train wreck that was KPIX Radio? Westinghouse upper management thought they could beat KCBS in three months by having an anchor come in a half hour before his shift and generate four hours of content. They did not want to spend the money to hire enough people behind the scenes. The very talented on and off-air staff who was hired worked as hard as humanly possible. (I wasn't part of it but I watched it happen.) In the end, listeners voted and the station sunk without a ripple.
KGO radio is headed in the same direction. They already have a good news department that was capable of hourly newscasts and an occasional news hour but they are stretched too thin at the moment. You might think it would be easy to hire qualified people quickly but it's not. It's going to take a couple of months, at least, to expand the staff, even if management is ready to do so.
That's the situation now at KGO. Will enough people be hired to keep the news product competitive, and will it happen soon enough to keep the suits at corporate from deciding to go with syndicated talk? Given the company's history, I'm not hopeful, but it is still way too early to judge.
I'm perplexed. Usually when a company has a grand opening, of sorts, they pull out all the stops and put the best product on display to attract customers from the very first moment they're visible. So, why would a company, Cumulus, go cheap and hope we'll wait a few months for them to possibly pull it all together? By then they will have lost their customers, in this case listeners. Doesn't make sense and you really get the feeling they are just floundering, not really knowing what they're doing.
ReplyDelete9:36 PM
ReplyDeletetell your bosses that they shouldnt have interns pretending to be paid staffers
10:30, someone offered that maybe this is a ruse to eventually go to another format (national syndication?) and get an ok from the FCC? I didn't get all of the connections. If someone can explain, that would be great.
ReplyDeleteRonn bashing - please explain. (I'm not Ronn.)
If you're mad at Ronn because he took a digger (actually, a no show) when his buds were fired, great. If you're mad he didn't walk away from $1 million a year, you're in fantasy land.
Are you mad at Ronn b/c he supported one or two of the wars? That's diversity of opinion. Are you mad b/c he sometimes agrees with the Right? Again, more diversity of thought. You're mad b/c he rightly wonders what the "Occupy" movement is after? Welcome to adult common sense and reasoning. (Some want free tuiton, free jobs, move gov't spending, higher taxes, nirvana, cradle to grave socialism, etc.)
Has Ronn been "Phoning it in" for years? Yes, I get that feeling. I'm center right (you would probably think far right), but when Ronn is in DC and says to a Democratic politican, "The Right just wants to block Obama and be the party of 'No', they have no plan", that is simply laziness. Or ingrained liberalism? Paul Ryan has a plan. Tom Coburn has a plan. Ron Paul has a plan. There is the Penny plan. There have to be at least 5 budget plans, while Obama hasn't even submitted a budget. I believe that is why folks like myself often turn off the Mattress Uncle Matty Man, in favor of adult dialog with the likes of Gene Burns.
To Anonymous@December 13, 2011 11:29 AM:
ReplyDeleteI could care less about Ronn Owens. He has an iron clad contract that protected him. Great! We all should be so fortunate. Your comments regarding the Occupy movement is narrow and does not encompass the full meaning of the movement. You should be ashamed to marginalize the efforts of so many.
All the departments at KGO need to band together and collectively decide to not put up with lousy conditions and do what is right take time for lunch, take time for a break, do each job well. Yeah, some of it's gonna fall apart, but so what. cumulus will get what they deserve and they need to learn that they are dealing with good people not trained monkeys. They are going to keep asking for unreasonable time and effort until the peopel there take a stand.Screw Cumulus.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for Ronn that he is in one hell of a position. Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. However, he has to make a decision whether to be a part of the Cumulus way of thinking or the thinking of his colleuges. Seems he needs to step up to the microphone and tell us what is in his heart and brain on this fiasco. I don't think he has been honest with his listeners. probably he has been asked or forced to say things a certain way. But, when he comes back from his "vacation", he has a chance to make known what the real Ronn Owens is thinking. What will he do? I think he is having alot of pain inside and wants to really say something but he is chained up because he doesn't want to lose his nice $$ in his contract. I don't know, what do you think?
ReplyDeleteCumulus did these firings right before Christmas for a reason. Its a power play to show the remaining workers that they need to suck it up and do what they are told because the suits don't have a problem making you jobless during the holidays. This is so typical of the corporations that have a stranglehold over our country right now.
ReplyDeleteLife is hard everywhere - quit whining if you still have a job.
ReplyDeleteResponse to AnnieM @ 9:28 PM and all the responses to @5:07: HILARIOUS and on-point. 5:07 must really be a plant and a weak one at that! Just wanted to throw in my comments to all these posts to 5:07.
ReplyDeleteIf I can't listen to the former great KGO hosts, these blogs are totally entertaining in the meantime. But seriously, folks, let's rally on Thursday, the 15th and show Gene, John, Gil, Ray, Joannie and Dr. Wattenburg our support.
We all know who the writer of the piece that said it was all business, and Jared had been given a rare opportunity. CC? is still there. But she is anonymous, like me.
ReplyDelete@9:56pm you are right
ReplyDelete@9:56pm -- you are right.
ReplyDeleteand i heard Christine Craft's voice in the piece about Jared being given rare opportunity and how it was just business.
Is 9:am Karel?
ReplyDeleteI think 5:07pm is Christine Craft
ReplyDeleteAnon at 12;35 wrote: "...Your comments regarding the Occupy movement is [sic] narrow and does not encompass the full meaning of the movement. You should be ashamed to marginalize the efforts of so many."
ReplyDeleteRonn is right here. What are they after? What are their goals? Talk to 20 different people, get 14 different answers. Many revolve around a Free Lunch.
What is the Tea Party after? Smaller gov't, lower taxes, and a govt that follows the Constitution. Pretty simple. Eh?
For some clarification on the person with questions about the FCC. The feds don't interfere in owners programming decisions. They will fine you or theoretically revoke your license only if you continually make egregious screw-ups with your signal (drowning out other stations) or fail to maintain the proper paperwork.
ReplyDeleteYou can also be dinged for obscenity, however Howard Stern has gone down this road many, many times and that only leads to a fine. Or consider some of the vile things Michael Savage says, nobody has lost their license because this sociopathy is on their air.
KGO under Cumulus and under Citadel before them has done none of the things that would threaten its license.
for the record..I did not write the post about Jared Hart. ..and the great opportunity etc. I do not know Jared Hart..I've never met Jared Hart and until this week did not know OF Jared Hart. Jared Hart would tell you he's never met me.I had heard Ronn talk about his producer, Jared...but that's it. I'm just a fill-in host..as much fun as that is for me...I do not over-aggrandize my small role at KGO for all these years. I have always considered it..frosting on the cake o'life to be asked to host a radio show. ..I am also very unhappy that the only things I can pick up on my home radio in Sacramento at night areHannity and some fellow named Bob Wall syndie out of sportstalk 1140..I spent most of my life as a reporter so I like news..but I really like a strong mix of news and local talk.There I've said it. I remember when KCBS did talk and I was being interviewed about my book. One morning I spent with Jan Black and then over to Ronn. I couldn't decide which was the better interviewer..They were both stellar. In my perfect world there would be two competing big NEWSTALK stations ..with live and local everything. You may say I'm a dreamer..but I'm not the only one..wait a minute.
ReplyDeleteI've taken KGO off of my station choices for my car radio . Who wants to hear minimal headline-like news "coverage" on and on and on ....? Now let's jump over to sports , no weather, now traffic!!... here's a funny story .... but on the serious side: two hundred dead ...
ReplyDelete--WHAT A MESS!!!
What is supposed to keep me tuned in exactly???
The old KGO, it was like an ongoing conversation, you stay tuned to hear it all.
Ronn Owens got way too predictable probably five years ago. Softball commentator. I wasn't listening to him anyway.
I'll miss you Pat Thurston most of all!!
You don't have to miss Pat at all 11:47.. She's on at a better time of day now..for just as long...sat and sun 8 am to 11 am...I'll be listening too.
ReplyDeleteInsiders at KGO say that most but not all the staffers or on air talent are getting $15.00 an hour and most with no benefits. The highest paid is Ronn Owens and the rest are making much less and almost all have no contracts. Bruce MacGowan who used to work at KNBR radio owned by Cumilus then went to KGO but since Cumilus took over any former KNBR employees who were fired will most likely be fired again because of the old firings at KNBR.
ReplyDelete