Sorry, but the last time I even glanced at an Examiner was while riding BART and someone left a copy on the seat. Tabloid? I wouldn't even give it "insert" status, but I do sympathise with the old-timers.
*KGO leftovers: A reader caught it: The outright ripped-off "So and so at the 'editor's desk." That's a tag line that KCBS has been using for years and now KGO has stolen. The other night: "George Ramierez is at the editor's desk." Great, while you're at it, Mr. Hosely, why not move sports to 15 and 45.
*For the "Get over it crowd", (most of whom are interns for Cumulus), the fact is you have alienated an entire Bay Area. You have galvanized a sizable amount of people--men, lots of women, who are still stunned, pissed off and outright ANGRY that you stole away a good part of their creative heart and soul.
So, they vent. They thought the idea of some Grinch company invading their town and depriving them of listening to their favorite personality. And so, they have a forum, here, and on Facebook and Twitter, to ACT. And they will.
One more time: YES, I was an avid critic of the old KGO Radio. But even at its worst, the old KGO was far more listenable than most of your terrestrial outlets here in the city. KQED is gaining traction for a public outlet, (particularly news and the delightful "Forum" show with Michael Krasny), and KCBS, for all its repetition, still commands industry respect.
My issues with KGO were largely aimed at the news dept. I can't, (believed me, I've tried), listen to the insufferable Jennifer Jones-Lee. She's unbearable at best. Jon Bristow has a decent set of pipes and can read and ad-lib, but he's no day at the beach either.
The talk hosts were another story. I thought Ray Taliaferro was ready for retirement and that his time had come. Gene Burns was just too smart and gentlemanny to go forward, even though his program cried out a good dose of civility and thoughtful discourse, which in today's gimmick world is a no-no.
John Rothmann? Another civil, insightful, and bright guy in the night who provided a much-needed guide to politics, the Middle East, the Supreme Court, and just like that, he's gone. Sad. Damn bastards!
Bill Wattenburg was a congenial pain in the ass, but he was damn interesting and even funny at times. He had me. Now, we have some schmuck infatuated with ghosts and aliens with a fake name, "Spencer Hughes", who was lifted off the set of Mayberry MTV and is still bummed he can't get on Howard Stern.
Len Tillem, the "loyah? Priceless. Great move. Cut the neck off one of your most prized assets. How genius.
And then there's Ronn Owens, Mr. "there's an elephant in the room"-- a genuine sellout who left his soul out on a Sleeptrain mattress years ago. Ronn, who gets sage advice from his "trusted" "producer", some company hack named Jared Hart, a 20-something Mussolini-type who has apparently become the most hated person in the building.
Ronn, I'm not the only dude who thought you struck out mightily the day after. Fact is, you say you care, you say "we're all shocked" and then utter some bullshit about "how I'm so excited about the new format!?" Boy Ronn, did you really say that? Damn right you did. And dang, did you piss off a whole lot of people, including your friends, (minus the downstairs crowd at North Beach Restaurant.)
Ronn will chortle some second command on Thursday with one of his phony, impassioned mea culpas that will have all the authenticity of a fine wine at the Pinecrest lounge. Maybe he can bring Jarred into the studio again--that sure went over well.
Here's hoping he will hear the anger, the pissed-off tone of the crowd outside the comfort of the studio at 900 Front where an Occupy KGO rally is planned. And I can't wait to hear the "callers." Maybe Ronn should talk wine with Evan Goldstein after he's done with the twenty-minute opener on how he really cares.
*LUCKOFF: Yes, things are progressing on the Mickey Luckoff front. Luckoff is talking to a lot of people and trying his best to pull off a deal to either buy or lease out a frequency. He has lots of grease and I'm guessing he's gonna get a deal done. Somehow, some way. When something happens, or doesn't I'll be the first to let you know.
TO MY LOYAL READERS: Thanks for all the kind words and thoughts. The idea that you have a place to air your angst will always have a welcome sign. Keep it here for the latest.
*Follow me on Twitter
*Tips and E-mail: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com
Rich, thanks again for giving us who don't use Facebook or Twitter a place to keep up on what's happening. I along along with an untold number have been checking the blog everyday for all the lastest regarding all this.
ReplyDeleteThe Luckoff news is our greatest hope and excitement at the moment. Wouldn't it be great to have a spot right next door on the AM dial?!
Keep it coming and thanks again for all you're doing on this!
I just hope that there's a decent crowd and vocal crowd for the protest.
ReplyDeleteThank you again, Rich, for giving us the up-to-the-minute news on our favorite station, KGO. Your last blog was priceless especially, although every one is excellent. I come here first thing in the am instead of turning on KGO. Jennifer's nasally voice has finally forced me to turn off the "get ready for work" radio time slot.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good, good work!!
If I could take libertys- a big razzberry to Sunol Firestation 14 for allowing a poor dead car- killed deer-with only head and part torso to lay by the side of the road only feet from the stations entrance-for TWO weeks!
ReplyDeleteYeah you got a real purty station by a nice creek..
I, like so many, am very upset and disappointed. BUT I tried to remove emotion and did listen to the "new KGO" for a week..
ReplyDeleteThis is an example of the "unicultures" that are being created by large corporations. Limited viewpoints and media from very few sources, news, talk, music, etcc..we just get what they want to give us.
Im a middle of the road type guy, no axes to grind, and belive in fairness and COMMON SENSE! I dont want extemes of opinon running things! Anybody else out there? I listen and think about issuses as a scientest, facts facts facts, with emotions removed! I want answers that are REAL, regardless of weather I like the answers! I want truth!
KGO hosts, especially Gene, Jon, They were very intelligent critical thinkers who disected issues, and provided legitimate intelligent discussion. INTELLECTUALLY SATISFYING!
The majority of radio "talk shows" are right wing sindicated "infotainment" that does nothing but BITCH BITCH BITCH, and COMPLAIN COMPLAIN COMPLAIN! WAY too political, and just too biased and disingenuous.
As far as KGO surviving hosts go,,, Ronn obviously failed the ledership test. Honestly, I was very surprised at how he handeled the topic.. I thought he was smarter than that?
WTF was Ronn thinking trying to discuss cell phones and driving, (An Overly discussed topic anyway)when the BIGGEST NEWS GOING was what happened at KGO? He showed selfishness and lack of respect for the fired hosts, AND ESPECIALLY HIS LISTENERS!! people want loyality in their lives, He made me feel insignificant! If you want people to follow you, YOU MUST STAND FOR SOMETHING WHEN TIMES GET TUFF! Do the right thing, regarless of consequence!
KAREL, WHAT A DISASTER! He did the same, violated everthing he spews on his show, "corporatios bad, power to the people, time for change, etcc). He said, "thats just how radio business is done, no big deal" REALLY? Failure of the leadrship test!
Howabout saying, "this has always been done, and it has to stop" Just as he says with the "occupy" situation. He just takes whatever side works for him. He then complains that he had to cancel his Pat Vitucci seminar because of people wanting to disrupt it, sounds like occupy to me? He loves occupy, But he doesnt seem to think that is fair to voice opinion when its against him. He said sooo many times, how he needed his job, duh! But guess what, without an audience, no show for you!
KAREL is a sad case really, he has obvious self esteem issues, hes selfish, and just controls and talks over every caller.. Hes like a bipolor teenaged girl really.. Emotional roller coaster, moody, thinks hes always right, hangs up on callers, or pulls the "so what your saing is" type tactics to beat up on callers with an opposite opinion. Hes an intellectual midget at best, How does he have a show? Really?
The new guy at night , Huges, doesnt seem like a bad guy, but he is not interesting, and certainly cant handle the missing intelectual disscussions one on KGO.
Copeland, hes OK at times, but no suoerstar! He also burned the audience by not discussing the topic.. Im glad you can shut down public opinon Brian! NON LEADER!
So, I now have to listen to NPR for intellectual discussion, not all shows are good, but the only place right now there is legitimate intellectual disscussion.
I tried again to listen to the right wing radio, HORRIBLE! all negative BS. Even when there is a legitimate point made by the host, yes they do make sense at times, like savages "borders language culer". But it is all designed to piss people off to call in, just another "reality show" apeealing to extreme emotions.
So, yes, the corporatios are good, they arte bad, we need them, the provide jobs, but we are being turned into a "UNICULTURE" same crap.
I hope we can hear Jon, Bill, Gill and especially Gene again! My intellect is STARVING!
how refreshing it is to read your blogs. [brings to mind how i used to look forward in the same way to Herb Cain for his unique writing and before that, Count Marco in the 60's for his.]
ReplyDeletei am keeping a word doc. with your postings & their urls for e-z reference. that's how much i value what you have to say and i am hoping you are 'right on' about Luckoff. X (crossing my fingers)
Rich,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for all of your work on this. And, please keep it up.
The decision by Cumulus was very ill-advised and will have negative consequences for its bottom-line and for its karma. A person and a corporation have a choice about how to treat people: Cumulus executed its decision in the greatest possible MEAN manner and with a total disregard for the hosts who had given so much to the Bay Area and for all the loyal listeners of the Bay Area. In one blood-bath massacre Cumulus, you - Mr. Dickey -- made a complete mockery of the long-stated mantra "KGO-family." If they were going to make a change they could have executed it many many ways -- they chose the most cowardly, the most stereo-typically (horrific) corporate way - and the one that will earn them the worst karma.
As for Mr. Owenns, do not cry "cyper-bulling" to any of us. There are people who suffer devastating acts cyber-bulling. Do not flatter yourself that you are in that category. You are in the business to get feedback, but for the most important story KGO has ever encountered you too made a mockery of the word "KGO family" --- and who cares if the hosts were your friends: the important point is that they were intelligent hosts, beloved, thought-provoking and talented. You dissed them and us, the listeners totally. I can't imagine how you can look yourself in the mirror. The way forward is for you to resign, Mr. Owenss. You did not address any elephant in any room. And, this massacre is a lot bigger than your ego - it is a loss of a place for civil discourse in the Bay Area. Your lack of understanding of that and the way you spoke so patronizing of the hosts and to us the listeners is --it must be said -- an out an out disgrace.
So -- go Luckoff-- go - make it happen -- let us know how we can help -- get Gene and John and Len and Joannie and others I can't think of at this second --- BACK.
If any of the fired KGO hosts are reading this, besides everything else know this we feel so terrible for you. You and the Bay Area listening community deserves so much better treatment and treatment of respect.
Thank you - please keep the information and support coming!
ReplyDeleteI've had to pinch myself listening to Dr. Bill at 6am on KSCO after years at night. Today he did live spots for Pat Vittucci and NuPane so it appears advertisers will follow talent. A cute moment during today's show ocurred when the good Dr. said to a caller: Thank you for calling: KSCO eight te...oops, chuckle, ten eighty!!
ReplyDeleteBtw John Rothman on KSCO today at noon. It should be interesting. Thank God today's the last day as fill in for the not a genuine comedian dude. You know Ronnnnnnn Lowenstein must be dreading his return tomorrow...
I don't blame any of the hosts/reporters left at KGO for not discussing the "elephant in the room." Cumulus management are the worst of the worst. They are bullies and narcissists who would kick anyone to the curb for stepping out of their corporate line.
ReplyDeleteThe employees at KGO were completely blind-sided by this change and are just trying to roll with the punches, even more so than us listeners. Talk about culture shock. New format, new expectations, new shifts, new policies... And in an environment where the whole Bay Area is PO'd at you. Yuck. Talk about dismal morale.
Ronn has the most clout, but even he's probably just looking out for his family and his job. There are some things he could have done differently (like actually spend a whole show to discuss the KGO changes, not just 30mins), but he was probably confused and bewildered about what to do and had that corporate monkey in his studio pleading for the audience to keep listening.
The KGO switch was so disappointing for me. Cumulus and Lew Dickey and John Dickey can eat dirt. I'm not listening anymore (not even for a minute), but I don't wish KGO's employees any ill will. Even Ronn. And let's hope every one of KGO's reporters, anchors, and hosts will jump ship if Mickey Luckoff can launch a new station!
@Anon, 8:45am : Spot on post, I couldn't agree with you anymore. I'm starving for intellect too. I'm a talk radio junkie for almost 30 years, lean middle left, and just find CONservatibe talk unlistenable. KGO still has Karel, but I've tired of his schtick. That Stacey guys okay and I enjoy Pat Thurston, but I don't listen to talk that much on weekends. I work late nights, and drive a lot during the week and am starved for good talk radio. I've never been a Ronn Owens fan. How he's #1 all these years is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI'll say it again: GREAT BLOG THERE, RICH. KEEP IT UP!!!
"Ronn has the most clout, but even he's probably just looking out for his family and his job"
ReplyDeleteThe guy is rolling in dough, he has no integrity or he would have walked. It's all about the dollar for mattress boy.
Step ONE on the Ronn Owens road to forgiveness would be to FIRE Jarred Hart, since he came off as especially cruel with this "let's move on and talk about cell phone texting" comments.
ReplyDeleteThe hundreds of negative commnts on Ronn's facebook page says it all. He has done a good job of destroying what he called "his audience" loyalty.
Two weeks of protest is pretty significant. I can't believe it isn't making a dent in Atlanta.
ReplyDeleteI'm a realist, I don't expect all the departed hosts to be back on KGO, but here is the bare minimum it would take to get me to listen again. At least, put Burns back on Dining Around. Have Rothmann do 7-10 and Peter B. Collins from 10-1 a.m. (You want to do RedEye then, fine as long as it is live and with a better, more generalist host).
Ronn, you are a quisling. Neville Chamberlain couldn't have done better. (I'll pause while your wet-behind-the-ears producer looks up "quisling" and "Neville Chamberlain" in Wikipedia.)
ReplyDeleteYou are the only one who could have pulled off a coup. You could have told off Cumulus and resigned on the air. No one has to do a telethon for you. You've got your 30 pieces of silver. (Again, I'll pause for your benefit, Jared.) Who was going to stop you? No one from Cumulus knows how the technical stuff works, they're bean counters. They couldn't cut you off the air unless your engineer let them.
You have a chance to make this right on Thursday morning. Be a mensch. Make Richie eat his words.
What was with Diane Sawyer the other night while hosting the debates?
ReplyDeleteMedication?
Alcohol?
__________
I agree with everything you've said EXCEPT Jennifer Jones-Lee, who I happened to love listening to. She's a radio goddess IMHO and I wish her and Scott the best.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rich for keeping people informed.
ReplyDeleteI really miss the information and the quality of intellectual discourse that I enjoyed for so many years. Important local and national issues are not being discussed and the people are the losers.
As for Ronnnn and Jared, interesting. Ronn is the big salary and Jared is hid produced AND the station's assistant program director. So, does this arrangement give Ronn extra clout with management, or is Jared there to make sure Ronnn toes the line?
KLIV (in San Jose -- not that anybody actually *listens* to it) also uses "[name] at the Editor's Desk" (although KCBS used it first.
ReplyDeleteMy money says Alice is more likely to go bottoms-up than Live 105. The former frequency has had more format changes than the latter. Too bad Luckoff can't convert one of those Spanish-language FMs back into English-language talk.
11:41 It very likely was medication. She had been talking all week about a cough that she was fighting. In fact, she interviewed a couple of pharmacists while she was getting medication for that cough.
ReplyDeleteHow many watts is 860 AM?
ReplyDeleteHow many years is the 49ers contract? Could Mickey Luckoff get them to swtich stations? Bingo!!
BTW, is this what happened to KABC radio in L.A., KGO's sister station?
The reason I listened to KGO's news instead of KCBS was because they had the talk outside of commute hours. Now, that KGO is no different than KCBS, I'll listen to KCBS because it is done in a more professional manner.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the issues I've had with KGO have happened after Mickey Luckoff quit and that new program director decided to completely ruin the flow of both the KGO news and the talk shows with news breaks every 20 minutes to repeat the same headlines again and again.
Citadel was responsible for losing the listeners at first and now Cumulus decided that instead of going to what actually worked to blow up the part of the station that was good and replace it with something cheap to produce. Now, I won't listen to KNBR, KFOG, or The Bone anymore because they are owned by the evil DICKeys.
As a side note, too bad we can't get Jim Gabbert to fly his 727 full of anti-new KGO protesters to Cumulus's coporate headquaters in Atlanta and hold a protest there. Hell, I'd buy a ticket to Atlanta with others to protest right in front of the DICKeys' offices.
If anyone is interested, I will be tweeting live updates from the OccupyKGO protest. Follow us on Twitter@occupykgo
ReplyDeleteTheir are numerous comments about Ronn resigning and how much money has. If he resigns he will have broken his contract. After Cumulus's lawyers get done with him, he will not have any money left. It's not smart to break contracts with big corporations.
ReplyDeleteBravo! Bravo! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being honest and truthful. As Jack Nicholson said in "A Few Good Men" -- and we're paraphrasing here -- some people just can't handle the truth. Tough toe nails. The people who bitch the most are the ones who are being called out for their incompetence. They've been "outed."
Seems like the $10/hr or for school credit interns don't understand that if they were granted full-time status, they could be subjected to the same whims that the others have experienced. Someday, if they last that long in the biz, they will be subjected to the same sins and actions. Let's see how they feel then. Youth has a way of making one ignorant to life's "pleasures."
The Examiner has been meaningless since Hearst got rid of the paper. Remember that fat and disgusting oaf named Dave Burgin? As the editor-in-chief, Tubby Tundra tried to change that paper and failed. Anyway, he was only concerned about himself -- especially after he ate and aggravated himself into a stroke. I hear that his brilliant book ideas put a local publishing house out of business years ago. Not a surprise.
I'm sorry for those poor people who got laid off right before Christmas.
If this is how 2011 is ending, what the hell is in store for 2012? Oh I can't wait.
KTRB-AM 860 is 50,000 watts (like KGO and KCBS). During the daytime, it operates one tower (so it's non-directional). At night, it uses a 4-tower array to block it's signal to the east. It should still have a good signal 24/7 in the immediate Bay Area.
ReplyDeleteSee this link for coverage maps:
http://radio-locator.net/cgi-bin/finder?call=ktrb&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C
"After Cumulus's lawyers get done with him, he will not have any money left. It's not smart to break contracts with big corporations."
ReplyDeleteCumulus would be all too happy to tear up his contract, it would save them money. Mattress boy wouldn't be so smug right now if he hadn't had a contract in place. He'd be out on the steet with everyone else and will be when his contract is up
I can't stand Ronn Owens, but I feel it necessary to defend him a little here. I think he's a hack. I haven't listened to him much over the last few years. His vacation is always scheduled this time in December and I have no doubt (and knowing some people in the business), the topic of the firings was off limits. With the calls being screened, anyone issuing a complaint or wanting to talk about it was probably turned away. Just the way Cumulus has been handling the whole thing shows that they don't give a crap about the public view or giving a voice to those that have taken issue with the format change.
ReplyDeleteAs to Jennifer, the "all-news" format, and news coverage in general, once they got rid of their South Bay and East Bay bureaus, they ceased being a truly relevant news resource. I live in CoCo County - do you think I ever hear anything positive from our neck of the woods? If you're not is SF, Oakland or San Jose you don't really exist - unless it's a shooting, murder or some other bad news.
The instances of dead air is up. Sound bites are not loaded on time or at all. They fade out of the network news. Jennifer needs to increase her vocabulary and her pronunciation skills. Bristow could use some tutoring as well. And God save me from the ole's and yeehaws during the State Farm commercials. Classless and unprofessional.
They can't compete with KCBS, and they shouldn't. It's obvious that the bean counters at Cumulus did not run any type of comprehensive financial analysis on the format change. But if they used Fox researchers, I'm sure their graphs and charts will tell the story they want to sell. Of course, you can save a lot of money just regurgitating what you find at SFGate.com.
Cumulus might want Ronn to quit but they will never say it. And if he does quit (break his contract), Cumulus will want money. I hear KBEW 910 is rebranding and changing the callsign to KKSF. Somebody posted they have not firmed up most of their schedule except for Amstrong and Getty in the morning. It's a 10KW station that covers the Bay well.
ReplyDeleteRonn won't resign and throw away 2 million in pay the next 2 years. I hope he's not gambling again and pissing that $20k a week pay on NFL games.
ReplyDeleteI've always found R$nn to be way too egotistical and smarmy for my taste. That said, there is NO way the guy needed to resign. Hosely, the young twerp, and R$nn completely underestimated the response to the massacre. If I were R$nn, I'd fire Jared, because until that idiot deleted the first 240 comments on R$nn's FB page, all that had been expressed was disappointment. It's not until Jared thought that he could control what WE think and listen to did real anger rear it's ugly head. Hosely ought to lose his job for nothing more than being completely f-ing incompetent when it came to executing the changeover. I have very low expectations for R$nn's show tomorrow morning. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear a tepid apology followed by a diatribe at the listeners for lack of loyalty to the KGO brand. Just wait...
ReplyDeleteKGO may see a brief bump in ratings by switching to news; however, it will only be brief and then will continue in a state of free-fall because they are only "playing" news (kinda like when kids "pretend") and any new listeners will soon realize that KGO is not a real news station and will go elsewhere. Eventually, Cumulus will dump the news and go full-time syndication and KGO will lose any notion of being a local station. They will do that because that is how they operate. Look at a number of their other stations across the country.
ReplyDeleteKGO has sadly gone the way of the edsel...
I personally like reading the SF Examiner. A quick read to know what's going in SF, state, nation, and the world!
ReplyDeleteWhen this all news format blows up after a few months, why doesn't KGO do what KOIT does, and play Christmas music 24/7, but do it all year around, not just during the holiday season. If you're gonna go cheap, might as well go all in!!
ReplyDeleteDid they layoff Ken Garcia in the Examiner? I noticed he's not listed as a columnist anymore.
ReplyDelete