Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wattenburg blasts Karel as 'Backstabber'; Latest KGO fallout


Bill Wattenburg, one of the KGO Radio talk hosts who was dismissed by Cumulus, took a pointed shot at Karel, the weekend talker, who survived, (for now) the Dec. 1 massacre.

Wattenburg, in an e-mail to me, referred to Karel as a "nasty mouth."

He wasn't through.

"He immediately back stabbed the very hosts who befriended him and kept him on the air for years.  It is never a good idea to get angry or wish a former employer bad luck. Just get even in a fair and competitive way if you want to stay in the business. I know how to do that.  My main concern is for the remaining KGO support staff who helped build and sustain the station for many years."

Wattenburg, like his other ex-colleagues, remains confident about the future.

"I have heard from hundreds of former KGO listeners all over the west coast and many stations. They know what is available that can be picked up as an instant talk radio audience with the former KGO Radio hosts who spent years building up the audience that KGO enjoyed. I heard from a very interesting one Monday. KSCO AM1080 in Santa Cruz.   It targets the Monterrey Peninsula -- but its signal just happens to cover the most profitable 60% of the Bay Area market. Their signal reaches the whole south bay, San Jose, Fremont, and Silicon Valley (a region with 1.6 million, according to the FCC). But they apparently have not exploited the enormous south bay audience."

*Speaking of Karel, his scheduled seminar, tonight, with KGO advertiser and financial guru, Pat Vatucci has been cancelled. Furthermore, Vatucci is considering pulling his ads from KGO, (like many others  have).

*Follow me on Twitter

86 comments:

  1. What about us in the East Bay?

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  2. KSCO Streams online too.

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  3. Re Wattenberg's comments: Although I cannot fathom what ultimate advantage Karel might have found in backstabbing the other hosts, I still have to think his actions had nothing to do with the firing of so many. Karel remained on KGO, yes, but he and the other "survivors" are on very shaky gound. Karel did not benefit from this.

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  4. Fervently hoping this can all be sorted out and (most importantly) that GOOD WILL triumphs...especially in this Holiday Season. Shawn Paula Kelson(San Diego)

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  5. I heard part of Karel this weekend but didn't hear anything negative. Could anyone shed some light on how Karel "back stabbed" the other hosts?

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  6. I am in Carmel. If KSCO picks up most if not all of the former KGO hosts it would be great! Rich, do you know what exactly Karel said? I heard him last weekend and do not know what Wattenberg is referencing. Then again, Karel vs Wattenberg is analogus to Copey vs Rich Lieberman. No love lost between those two

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  7. Elizabeth, stream it online.

    Interesting about Karel's seminar. The plot thickens...

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  8. I listened to Karel & Vatucci desperately plugging that seminar for an hour. Vatucci is a fraud. Anyone who can say social security is bankrupt shouldn't be dispensing financial advice

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    1. So-called "Social Security" is a Ponzi scheme.

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  9. I moved to South Carolina from Silicon Valley 3 yrs ago. I've been fortunate to be able to keep up w/ KGO via WIFI radio since. I am of course, as shocked and angry as anyone about the recent events. In the event KSCO picks up any/all of these great hosts, I hope they establish an internet presence as well, or I will still be out of luck. Whatever happens, they will all easily find new homes and, in the end, it will be KGO/Cumulus's loss.

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  10. Wattenburg always had it out for Karel. Karel would rant about nuclear plant safety or the Iraq war then Wattenburg would start his show by spending 30 minutes belittling Karel, questioning his qualifications etc.
    I heard the fist Karel show after the KGO carnage and I did not hear him disparage anyone. My guess is that some emailer told Wattenburg something and Dr. Bill's contempt for Karel is coming out now.

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  11. That Karel backstabbed his fellow KGO co-workers does not surprise me in the least. I mean, the man soaks his deceased partner's death for all the on-air material that it's worth, so it just goes to figure that the man has absolutely no scruples. He really is the bottom feeder of Bay area media.

    Wait...that's an insult to bottom feeders. Karel is the scum under the ocean floor over which the bottom feeders swim.

    -Wayne

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  12. Elizabeth, if you have the internet, just go to http://www.ksco.com/ and "click to listen live."

    Also, to the left of that link, you can download the podcast that featured Dr. Bill: "Saturday Special December 4th, 2011 - KGO Implodes! MZ talks with Mark Silverman, Brad Kava and Dr. Bill Wattenburg"

    This ain't over, folks.

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  13. Wattenburg has never liked Karel, as evidenced by his refusal to participate in the traditional host-to-host cross-promotion between shifts--and this is even before Karel's firing over the "Joe the Plumber" explosion.

    I think Karel is a rough, underinformed host, but it's also been my observation that Wattenburg has been nasty & unprofessional--and I never understood why even the good old guard of Mickey & Jack put up with it.

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  14. Lupe Hernandez, San FranciscoDecember 7, 2011 at 10:54 AM

    I did not listen to Karel's show, but did tune into Ronn Owens the Friday after, and was disappointed at the lack of solidarity to his former colleagues. What happened to them can, and likely will, happen to him. The only advantage Ronn has is that, unlike the ambush the others experienced, he can prepare for his departure.

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  15. I think Karel's "crime" is that he avoided the format change, by and large, and tried to move on to other topics. I heard no back-stabbing.

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  16. True, there has been anomosity between Karel and Dr. Bill, who could be referencing Karel in general terms, not necessarily in light of the massacre. Two different personalities. I find Karel interesting, but he is very self-centered, talks over everyone, and is not particularly well-informed. I love it when he refers to himself as a "celebrity." Dr. Bill, on the other hand, is quite bright, but he tends to have little patience with his callers. He verges on the brink of being rude and condescending. All of that being said, I miss Dr. Bill tremendously, as well as all the others, my favorites being Gene Burns and Gil Gross, and Len Tillem, and John Rothmann... heck! I desperately miss them all and it hasn't even been a week since the carnage.

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  17. Karel and Brian and other remaining hosts (except for Ronn) are recent hires compared to the others and don't have the same contracts. In other words they work "cheaper".

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  18. I wish KSCO would stream it's broadcast in higher quality than 32kpbs. It's painful to listen to that.

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  19. I know that there was friction between Wattenberg and Karel. But, like others, I didn't hear any disparaging comments on Karel's program last weekend.

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  20. As the radio dies, so does its jocks!

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  21. backstabbing...or towing the corporate line to try and hold onto a gig?

    very bad times in radio land...if i was a remaining host, i mightve done the same

    thing is, those with even a little intelligence would have realized that most of what karel was saying was absurd

    the hosts were fired for poor ratings but karel and the others were kept cuz they have good ratings in the correct demo? then why not pull the replacement thing and move all the scary talented weekend hosts to weekdays? why the massive format change?

    and opportunity missed....the doc doesnt like karel, karel doesnt like the doc...couldve been a great on air feud....on air feuds equal ratings

    in regards to ksco, seems that the good doc is doing a fill in shift today...12-2...kind of a test run

    the owner really doesnt have a budget and the majority of his programming is syndicated....but he has big hope for the future, now that kgo is done

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  22. The match of the yr- Wattenburg and Karel in a street fight. Dr. Bill with his bulldozer vs. Karel and his pink shawl. I am picking Dr. Bill to win. ..

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  23. Add me to others who listened to Karel and did not hear any backstabbing. On the contrary, he was very emotional when speaking of Gene Burns. Karel did give a fairly elaborate explanation of what was happening to the station's listenership and noted that his own numbers were decent for his time slot. I don't know if the latter is true or not. As anybody who listens knows, Karel and Dr. Bill are like oil and water. On the air, Karel in recent months had tried to bury the hatchet by supporting some of Wattenberg's views on natural gas and nuclear energy.

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  24. Karel did indeed make a smart remark over the weekend about how cool he thought is was that Bill was fired and that he was still working. I say good luck to Karel. He's got his own followers that enjoy his show. Great. But he didn't need to take a chicken$hit shot at Bill.

    Bill always spoke his mind when he thought other hosts were out of line on those topics he is well versed on. Several years ago Karel somehow morphed that criticism into Bill disliking gays. I never once heard Bill say anything derogatory about gays over the years. In fact he was always a "live and let live" kind of person on a range of topics from gay marriage to abortion. I recall Bill recounting his support of Karel to KGO management when Karel started out.

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  25. I am checking in from Pebble Beach. How delightful to hear Dr. Bill loud and clear today. Aside from a couple of technical glitches (commercial played while he was talking) and the old hag who keeps piping in hearing his voice has made my day!

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  26. I listened to Karel on Saturday and didn't hear him bash anyone at KGO. What I didn't like about what he said was that this mass firing of old time, beloved hosts was "normal," "just the way broadcasting is," etc. But I didn't hear him bash anyone. I didn't listen on Sunday, so I don't know about that. I know Karel has a big mouth and rants sometimes, but I really can't fathom why he would bash any of those hosts. I will listen to the Sunday archive show and see for myself.

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  27. Dr Bill Wattenburg discusses Radio http://bit.ly/KGOfallout right now 12-2pm(pst) Call 831-479-1080 listen live: http://bit.ly/KSCO1080!

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  28. There was little solidarity from any of the remaining hosts -- but what they did do is parrot some talking points, mainly: This is the way the radio business is, I never know when I'll be gone, etc. I thought Karel and Christine had more heart than to merely parrot talking points, but Ronn sounded like I would expect Ronn to sound. We all have our favorites -- mine were Len and Gene -- and some were not sad to hear that Bill was among those who were cut. Perhaps Bill can get a job in Japan promoting nuclear power. We can pick him up on Internet radio and all will be good again.

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  29. I don't listen to Karel, but completely discount anything that gasbag Wattenburg has to say.
    Karel probably didn't sufficiently acknowledge Bill's intelligence and lick his ass.
    Hey Bill: How's your prediction on the Fukishima disaster turning out?

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  30. I remember an entire hour where Wattenburg blasted Karel and pushed for him to be fired. A whole hour saying horrible things about another host! What employer would put up with such a thing? "Dr" Bill should have been fired at that time. It was after that that Karel no longer had to do the hand-off to Bill at the end of his show. I've always felt that Bill had something to do with Bernie's disaster, too.

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  31. Holy shit. Kay Swerling??

    What in the hell was that!!!!!

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  32. karel is nothing more than a tired, old, misinformed queen. he's rude to callers, talks over them and regularly hangs up on them in a hissy fit of rage. what a boob! i'd love to know what his education level is... regardless, it's sorely lacking for his position. and, one last note karel, stop it already with your deceased spouse. he's dead, gone, and i assume buried/cremated. we've grown weary of your dribble.

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  33. For snide, nasty and vindictive you just can't beat Dr. Bill. For self-dramatizing, self-promoting and shallow, you just can't beat Karel. Together they make quite a pair.

    KSCO carries Rush Limbaugh so I don't hold out much hope for them on my dial.

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  34. I agree with Anonymous at 12:43. Karel is an ignoramus, and can be discounted, but Bill W. is one of those pathetic beings who always seeks to edify themselves.

    As I've had time to think about it, of those guys who got the boot, I was only listening to Gene. Gil never did fill the mighty shoes of Pete Wilson; I sleep at night, so no Ray; I work, so rarely had a chance to listen to Len.

    I had cut way back on listening to KGO because of all the commercials. It was the format that chased me away, in addition to the lack of diversity of hosts.

    Even with all of this, I tried listening to KGO yesterday and Monday and it was very sad, indeed. I put a Book on Tape while doing my evening chores. Not a great substitution for Gene, but better than the crap that's offered at 810. I don't really want to listed to the same newscasts every 45 minutes at KCBS, so no radio.

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  35. Dr. Bill doesn't like Karel??? Shocking considering that he mentioned it many times on his program. It wasn't exactly a secret for us listeners.

    It was nice hearing Dr. Bill for an hour on KSCO. He can be a blowhard at times, but he does posess great sceintific and engineering knowledge that is lacking in most other talk show hosts. There aren't too many more fascinating people who are in the talk show host biz than Dr. Bill.

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    1. you're kidding, "DR??"b is an idiot. If he has a Doctorate, he bought it from a mail order school. He is wrong about everything. Just a shill for crony corps.

      he keeps blaming the Arabs for gas prices, instead of US oil companies. he is no better than Harold the Handyman regarding engineering knowledge.
      KGO should get some real knowledgeable people instead. he won't let anyone talk because he is afraid to be proven wrong. Good bye, Good riddance..

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  36. Any information about what happened to the Thanksgiving Charities money? Bernie Ward suggests that the funds may have been improperly handled.

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  37. "he's rude to callers, talks over them and regularly hangs up on them" applies at least as much to Dr. Bill as it does to Karel. The "World's Smartest Man" is also in the running for the "World's Biggest Ego."

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  38. Are Karel and Radnich two cockroaches seperated at birth? Radiation won't stop them..

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  39. Well I just got through listening to Bill Wattenburg these last two hours on KSCO and as you wouldl expect at least half of the show was spent talking about what went down at KGO.

    He tried to make a quasi- excuse for Ronn Owens' pitiful perfomance last thursday morning and also berated Karel (although not by name but everyone listening knew who he was talking about.)

    Looks like he's landed a gig there judging from the the audience, good luck to him there.

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  40. I have zero empathy for Dr. Bill, he is loaded and has a third wife who is 27 years younger then him. Life must be good.

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  41. ""Ronnnnnn Owens' new name is Runn.""

    Should be "Mattress Boy" for the awkward way he forces guests to help shill his Sleep Train account.

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  42. Well said, Anonymous at 1:29. Gene is the one I miss. Work during the day, sleep at night. Karel is fun for me, Dr. Bill hard to take. Too many commercials lately on KGO. Ultimately, though, I miss them all. Living alone, I depended on KGO for stimulating company. NPR is great for Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Terry Gross, but b-o-r-i-n-g for other shows like The Story and On Point. I am really missing my KGO friends.

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  43. I remember very specifically listening to Karel one night when he said he had made the decision to be pro nuclear power because of the arguments put forth by Dr. Bill. Karel even spoke about how his friends had thought he went to the "dark side". Karel also praised Dr. Bill's knowledge of energy issues and encouraged his listeners to check out his show.

    After Karel returned, and after the Fukushima accident, he said "You know how I know nuclear isn't safe, look at Fukushima that's how I know". He didn't offer an explanation for changing his mind but it would have been better for him to acknowledge what he had said before about Dr. Bill and his pro-nuclear position.

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  44. somebody made fun of an "old hag" at KSCO? without that 'OLD HAG" .. you wouldn't hear Bill at all on KSCO...Mr. Bill is actually older than the 'OLD HAG"... think about it.

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  45. Perhaps Bill is confused. I listened briefly to KSCO and heard him say how the callers to KSCO were smarter than the callers to the "biggie". Forgive him, remember he couldn't distinguish one Dickey from another.

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  46. They call it terrestrial radio for a reason. So that only the alien personalities run the airwaves. Maybe that won't last long if Tricky removes Karel (self-control? what self-control?). Wattenburg never helped himself, hence he was part of the chop block.

    Interesting Facebook statement by Owens. I bet I know who he was targeting most of all.

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  47. I can't help wondering what everyone expected Ronn to say about the departure of his associates. It may have sounded brutal, but what if he had said, "What an unfair thing to happen to my friends just ahead of the holidays!"? I've known Ronn long enough to suspect that's how he felt. To those who have never experienced this kind of bloodbath, I suspect many might have responded in a similar fashion as Ronn's response.

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  48. so many people attempted to listen to the live stream of wattenberg, that it crashed ksco's streaming server

    and will people stop looking at the minutiae about each host and look at the big picture about the corporatist end game?

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  49. Saturday, started off with a few sympathetic words, said he "wept" when he talked to Gene on Thurs...then quickly turned it around and made it about himself...how he went through the exact same thing..."people get fired. how many of you have gotten fired". How he got a one sentence legal notice and nothing else. "Standard protocol"

    More cheerleading for the company: "It's a business", "they were losing money" "they had to do something" "If you're over 54 and listening, you don't matter"... "I do well in the right kind of numbers" etc

    Soon got into shilling for a financial seminar. You'd think, given the mess his life is in, he'd be the last person to recommend anyone's services, but managed to make it personal, all the hardship he's gone through and how he's vowed to save for the future...

    Definitely taking the proverb about a crisis being an opportunity to heart.

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  50. Dr. Bill is a god.....Karel is a sparkling cupcake.
    blewis

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  51. wattenburg is self absorbed douche-bag. thankfully he's now only polluting the airwaves of the south bay instead of the entire west coast.
    Like the others who have posted here, I will miss Gene as I often listened to him on my drive home.
    The others, meh. Hopefully "mattress-boy" will get shit-canned fairly quickly.

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  52. This is so much harder than I thought. KGO was a constant in my life since I was 16. I'm 56 now. For some reason I thought it would always be there for me.

    I don't place any opinions on the people remaining at KGO.....they are just trying to keep their jobs and support their families. They must be running scared constantly. And right before the holidays...HEARTLESS!

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  53. I listened to the download of the guest appearance of Dr. Bill from Saturday from KSCO. Is that normal for them to get half or more of their callers having their own show at the station? Seemed a little clique-ish. Although I like the "Live and Local" angle and the guest from Ronn's show who crashed the KGO meeting. Brilliant!

    Just from a two hour listen, KSCO came across as not quite ready for the big time but they had charm. Traffic reports sounded like the DJ was navigating a mine field though. Some of the callers needed to get up to speed with their information too. But I enjoyed the local flava.

    My concern is I don't want to listen to a conservative station in disguise. What's the word on them? Yeah, they run Rush and have other conservative hosts. The show's host, who I think was the station owner, I think admitted to being a conservative and a free market guy. But are their any Liberal voices on that station? It's not that I'm against ALL conservative talk but would like some diversity and the vibe I kind of got was they were open about the labels and it may or may not have been a big deal.

    The idea of different ideologies co-existing on the same station without bashing the opposition and a place for rational discussion seems appealing. Is there a station like that out there?

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  54. All news??? All the time??? Hey Bevis, this sucks!!!

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  55. @4:14pm thank you for saying exactly what many of us think. Corporate suits just decimated the greatest local talk station in the history of the USA and instead of focusing on the catastrophe for the community, people come on here and have petty ass pissing contests about the individual hosts. Dr. Bill said as much on his show today when folks would call in to express how sad they were about KGO and then proceeded to bash individual hosts. Zzzzzzzzz

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  56. Could someone post what Ronn's comments were on facebook...think I burned out my computer connection to Facebook when this came down on Thursday....

    Thank you Rich...great coverage....

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  57. Out of all these people I will miss Lyn Tillman the most, good advise and very entertainning.

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  58. Karel talked shit about Dr. Bill? What a cocksucker.
    Damn Dr. Bill... you're pretty desperate to broadcast on a one lung station.

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  59. Who the heck cares about 'Dr Bill' or Karel anyway?

    They're a couple of whining prima-donnas who are more interested in being noticed and fawned over by the listeners than actually doing good radio.

    Neither one of them really has anything
    illuminating to add to broadcasting; just a lot of noise and nonsensical opinions that are out of the mainstream.

    I guess that's why people find them mildly entertaining and listen in once in awhile. I tried listening, but quickly wearied of their preening and posturing! I wasn't entertained or informed, but rather annoyed that such blowhards continue to plague our airwaves. Why do dysfunctional people make it in radio anyway...?
    I don't get it. I guess some listeners like to hear people who are even more messed up than themselves...it must be their guilty pleasure!

    Wattenberg is somewhat of a nut case, and Karel is just plain nutty! It doesn't surprise me though that they despise each other. Birds of a feather, (two 'edgy' talk show hosts) don't always flock together.

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  60. Where will Dr. Bill taut his investments in natural gas drilling now?

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  61. Just to be clear: KSCO is a very small-time station in Santa Cruz. It's nothing like KGO. It has very few advertisers, and several of the hosts -- who actually pay to appear on the air -- are peddling all kinds of quack medical products.

    Wattenburg is either uninformed or misrepresenting what KSCO is. It's like a single A baseball team compared with the SF Giants. It poses no threat to KGO or other large Bay Area stations. Really. Check out the station's website if you don't believe me.

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  62. From what I heard, Wattenberg and Karel got into a heated argument and he wanted to kick Karel's butt after one of those KGO Talk Show Host Town Hall Meetings. A conformation of this hearsay from the peanut gallery is appreciated. =))

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  63. Anyone have a link to the podcast of Dr. Bill's show on KSCO? Couldn't find anything on the station website. Would love to hear his version of what went down at KGO. Thanks.

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  64. The hate and vitriol expressed in many of the comments in this blog is surprising.

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  65. I remember Karel completely going off on KGO after he had been fired, and picked up by Green960 (?). Whatever channel he landed on after his KGO firing, that is probably the incident which Dr. Bill is referring to. I remember laughing out loud as Karel would blast the KGO management and staff.

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  66. Commenting on 12:05 AM. I don't know if it's true, but it would not surprise me. I can tell you this, Karel was at an event a few years ago in Los Angeles, with other (real) talk show hosts. He began making remarks and taunting one nationally known talk show host, this host had been on the same station as Karel in L.A. The host had to be restrained by several people from beating Karel to a bloody pulp. This host, like Wattenberg didn't suffer fools gladly, Karel should pick his targets better.

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  67. @3:40am, you must not be a regular reader. The hate and vitriol is not surprising at all. In fact it is very common even though the comments are moderated by Rich. Can you imagine the vitriol he must censor? I hear he wears a full body biohazzard suit while reading comments

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  68. Karel and Bill obviously are not pals..but Bill Wattenberg is not a homophobe..He has a live and let live attitude ..expressed many times over the years...doesn't feel his own marriage is in anyway threatened by gay marriage..or that the us military is threatened by having gay soldiers, officers etc. He most certainly wouldn't discriminate against a gay scientist..if the science was good.

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  69. Rich, thank you so much for your daily updates!! And I so appreciate everyone's comments. Dr. Bill will be a guest on KSCO again on Friday, Dec. 9, at 4:00pm. Also, the owner of the station said this morning that he invites all the discharged hosts of KGO to join his station (not exact quote). There will be an on-air round table discussion on Sat., Dec.10 from 10am to noon, hopefully including some of the fired folks.
    I was so happy to hear Dr. Bill yesterday! He'll be a regular soon. I hope KSCO can also acquire Len Tillem, John Rothman and Dining Around, the only others I would miss.
    Ronn is a a rational thinker and takes a more sensible view of issues than the more ratical left-wing hosts. That was Pete Wilson's position as well (no wonder he and Ronn were such good friends). Gil Gross was a poor replacement when we lost Pete!!

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  70. Karel is a 100% nut job fruitcake!

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  71. I listened to a bit of Brian subbing for Owens on Monday and that's been it for me for the week. I wasn't a big fan of the old KGO hosts and so while I regret the loss of a radio alternative, I'm discovering KQED FM is not so awful. Okay, it really is awful but it's better than nothing. KGO is nothing.

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  72. Dr. Bill is right on about Karel. An embarrassment to broadcasting. The problem, however, is not just with Karel. It's the 9 other "part time" broadcasters who, from New Jersey to Eugene let this tool flaunt his alternate lifestyle and his "take" on life. I have no problem with that. The lifestyle part I have no problem with -- but I am sick about hearing HOURS about his "boyfriend breakups", his "TV breakdowns", his financial drama, and his general rudeness to listeners. And that's just KGO. Listen to this moron talk on the other 9 stations ... and he talks about KGO! Thrashes Dr. Bill -- like, WTF? Who cares in Jersey, Monterey/Salinas (where he's on for only two hours a day) about Dr. Bill? As a longtime broadcaster, I can tell you ... NO ONE! "You people ... the listeners of KGO ... cost me $2000 to pay my bills because Pat Vitucci cancelled a seminar that I was to make $1000 plus $20 a head. YOU cost me at least $2000 ... now, I can't pay my mortgage again this month!" Hey, Karel ... guess what? You didn't do the forum for the gays of the Bay Area just because of a perceived "threat" by angry KGO listeners. You lost out for blaring your terms and conditions for the forum ON THE RADIO, you fool! How unprofessional! The only thing worse is the people that put you on the air for Per Inquiry spots that virtually pay you nothing ... like $2200 a month, according to you. And $2300 a month at KGO. Who advertises their salary OVER the AIR but YOU! No wonder you got fired by Robin at KFI and Mickey Luckoff at KGO. If you weren't in the Siberia of radio in the daypart you still, by miracle, occupy at KGO ... you'd be LONG GONE and, I predict from my sources that you soon will be. Count on it. I have GOOD RELIABLE contacts at KGO, too and you've about worn out your welcome and gotten on others last good nerve. $250 a show and you want us to feel sorry for your unprofessionalism? Give me a break. You may have 50,000 watts from KGO and a few 500 watters that put up with you, but you certainly don't have a "schtick" to count on ... unlike Dr. Bill who can -- like him or not -- dance circles around you. And has a great voice and many years of experience more than you'll ever have.

    I listen to you on your website and in San Luis Obispo, where Rich just did an interview this week ... and you have no numbers here and, frankly, the newspaper who wrote you up a year ago is right -- you suck.

    Thanks, Rich ... and you too, Dr. Bill.

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  73. Karel referred to the BCS this past weekend. He used the word "bowel" three times in about one minute... his idea of funny... I call it imappropriate "potty humor". Pretty sad.

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  74. Could KSCO also add a "repeater" to incrrease it's strength and signal coverAGE, TO COVER sf AND THE eAST bAY?

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  75. As for an FM "translator" -- there would need to be several to cover that territory IF one was available. In the 4th largest market, translators get real expensive with little power and it would be a nightmare. Broadcasters don't get them at Radio Shack ... there is a competitive licensing process that is very frequently cost-prohibitive.

    KSCO, as it is, is 10,000 watts daytime and 500 watts at night. In a "busy" market of so many stations ... KSCO is at the best it can be right now.

    The best way to hear them is on their Internet stream which covers the world ... online. It is also on your "smartphone" with an app like Tune-In Pro or others, running less than $5 to own.

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  76. Some of the comments here may look like "hater" rants against Karel ... but though I don't subscribe to his lifestyle, nor most of his ranting and raving about things he is not prepared to have dialogue or conversation about -- I "watch" him on his free U-Stream at times and on KGO as well.

    Why?

    To see the mass unprofessionalism of a so-called major market "personality" who never learned that being on the radio is about LISTENERS and what you do for them ... and with them.

    It's not about YOU, Karel. He is the most narcisstic, paranoid, insecure person on the air, who is rude, obnoxious and more. Yes, it is his right to cut off a listener who disagrees with his point. It may not be courteous, but even under the "but I have to move the show along" credo, you don't cut people off because the host disagrees with the caller, one after the other.

    Plus, to take off two days because Karel subjects his audience to "it was a highly emotional weekend at KGO, plus, I broke up with my current boyfriend who even gave me a diamond ring on Sunday. It was so sad. He's bi-polar."

    Man, that's got to play well in, say, Spokane, Eugene, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, suburban Atlanta and a couple other places.

    Also,Karel needs to be honest with himself. He can claim being self-syndicated ... give him that, despite the fact he has no business sense. (He had to cut his ticket prices one third because of lagging sales in Monterey and San Francisco, on a 50/50 deal with the two clubs.)

    He is only on the air for an hour in some markets, two hours in others and the full three hours in a couple of markets. Some broadcasters are at fault for tolerating his poor execution, non-professionalism, and his calling out his listeners whom he so depends.

    It's not his politics or "hatred". It's his ego and narcissism, promoting too much personal information and bashing a legendary radio station that is of no affect to other markets. And for hour after hour.

    I'm no "hater". This is about broadcast realism and Karel is a black eye to broadcasting as we know it.

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  77. Karel wants so much to sound like a gay brotha but in fact he is an old white queen who constantly has to bring up the death of his ex, the current status of his current partner and the life of his phucking animals....

    Please dont show up on Montery am radio

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  78. Too late. KRXA 540 ... 4-6 M-F. Horrid. You nailed it.

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  79. Wattenburg is a phoney,anyway you look at it. To have done all that he claims to have done would make him to be around 130 years old !

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    1. Hey douchebag...Wattenberg's resume is for real. Look it up. And what have you done for society, the Nation? Hmmm?

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  80. Karel is a complete moron and jerk off, Wattenberg is actually extremely intelligent you cannot take that away from him. Dr. Bill is astute on the topics he talks about and IF you really listen to him you will learn something, Karel is seriously mentally ill, he talks about his dead gay boyfriend like that absolves him from having to be logical and listen to different opinions. he hangs up on people lets them talk for 20 second then chimes in and speak over them, he is rude, ignorant and has serious issues. he should be locked up in a mental institution and be kept from normal people he is an old, fat, white guy the very people he rails against he thinks he is black and a woman, he says he was married to a woman he thinks he has done it all and knows everything. He was married on paper and was never serious just some ploy to be able to say I was married too!!! No, he was not he was acting. Like his pathetic life, acting good thing about age it affects all, he will be around about another two years then gone from radio, the net, and living out of a shopping cart with his crappy dogs. He will be wearing women's clothes and ranting to himself and straight people for attention, saying "I'm gay and I have rights, pay attention to me, you have any change"? People will run from him and his dogs will be barking and have dried fecal matter in their fur. He is mentally ill and the sick people in the media allow him to be on air. Karel is sick he will be walking the streets in a year or two rubbing peanut butter on his body screaming about old, white guys have guns and he is the messiah. His dogs will be eating leftovers given by people walking by and Karel will be eating out of garbage cans and screaming "This food is still good, why am' I still fat"? And wearing a pink boa stinking and filthy soaked with urine. he is be on Wilshire and Fairfax screaming "I'am Karel" while masturbating.

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  81. Wattenburg is right wing reactionary, and a crybaby. I'm not a big Karel fan but he never backstabbed anybody.

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