Where do we start?
KGO, or better yet, KGOne, as I like to call 'em, is the joke of the local radio scene. People in and out of the biz are stunned at just how bad they've become How bad? Rumors abound that this charade of a radio station is being destroyed on purpose as to make way for Cumulitus to sell it on the cheap, (doubtful), but how bad is bad? Universal scorn, internal angst, vets telling me "I never thought I'd miss Citadel." Lovely. And those ratings were just divine, weren't they? Time for Mattress man to mention Jared's name about 3 more times in the first hour.
*KRON: Worse and getting worser. My question: How do the a-holes running this station get away with all this crap? Hello, AFTRA-SF, are you there? There appears to be a MAJOR problem. I have people telling me that the shoutmeisters and BADGERS in management have people; anchors, reporters, producers, news personnel leaving offices in tears. Some folks have begun drinking to tame the endless harangues. Great way to run a TV station, but hey, it's KRON, right?
*KNBR: I stopped listening. I'll just glance every now and then to peek at the Razor, but between the geezer and his betting fool, Shitz and Brooks, the morning frat boys, and the bizarro, out-of-place broad, I'm done. They're part of the "KGOne family." Great, birds of a feather...
*95.7 "THE GAME": DOA. Psst, NOBODY IS LISTENING. Sorry, but an 0.8?
*KGO-TV: Kevin Keeshan has left the building for cozy NY--that should send a signal to everybody who says that "SF is where everyone wants to live." Sure. Keeshan was so fast to get out of KGO-TV he took his duffel bag to the party at Grumpy's. And a few of his favorite anchors, (the ones that were quick to update their resumes), are already looking for work, just in case.
*KTVU: You'd think the #1 boys and girls would be happy across the bay, but there's a lot of tension. And it shows on the screen. Kraig Debro is gone. Mystery begun. Lots of "meetings" and disgust in the newsroom. Oh, how happy days.
*KNTV, (NBC BAY AREA): If it weren't for the Olympics and the expected ratings blue chips, there'd be a ton of movement here at the Southbay NBC O and O. Nobody is watching, still. And the news director is not loved by many. And although I'm a big Raj Mathai fan, that move hasn't moved the needle.
*KCBS: Everybody's happy...for now. But you're beginning to remind people that you ain't the West Coast 1010 WINS. Way too many repeat stories. You need to freshen up.
*RONN OWENS: He's counting down the days. The demeanor is FLAT. The tone is FLAT. He's FLAT. Have you listened? You can hear IT in his voice. Maybe the Temperpedic needs an upgrade.
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*Tips/Inter-office e-mails: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com (All confidentiality assured)
KCBS--all serious all the time (except John Madden) and repeats all day long. Very monotonous. No reason to listen to more than a few minutes a day, if even that. KSRO, KKSF etc. have news updates at the top and bottom of the hours. That's enough to catch up and it is usually the same headline stories you hear on KCBS repeated over and over. If I'm not on the road, I don't need the traffic. If I am on the road, they only do a couple of trouble spots at a time, so it usually doesn't tell me what's slowing me down.
ReplyDeleteOutside of KQED, where is there a radio station where you can get interesting, informative, credible, intelligently presented
ReplyDeleteinformation? I remember up until the mid 1990s, this used to be one of if not the best radio market in the country.
Think of the stations we had and the people you could hear! KCBS with Dave McElhattan, KGO with Jim Dunbar...the Raiders and Warriors with Bill King, the Giants and 49ers with Lon Simmons, Dr Don Rose on KFRC, Tom Donohue on KSAN-FM....Don Sherwood and Carter Blakemore Smith on KSFO....
Who do we have now....Sarah and no name? Murph and Mack?
stations that carry L bloviating conservative loudmouth know-it-alls such as Limbaugh and Hannity instead of local announcers? Other operations who hire sniveling apologists for big business like Melanie Morgand and Brian Suss-pool!
No wonder local radio is circling the toilet bowl!
I actually like KCBS. I don't think they expect anyone to listed for hours on end. Go to (the old KGO I gues ) for that. Even NPR All Things Considered repeats the news. I listen in the morning for about 45 minutes while I dress and then it repeats for the cat tuning in for that hour and so on. Give me the top local news, a little analysis, some Dave Ross here & and there, traffic and weather together and sports at 15 & 45 and I'm good for that hour.
ReplyDeleteWhile I hate Clear Channel and hate the way they basically killed smooth jazz and KKSF along with it. I'm a "real" or traditional jazz fan and know the difference between Miles and Braun (KCSM and KKSF)- but smooth jazz served a purpose. Straight ahead jazz I have to think and there are certainly time for that and I enjoy it. Smooth jazz is well you don't have to think to listen to it and serves as good background music for especially office work. That being said, I kinda like the Oldies 103.7. They play a nice mix of classic rock and a little Motown. I find my self listening for more than a few minutes per day- and I'm not target demo for that station.
As I had once commented (and I was told this by someone who works in TV here in the bay area), the bay area market is no longer the be-all and end-all that it once was. There was a time when talented TV and radio people all across the country would slit their mother's throat to work in this market. Those days are, for the most part, long gone.
ReplyDeleteRich... I wish you would allow us to thumbs up or thumbs down comments. Thumbs up to 1603 26 Jan
ReplyDelete{Cringe}I needed to edit that post at 4:00. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteJust saw a KGO radio commercial on TV..touting the mind of CW Nevius. How many drunks and other down and outs can he pick on? He's like a Maury Povich of the homeless..make a living pointing at them.
ReplyDeleteSo Rich-what did you think of the Cohn-Harbaugh brew haha?
And-I've put almost all KNBR away too. THEGAME in the morning is fading fast..I see a shake up there. And I think Mike Urban's run in the local market is near the end of the rope. Lund and Papa and later Davis with Teirney can beat KNBR.
Sports talk is sinking under the weight of sameness.
How is it that Chicago ( a similar metro area population to the Bay Area) has true liberal talk radio stations that get good ratings yet San Francisco and the Bay Area are known as a much more progressive community than Chicago and have almost none?
ReplyDeleteAs a former 94123 resident who now lives in Chicago, I can tell you the radio here is fantastic, especially on weekends. The large amount of local produced progressive talk radio shows including Dick Kay on WCPT and "This is hell" on WNUR are what one would think the Bay Area would have created.
Still, there is nothing quite like Gene Burns or John Rothman.
SF is becoming more conservative because it's becoming older, and that's happening VERY rapidly. There isn't a lot of risk taking among older folks (almost by definition) and for that reason we can look forward to other future moves like the one we see with Cumulus at KGO.
DeleteI think KGO may end up being the 50K watt blowtorch KSFO was supposed to be. Cumulus is a conservative company and there would be many reasons to put a Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity wannabe there and blast the whole west coast with an appealing moderate voice in accordance with the changing political winds beginning in 2013.
If I owned KGO, that's what I would do with it.
Once upon a time, there were more than 80 radio stations in the Bay Area (I believe that was the number). Variety was the norm. Media monopolies didn't exist. Man, have things changed! Radio sucks the big wazoo here. Sports talk is silently censored (don't speak bad about the Giants on KNBR -- because KNBR has minority interest in the Giants). CSN is a corporate partner of the Sharks (don't tread on the teal). And you know the 49ers have a big influence on KNBR's coverage. Ditto for the Warriors. Again, big powers try to control the message. Guess what? You, the listener, have a choice. Just don't listen. Don't patronize the sponsors. Invest in satellite. There's also this wonderful thing called TunedIn. It's a Palo Alto-based start-up. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can get the app free and you don't have to listen to the same news stories constantly or the pablum that the KNBR yuks try to shove down your throat. The free flow and creativity is long gone. The days of fun personality radio are just a memory and can only be heard on the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame web site, where you can listen to what radio USED TO BE in the Bay Area.
ReplyDeleteSay what you want about Radnich and Dibley... but 9-noon used to be appointment listening time for me while at work- ESPECIALLY when Bruno would come on. I know Dibs got tired of playing second fiddle to Gary (He's doing basically the same on FM though) but the dynamics between Radnich P-Con and later in the morning, Woodson, Radnich and Bruno was great radio. I know it wasn't straight up sports. It was sports entertainment. Sports talk is dry. 9-noon yes even with the name dropping, Vegas stories and pop culture was a fun show. I've maybe listened to about 20 minutes of KNBR since the shake-up. KNBR made a mistake. They should have teamed Bruno with Radnich for a full show using "the Box". They would have REALLY blown FM out of the water during that time. Who cares that Bruno was in LA and was a Philly fan ? It made for good radio and KNBR is much, worse off now.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you have a better ear than I do, but Ronn sounds the same, more or less. He is not super cheerful, but he is upbeat at times. I don't envy him ending his career in that crappy station. Yep, I agree with you all that he didn't handle the transition in a way that respected the emotions of his long time audience, but I've started my morning with him for years and I do appreciate him for time times that he has been interesting, had good guests, or has been funny. Sad to see the end coming "not with a bang, but a whimper".
ReplyDeleteRich proclaims that all the stations and everyone on them stink. Big surprise!@
ReplyDeleteDibley has been exposed as a complete joke of a little man. All he does is make a point to disagree with the other 2 wannabes. Taht is his role. He is what you call a complete non-factor. Also, did you hear how that whitey "i'm a big man" gleason was calling the texters names and denigrating them. another joke of a man.
ReplyDeleteIn what sense is he a little man? Are you referring to his physical size?
DeleteOwens could have ended with a bang. He goes out with a whimper and a very bad smell.
ReplyDeleteAnybody that is thinking that Ronn will have a hard time landing another gig when this one ends, (and that is IF it does) is only fooling themselves. Ronn will be signed by another station or group operator in a heartbeat! That is not just wishfull thinking either! It is a fact! I would be wrong if I said he hasn't already been contacted by a group or station already! Nobody that truely cares about his/her family would have done anything differently than Ronn has done to keep his family safe and well off! He will hardly go out with a whimper. Anyone that knows how this business works will agree with what I have said.
ReplyDeleteAnother talk station??? Are there any around looking to hire?? Where? What would he be signed to do? He tried semi-syndication with LA a few years ago and that didn't work out. He doesn't have a background in news. Has he ever done any radio other than talk?
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