Wednesday, January 4, 2012

The Sad State of Bay Area radio; KSFO peeps ticked that Limbaugh splits to 'NewsTalk 910'

I told someone it's a three-ring circus. Mad science couldn't outdo this current state of Bay Area radio polluted by a ton of corporate mush.

I see now that KSFO's listener posse are pissed off that Rush migrated to Newstalk, 910 AM. Funny, even the conservatives have Cumulus migraines. Maybe they should call Glenn Beck.

**It was like old times on the AM dial, Tuesday. Len Tillem, (the "loyah") managed to hit a triple on "Newstalk, 910", (does it please you that ClearChannel, of all people managed to steal KGO's  old tagline?); Tillem inadvertently used the old call-letter-deficient station, (think SweetJack), but made an awkward situation sound utterly funny. Genuine too. Tillem is too good and crafted to let a small flub ruin his day. He repeated the flub later, but again, it was handled all too well by the "loyah"--it's ok, Len, when you sound cool and your loyal band of minions are thrilled to have you back, (and they were), you get a mulligan.

**Bill Wattenburg followed Tillem, (subbing for Gene Burns), and was the old, reliable, charming, pissed-off Bill, which as I told Wattenburg myself makes for good radio. And it beats the hell out of listening to the ghost hunter and flying-saucer flake that must have compromising pictures of the SweetJack punks.

*Follow me on Twitter

*Tips/E-Mail: Rich.Lieberman@Gmail.com

30 comments:

  1. KSFO can have Rush back. Put somebody local and interesting on 910. Rush's act is getting VERY old. You only have to listen to him for 5 minutes in any given year and it's all the same, just the names of the politicians have changed. What are the listenership numbers for Rush in the Bay Area?

    These syndicated guys can be heard almost any hour of the day on some station across America. If I were programming a station, I'd want something unique to make my station stand out and be "must-listen-to radio". Just shuffling the same syndicated talkers around Clear Channel or Cumulus owned stations is not much of a strategy for boosting a station's ratings. I'm hoping newstalk 910 will realize this and start replacing some of the syndication piped in from elsewhere with local, stimulating content. 20 hours a week with Len and Gene just isn't enough.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good points, 11:35. See, you would do that IF you didn't have a political agenda to monopolize the airwaves.

    Both Cumulus and Clear Channel want Obama-unfriendly airwaves. Fits into their corporate slash-and-burn, raid-the-middle-class philosophy.

    Signed: A conservative who doesn't drink the kool-eyed, nor do I have the starry-eyed look of Bachmann and Romney, etc., and the total crazed look of Paul, etc.

    What a bunch of loons.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beam me up, Spencer, buddy. I've spoken to your Mom, too, and she said you're a loon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @12:58--Thanks for posting! I really regret the polarized state of the nation these days. Although I lean left, I respect sensible conservatives and have lots of sympathy for those of you righties who have a brain!

    This has to be the worst crop of candidates EVER. But--entertaining!

    I miss GOOD talk radio, where we could have rational debates from both sides...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I LOVE the part when Len said "KGO" and then said "I'll get it right sooner or later."

    HA! Take that Cumulus. You idiots. I only laughed at the beautiful irony because I was not listening to KGO but rather to the new KKSF Newstalk 910 with Len ! What a glorious day!

    And my sister and I laughed so hard when he told the guy with the DUI, "always take a breath test you dummy. With the blood or alcohol they can see what other drugs you've been doing that day."

    LOL! So good.

    ReplyDelete
  6. All you need to know about the ethics of people like Suss-boy and the loud mouthed Melanie Morgan is to read their blogs.
    Morgan has now deleted all of her posts related to the KGO firings. She was pretty vocal about how her hubby was unfairly shown the door.
    She is an execrable creature

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can't stand the woman who replaced Officer Vic. Nails on a blackboard. Sorry Suss, I'm off that bus.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good to have Len back. Wattenburg not my cup of tea. It's like he's talking directly to me, pushing my buttons.

    Listening to Gil is like getting a hug from the radio. Oh Gil. One night is not enough.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Flush Rush! I want my 4th hour of Armstrong & Getty back!

    ReplyDelete
  10. So tired of hearing about KGO what is happenning with the blowhole leader

    ReplyDelete
  11. Has any one noticed the ton of
    P.S.A. ads on cumulus?What does
    that mean?

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is totally off topic, but you know what? I really, really miss hearing Dr. Laura on 'regular' am radio. I suppose the only way to hear her is through some expensive satelite radio. #1. Any talk on bringing her back to , I think it's called terrestrial radio, yes, that's the phrase. #2. I wonder if that overly sensitive black lady who started the 'dust-up; now regrets her actions? I'm black and so over playing the victim card when not deserved.

    I'm 'horribly happy' to have Melanie Morgan back. When I heard OV was gone, I thought, now who;s going to 'babysit' the talent? I have great respect for Brian, but sometimes he needs reining in.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am anti Obama,,,and I miss the old KGO. Good radio. I do wish Karel would be sent to GITMO.

    blewis

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sussman the Islamophobe. Morgan's views about the president border on a long-repressed racism, no matter what Rich says about here being a "nice" lady. She is not nice. She is a mean-spirited hack, and Sussman is delusional. They are perfect. Good thing they never had babies together.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I remember reading Melanie Morgan's posts pre-returning-to-KSFO when I did a google search for KGO. She was quite livid with her feelings. Amazing that the posts have vanished into thin air. That's enough for me, although I never listened to her on a regular basis because she is way too far to the right. Sussman was the weatherman, right? Egad.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Could it be that the cumulus suits required her to take her posts down before they'd put her back on the air?? Just wondering, but it would seem consistent with their business practices of CONTROL.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Here is “I’m KA-REL!” regarding lesbians who tried to rent a room in a bed-and-breakast in Hawaii, were denied and are suing (if Karel's account is accurate) and Karel says they should not have a case of discrimination:

    "If you run a bed and breakfast and not a major chain motel, if you you're not associated with a chain, you are not going to like what I have to say right now, but you don't have to rent to gay people, just like you don't have to rent ot Jews or black people or Mexicans or anyone you don't want to. It's your home, you're inviting people in it to stay."

    "Like my home here at Park & Howard. If I opened my house as a bed and breakfast, and I didn't want neo-Nazi fascist skinheads to stay here, although they're hot, so maybe, ok, Mormons, if I didn't want Mormons to stay here because I just think they are crazy, or if I didn't want Scientologists to stay here, or if I didn't want, I don't know, um, I don't know, Filipanos, just pick anybody.

    "Should I be told that I have to let them? We're not talking the Hilton, we're not talking Motel 6 or anything, we're talking a private bed-and-breakfast, not a chain. A single owner, bed and breakfast doesn't want to rent to a lesbian couple. Should they have to?

    "It's odd that you will hear me say, 'No, they shouldn't," but they shouldn't. And that couple could then let the world know this bed-and-breakfast are bigoted and try to hurt their business by saying in the press, 'Hey, they're bigoted and have all the freedom of speech they want about their bigotry. They could tell all their friends to not go there. They could do whatever they want; they have freedom of speech.

    "But should this place be compelled, a private bed-and-breakfast? No, no it shouldn't. And that's why my opinions are really not mainstream in the gay community because they want me to be screaming and yelling and saying, "Hey, this is wrong, this is wrong. This bed-and-breakfast should be sued and put out of business, and I say, "No.".

    If it were The Hilton, ok, that's wrong. If it were a large chain, if there were no rooms and they could get no rooms, but the fact is that it's a private bed and breakfast. In the Land of the Free, this is the problem with America, we don't want to acknowledge that people are free to be bigots, and while I only want bigotry to go so far, I don't want it to extend out, you know, there has to come a point where we no longer legislate whether a person can be a bigot or not.

    "And if you open your home, if you live there, and you open it as a bed-and-breakfast, I think perhaps you should be allowed to say who rents the rooms. Now you are probably thinking, 'No, you shouldn't and if you don't like the fact that a lesbian or black person might stay, then don't open a bed-and-breakfast.'

    "But, no, we have to be able to be free at some point. Now, should private, mom-and-pop businesses be able to discriminate? I don't know where I draw that line, because I kind of think, 'Yes.'

    "You know I do. If you run a very small restaurant and you want to pick the clientele that goes in there, I don't know why you can't. I mean, I know why, because of the law, discrimination, and the minute you open for business you fall under different categories of law and you have to not discriminate. I'm not sure that's good. And I know that sounds awkward coming from me."

    No, Karel, it does not sound awkward, it sounds like the contorted ramblings of a person who has not reflected upon a subject prior to talking about it.

    Can’t believe you used a pejorative "Mexicans" when referring to U.S. citizens of Hispanic or Latin heritage. Baaaaad Karel.

    Fantisizing about neo-Nazi fascists? Are you serious, Karel?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Newstalk 910 has Tillem's podcasts available for download. I just downloaded one. Thanks, Rich, for printing my comment about Karel advocating discrimination based upon gender and race. It really is unbelievable. I forgot to add a quote midway through, but that is a VERBATIM rant from Karel. Quite revealing, especially his fantasy about neo-Nazi fascists. Go, Karel, Go!

    Hey, Karel, if you call Rich a hack, then what are you, you Schmuck? After dissing Rich, you tell us what a "dear friend" Gene Burns is and then tell us he had a stroke. WRONG.

    If you were such a close friend, you would know that is not true.

    By the way, Rich corrects his mistakes. We all make them. Even real journalists like me. You, Karel, are not a journalist, and you don't correct your mistakes.

    ReplyDelete
  19. On a positive note Spencer "Jose" Hughes is out at KGO. Take your paranormal beliefs and shove them Jose!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm disappointed with the area coverage of 910. I so loved hearing Gil yesterday but reception in the 680 corridor is horrible. It works great on the internet but I sure hope covverage gets better as if you're in a car your out of luck!

    ReplyDelete
  21. @9:55: Karel said THAT????? Truly, truly, his ignorance knows no bounds. What a misinformed, ugly and tortured mind he has.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow, @9:55, heh, have you got a Jones on for Karel, or what? Typing out what he said word for word in a post where Richie didn't even mention Karel is just bizarre-o.

    You know what? Talk show hosts often say provocative things, or play devil's advocate, all the time – just to provoke people to call into their show. Conflict makes the best talk radio. Ditto heads, not so much.

    I remember what annoyed me about Pete Wilson (goddess rest his soul). He'd make a point, then say, "but on the other hand." Then, "but on the other hand." Argument for one, anyone? I thought, stop already! Quit putting talking points in caller's heads. Drove me crazy.

    Clearly, Karel's comment about Nazis was a joke; I can totally imagine his lispy delivery. The gay thing just happens to be a part of his shtick, and, with all due respect, if you don't like Karel, or his show, maybe you'd be happier if you didn't listen?

    ReplyDelete
  23. 11:16 Don't tease us!! Is it really true? Has "Jose" Hughes been abducted by aliens?

    ReplyDelete
  24. 11:19, yes, that is a VERBATIM transcript, and then Karel kept calling the bed-and-breakfast "private" and Hilton "public," as if his in his marijuana-clogged mind there is a difference. They are both private. That's not all. I have several other transcripts of outrageous things he's said.

    ReplyDelete
  25. say what you want 1:17. it's a running theme in these posts. And if you could comprehend what you read, 1:17, the theme of Rich's post here is the sad state of Bay Area radio. I added my own sad state. So, mock all you want. And I'll listen to what I want, thank you, 1:17. If you want to defend Karel, that's fine. But before you make a fool of yourself, learn to comprehend the topic, which is SAD STATE OF BAY AREA RADIO, and Karel is included in that. I can't tell the folks about the sad state of Karel unless I listen to him. That's a part of radio, see, listening. Such drivel. Karel doesn't drive me crazy, Goddess-lover. Listen, don't make assumptions. I like Karel when he is on. OK? I don't like Karel when he becomes a hyped-up hormonal 13-year-old. If you want to defend that, so be it. Ignorance is bliss.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Spencer "I've got six kids and have spoken to my dead mother" Hughes is not currently listed on that spot in the KGO schedule online. I just checked. It says "guest host" for each night.

    However, the man who believes it's ok to legally discriminate, "I AM KA-REL!" is still in his slots. He's cheap and makes sense about 30 percent of the time.

    ReplyDelete
  27. @3:23: I'm more puzzled by your preoccupation with Karel than I am defending Karel. You transcribed his show so you could run him down, but claim you "like him." Yeah, you're right; I didn't know talking out your ass was a "running theme in these posts."

    ReplyDelete
  28. Again...why all of this chatter about Karel? He's a dysfunctional, angry,
    boob who wastes airtime with his emotional driven drivel. I consider my self a solid liberal, but would have a lot more respect for the man
    if he didn't sound like he was trying to audition for some weird category
    on American Idol! This guy gives up lefties a bad name.

    But then Rush, Hannity, Susspool (Sussman) and Morgan give righties some pad pub too.

    Oh, but I forgot, excuse me! Newstalk radio isn't supposed to be about covering issues and facts and breaking news in a complete, fair and thorough manner, but 'entertaining' us with noisy nonsense so that we don't "get bored" while listening to the radio. It's more important to be entertained than informed...and that's one of the many reasons why this country has become even more 'dumbed down' in recent years.

    Poor old William F Buckley Jr would be spinning in his grave if he heard all of the bloviating nonsense from some of these sell-outs like Limbaugh and Hannity who owe their seven figure salaries to sucking up
    to and fawning over the corporate weasels who have helped to rapidly turn this place into a third world country

    ReplyDelete
  29. "Poor old William F Buckley Jr would be spinning in his grave if he heard all of the bloviating nonsense from some of these sell-outs like Limbaugh and Hannity who owe their seven figure salaries to sucking up
    to and fawning over the corporate weasels who have helped to rapidly turn this place into a third world country."

    AMEN.

    I was raised in a pro-Roosevelt household. My parents turned conservative during the 64 Presidential election.

    Although I spun way left different since, I still have to hand it up to them! And Goldwater might have had the least painful way out of Vietnam?

    Considering what ensued.

    But that is a whole different debate.

    Long story short--Buckley was SMART. I miss SMART.

    --pro-Obama Lib here

    ReplyDelete
  30. Rich, Melanie Morgan is not a nice anything.
    She is the carbuncle on Limbaugh's ass.

    Just saying hello. Hope you are well.
    (A friend from the "good old days at Larry Blake's_

    ReplyDelete