They DO NOT care about you. Get used to it.
They appear to be implementing a business model, (and KGOne, and soon, Knibber and others, not just here), that reduces people and maintains and enhances their profit margin.
Why have 50-60 Ronn Owens' salaries when you can SYNDICATE a Geraldo in NY, LA, Kansas City, perhaps? See where their mindset is? And its coming, trust me. These people don't screw around.
They have a very definitive plan and they're moving ahead with it. I get the sense that they don't much give a rat's ass about KGO, which still bills millions even though the Cumulus crowd has run the station into the ground. (They probably high-fived each other when Ben Fong-Torres plugged their latest KGOne venture).
They prize KNBR here--that's their gold bar, not just because of the 50K-watt signal and not anything to do with Knibber's meager on-air talkers--no, they prize the station's sports clients, which includes the 49ers, Giants, and Warriors. Those are assets that can be utilized for a future flip down the road in case they need to build up their cash on hand. Remember, they bought 525 radio stations.
I have about a hundred theories as to what the hell they have in mind, long-term, but I haven't quite figured it out, just yet. One thing I have gathered is that they will go about their mission and do everything in their power to advance the plan and, again, they have proven to be ruthless, fearless and quite none too concerned about how their employees feel. The fear factor? Only the better.
I have said they will eventually go full throttle syndication because that's cheaper than the current traditional workforce. They can brand "news" all they like and pretend that they want to compete with more established news players in the market, but in reality, they're just doing a lot of downsizing. SF is but their latest victim.
And they have quite a loyal staff of local shills and enablers, happy to have a job and quite willing to tool for them until they themselves get the shaft. And they're not done yet, just wait.
They've got their own version of the rope-a-dope card and its in full display mode. We'll figure it out soon enough.
*Follow me on Twitter
Rich or anyone,
ReplyDeleteHow much does it cost for a local station to buy syndicated content like Geraldo or Limbaugh or others?
About $700 a month or more (much more, depending on market size) for Limbaugh plus carrying all network inventory. At 650 stations plus, that adds up. Geraldo is cheaper and might even be free with just network inventory. It's brand new to Cumulus with two feeds -- one East and one West.
DeleteBoth also contain local inventory for stations to sell as well. It's pretty cluttered with spots. Somebody's got to pay that $400,000,000 paycheck over 8 years to El Rushbo.
Radio is so bad in America I have now decided that I can only get my "intelligent talk" fix satisfied by listening to BBC Radio 4 or Radio 5. If ever there was a case for the how government CAN do things right, it is BBC Radio. Radio 3 (arts and classical music) is outstanding. Radio 5 (Five Live) is similar to what KGO was, but Radio 4 does what NPR should be doing, but does not out of fear of offending Republicans. Radio 4 has serious dialogue and intelligent callers and takes on issues by allowing both sides to express and debate their points. KGO was one of the only American stations that could draw me to listen online, but it seems now American radio is destroyed.
ReplyDeleteListening to BBC 3 right now. Love it.
DeleteHere's some more good stuff for you:
http://thepiratebay.se/search/BBC/6/13/200
BBC puts American television to shame.
Our only hope is 910 for semi local talk radio. KGOne for a few shows on the weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt has to be about doing it on the cheap while keeping advertisers. The listeners don't matter.
I wish Gabbert, et al. could put something together.
Rush costs a lot. You carry the national syndication inventory plus you need to make a $$ commitment to promote his show. It was a steep figure in the past but may be more reasonable these days. Still, only Rush can make those kind of demands.
ReplyDeleteAs for the unproven Geraldo, you can have him if you carry the network spot inventory. That's where Cumulus makes their money. And yes, you can look forward to much more homogenization with Cumulus. It's all about controlling COSTS with these guys.
But how can they make any money if advertisers stop contracting with them? Are the advertisers not paying attention? Or are they stupid?
DeleteIts big business fighting Obama tooth and nail. Not to be made to give back some,but to be stopped from taking everything. Of course its conservatives. I'm almost done with sports radio or Comcast talk shows..because all I hear are shills like Kozimar pandering to whatever rich man owner he can defend. And that explains why he has emerged in the local market. He's got Radnich down to a T. Kozimor looks like a living puppet. The mouth moves,the eyes stare..and you could swear there is a stick up his backside.
ReplyDeleteAnd thegames morning show is KNBR eastbay. Only they see it all the Fisher and Wolff way.
You wont hear a single voice on sports media say "As a liberal,I think"..but they do drop the whole conservative slams at liberals or praise Tebow,and talk about "the club". Guess who's prefered?
I've said this repeatedy. Their business model is to reduce expenses so that any minimal level of sales produces a profit. They sell collectively. They don't have to be #1 in any given market. Hell, they don't have to be ANYTHING in any given market. This is capitalism at it's most distasteful. They're not only not creating or producing ANYTHING, they're destroying media content. Sick mofos...
ReplyDeleteWas wondering if anyone saw the KGONE mention in Ben Fong Torres' radio column in the Chron's Sunday Pink section several weeks ago. To me it sounded like a Cumulus press release--totally full of crap about the great improvements that have been made at KGONE, the hosts that remain and the new spots on news, dining, etc. When, in fact, they have totally destroyed that station and continue to bludgeon any tiny signs of life that remain.
ReplyDeleteNow I find that Stacy Taylor will also be gone; he, along with Christine Craft, were the remaining two hosts that I could still listen to.
Ok, let's remember these fools at Cumulus answer to Bain Capital. What is their M.O.? Strip, outsource, and sell off. Outsourcing in radio is syndication. Radio is killing two birds with one stone for Bain. They get to spread their gospel, their agenda and hope to get Obama out of office. Plus, Bain gets the pleasure of picking clean, last morsels from the( KGO )carcass and the profiting off the bones.
ReplyDeleteAll the while, the naive, and somewhat sheeple, general public suddenly transform into teabag zombies. It's a horror story for sure.
So how long is local television programming going to be able to hang on?
ReplyDeleteKnibber morning show has bottomed out. Live from Maui? in a hotel room? What on earth has happened over there?
ReplyDeleteSo, after that painful TV and radio spot where Ronn Owens, sounding about as lively as a gitmo detainee, explains how the new KGO was all about local content, what's going on in our neighborhoods, blah, script, blah......led the morning show the other day with another Mitt vs. Rick who's gonna win the nomination....blah, blah.....Seems to me the hottest local story that morning was the wacky crimes going on in Vallejo, with the child being shot during the raging gun battle. Several angles could be pursued: Guns, poor Vallejo and it's short-staffed police and burgeoning crime wave, who would shoot a little girl, why society acts out this way, etc. etc. That's local content, folks. Not another boring who's the likely GOP bench warmer. Local, my eye.
ReplyDeletewhat do you people expect? Cumulus doesn't care about the bay area listeners and never will. When will you folks wake up and smell the
ReplyDeletecoffee. :(
With the latest changes it proves there was not a well thought out plan with a smooth transition to the new format laid out. Not very professional but one can assume from that Cumulus had little regard for the market, staff or listeners and were focused totally on getting to their vision of what they see for KGOne. Another thought I have is that advertisers want the 25 - 54 demo and many of those people have kids in college, maxed out credit cards and their homes have been foreclosed. It is the older demo that is spending money. Once advertisers figure that out they will be kissing our asses and pretending they care!
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me is that They also own the Big am Detroit Staion WJR-760 which is also 50Mwatts... BUT they havent changed the format. its still talk just like old KGO. So I wonder what the overall game plan for Cumulus is. Is it different for SF market versus Detroit?
ReplyDelete