At KGO, this isn't the only problem.
After all, Cumulus suits had to know full well that their format-change manifesto wasn't designed for long-term sustainability. To reiterate, they don't care about content. And they most certainly have little regard for employee morale and feeling.
Even for their heavy hitters, like the mattress man. He's counting down the days and his overt flat, monotone, and quite frankly, depressing tone and delivery on the air is "Ronn-speak" for what the hell am I here for?
He's there to collect the last checks of an old, personal-services contract and that's it. He's so beholden to honoring that deal that he's deferring to a punk named Jared, the house shill and despot leader that drives this audio jalopy.
Most of the actual staff has re-located to Cumulus' SF outpost at 55 Hawthorne. 900 Front is a virtual ghost town. How befitting.
Newsroom morale is in total freefall, not that they were jumping for joy before. A prevailing feeling among some of my sources inside indicate the Arbitron disaster gives ample cover for more layoffs and shake-ups, which is coming any day soon.
MEDIA NOTES:
**BIG WINNERS: KQED, KOIT and KCBS. All three stations are undoubtedly the three most popular radio stations in the Bay Area. KNBR had modest gains in the overalls, but Knibber, (owned by Cumulus), doesn't bill its advertisers based on the so-called "beauty contest" numbers. Their forte is centered on Adult, Male, 25-54 who follow sports, the Giants, Niners, Warriors etc. Their clients are their content. Ralph and Tom, beer, boobs, and baseball too. ...NOTES: More Owens: Yes, he's been offering a topic every minute or so because Jared says so. I think Jared wants his lawn mowed today, (wink)...The 95.7 FM Entercom sports outlet had a modest gain in the latest quarterly, but not at the rate to pop champagne. They can only hope the A's are mild-exciting, because if they failt to get any traction in the coming year, they can all begin to update their resumes. Including their PD too...
Ronn does get excited dept: His Sleeptrain reads that net him about $200G and I'm not guessin'...Anne Makovec leftovers: yeah, she's smart and yeah, sexy. Smart is sexy too. She has looks--last I checked, TV is a visual medium. The difference with Makovec is that she has presence. Talent and presence go a long way toward success and yes, pleasant face and delivery is gravy...NewsTalk 910 had a nice initial bounce, but we need a good year to see what they're made of--too early to gauge good or bad either way.
How very sad!
ReplyDeleteTo think that six months ago I was carelessly unaware and enjoying KGO all day long!
THAT stopped on a dime December 1st. I don't even listen to Ronn...although I have to admit I had been turning more and more to KQED when Ronn was on even before the infamous Bloodbath. He was beginning to decline IMHO. Sadly, it sounds like he's really calling it in now.
As they say.
The KGO saga is true "disaster capitalism"! A phony perceived "crisis" results in the complete destruction of the organization so that it "can be saved". I am sure Jared thinks he is "saving" KGO. It is astonishing how fast and complete the destruction of KGO (including both the talent and audience) is.
ReplyDelete". When that perceived crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around."
— Milton Friedman
I am not a knibber fan at all, but loving the 95.7's low ratings. There is no game there at all. and there are a couple hosts there during mid-day who make it a point to dis Lin due to his asian- ness. That Lund character is a true disgrace.
ReplyDeleteGet ready for a cookie-cutter, syndicated, automated, run-o'-the-mill station on KGO. Basically, KSFO will move to KGO's frequency. Then they'll program 560 with some cheap experimental programming (all business or something).
ReplyDeleteWhen you almost get beat by the dumbing down of conservative thought, i.e. KSFO, starting but not ending with the morons, Brian Sussman and Melanie The Meanie Morgan, you're in real trouble.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, speaking of Melanie the Meanie and Brian the Bum who got fired at his last gig, as he stated on this blog anonymously one time (he thinks we're stupid and don't listen to him to catch is language usage. See, Rich has fans who are actually conservatives with brains), why do they have such difficulty saying President Obama? They didn't like it when President Bush was referred to as "Bush." Why the double-standard?
Oh, that's right. Because President Obama is not a REAL president because he is not a REAL Christian and he is not even a REAL American.
In reality, PRESIDENT Obama is a Nigerian Muslim communist socialist athiest community organizing Saul Alinsky anti-American Trotskyite with a theology that worships mother earth over the coming Rapture that will save humanity from its destiny of destroying the earth.
Oh, wait, that's right. Satan does that.
Oh, shit, I forgot. President Obama actually seems to be a Nigerian Muslim communist socialist athiest community organizing Saul Alinsky anti-American Trotskyite, but he's actually the friggin' anti-Christ!
As a conservative, I listen to Brian the Bum and Melanie the Meanie for laughs. They are TRULY the DUMBING DOWN of Conservative Thought. Google it. I guarantee it.
"KQED, KOIT and KCBS. All three stations are undoubtedly the three most popular radio stations in the Bay Area."
ReplyDeleteTrue about KQED and KCBS being on top. But actually Wild and 99.7 Now are ahead of KOIT. KMEL and KOIT are tied. KOIT lost exactly half its share from the Holiday book. Oldies 103.7 saw a big surge.
I didn't want to say anything, but you have gone way overboard with Anne Makovec. She's not all that. Enough already.
ReplyDeleteUh yeah sure Rich. We just hired a new producer and reporter today but you know don't let the facts makeup for your narrative. I also hear a lot of laughter and friendship in the newsroom, but I guess you really know what's going on, because you say it on your blog.
ReplyDeleteOf course I must be a "shill" because I dare counter your weird alternate universe as to what is actually going on in the KGO newsroom.
FYI: That "putting dollar bills inside the Metro female staff" comment a week or so ago really went over well with the City Brights editorial staff at SF Gate.
Isn't Jared Ronn's long term associate that has screened his calls for years? Perhaps Ronn is bringing him into the picture more often to help Jared have more to put on a resume and get a job when Ronn's contract is up.
ReplyDeleteJared is his producer, but hasn't been for all that long -- a couple years maybe. Mark Silverman was producer before him. Jared is in his late 20's and worked in another market before, so he hasn't even been of working age for very many years
DeleteJared is actually 30 and has been working in the market for a couple of years. And he's light years better as a producer than Mark Silverstein, who Ronn summarily fired.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mark Silverman left, Ronn said it was because he wanted to get into radio as a host. He had an opportunity at KSCO. I wonder what really happened. Mark is still a KSCO at 2:00 about one day a week. He just doesn't, IMO, have the "voice" and energy that makes a good talk show host. I wonder how you know he got fired.
Deleteso then Ronn has better ratings now than when Mark was producing?
Deletethanks for the Arbitron rating. for San Francisco market, KGO dropped from #4 in Dec, 2011 to #12 in "Holiday" then to #14 for Jan, 2012. my guess is they would stay around #10-#12. it is very difficult to climb out if you are that deep in the hole. this is sad, KGO, once the gold standard of radio (not just talk radio) nationwide (not just SF).
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read the latest ratings for KGO, as it confirms my impression that the station is crumbling before my eyes. Ronn's voice IS flat and dull and does seem to convey a "what the hell" attitude.
ReplyDeleteI hate everything about the "new" KGO and only listen to small portions of Ronn's show now (whereas before I listened to KGO all day long). I hate the way they make him bring up 3 or 4 topics at a time, and no topic seems to last more than 1/2 an hour.
I think the whole purpose of "destroying" KGO was for the upcoming election. There are very few radio stations with a moderate/liberal viewpoint (Oh, I think they call it common sense approach), with a strong signal. God forbid that there is a station that will actually just state the facts or give competent reasons for their beliefs.
ReplyDelete