It wasn't the worst radio ever heard in Bay Area history, but it certainly ranks near the top.
Maureen Langan, a woman comic, appeared on what's now being referred to as "KGO's in-house, freak show", the 10-1 AM time slot Sunday night.
At least I'm pretty sure it was Langan. KGO wasn't so happy about highlighting this female dimbuld. On its website, KGOne referred to her as "Guest Host." Not one reference to her name, (thank God).
How bad and excruciating? Try imagining closing your eyes and pretend you hear a cackling, annoying, perky woman chirping into the mike and talking, dragging really, every known topic on the planet...and not so much even discussing any news of the day. And there was plenty of news to talk about--serious news issues, national and local. The overzealous Berkeley chief of police, the Farrakhan speech at Cal, Iran/Israel, --no madam, we didn't get any of that. Instead we got an absolute train wreck.
We got some of the worst, most amateur-sounding dreck ever heard in this city. And those aren't my words--that's from one of KGOne's current crop of talk hosts, (I won't mention a name--this person wasn't going on the record, for now).
It was barf-central, even by uber-awful Cumulus standards. It was a cacophony of dead air, sound effects, a lame "interview" of some obscure woman comic talking about her deaf parents and violent father. How swell.
The Red-Eye Truckers Show, by comparison, sounded like Masterpiece Theatre. Seriously now, this was Baaad radio. So bad it was good? No. Just flat out awful and hideous. Imagine this theatre of the absurd taking place on the airwaves that once graced Owen Spann, Jim Dunbar, Art Finley and John Wasserman.
This three-hour little shop of horrors is bound to make waves on the message boards. Mind you I'm trying feverishly to explain just how stunningly terrible this dreck sounded. There will be a time when you'll hear portions of the audio, but I seriously doubt KGOne will place it on its podcast schedule. That bad? Yes!
I don't normally inhale this type of radio airplane glue, but I was so shocked, (call me naive, again) how this kiniveling idiot made it onto the mike. How 'bout a topper for the dreck station that highlights its crap as "local?" This bizarro woman host was carping live from...get this; NY City, NY City?!!WTF? Yeah, that's local. Jared, maybe next week, you can get a guy from Miami too.
Three hours of this: "Archie Bunker", "Mormons baptizing 'dead Jews", Oprah, Whitney Houston, and more obscure mindless chit-chat with nary a caller, (amazingly, 2-3 actually phoned in--maybe they thought they won a free atlas.) Oh, I forgot, that "KGO number? 'Eight-Zero, eight-zero, 8-Ten" sprinkled at least a hundred times through this monstrosity.
KGO? You are now the official laughing stock of SF Bay Area radio. You outdid yourself here. This was one for the ages. I can hardly wait for the encore.
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yeah....i agree....pretty bad radio...she didn't get any calls .....and the constant litany of the talk line phone number was tedious...
ReplyDeletewhew! really stunk....paul and jared....you have ruined a once outstanding station....thanks a bunch
Thank you, Rich!!! I tried to listen to it, and lasted no more than two minutes. Cumulus has dumped so many talented hosts, then magnified the injustice by finding THE worst 'host' I have ever had the displeasure to hear! If I didn't care about innocent people losing their jobs, I'd say that I just wish the plug could be pulled from the whole damned station. NIGHTMARE CITY!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat, great column, Rich. Point-on. One bright spot was Karel this weekend. I've missed most of his recent shows on podcast, and I've been critical of him in the past, but what I heard this weekend was very, very good. Talking about poverty in the U.S.A. was one topic that is ignored by many hosts nationally. After all, the economy is "recovering." Karel continues to remind us many people ~ and children ~ are left out of that recovery. As a person probably considered conservative by most reading these posts, I'm not left with many local radio alternatives. I hate right-wingnut radio because of its nationalistic and other repugnant tendencies, and there is little else, unless I turn on KQED to fall asleep.
ReplyDeleteThis morning, KGO is showcasing our "top ten favorite old songs". It's the radio equivalent of all those slideshows on HuffingtonPost and SFGate.
ReplyDelete*gag*
Why can't they just hire Christine Craft? She is a pro and probably would be glad for the gig.
ReplyDeleteAt this rate, KGO will never dig themselves out of the hole they have dug. They don't seem to understand that listeners want a voice that is familiar during the evening hours. We don't want to turn on the radio and find some unknown wannabe nattering away.
I can't imagine people at the level of managing a radio station to be complete idiots. I think there HAS to be a reason for the intentional ruination of a product. Will the owners be able to write off the "loss" on their taxes? Can't they sell it to someone at some kind of weird profit? It would be like Honda putting toy engines in their cars; that strategy could only be done with intention. What is really going on with KGO, Rich?
ReplyDeleteGreat column Rich. This woman debuted last week to talk about Lindsay Lohan. I just could not stand it. I had to switch the dial. Is this amateur so much cheaper than Peter B Collins or Staci Taylor? This is so infuriating. As much as Dr. Bill used to piss me off I was hardpressed to change the station unless he went on and on about the ecofreaks and nincampoops on the air resources board. If this woman comesback next Sunday Jared Hart should be fired. Btw since your heart to heart with Karel I think his show has improved. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI have listened to KGO for over 50 years and 10PM Sunday was a new low and from New York no less...guess all available talk hosts locally were busy...UGH.
ReplyDeleteI was scanning past the stations hoping to find a good program and landed at KGOne and for a brief second I thought I had found Christine Craft....less than a minute later I knew I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteThat was right around the Archie Bunker part. I lasted about 5 painful minutes of what sounded like the women doing a commercial for entertainment tonight or a celebrity mag front page.
This really is sad, What a waste of powerful airtime. Cumulus just once be kind and sell the station.
How did they find this woman? Does she do radio anywhere else? Is she someone's friend? I don't get why they'd go all the way to NY to find someone to do 10-1 radio on SUnday night in SF when they've got lots of local people who actually did that slot over the past few months. She's broadcasting in the middle of the night from NY. Also, since she performs out of NY, I don't see how this gig would help her career if that's her angle in doing SF radio. You might think there would be some method to this madness, but with Cumulus, Jared and Hosely, who knows????
ReplyDeleteWhy should we be surprised, given the dreck that is on the radio these days. Corporate management would rather hire dysfunctional idiots who scream about nonsense than sensible, respectable broadcasters who will talk about the important issues of the day. It's all about 'entertainment' and how are we doing on the 'people meter' these days. Short-sided, irresponsible and pathetic!
ReplyDeleteSo why didn't they put Christine or Stacy on in that spot? Makes no sense!
ReplyDeleteI just had to go check it out on the archives after reading how dreadful it was.
ReplyDeleteI listened to the first 10 minutes and it wasn't bad...
I've heard much worse on Karel.
Anonymous 10:25, Are you her brother or something?!!
DeleteA few weeks back Rosie Allen, formerly of KGO radio, did a similar crash-and-burn at 910 AM as a fill-in for Gene Burns.
ReplyDeleteShe has a polished voice, and can be a pleasant person, when not talking politics... but she went almost 2 hours with maybe 1 caller? DREADFUL.
I'm saving up a post on the topic. How a supposedly highly intelligent radio person with 30 years experience can do such a nosedive... and yes, there are liberal Bay Area underpinnings to her Fireball Friday.
Mark in Walnur Creek