Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Breaking: Listeners Revolt against Cumulus; Talk of 'Major Rally'
Former KFOG listeners. KGO people too. Massive presence on Internet sites like Facebook and Twitter. They're talking about organizing a large rally in front of Cumulus SF headquarters, 55 Hawthorne St.
Aided by local unions, broadcast groups, and the like. And they're organized. And they're planning. That's what they're telling me, we'll see. They appear to have some politicians too.
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Any links - PLEASE???
ReplyDeleteWon't do a damn bit of good. Yell and scream all you want but time after time, this country has proven that big money can do whatever it wants regardless of legality, or morality. The rest of us can go fuck ourselves. This country is headed into the shitter with this attitude of I don't care as long as I get what's mine first.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what good will protests do? Cumulus hasn't done anything illegal. If they want to destroy their own radio stations no one's going to stop them. There's no way AFTRA gets involved. I've personally seen how they "represent" their members. They don't get a crap.
ReplyDeleteThis won't do anything, why bother. If you want to make a difference, write the ADVERTISERS. That's the ONLY way to make a difference! Dennis Constantine is clueless!
ReplyDeleteI'm there. With bells on.
ReplyDeleteReally, where did you go with your bells on? Didn't see anything about any rally in the new.
Deletetony/twitch says on the kfog facebook page that he isn't homophobic
ReplyDeletefogheads - you be the judge
here's a "classic" Kramer & Twitch audio clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coSE66hm_sI
shame on you kfog
destroying a heritage radio station by hiring this moron who so CLEARLY despises San Francisco
The only way I see to fix things is to fix the laws, and/or to invest private money in a station and get ratings success. If Mickey Luckoff and Jack Swanson were to come up with a sustainable business plan to start a station with a quality local talk radio format and a good signal, I'd invest in it. Trouble is the evidence seems to show that its difficult to make money in radio. If it were easy, they'd probably already have done it.
ReplyDeleteAgain...it's nice that people care enough to make noise, but do you really think that Cumulus cares a whit? They're going to continue to do what they do; as a matter of fact, Lou Dickey and his henchmen will probably be even more adamant about doing what they want with "their properties."
ReplyDeleteAs much as many people may be sympathetic, what Cumulus is doing is perfectly legal. We can only blame ourselves for letting this whole mess happen. Complaining about Cumulus is like complaining about the US Government or Big Business. Until ordinary, average American citizens take elect smart, ethical, forward thinking leaders, who are not beholden to big business interests, this country will continue to sink into the mire.
We have only ourselves to blame, because for years many of us have been 'fat, dumb, and happy,' and didn't want to give up
our comforts and conveniences.
I still get a kick out of people who complain about the cost of gas, and that it's somehow Obama's fault. We still get it for a lot cheaper than most parts of the world, A gallon of gas is still cheaper than a gallon of most types of 'pure spring water,' and in California, it's more expensive because it has to meet higher standards so we don't over pollute. But most people would prefer paying 20 cents less per gallon (about 3 dollars less with each fill up) if they could have cheaper gas that would make the air dirtier.
Same on all of us Americans for being so lazy and uninvolved for years when we had it so good! Now the bill has finally come and everyone is so shocked. Hello!
What Cumulus has done shouldn't be that much of a surprise. As one poster put it so aptly, this is what
big business does today in our country. Live with it, deal with it, or try to change it. Complaining about it (as I have unfortunately been doing along with everyone else) ultimstely doesn't accomplish anything.
I say 'Go Get' Em!' These rallies and protests CAN grab the attention of advertisers and make this 18-34-obsessed industry think second thoughts about who they're doing business with. Believe it or not, there are actually advertisers that have morals, unlike Tricky Dickey & Cumul-ated! All it takes is one big business to discontinue their work with the conglomerate and the dominoes can fall afterwards. You never know.
ReplyDeleteTime for pirate radio
ReplyDeleteCumulus has stopped subscribing to Arbitron so they don't have to look at the dwindling ratings any longer. So I don't think they care. Targeting their advertisers may work. KFOG's listener base is the educated letter writing contingent who also use social media to get the word out.
ReplyDeleteIf they stopped subscribing to Arbitron, how do they justify their advertising rates to their customers?
DeleteYes, I'm sure this "Major Rally" will have an enormous impact and devastate Cumulus! LOL
ReplyDeleteWho are the jerks saying "it won't work"!??!! I am sure when Mubarak and Khadaffi sat back in their palaces they sneered at demonstrators. Today we see what happened. Demonstrations can make a difference and I will be there. Let's hope Mel Baker does not grab the megaphone and curses the protesters.
ReplyDeleteYup, count me in too! Rich--please don't let Mel grab the mike this time. I'd never heard of the dude until he angrily chastised the VERY nice crowd who gathered to protest the KGOne bloodbath last December.
DeleteHe was a total ass! Such a stark opposite from Rich, Rothman, and Gross--who were absolute gentlemen.
Baker had his chance and blew it. He can go huff around on his own--not at OUR rally!
Hell hath no fury like a scorned foghead.
ReplyDeleteYou've bit off a bit too much this time, Cumulus!
Tonight on KRON,Cumulus highest paid on air personality,Gary Radnich was doing his usual badgering of KRON 's anchor woman..when he said to Pam Moore "We're friends right?" She didn't answer him.When the answer is silence-then the answer is NO.
ReplyDeleteAgain Stan, you are too stupid to understand the nuances of their interaction.
DeleteGary and Pam are friends and you are an idiot.
I didnt write that. Your paranoid...
DeleteBut you know..it does make you think if she couldn't say "Yes"..doesn't it?
DeleteNuances?-LOL.
DeleteThese guys aren't Mubarak or Khadaffi, who were imprisoning people, murdering people, and stifling freedom.
ReplyDeleteCumulus is merely a heartless,
ruthless bunch of small-time corporate raiders, and they are not even near the top of the food chain. The bankers, the people who worked at ENRON, the
jerks who urged people to buy houses that they couldn't afford....
those are the real criminals. These guys are just ruining a radio industry, they're not destroying lives and bilking people out of money. Sure, they're throwing people out onto the street, but so are many of the other American businesses, especially those in the tech world who are as ruthless and coldhearted as any in our world today. .
I don't understand why people look up to folks such as Donald Trump or even Steve Jobs....even these guys may have had their moments of brilliance. Listening to these strutting, egotistical blowhards who seem to think their own farts don't smell after they've ingested huge meals, is like listening to some slothful,
overweight slob belch loudly at a banquet.
Lew Dickey and his merry band of henchmen are merely a bunch of small minded little bully-boys who have taken radio, and like some spoiled, entitled little children, have turned part of the radio industry into their private play-pen. And like angry little boys,
they're now smashing their toys and laughing at all of the people who are so enraged by their antics.
My question is this: Why all of the hue and cry in just the last
5-6 months over Cumulus? Anyone who has been paying attention to radio knows that CUMULUS been downgrading the American radio business for better than half a decade.
It amazes me how long it takes people to wake up and smell the ca-ca!
Well, many of us just LISTEN to the radio. When KGOne fired an amazing ensemble of hosts last December, it hit hard. And then, mostly through this blog, we began learning about Cumulus.
DeleteI suspect even more people will become more savvy with the KFOG changes.
We are, after all, the consumers, not the power brokers here.
To those who say, "This won't do any good!" I say, "Watch us!"
ReplyDeleteProtests and demonstrations have long been a part of American democracy--ever hear of Women's Suffrage or the Civil Rights Movement?
Those are the biggies, but there is protest going on every day in some American community.
Just last year, CalTrans began ripping out riparian habitat along Alameda Creek in Niles Canyon, saying they had an $80 million mandate to do so. Some of my friends sighed, "You can't fight City Hall."
Well GUESS WHAT?????? Rallies and protests were organized--and so well attended that CalTrans was astounded. The protests, letters, and eventually a lawsuit stopped CalTrans in their tracks and a beautiful corridor is preserved!
If you don't think you have the power as an American citizen to effect the change you want to see, I feel sorry for you! You are missing out!
Amen!
DeleteAgreed.
DeleteNo matter the odds, let's make Cumulus recognize the SF market as the one that isn't going to "take it," without a fight!
Let's make them hate us, as much a we hate them!
We might just surprise some people.
Rich, please keep us posted on any details about time/date.
I am tired of the corporate heads dumbing down EVERYTHING to make a profit.
ReplyDeletePeople do want intelligent radio...music or talk either way we are tired of canned stuff.
Keep us posted on any rallies/protests.
Rich,
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you censor comments about the folly of this insignificant, if not non-existent, reveals a total lack of objectivity and determination to advance your personal obsession against Cumulus!
It is laughable that posters here are comparing this non-event to the United States civil rights movement and political revolutions in Libya and Egypt
It is more laughable that you take the time to write about an upcoming "non-event" to tell us how it won't make a bit of difference. If that is what you think then why waste your time writing about it? Unless you are a Dickey Lackey! Ahaaaa!
DeleteWell, I guess we thought it might take a BIG protest to capture your attention from the shiny things!
DeleteDid you miss mention of Niles Canyon? I could mention thousands and thousands of "small" but successful protests. If you drive out by the Don Edwards Refuge in Newark/Fremont, you might note the magnificent wetlands once designated for "upscale housing."
I knew personally the individual responsible for pulling the small floodgate back 25 years ago. Voila! The water poured in, the people protested, and the land is beautiful now!
Civil rights are too "lofty" for you, sweetie? Well, the protests were anything but "big" and lofty back in the day. Get a grip, already! This is America, and those of us who choose to take the opportunity to make it better will NOT be brought down by your tiny sour brain!
So I suppose your point is that because some protests have been justified and successful in the past i.e. American revolution, United States civil rights movement, overthrowing Mubarak in Egypt, etc. then any other protest demonstration, no matter how misguided, pointless, and hopeless is equally important and above ridicule.
DeleteInteresting that you compare the cause here - whatever it is - to the civil rights movement because the protests aren't "lofty", whatever that means.
The civil rights demonstrations may not have been "lofty" to you but they certainly existed and made an impact which is more than I can say for your little imaginary demonstration that your getting so self-righteous about.
Furthermore your inability to discriminate between important and insignificant trivializes the importance of serious, legitimate protests of the past.
@10:07 who made you the arbitror of what a legitimate protest is? It is obvious who butters your bread. You are a Dickey shoe shine boy
Delete@8:58 think you mean arbiter...
DeleteYour one dimensional response of calling anyone who disagrees with you a Dickey accomplice is tiring.
Did this major rally occur? Did a minor rally occur?
someone is deleting posts and blocking users from the kfog Facebook page.
ReplyDeleteany post that links tony to twitch's obscene past, particularly the homophobic crank calls, are getting deleted
we went from dave morey, an accomplished, respected, beloved morning show host, member of the community, and out gay male, to twitch, a 13-year-old boy in the body of a 40-something man child. sad
*** BIG QUESTION FOR ALL YOU GUNG-HO REVOLUTIONARIES ****
ReplyDeleteWhere's your major rally?
Oh it is coming Dickey Lackey, get ready.....
DeleteYes I'm sure it is. Just like Ralph Barbieri's big law suit! LOL
DeleteMark my words.
ReplyDeleteKFOG will wind up a Harvard Business School case study on how to destroy a brand, alienate long-time, loyal customers, and run a radio station into the ground.
Meanwhile, Ben Fong Torres remains silent.
Here is Mr. John Dickey's Email Address
ReplyDeleteJohn Dickey [john.dickey@cumulus.com]
Please, be an anoyance and fill his in basket with your comments. The more the merrier. Maybe he will change his email address. No problem, I will find out what it is. :)
Keep making the noise people...I believe in what you're saying and that it's right. At the same time, let's be realistic about this. Unfortunately, companies such as Cumulus loves to be the 'bad guy,' and they also have the law on their side.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Communications Act was signed into law by then-president Clinton (one of his few big mistakes), that allowed the 'foxes' (i.e. Cumulus, among others) into the hen house.
They have not broken any laws, and they have not violated any tenets of their radio license. What they have done is appalling, but this is how many big businesses have operated in this country for years!
Have you ever taken a course in American History I and read about something called the 'Gilded Age' (approximately 1865-1905)
when 'Robber Barons' practically ran this country?
Have you ever hear of Enron, Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky,
or going way back into 19th century, Jay Gould (who manipulated the Gold market and helped cause a depression in the early 1890s)?
It's called GREED my friends, and we Americans have managed to perfect it better than anyone until recently. Now the greatest strength of our country, the middle class, is under assault, and everyone is upset, but what can be done? You think the Occupy Movement is really going to make a difference? Possibly over the course of many years, perhaps painfully incrementally, but more probably not. The boat has sailed!
When you have Big Business protected by our democracy, when
every major company hires high priced lawyers who can traipse around the law by loosely using some obscure or fine legal point, the 'little guy' has very little chance.
I know it sounds pessimistic, but we are in another 'Gilded Age" today, and companies such as Cumulus are just one of many that are more interested in profit than the public good. If you don't like it, then throw away your 'Smart phones' and your i-pods, and your other 21st century do-dads, because when you buy them and use them, you're merely supporting other mega-companies (in the tech industry) that have shown that they also care little about providing quality service, (ever talk to a real person when you call one of these companies?) and they care even less for the grunts who make their products. They have and wil, summarily fire and 'downsize' and engage in 'hostile takeovers' against competitors to get their way.
Radio has always been a volatile business and job security has always been way down on the list of its attributes, but the current business model practiced by most companies in the burgeoning
Tech industry is just as bad in how radio operates its business. And have you noticed a disturbing trend? That many businesses now take their cue from the way the Tech industry runs its operations?
I personally know a bunch of folks who have either been downsized out of their tech jobs, even after they were sacrificing their own personal time by working 70-80 hour work weeks.
Big business has no heart...and NEVER HAS! All they care about is profit, keeping the shareholders happy, and keeping the bonuses big and fat for the CEOs and other company big-wigs. And of course, they love to read about their wonderful 'Brands' in the business sections of our newspapers, or on-line, or on cable TV programs.
To complain about these things while living in America is the epitome of absurd behavior. We live in a venal world...that's the unfortunately one of the 'dark sides' of human behavior. And that kind of behavior exists not just here in the good old,
US of A!
@9:32
ReplyDeleteYou needed all those words to contradict yourself and say nothing!
"Keep making noise, .I believe in what you're saying and that it's right."
BUT
"To complain about these things while living in America is the epitome of absurd behavior."
Did you forget your original point by the time you finished???
To try and summarize: keep making noise because it's absurd behavior to do so. HUH?
Amen. 932 makes no sense at all.
DeleteThe whole thing with Cumulus, big business, and downsizing makes no sense, and that's what I was trying to explain, or react to.
ReplyDeleteMy point was...there's nothing wrong with complaining, or protesting, if that's what you want to do. Who knows...it might even help. And as I said, one certainly shouldn't discourage it.
But my point was....and I guess I didn't make it very clear (sorry!) that in the long run, protesting and boycotting and complaining has got very little chance of really making a difference. Business and big money and the rich have always run the world, and always will. This goes back to the cave man days when the guy with the biggest club and the biggest cave always got the most desirable female to mate with.
We're really not much highly evolved than the animal world. The only difference is, other creatures on this planet don't cut each other out for a profit, and they don't have the capability of changing the total physical environment of our planet.
So keep protesting and complaining if it makes you feel better, and I hope your protests and action will result in something positive. As far as getting Cumulus to change their business practices...forget about it. They DON'T CARE about the bay area, or any other area in this country where they own stations, and they NEVER WILL.