The rumor mill has it that Tricky Dickey has his sights set on CBS Radio.
Could this happen? Absolutely. Sure, ownership and dial issues could be an issue, but nothing that a little fine tuning be applied.
We thought CBS would be immune to this type of butchery, but even they could be exposed. Nothing is sacred anymore. The whole industry is talking about this. Again, just mull this possible development.
Don't be surprised. Anything is possible.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't think it likely, but then there are many things we wouldn't have considered likely to happen just a few years ago, and look at what's happened in the interim!
Off topic Rich, but I tuned in to KSCO right now and MZ is playing 50s music. Wtf!? I thought the Joe Arpaio interview was bad but this takes the cake. I now change the dial to KGO and Monteminor is reading explicit scenes from the Sandusky trial. We are in deep doo doo! I'm going to listen to my Michael Savage podcasts now....
ReplyDelete11:23...I sympathize. I've been frustrated all week-end trying to find something decent on the radio. Yep, I check KSCO and it was awful with 50's music. How lazy was MZ being? Really lazy. This is an opportunity for him to present something interesting while we lost KGO listeners are trying to find some place to land on the radio dial. I tried Monte and every time he was just awful. CBS is my go to place and I would hate to have them ruined, too. I didn't mind Copeland at all (sorry Rich), Michael Finney is always good, the travel show on Sunday a.m.s I like, but for the most part I am bored. Karel, I checked in briefly and he was whining big time about something or other. Pat Thurston is okay, but long periods with her I can't sustain probably just because she is too left for me. I just can't bear Savage, however, the negativity turns me off. I'm gradually weaning myself from radio. Sad.
DeleteHmm. Interesting idea. I suppose it's possible. Les Moonves has made no secret of the fact that he's not a big fan of radio. He could spin CBS Radio off to a company like Cumulus, assuming the Dickeys have the money. I think it would create a lot of problems due to overlap in many markets, but stranger things have happened.
ReplyDeleteThey'd have to divest of many of their current properties in SF first though to do it here, right?
ReplyDeleteCBS already divested their smaller market stations a few years ago. Radio definitely isn't a top priority for their company. Colossal tragedy if Cumulus ends up buying them. Not sure they could in many markets, due to ownership restrictions. Cumulus overlaps in many markets already.
DeleteCould they? Sure. Will they? Don't know. Will they get away with it? Absolutely not. This isn't Entercom or Emmis you're talking about. It's CBS, with an 80 year heritage in radio and the one remaining respectable commercial news network. (Obviously, "commercial" doesn't include NPR.)
ReplyDeleteAnd even if the Dickeys were foolish enough to make a run for CBS Radio, the government would not let this go through, not with all the history of destruction these clowns and their ilk have wrought on the broadcasting industry and the public interest through previous ill-founded consolidation. (see: Clear Channel)
No, regardless of how much the Dickeys may salivate for this kind of big kill, I do not see it ever happening.
time for regulation again with these guys
ReplyDeleteAnything is possible, money speaks volumes now days. Also the FCC is bought and paid for by the media companies.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone buys CBS Radio it will be Uncle Mel as he would have an inside track due to the fact that he built the group into what it is right now. He also has the contacts to put the financing together to do the deal with ease.
ReplyDeletePlease expose the unholy alliance between Maureen Lenglen and Karel. I believe Karel's continual ass kissing of that witch is tied to their upcoming show at the Nikko Hotel (where P-Conn admitted to using a lady of the night's services). Karel is peddling tix for "only" $25 a pop....I'd go just to throw rotten tomatoes at them but tomato season has not started yet
ReplyDeleteIt's truly amazing to me how many of these clowns like Karel, and the woman everyone refers to a 'the witch' have become the norm in radio these days. I guess that's what happens when you have clueless dolts running the biz. These addle-brained nit-wits don't realize that they're burning down their own house!
ReplyDeleteCould someone explain to me why everyone savages Bob Fitzgerald so much? He does a decent job on his talk show, and his TV play by play isn't that bad.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I understand he probably 'back doored' Greg Papa to get the Warriors' job, but that's seems to be a pretty common thing in broadcasting. People climbing over each other's backs to get ahead. Isn't that what business in America has always been about?
I'd like to hear why people are so down on Fitzie? I'm sure he's nice to his wife and kids.
He's a freeloader (ever notice how he's always pitching for freebies and trade-outs?), politician (sick butt-kissing the mangement), homer (unlike Krukow and Kuiper who never pretend to be objective) who pretends to be objective regarding the W's under the old ownership, etc., etc.,. etc., blah blah blah.
DeleteI can't stand Fitz. A total arrogant douchebag. He makes fun and insults his callers which aint too cool. He
DeleteHe's way too homerish for me when doing play-by-play. I miss Papa doing the Warriors. I miss Bill King doing the Warriors
Listen to his program just once and you will understand.
DeleteYou can thank Tony Salvadore (former KNBR GM who 'burned down the building' when he fired Agnew/Krueger and Tony Rhein during the infamous Felipe Alou controversy in 2005.) Salvadore was the same slime bucket who told Krueger to "go after the Giants and rip 'em!"
ReplyDeleteHe also loved Bobby Fitz (at least initially) because the little weasel sucked up to him, almost from the get-go, buying him golf clubs and schmoozing with him non-stop to get in good at KNBR.
It is most likely not going to happen since The Dickey's Cumulus is off loading all its rural stations in rural areas to Townsquare etc. And What few CBS stations left isn't going to improve his bottom line any. Many former big time hosts are doing it online on their own at a loss & adding a few CBS radio outlets will only contribute more to its losses. Good Luck..
ReplyDeleteAnything is possible. Keep in mind that CBS is owned by Viacom and controlled by Sumner Redstone. Redstone is 89 and has no succession plan in place. When he leaves, all kinds of interesting things are likely to occur with the broadcasting and cable programming assets. I'm sure everybody from LBO companies like Bain Capital and KKR to other media companies, including Cumulus, have their eye on the CBS eye. JW
ReplyDeleteWord IN the house says it's going down Q1 2013...
ReplyDeleteCumulus distributes the CBS Sports programming, perhaps that is the big news.
ReplyDeleteI work for CBS Radio in Cali, we were told today not to freak out, and that we are not being sold to Cumulus. A very favorable indication that the radio portion IS being sold.
ReplyDelete