I got a tip from an industry person that KGO's Ronn Owens is all but set to be bought out by Cumulus in August or September.
Owen's, (9-Noon) personal-services contract runs through January 1, 2013. It's highly unlikely he'll stay on the air through the end of the year given Cumulus' desire to buy him out early.
And the early word on his replacement? Try Pat Thurston or Brian Copeland.
*Way to go, Mr. Bungeroth and Cumulus: butcher KGO to the point of complete irrelevance and apply same process to KFOG. A popular morning show gets run to the ground and Facebook fogheads explode and go berserk. Yeah, yeah, I know they don't care. Just part of that damn consolidation routine from the Dickheads in Atlanta. Their version of the SF treat. I'll tell you guys this: You do, and you are, experts at completely fucking up an entire listener base. Wonder what you got in store for the summer?
*God forbid somebody in the upper food chain speak out about the Cumulus hit job on SF radio, but yep, gotta feed the family, right Ronn? ("We're going to have a 'great new format--it's gonna be exciting!, right Jared?")
*Jared Hart: currently on the horn looking for latest misfit(s) to fill in on weekend monstrosity known as KGO Radio. That comediane chick from NY must have animal photos.
*If the fogheads rally in front of Cumulus/SF with a pack of union people and pols, I'm damn certain more that 50 people show up.
*KRON had about 20 minutes of dead air the other night and didn't acknowledge it. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise.
*Cumulus is building new studios for KGOers, who are due to move out of the Embarcadero soon and head for 55 Hawthorne. I can hardly wait for the first union encounter. (KGO is, at least now, a union shop--KNBR and the other outlets aren't.)
*I believe Rita Williams and wish her a happy post-retirement next February, but still can't fathom why this announcement comes 9 months early. Nine months? Next on the clock: John Fowler. A source at KTVU says that Fowler absolutely does not want to retire. Fowler is in his mid 60's.
*More KTVU fodder: A well-known morning anchor caught the wrath of newsroom personnel: the anchor had a picture of him and OJ Simpson adorned on his desk. Good way to ingratiate yourself with working buddies.
*Tom Vacar: they won't touch him. He's a loyah.
*The Game, (95.7 FM), and its fans and affiliated mutts can inundate me with e-mails about a certain morning guy getting a 1-year "contract" "renewal". Doesn't make the news about impending layoffs go away. The station has better numbers, fine, but not enough to have a few pops at Grumpy's. And just because they gave the morning mutt another year doesn't speak for the overall health of the outlet. They haven't moved the needle. And yeah, they're better than KNBR. That's about it. Wonderful.
*Ben Fong-Torres update: thousand words on Lamont and Tannelli.
*In radio and TV, 50 is the new 80. And 60 is the new 90.
*No, I didn't listen to KQED on election night. Nor did I watch local TV news. I was busy with my "check out 'Venus" party and had to supersize my Costco purchase. Blogging for dollars.
*Follow me on Twitter
"KRON had about 20 minutes of dead air the other night and didn't acknowledge it."
ReplyDeleteIf Helen Keller walked alone in the woods and fell, would she make a sound?
Sad to hear that it took Ronn this long to see the light and exit. How different his stature and relevance might have been had he sought to exit when his coworkers were fired.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteWill KKSF 910 pick him up and replace Rush? Ronn used to get better numbers than Rush in this area. Hmmmm....
DeleteVery unlikely. Clear Channel owns KKSF. Clear also owns Premiere Networks, which owns Rush's show. This is the kind of synergy that makes them salivate.
Delete"Sad to hear that it took Ronn this long to see the light and exit"
DeleteSee the light??? You mean see the cash? He's doesn't have control over buyouts, Cumulus does. Once again the man is not stupid. Nobody in their right mind would walk away from the kind of money he makes out of "righteous indignation". Cumulus is probably sick of softball lightweight radio. I say good for Ronn. Take them for every penny he can get out of them.
Very true at 11:47.
DeleteDitto 11:47, however, I for one will miss Ronn, especially if he is gone before the elections. That a.m. time is my radio listening time and except for Ronn, it seems like it's all Rush Limbaugh on the stations I get.
DeleteAbout KRON's twenty minutes of dead air:
ReplyDeleteRich, how could you tell?
How's that "major demonstration" against Cumulus coming? LOL
ReplyDeleteWhich Dickey Lackey are you?
DeleteRich right on the money as usual.
DeleteHey Stan at 8:37,
DeleteInstead of childish name-calling, how about you tell me how your "major demonstration" is doing?
About as well as Barbieri's big lawsuit! LOL
837 wasn't me. Don't let paranoia get to you man.
DeleteStan
I am 837 and I am not Stan. I stand by my comments. Cheers!
DeleteRich should be ashamed of repeatedly trying to present Rita Williams' retirement as further evidence of Cumulus evil.
ReplyDeleteIt was her time to retire and trying to drag this into his anti-Cumulus agenda is an embarrassment Ms. Williams and demonstrates Rich's tendency to blame Cumulus for just about everything.
Don't censor this, thin-skinned Rich!
Are you dumb? Can you read? Rich never wrote anything about Cumulus getting rid of Rita Williams. She works at KTVU and they are not owned by Cumulus. You make no sense. God bless you Rich for putting up with these types of comments
DeleteYou poor KSFOer, 8:06.
DeleteI'll go one up on Rich. I blame Cumulus for global warming, poverty, hunger, gang violence, the Republican scourge (I as/was a conservative, but I don't like reactionaries), war, wasteful spending, my asthma, air pollution, poorly performing Korean and American cars. I just cannot think of anything else, 806er, but if I do, I'll get back to ya, OK?
Oh, I have a really thick skin, but I have to be careful. I'm a public person, so I have to, sadly, choose anonymous. Sorry about that.
I am glad the Lowensteinnnnnnnn show will be put out of its misery from the monotone host's self-inflicted damage. Unfortunately, the extra paychecks the voice of treason collected since the mass firings will not do a thing to repair his soiled reputationnnnnn. It would be very fitting if the comedian Copeland takes over the show and then says nothing to acknowledge Ronnnnnnnnnnnnnn's departure.
ReplyDeleteCopeland, no. Thurston I like.
DeleteAs a daily diet, I would not like either Copeland or Thurston. I can take Copeland for longer times, but neither would be acceptable for daily consumption. I do admire Copeland for his creative and comedic gifts and Thurston because it's hard for a female to move forward in this biz, but her points of view often annoy me.
DeleteI wonder if Ronnnnn will spin this as "retirement." Won't it be "exciting" Ronnnnn?
ReplyDeleteAs for a replacement, I like Pat Thurston. She is the only one who had the courage to face this thing face on. She dealt honestly with it. I remember a caller asking her if KGO would announce it when the hosts found other jobs. She said, "honestly, probably not." And I see from her Facebook page that she keeps in touch with Gene Burns and others. I like her. And I will listen to her over Rush and Glen every day of the week. Pat Thurston has the courage that Ronnnn pretended he had.
I can tell you that Pat Thurston is a class act, and a true professional. She is stable, consistent, compassionate, and largely unflappable. She's good on the air, too.
ReplyDeleteA small example: radio stations are of course food wastelands: there's the coffee machine and the vending machine and anything left laying around gets devoured; that's sort of an unwritten rule, right? Well, Pat usually brings a generous amount of really nice food -- sometimes something she baked, or something from a nice local restaurant -- and puts it out before her show for everyone on her crew. Other shlubs like me who might be around are usually invited to partake as well. It's a small thing perhaps, but its' done out of caring and on her own dime, and without expectation of any reciprocation.
So what, Cumulus or KGO or whoever is supposed to feed their folks 24/7? What, do you think KGO is Google.com?
DeleteRegarding the Ronnn contract buyout, I don't find that news surprising at all. If sCumulus waits for Ronnn's contract to expire at year's end, Ronnn's going to be able to say things later about sCumulus... comments that sCumulus doesn't want aired.
ReplyDeleteBy orchestrating a premature contract buyout, sCumulus can write into the agreement a tight non-disclosure policy that says Owens forfeits the balance of his contractual fees, or even pays sCumulus money for legal costs, if he so much as attributes a single gastric belch to having resulted from his sCumulus employment.
For a guy with an ego the size of Idaho and a mouth that's made him well known and very wealthy, it will be like having a highly efficient car muffler surgically implanted in his upper respiratory tract, just above vocal cord level.
If a guy has a 'ego the size of Idaho' but nobody really gives a shit does it matter?
DeleteSay things about Cumulus... oh, like what? That they blew up a very successful radio station? Duh.
DeleteBeyond that, what is to be said?
on the KTVU anchor and the OJ photo.. it's back up.. can't believe that.. was there when he..oooooppppssss showed up years ago...
ReplyDeletePat Thurston is terrible. Most of the time she's clearly reading from her notes.
ReplyDeleteI also object to her holier-than-thou attitude, yelling at callers who question her sometimes-flawed logic. Her tantrum over Trayvon Martin was embarrassing.
Actually, anyone's defense for Zimmerman is embarrasing. I cringe whenever I hear the racists call in to defend that killer. I applaud Pat for standing up for what is right.
DeleteDid Pat Thurston yell at you? Hmm...
DeletePat Thurston is level-headed, sharp as knives, not to mention compassionate. We need more people like her, not some bellicose blowhards.
Last night on KRON news,Radnich to Pam Moore "We're friends right Pam"?..She never answered. She said nothing. Not even a nod...
ReplyDeleteALSO-When he goes on how children need a father..isn't that a slap to Kate and her partner? Just once she should say its more important to have somebody to love those poor kids in foster homes.
Excellent point. I see the same when he goes off on this silly rant about growing-up without a father.
DeleteIt is also a slap in the face to single mothers.
Hey fat guy, you came from a middle class background in San Jose. Who appointed you the sherrif of sociology?
Didn't he leave one wife for another one? Did he father his children to adulthood or did they grow up with a part-time father?
DeleteI can't stand Fitzgerald and Brooks.
DeleteI suppose I could tune in to their show religiously every day and then post to this board how much I despise them but I figured out something that makes a lot more sense:
I don't listen!
Exactly 4:22pm, if people stop listening....maybe the annoyance will go away. And if it doesn't, then the aggravation disappears and no need for those "happy pills" the Dr prescribed......Brilliant!
DeleteWhat happened to the diversity of opinion? In fact, Radnich is just taking the position that President Barack Obama took on one Father's Day talk at a black church.
DeleteWho's in prison? Who commits crime? Who joins gangs? Largely young boys / men without Fathers.
Ripping KNBR on-air talent is half the fun.
DeleteNot doubting your information. Just scratching my head why Ronn would bail out with 4 or 5 months left to go, unless they pay him a big premium over his pay under the current contract, including say an additional year's pay or paying off the mortgage on his house. In exchange, Cumulus would want a noncompete and a gag order whereby he would forfeit future installments on the year's pay if he went public with any comments about Cumulus. I can't see Ronn agreeing to a noncompete and a gag order just to collect the remaining few months of his contract in advance. JW
ReplyDeleteA "buyout" is not an issue to Cumulus re: Ronn Owens.
ReplyDeleteWhat Cumulus is looking to get on major player departures is the famouns "Settlement & Release Agreement" in which the former employee to keep his / her mouth shut, possible non-compete for X months, plus something from the employer such as agreed upon press release, position on dealing with employment inquiries, etc.
This is not a surprise ... it is a sound business practice to put this employment issue behind them cleanly & move on.
This is the way business works. BTW Don't look for any interviews with Owens after he departs ...if there are any .... there won't be any "news". Also ... what happened to the Van Amburg issue; has anyone come forward with information to refute the reporting of his passing as shown on the IMDB site?
IMDB reports his birthday as September 13, 1910, which would have had him "retiring" when he was in his mid-70s. I really don't think it's particularly accurate in this case. I have no reason to doubt he's still alive.
DeleteCome on man. Rich had an entry about Van Amburg a few days ago. Go read it and stop quoting IMDB. Damn!
DeleteThis is interesting. Will Ronn Owens have a farewell broadcast knowing he is being shown the door?
ReplyDeleteToday Raddy and Larry were play acting. As Pablo,Raddy kept calling Krueger an A-hole over and over. It was just pure audio and visual joy to me. Once is play acting...if you get my drift and I think you all do.
ReplyDeleteYes, I get your drift; you're an idiot who hates Radnich so you listen every day.
DeleteYeah..and your brilliant?. DO I get under your skin?..GOOD!..LOL.
DeleteAnd ..thanks for reading ALL my posts!
Here's another rip to Radnich.
DeleteHe has made a career of this. Ripping became a fine art with Radnich.
Rich, is it possible you can speculate on why KGO-TV is trying to push their morning news program so hard? They now have the meteorologist at 11pm always say "And Mike Nicco will be back at 4:30am on any weather updates", and they are putting a repeat of the ABC7 Morning News in primetime, right after the basketball game next week... are they desperate for ratings?
ReplyDeleteThat evening's newscast will be live in primetime with the morning news and weather crew. ~LP
DeleteBilly Beane back stabbing Ray Fosse. No surprise..Beane's ego even replaced Ray with Hattteberg...lol More of the man living in a fantasy world. He's trying to make Hollywood's fantasy come true!
ReplyDeleteI wish he would start by winning a WS..but Beane is never going to do that. He's a second,or even third rate, Sabean.
Very true.
DeleteBilly Beane the most overrated GM in all of MLB.
If that guy was not a member of the A's LLC he would have been out on the streets a long time ago.
Billy how's this for a stat .435.
That is the A's winning percentage since 2007.
Eat your words, gentlemen. A's are in the wild card lead and Fosse is sucking lemons at home - pure heaven!
DeleteI'm surprised that Cumulus would buyout Ronnnnnn prior to the November elections.
ReplyDeleteI thought Cumulus' "research" showed that listeners wanted more news. So why would they replace Ronn with more another talker? They could go 24/7 news M-F, just what they wanted!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat point!
DeleteAgreed...this all news...er, rather, almost all news format is clumbsy. If they get Ronn to take a buy out, it makes no sense to put another three hours of talk in that spot...I don't get it...oh, wait, I'm not sure the Cumulus folks do either.
DeleteMy sentiments exactly. Where is that 24hr news coverage?
Deleteagree with 3:06 pm post. Once Ronn is out of the picture, they're free to truly go all news, all day. Would be very surprising to see another talk show go into that slot. Wouldn't make sense, not that anything has up to this point, however.
ReplyDeletePrediction: Tim Montemayer will get Ronn's job.
ReplyDeleteIs D.Bruce still doing Saturdays?
DeleteYou mean Timoteo Monteminor? I can't think of a better way to move the needle at 9am than having this buffoon yell: EIGHT EIGHTY EIGHT TEN 100 times by 9:18am....
DeletePatty T. is not talented enough to get his job. Giving away free food to the lame help is not a qualifier to any job, maybe,at KGO. If you want someone who is not talented to do any talk show is the KGO web person- Jen Poo-Poo.
DeleteSpeaking of D. Bruce, when he did newstalk on 810am he was excellent. Much better than Tim M by far
ReplyDeleteSo he's not on 810? Did he ever say why?
DeleteHe was invited to do fill in. He must have done less than 10 only? He was very good on Saturdays, especially covering the Penn State scandal. Rich gave him high marks
DeleteD Bruce did indeed do good work on the weekends.
DeleteShowed some versatiliy.
The one thing I really enjoyed from Ronn past was his show called "Status, Class, and Tacky". He had a young fellow join him and they rated "things" on the air to determine whether they fit into the status, the class, or the tacky category. Would love to experience that show today. I can imagine lots of callers to call in with things related to Cumulus, Cumulus, and Cumulus. Oh, and did I forget Cumulus?
ReplyDeleteI think Ronn is getting a lot of heat - which folks won't cop to here - for two reasons. 1) His support of Israel, and 2) his support of the Iraq / Afghanistan wars. (I think he supported both.)
ReplyDeleteI do like the noon-3 guy at 910 AM... Tom Sullivan? Leans right, but seems like a common sense guy, not a one-note hack like Hannity.
Ronn Owens is getting a lot of heat because after the KGONE massacre he decided talking about cell phones was more important than the firing of all his colleagues. For all his war mongering hawkishness he turned out to be a spineless chicken shit
DeleteSullivan and Combs might be "common sense" guys but they are not local. The only national show with a local flavour is Savage
DeleteRonn supported the Iraq war in the beginning, but later changed his mind, which he acknowledged on the air, for which I give him credit. I don't think people are against him for his support of Israel and his stands on the war. I think people are against him, because he didn't stand up for his so called friends who was fired. I'm not against Ronn, but I don't listen to him nearly as much as I use to, mostly because he use to be so much better. When he has a guest on that is interesting and when he talks about interesting subjects I still listen. I have listen to Tom Sullivan of and on for years, although I lean much more left than right, he use to be local out of Sacramento, and what I like about him, he does not scream, or rant or get rude to his callers (like Savage and Levin)and for the most part I think he tries to be fair. I would much prefer John Rothman, but will take what I can get.
DeleteThanks for that. I remember Ronn being for the war in Iraq as was John Rothmann and about 77% of the country but I don't listen to Ronn enough to have heard his reversal. Still, an "Oopps! My bad!" on this level doesn't really cover it. But there is more than enough blame to go around on that one.
DeleteAnd yes, it isn't about Israel with Ronn but but a perceived lack of empathy over the firing of his colleagues back on December 1st.
As far as Billy Beane being the guy that brought Hatteburg in...it certainly is possible, given how Billy is given carte blanche to run everything by owners John Fisher and Lou Wolff.
ReplyDeleteHe was a bully to both Art Howe and Ken Macha, and those two helped to give A's fans five playoff berths collectively (three from Howe, two from Macha) plus an appearance in the ALCS (Macha). How did Beane react? He brow beat them and then finally caused both of them to say "screw this" and leave. But Billy essentially pushed both of them out the door, (they left because they were tired of his antics). Beane then replaced Macha with his good buddy Bob Geren, who was probably the worst manager in Oakland A's history.
And former Cardinal and A's skipper Tony LaRussa was right on when he ripped 'Moneyball' on KNBR with Tom Tolbert. LaRussa said he wouldn't waste his money to watch the movie, and that's the way a lot of people who watched the A's during those years also feel.
The way the scenario of the 2002 season (the 20 game winning streak) was depicted was almost more fiction that fact. No mention of the 'Big 3,' no mention of team MVP Miguel Tejada, as you'd think that Scott Hatteburg was almost singlehandedly responsible for the A's success.
Portraying Art Howe with Phillip Seymour Hoffman's doltish character was insulting to Howe, and making Beane look like some kind of 'genius' was also a little more than over the top.
Remember, even though Billy has tight constraints on what he can spend, he has traded or let walk: Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Huston Street, Andrew Bailey, Carlos Gonzalez, Santaigo Casilla, Miguel Tejeda,
Ramon Hernandez, Barry Zito, Gio Gonzalez, and many others for mostly a bunch of no-name, white bread, prospects. Bringing in washed up vets like Garcia Parra, Piazza, and now Manny Ramirez isn't going to work either....Frank Thomas was an exception, but that was a lucky break, and he was a big difference maker when the A's went to ALCS after beating Minnesota in the divisional series in 2006.
Perhaps Tommy Milone, Jerrod Parker, Andrew McCarthy and even this kid Cespedes (if they decide to keep him in a year or two...but he's already missed time with injuries) will pan out...perhaps not.
But this team, despite its three wins over the Rangers this week has the worst batting average in the big leagues and is just plain BORING to watch. That's why few people waste the money to come out.
A's Ownership doesn't care about their fans, and the radio and TV broadcasts garner less than half the viewers of listeners than the guys across the bay. The only real standout in their broadcast booths is Ken Korach on the radio side. And Lou Wolff has absolutely refused to discuss a possible sale of the team or been amenable to any kind of a possible ballpark possibility in Oakland. So the team remains in purgatory.
There's no way the Giants will go along with an A's move to San Jose, and I don't think the other MLB owners or Bud Selig will want to have a court fight with the Giants either (which is what they'll get if they try to force the issue). The only way the San Jose thing might work is if the A's give the Giants a boatload of money, and I doubt that will ever happen.
I do feel badly for Ray Fosse however. Hatteburg didn't even want the job, so Billy or whoever must have tired of Fosse's act.
Fosse actually does a fairly decent job, but he suffers in comparison to the guys across the bay because Kruk and Kuip, who, despite being 'housemen' for the Giants, are much more entertaining and sound a lot smoother on the air. But if you want to complain about Ray Fosse, you should just listen to some of the cookie cutter broadcasters working in places like Florida, Washington DC, or Kansas City.
Listen to Beane's visit with Teirney and Davis..minus Davis and with Townsend filling in on 95.7 podcast..because he just out of the blue began ripping on Townsend..like he was Beane's worst enemy. At one point he told Townsend to crawl back to the hole he came from. And I didn't hear anything but seriousness in his voice.
DeleteSounds interesting. We give it a listen.
DeleteI guess Ronn Owens will be on an Austerity program along with the rest of us. Maybe it is time for him to retire since there is no money in Radio anymore. Cumulus has been busy selling off its outlaying radio outlets, firing expensive money hogging veteran hosts just to pay its overleveraged debt obligations. I hope they shrink into oblivion.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he'll have another superficially dull book ghost-written for him. "The Voice of Reason Revisited"
Delete"The Voice of Reason Revisted"
Deletewith the following sub-heading:
"How I am able to back-track and change my mind on the wim."
Today, Ronn is hawking a new KGONE show with Candace Delong--sounds like some kind of true crime thing. I don't mind listening to her as a guest but a regular show sounds a bit much. However, she may be better than the awful so-called comedic witch from NY.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you about Candace Delong as a guest, after listening to her show I definitely agree it was a bit much, actually that is putting it mildly, it was very, very boring. To add insult to injury we got the comedian twice this week-end, Saturday am and Sunday night. Who makes these decisions? Who thinks they make sense? Who thinks they will add listeners and improve their ratings??? Inquiring minds are dying to know.
DeleteKate zinged Raddy by calling him an ass. Man,that Raddy is thin skinned..it got him and his jowls quivering and he went on how he could take it..but,when he's looking down..that's an angry Radnich.
ReplyDeleteLike somebody else said not too long ago..Raddy likes to zing people..but when they do it to him,he really gets his feelings hurt.
I heard that as well. Good for Kate.
DeleteGo get em girl!
You Raddy haters are so incredibly stupid you fail to differentiate radio shtick from real life communications.
DeleteDo you really think Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith banter is real squabbling?
Re Anonymous @11:50 PM
ReplyDeleteDidn't Citadel dump most of the debt during bankruptcy before Cumulus acquired them? JW
I see all the reasons people have mentioned as to why Cumulus would want an early buyout. But why would Ronn agree to a noncompete and not going public unless Cumulus offers something big to make it worthwhile for him? If they just take him off the air and pay him the few remaining months of his contract, he is free effective January 1st to accept any offers and to say whatever he pleases about Cumulus.
What could Ronn go public with anyway that would be worse than what we already know about Cumulus? I predict that he will keep his mouth shut unless he writes a memoir which would be unlikely as he is a local guy without a statewide or nationwide base.
DeleteMaybe, no one has mentioned this as a possibility, Ronn has another offer and he has cut a deal with Cumulus to let him go early. However, in this day of radio, I doubt it, but I can't see any benefit to Cumulus who has to pay him through December anyway, unless Ronn is willing to renegotiate.
All good points by the 7:33pm poster and has been previously mentioned by others here.
ReplyDeleteBilly Beane here is your team's record since 2007.
.471
Billy here is your team's record thus far in 2012.
.448
Please defend this. You can't? I thought so.
I say bring back Berney Ward when he get out on probation!...
ReplyDeleteI'm 65 and have been listening to KGO since I was 6 or 7 years old. This slaughter job they did to KGO is very personal. I will NEVER listen to it again if they get rid of Ronn. How can this happen to loyal listeners? Even bringing back Berney Ward would be a plus YUK!!! However the format is so conservative it makes me sick. What's next "KGO a Fox network leader!!!! I feel so out of control and I can't find another station to listen too that I can trust. Bye KGO you have really been a good friend and for that I thank you.
ReplyDelete