Thursday, September 27, 2012

KSCO Owner looks for Bay Area Signal

415 Media has learned that Michael Zwerling, owner of KSCO NewsTalk AM 1080 Santa Cruz is looking for a Bay Area signal to bring his brand of "truly non-corporate and non-agendized, community-serving as opposed to community-raping commercial talk radio" to the Bay Area.

(Full disclosure: I have hosted shows on KSCO from time to time).

KSCO, which covers Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley experienced an enormous infusion of new listeners after Cumulus Media decimated KGO AM 810 in December of last year.

"If there was EVER a market that NEEDS and would embrace talk radio the way WE do it, it is San Francisco" Zwerling said, and while KSCO covers the southern half of the market quite well, San Francisco, Oakland, and the North Bay does not receive the 1080 AM signal.

Zwerling, who does not depend on advertising revenue to fund his media operations, said he is very excited about building a KSCO-like radio station with nearly all original, innovative content for the Bay Area.

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21 comments:

  1. "Zwerling, who does not depend on advertising revenue to fund his media operations, said he is very excited about building a KSCO-like radio station with nearly all original, innovative content for the Bay Area."


    .... Does he fund it with his own personal funds?

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    1. If KSCO does not depend on advertising revenue, then why in the hell do they run infomercials all weekend long after Zwerling's Saturday morning show? KSCO in the Bay Area would not move the needle. None of their hosts is any good. I tried listening to that station after the KGO debacle and pretty much forgot about it. It does not help that Zwerling's hateful mother pipes in with her lunatic editorials. She hates gays, she loves war, and her patron saint is Donald Trump. No wonder Ray Taliafero went ballistic on that crazy old woman!

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    2. Kay Zwerling's politics aren't mine, but she is sharp as a pistol, fun to hang out with, and very beautiful,even in her nineties. There are very few people, much less American women, who stay on the air into their nineties. google Dorothy Fuldheim. Kay Zwerling is a classic.

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    3. She might be a classic, but she has horrid editorials. In general the station is very right wing with constant anti-Obama references. Two hours a day are donated to the left usually with mediocre hosts. The morning news is good in quirky way, the late afternoon news and talk is a constant bash on Obama. A better signal wouldn't help with the crappy programming. Santa Cruz and the Bay Area has a left of center listening audience so the ratings will not get better. I actually don't mind the reruns of old TV shows since they are at least entertaining once you give them a chance...at least more entertaining than right wing radio.

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  2. How exactly does he fund it?

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  3. Speaking of a Bay Area signal, Gil Gross conducted an 8 minute interview with someone in which the listeners could not here his interview subject today at about 4:40. Cant figure if this is funny or pathetic...and I like Gil. Embarrassing maybe?

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    1. Heard some of that, had a short break from work. I have been listening to talk radio since the late nineties, I have listened to KGO, KSFO, 910 am, 960 am, 650, 1530 from Sacramento, at one time or another each station has had technical problems, you cannot judge a station by one or two mistakes, certainly the new KGO has had it's share of glitched and mistakes with their new format. Give the station and Gil a break.

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  4. Mama Zwerling and those vitamin supplements he peddles pays for his "media operations", as does brokered time buys from "personalities" who add nothing but "revenue" to keep the operation(s) going ... and the fact that advertisers don't buy KSCO in the media mix. Why? The listenership is pathetic in ratings and content of the programming from Limbaugh on down.

    MZ is a clown and should have sold it when a popular radio talk host wanted to buy it a few years ago. MZ had a price ... $5-million clams. Honest. No takers.

    A bad idea for SF / Bay Area radio. It wouldn't fly because MZ is brain struck in the 50s and his momma's rants for the GOP are pitiful and MZ is no radio operator or "talent." Audience level: 75 to "sign off". There are no ratings.

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    1. You are right on every point. You get a good sense of where MZ's head is when you hear him play those 1950s jingles on his show. The guy gets giddy and really believes that crap is good. One of the most pathetic aspects of the station is that on holidays (4th of July, Labor Day etc.) they rebroadcast old ass shows. The operation is subpar throughout. KPFA on a shoestring budget is leagues above KSCO in terms of craft and professionalism. It does not help that MZ and his mommy are enamored of Limbaugh and Alex Jones.

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  5. MZ brokers time on the weekends for informercials and he's also involved with Dr. Joel Wallach's elixers that are purported to have healthful benefits for those who imbibe in them.

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  6. I think if Zwerling cant upgrade the signal and bring in all of the former KGOne talkers Id listen and set my car radio to the station. Or how about talking to those who run KVHS at Clayton Valley Charter High School in Concord, CA and do a simulcast?

    Radar

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  7. He probably gets paid to air all of the shows which he features, and the syndicated shows get to keep their spots.

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  8. Good news. Maybe he could have you, Rich, host a show. I like your style.

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  9. Be GREAT to hear KSCO in the Bay Area! I have to listen online now.

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  10. This would be a great idea... if KKSF didn't already exist.

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  11. Rich, are you still working on the Michael Savage news? Update the site baby!

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  12. Rich,

    "Enormous infusion of new listeners." Come on now. Let's get real. What you're saying about KSCO is hyperbole. You've got to be kidding. KSCO's signal is pretty weak in Silicon Valley. Much of their programming is informercials.

    "KSCO, which covers Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley experienced an enormous infusion of new listeners after Cumulus Media decimated KGO AM 810 in December of last year."

    Say what?!

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  13. For that matter, who or what pays for KKSF to stay on the air? All I hear are PSAs, infomercials, and orange oil exterminators!

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    1. KKSF and KSCO are infomercial city on weekends...

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  14. after the earthquake at KGO last year, i switched over to KSCO and listened to them on the internet especially when the owner (and his mother) insinuated they were interested to bring some former KGO hosts (if not all) to host some programs on their station on some days (if not all week). after a lot of fireworks, none! i got disappointed and moved on. i guess i was not alone. also, their programming style is more befitting of small town retirement community. not fit for big town let alone a world class city like SFO.

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