KFOG has come full circle.
The once legendary FM rocker in the city that created a unique blend of modern rock and branded the word, fogheads, has a new Operations MGR and PD. Someone named Bill Pugh, a Cumulus hired hand from San Diego. He replaces the severely out-of-his-league former PD, Dennis Constantine, who has left the building.
Pugh will also assume the duties as OM for "The Bone", (107.7 FM-KSAN)
Constantine's dismissal is not a surprise given the fact that under his stewardship, KFOG has steadily lost its luster as one of the Bay Area's preeminent FM stations. Even loyal fogheads have lamented how much the station has declined, both in ratings and listener loyalty.
The bone is long past it's prime. I think Cumulus is just trying to suck as much cash out of Sweet Jack before the next Sale
ReplyDeleteI used to listen to KFOG when Dave Moray did "Ten at Ten". Where else could you here Dickie Roberts do his top 40 songs set to a "Jaws" theme in '75?.
ReplyDeleteBill Pugh is Dan Patrick's brother.
ReplyDeleteOk Rich,besides the dumb commercials posted like "I ship my pants " and " F-ef easy" Add liquid Drano with hunky guys telling the milf " I have a long snake for your tubes". Whats left is scary to ponder..
ReplyDeleteBill Pugh's background is mostly in sports radio. Can't find any AAA stations that he programmed. So it doesn't look like he was hired to fix KFOG as we know it. Sure looks like a format change is coming. Constantine & Cumulus pretty much decimated KFOG in the past 2 years anyway.
ReplyDeleteHooray????? KFOG hasn't been the same since Susquehanna originally sold them to Cumulus. And Cumulus' treatment of Morey when he retired, a HOF disk jockey was abominable!!!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, you can read. SCINTILLATING RADIO!!!
ReplyDeleteI won't shock anyone by saying this, but there's no question in my mind the only reason they let Dennis go is because of costs. They are surely paying this new chap more than the last, and probably saving themselves $10-20,000 in the process. FWIW I don't know Dennis.
ReplyDelete11:30 AM suggests he never ran a AAA station before (I had to look up that acronym, I'll admit), which shouldn't be surprising. According to LinkedIn he was working at his own WE Pugh Consulting Firm. In my business we refer to this as a "guy without a job." In other words, he knows someone higher up than the people at the local Cumulus stations, and he wasn't going to cost them money. He's a coverup for firing a person with experience, as if to say, "Don't worry, trust us, Bill knows what he's doing." That's the stock answer from any higher-up speaking with someone wondering.
A couple of months ago KGO Radio lost their Program Director, if I recall. Has anything changed over there? I'm told by a close friend it has not. Only the name on the door of the person who supposedly makes decisions.
However, as I wrote on this page months ago, no one in that building is making any real decisions. This company is undoubtedly running their biggest properties through corporate. They will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, until they either sell off properties which are losing them money, flip the stations in the hopes of buying themselves time, or inevitably pay off their investors.
I beg of you, no one working for Cumulus in San Francisco, or elsewhere (I would bet my career this is happening everywhere they own stations), should lose any sleep over one thing: the owners and executives of this fantastic mess are making, and have made, a lot of money. Every time they fire someone else, just look at it as money in the pockets of the mis-managers.
Although she sounds like a lunatic and I disagree with her on the issues, I am enjoying Jennifer Rubin on Lieberman Live. She is doing what most of your guests should say to you: "SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME TALK LIEBERMAN!!!".
ReplyDeleteInstant classic. I especially enjoyed when she told you: "you said we will have a back and forth but you are giving a speech".
Take that Dick!
I'm certain Dennis didn't pick Twitch as the morning show host – that no doubt came from higher-ups at Cumulus — but he WAS responsible for the "throw it against the wall and see who sticks" approach of everyone else who came thru the turnstile that was/is the KFOG morning show.
ReplyDeleteLet's see….Melanie, some other blink-and-you'll-miss-her chick, that dude from Alice…am I missing anyone? Dennis didn't single-handedly ruin the morning show, but he played a pretty big role in fucking it up. What a disaster. KFOG, and Dennis, will no doubt be a Harvard Business School case study in how to ruin a brand & lose customers.
Harvard Business School? I think they'll more appropriately look at Cumulus and Clear Channel being purchased by Private Equity Firms, as opposed to what KFOG is doing.
DeleteKGO-FM?
ReplyDeleteRich,
ReplyDeleteAfter you got off your show today, the old fuddy duddy who follows you on KSCO (Charlie Friedman) called you out for your lack of civics knowledge. Just an FYI.
Pretty hard to tell what Dennis did or did not do but the guy was apparetnly one of the top AAA programmers in the country and had a very successful career until he landed on KFOG's doorstep. It's a little hard to believe he'd suddenly lose his marbles and destroy the station. It's a lot easier to believe that Cumulus, a company who makes a habit of dismantling successful heritage stations and running them into the ground, is the architect of this disaster. It's also hard to believe Constantine was fired to save money. Cumulus hired him after all so presumably he was paid their going rate. It makes all kinds of sense that this is foreshadowing a format change eventually. And it may not be KFOG, it could be The Bone since he also ran that station. Both have been under-performing.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I agree that there's been a lot of recent damage done at KFOG--morning show mess, Annalisa leaving, 10-at-10 decline, no more KFOG fireworks etc., I actually thought the music greatly improved under Dennis C. The move to playing modern music vs. the same tired old stuff was very much welcomed by this listener. Problem, I guess, is that people interested in current music aren't listening to the radio.
ReplyDeleteNot to defend Dennis C (who was truly wretched on air), but I suspect he was told what to do by the Cumulus folk most if not all of the time. Just like what likely will happen with the new PD. He lost what little credibility he had by making statements like "Webster (the DJ who replaced Morey in morning drive) never got used to doing mornings" or "Dave Morey was once the new guy" when he tried to defend "KFOG In the Morning." Uh yeah right. Morey was on the air when the format switched over to rock 3 decades ago. KFOG was already starting to go downhill when Constantine took over. I'm sure Pugh will continue this trend.
ReplyDeleteLowell Cohn did a post on cameramen and baseball players. Read it. Lowell admired the cameraman who turned away when asked by the player.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the post Lowell didn't print from Stan: Stanley Roberts is asked all the the time by the poor and the homeless not to film them. And no matter how polite they ask,he ignores them and films them. The backwards world of KRON them televises those souls -on camera- asking Stanley not to film them! THEN KRON makes a point of saying they cant be told (or asked nicely) what they can or can't do!
No surprise that Cumulus continues to decimate local radio. Do these nabobs of idiocy have any kind of plan, or are they just trying to blow up both KGO and KFOG? They remind me of the fools
ReplyDelete(Chris Cohan and Robbie Rowell) who turned the Warriors into a joke for the better part of 17 years. They don't know anything about radio, aren't interesting in serving the public, and have no desire to participate or be a part of the Bay Area community. Lou Dickey is a fool, and Cumulus will eventually get out of local radio, but not before completely ruining 'their properties,' which by the way, are licensed by the government and are not designed solely for the purpose of making a profit for big corporations.
Luckily for KNBR, the Giants, 49ers and Warriors are going very well, and luckily for KNBR, they've got people like Marty Lurie selling his own show and costing them not a single penny. He does a great job covering baseball on the weekends and it's the perfect fit for him at KNBR....he doesn't have to deal much with their BS and they're happy to have him because his sponsors pay him.
This is where radio is headed in the 21st century. You buy the air time and make money off the sales you generate. And the radio stations don't have to pay another employee or provide benefits or health insurance.
Classic Blooper: On thegame,Whitey Gleason said he wondered what Oakland mayor "Rick Quan" can do about the sports situation. I think he meant Jean Quan. And no, Dibby's and Marky (I'm speaking sports talk lingo) didn't catch it either.
ReplyDeleteRumors heating up that Cumulus is taking the Nash country brand national over the holiday weekend. NASHFM1045 is now a registered domain name.
ReplyDeleteProbably the most telling comment we've seen on this page in months.
DeleteWould hate to see KFOG go country. That said, CCM&E San Diego where Pugh is from has several rock formatted stations and a sports station. And radio insight reports this tidbit:"Domain registrations have been made over the past few months for every commercial FM frequency ending in NashFM.com and .net ". So maybe a format switch isn't imminent.
ReplyDeleteMy two cents is that rock music culture in the Bay Area is unique, and not all out-of-towners understand it. What plays on Peoria AOR just won't make it on a brand like KFOG. Plus, Constantine's search for a suitable morning show really put the station back.
I for one LOVED what Dennis did for KFOG during his tenure. I've lived in SF Who would have guessed that we would be hearing The Cure on KFOG? He has crazy programming skills and made sure that new, relevant artists got introduced to KFOG listeners. His best move - giving Renee the mid day shift. You rock, Renee!! Dennis - you will be missed!!!
ReplyDeleteDavid from SOMA
I am a KFOG listener in Michigan. Cumulus worked their "magic" here and forced me to listen elsewhere...i.e. KFOG. I loved the music Dennis was programming, and I also enjoy the current morning show. I'd rather hear a more adult approach in the a.m. and that's what the current KFOG morning show is.....I have noticed a difference in their music of late....too bad as Dennis does know his music. I will miss him and can only hope KFOG survives.
ReplyDeleteFrom the very first week Dennis Constantine came to KFOG, there was a noticeable difference in programming. KFOG's playlist expanded, in a much needed and positive direction. On one of his first days playing music, I heard Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes; not in years has any station I know played them. I first heard Dennis on Boulder, CO's KBCO in the late 70s-80s as he hosted the morning show with Peter Finch. Dennis has decades of rock and roll knowledge, not only playing great music but discussing it with his listeners. Isn't that what we hope for? To quote another great, but gone, radio station, "It's about the music." Did we not witness, as big business such as Clear Channel and Cumulus began to move in and dictate, a loss of diverse, adult rock and roll? Instead of hearing 5 decades of great music, playlists and programming have continued to shrink. These companies are the villian, not the programmer, who would, I'm sure, continue to give us all that is out there musically. Dave Morey was one of the best; but I believe his retirement was decided on not just his age, but his seeing the writing on the wall. I would have listened to him until he was 100. He was a master. But big business was moving in and allowing for very limited playlists we have been forced to hear over and over and over. These companies are in business to make money: from ads to sponsors to cutting costs where they can. They do not care about great programming; only how much a 30 or 60 second spot costs. Dennis knows music; I loved hearing him on KFOG as well as I did years ago on KBCO. His may be a dying breed. KFOG is a SF icon; good luck with your future country music. For me, I now have to start looking for another station to stream - are there any good ones left???
ReplyDelete