Well, KQED's ratings dropped for good reason: They were holding another one of those irritating, nonstop pledge drives, begging for money, which interrupts their regular programming. Many listeners, especially those of us who've already pledged donations, turn them off for this reason.
Before anyone makes too much of these numbers, take a closer look. This is the Arbitron rating for listeners aged 6 and older. But there probably aren't a lot of 6 year olds listening to KQED, KCBS, etc.
Advertisers tend to prefer grownups in the 25-54 demographic. I have not seen those numbers for SF for April-May, but I suspect you will see a somewhat different breakdown. Anybody have those #s?
Ummm...I doubt too many 6 - 18 year olds are listening to newstalk radio or classic rock or top 40 stations playing songs from the last 3 decades...this likely is a very good measure of that 24+ group that mostly listens to the radio as opposed to internet stations
KCBS does great work, but I still think the station is missing something. Some kind of zing, snappiness, more resonance. Some new sounders might help. SFers will not like reading this, but sister all-news station KNX 1070 better maintains its tradition of people with those "great pipes." KCBS used to have more.
A recent Radio Ink article ranked the Top 20 News and News/Talk stations. KCBS was #4 and KNX was #13...not even the best in their own market of LA as KFI was #3...though I don't think KFI should be ahead of KCBS, IMHO.
I know consistency is boring and may be bad for a marriage...but predictability in radio and meeting the listener's expectations counts...KCBS gives the comfort and assurance or reliable consistent coverage and information..big voices is so 1970's...folks want the guy next door to give them information.
People know what they are getting in KCBS: Consistency.
This can be a mix of a good thing/bad thing for music radio...but for news stations, you want reliable information.
You get that and more from KCBS.
To the guy who says Hal Ramey and Steve Bitker are "yelling"...you must not consume sports talk radio...both stations do not know how to converse without being as loud as jet engine on a decibel meter.
BTW KQED serves is purpose...they can go deeper into stories and issues, and that is a good thing and what makes NPR and Public Broadcasting good and important.
KGO has lost its identity...like in football, the cliche "When you have 2 quarterbacks, you have none"..applies to KGO...can't decide if they want to be a news station with talk shows, or a talk station who covers news...trying to split the difference alienates both sets of listeners...which explains their eroding cume and share.
KCBS is fine like it is. All news all the time. There is a niche for that- even if it is repetitive at times. I may onlu listen for an hour or so at a time then go about my business then someone else comes when it's convenient. When an earthquake occurs in the middle of the night, it's comforting to be able to tune in and hear the newsreader interact with the "Bay community" via the phone ins. Yes. KCBS is just fine.
With a +.3 to 5.7, CBS Radio news outlet KCBS-AM (#2) is within one-tenth of Cumulus’ KNBR, since the San Francisco Giants flagship slips from 6.0 – 5.8 (6+). Also making a three-tenths gain (3.0 – 3.3, 6+) is Entercom urban AC KBLX “R&B 102.9,” which inches up from #12 (April) to #11.
So what r u saying 1:05pm--that KCBS is going to out bill KNBR because they r within 1/10 of a share point away frm NBR. this is all about billing and KCBS won't have a chance of out billing KNBR till maybe January after the Niners season is over.
Len Tillem may or may not have had good ratings. In any event, the problem was with his narrow demographic base. He spent way too much time promoting wills and trusts aimed at the 65+ age group. And he was too full of himself.
Gil Gross sounds like a nice guy but four hours of daily monologues from him is just too much. No wonder the ratings are in the toilet. Rich Lieberman called it right when he said Gross on 910am would not move the needle.
I'm a huge fan of Gil Gross's work and have been for a long time. He's absolutely one of the best broadcasters I've ever heard. He's a keeper for News Talk 910!
KGO is in deep trouble, and Cumulus is terribly disturbed by it.
Pulling the stops to drive up KGO's ratings is going to be their top priority in the months ahead.
That's what some insiders are saying. Not only that, but they think that simulcasting KGO on 104.5 to more effectively compete against KCBS 740 & 106.9 is imperative.
Here's the problem with such thinking. Why would you kill a station that still retains a strong (if shrinking) following to simulcast a station that most everybody has given up on?
If Cumulus wants to compete with KCBS, they'd better be ready to shell out a whole lot of money, and that seems futile given the non-comm competition from KQED and NPR.
It seems to me that Cumulus can work harder to bring in a younger demographic for KFOG at a much lower cost than propping up KGO.
When CBS decided to simulcast KCBS on FM, they picked a recent acquisition that had just experienced 2 short-lived and failed formats.
It's sad perhaps, but the most obvious course for KGO is just to keep it on low-cost life support for it's inevitable fire-sale a few years down the road...the way of most AM frequencies these days.
I continue to be amazed by the constant pursuit by the "younger demographic." The younger demographic, unfortunately, is most often saddled with student loan debt and perhaps living with multiple roommates.
But I completely agree with you about having given up on KGO. It's really very sad to think about what it was and what it is.
I was chatting with a guy in a cafe today who is about 25, was wearing a Giants cap, and was listening to the 95.7 sports station on his phone.
I asked him why he was listening to 95.7 rather than KNBR or KTCT 1050, the other sports stations in town. He told me that he does listen when the Giants are on, but as for sportstalk he prefers 95.7 (he never did say the slogan or the callsign), because "it's hipper" and "more well-rounded" in the kinds of sports people talk about. He also said that 95.7 has some hosts who "bring a lot more to the table" than the KNBR/KTCT guys. "It's like they've got other lives besides just sports."
When I suggested that 95.7 is sort of coasting in the ratings department and that some people are speculating about whether the format would continue, he told me that if they dump the sports from 95.7 then he probably wouldn't be listening to any local radio station, either via his Android or his radio.
Not even the Giants? "Well, I like the play-by-play, but when the games are on I'd rather watch it on TV than hear it anyway."
Seriously, are ALL the Morning hosts and other On-Air Personalities on every station, really driving a Mercedes E Series and actually telling the listeners about their experience or just reading a script.
The day Gene Burns was shown the door at KGO was the day that radio station died for me. Cumulus either didn't realize what a talent they had or simply didn't care.
I hate to think about what might have been if Gene hadn't been given this amount of stress by KGO/Cumulost.
I had heard of his conditions, but don't think that being canned by KGO and the stroke 1 month later aren't related. THEY ARE. Stress killed him. And KGO killed him.
Sad to see that Live 105's "reboot" hasn't given them any upward momentum; they're actually down a tick. Amazing what the beginning of baseball season did for the Knibber.
Time for a Spring Purge at KGO. Maybe we can fix weekends this time out. Then again ... the names of tomorrow's breed of great Bay Area legacy on the Big 810 will be? (Pick a few.) Who among the newsies to go as well?
Okay, there are Len Tillem, Gil Gross, commentaries by Ed Baxter (who's actually very good as a commentator), John Rothmann, and the syndicated Sunday night Bill Wattenburg.
As of today, Monday, KKSF has added Tom Benner (former "Officer Vic" from KKKSFO), and Lloyd Lindsay Young doing weather!
Gil and Lloyd talked a bit about things, including Lloyd's recent wedding, where Gil officiated(!), so obviously they're good friends. I wonder how much influence Gil had over the hiring of LLY?
As long as Entercomm wants to piss away dollars. Just about anything else would do better than the Game at this point. After almost 2 years, they're still essentially in the same spot. I hope for the sake of the A's and Raiders, they have a plan B. Entercomm could save their cash on the local "talent" and just simulcast ESPN Radio when the A's and Raiders aren't playing. Would anyone really notice a difference?
Tony Curtis, Ronn Owens (Lowenstein), Michael Savage (Weiner) changed their names, and of course obama is actually osama and a member of the communist party and the bidabergers and Hamas and not really a us citizen (heard it on talk radio- must be right).
I wonder if Rich will change his name to RICH LEE if he ever goes on the air here in the Bay Area?
Now that Cumulus has launched a Country station in New York, what are the chances they'll try Country in San Francisco? Maybe put it on 107.7 with the call letters of the last country station to have any success in this market, KSAN.
Nobody listens to Dr. Demento anymore. He doesn't even syndicate anymore. it's funny how these things go in cycles. At one time his program was so hot that MOR-formatted KSFO used to run it! Dr Demento was the cat's pajamas in quirky late-nite/weekend radio. And then little by little he kept losing affiliates.
LA is different from SF. Right wing talk radio has always done very well there, not so here. Oldies have also done well there and not so well here. Meanwhile, KQED Radio (NPR) SF has nearly triple the share that KPCC LA's NPR affiliate does. The markets are simply different.
SF Gate and the Chronicle report that Harold Camping's East-Bay based Family Radio network may be near the end - going broke. And not because the world is ending...
Could this be MZ's eagerly awaited opportunity to buy a station with a clear, strong signal that covers San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and the entire Bay Area?
Apparently Annalisa is doing an "all-request lunch hour" thing. How many of those requests are off-the-beaten-path and how many are "classics" the station plays 20 times a week remains to be seen. A better idea would've been an hour-long "Radio Rewind" -- the feature she did the first couple of months on the morning show; songs from a specific year plus appropriate news/TV/movie clips. Yes, very much like 10@10, but she's damn good at that sorta thing.
Highlight of the last 20 years: I liked it when Michael Krasny was speaking at the graduation at Sonoma State and Michael Savage, who was there to see his son graduate, started shouting at him from the audience.
Bob Gowa: I come across his voice from time to time and I wonder when he has time to sleep.
So far in the last couple weeks I've heard him doing traffic on KGO, KNEW 960, KKSF 910, and just last night on KCBS as "Bob London". Always the consummate professional I've never heard him slip format or names, as each station has its own presentation style (KCBS has longer reports but the traffic reporter is introduced and does not say his/her name, KNEW and KKSF have shorter segments, often timed, and the traffic reports says their name at the end).
I fully expect that if I had the stomach to listen to KBLX or KIOI I'd hear him there, too.
I absolutely unconditionally love you when you share your recipes on the air. So much so that I want to share this recipe, which Rick Dees was nice enough to send me with an autograph.
Rick Dees' Five-Star Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie Pecans, chocolate, and bourbon combine with Rick’s Famously Unbeatable Pie Crust to send your taste buds into orbit!
1 single crust from Rick’s Famously Unbeatable Pie Crust 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans 1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels 1 cup dark corn syrup 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/4 cup Woodford Reserve bourbon (or your favorite Bourbon), or water 4 large eggs 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted 2 tsp. cornmeal 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 Dees-grees.
2. Make pie crust according to directions. Use one single crust.
3. Fit pie crust into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Sprinkle pecans and chocolate evenly onto bottom of piecrust; set aside.
4. Combine corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar, and bourbon or water in a large saucepan and to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Whisk together eggs, butter or margarine, vanilla extract, and salt. Gradually whisk about one-fourth hot mixture into egg mixture; add to remaining hot mixture, whisking constantly.
6. Pour filling into prepared piecrust.
7. Bake at 325ºF for 55 minutes or until set; cool on wire rack.
Serve slightly warm, and with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
KREV has gotten so bad that many people I know who used to tolerate it now have bailed on it completely. It's a shame that Royce didn't continue with the programming that the former Energy 92.7 (KNGY) had; they were making decent revenue but couldn't handle the debt service. But Royce bought it for a fifth of what Flying Bear paid for the stick.
I was returning to my home in Mountain View from the East Palo Alto Ikea listening to 103.1, a K-Love station, when at 6:39 P.M., the music suddenly stopped, and the Emergency Alert System tone came on.
That got my attention as that was the 1st time I heard it activated when it wasn't raining or for the weekly test. A guy came on, started speaking and then the ending broken tone came on. When the guy came on, I must have hit a bad spot because I got some static so I couldn't understand what was said. It was so short that I doubt that more than 2 words were spoken (the gap between the opening tone and the closing one couldn't have been more 5-7 seconds). After the ending tomes, the song I was listening to came back on. Does anyone have any idea what happened here? Was this an accidental activation?
I checked radio-locator.com and within 100 miles of Mountain View there are 2 K-Love stations on 103.1, one in Santa Cruz K276BR(KLVS) and one in Vacaville K276EK (KLVB).
I seriously think I was listening to the Santa Cruz station, but I have no clue as K-Love Station don't identify their individual call signs. What are the rules on station identification?
The first K-FOX PD Entercom hired, Larry Sharp, lasted less than a year. Now Garner gets the boot just under 1 year. Greg Kihn and Tim Jeffreys were also fired last year. Doesn't sound like Entercom knows how to do classic rock.
WASSUP YA ALL!!!! IT'S THE WORLD'S MOST LOVEABLE AUTISTIC HAMMERIN' HANK. I WORKED AT KYLD(WiLD 94.9) IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR OVER FOURTEEN YEARS UNTIL I WAS LET GO IN AUGUST 2008. I'M CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR MY NEXT RADIO JOB, BUT TIMES ARE TOUGH THESE DAYS!!!!
Granted, I'm a casual listener to K-Fox, but it seems the new guy is scaling back a bit on the '90s stuff they added in October. It seemed like there were 2 '90s cuts an hour recently (the usual suspects: Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Green Day, Lenny Kravitz). In 8 hours this morning there were maybe 4 or 5 total. A smart move, it seems to me, since The Bone has been adding '90s stuff that seems out of place there (like Beck's "Devil's Haircut"). I realize everybody wants "younger" but keeping older demos to get a higher cume might be a good tradeoff for K-Fox.
Either Bone or K-Fox needs to budge. One of these two stations should evolve to a broad-based Mainstream Rock format. The amount of music they play that is more than 30 years old is unbelievable.
I would very much like to see Cumulus evolve The Bone into something that resembles the new sound of Rock 100.5 in Atlanta.
I may have mentioned this before but I noticed that what the little talk KGO now does there seems to be a long amount of time spent in "explaining" the subject matter up for discussion. This being done by the shows host. It almost seems that the phones are not ringing and the talk show host is stalling for time ?
In the past KGO would bring up a subject matter and talk maybe 5 or 10 mins about it then start taking calls,now I've heard some talk show host talk almost for a half hour before they take calls.
This seem to be the new format on 910 with Gil, and the new guy, Frosty, actually they hardly take calls, and mostly it is a big bore. Both talk with expert from Politico, Gil has a lot of experts on, he does umpteen boring stories about dumb criminals, and has now added school stories. It all bores me to death. Frosty seem to have some of the same format, sans dumb criminal or school stories, although I must admit I have not listen to him much. I think 910 is missing the boat, Gil's format is more of a news information by the host than a talk show. I never ever got bored with Gene Burns or John Rothman (save a few subject that didn't interest me, but that was very rare). I'm tired of added that Gil seem like a very nice man, which he does, but for the most part he bores me to death. I have no idea who thought this new format would be a winner, but for those of us that love, or should I say loved, talk radio, it is not working. Does younger people really like this? Gil sounds outdated to me, and I'm in my sixties. I loved John Rothman's show, I'm a history buff, and also love politics and John is an expert on both. Gil does well with politics, but he should have stayed with the format he had on KGO, as far as I'm concerned. Interested in hearing other's opinion. Wonder if Gil and 910 is?
I wonder if Cumulus wants its stations to eventually become all-news stations? I can count lots of their radio stations (WMAL, WJR, WLS, KLIF, KABC, KGO) that air traffic reports every ten minutes (on the fives, except for KABC). Most of their radio stations, excluding WJR and WMAL, have fallen into their own grave due to constant commercial breaks, as well as the traffic reports.
I was at my production house studios here in Vegas Friday. I was talking with the crew about AM radio in this market and the 20 something female office manager said. "I didn't know there still was AM radio".
Hey Rich...some of these comments were lifted from the SF discussion board on Radio-Info.com! I thought some of them sounded familiar and sure enough that's where I've seen them before. A couple of them are even mine. It sounds like someone is trying to mess with you.
Hey Rich....you are dead on what the numbers say and the recent demise of KGO. As a retired staffer, I can tell you KGO was as Lloyd used to squeal, America's greatest radio station! That type of market dominance won't surface again simply because that type of management style no longer exists. When the Chief Engineer needed 10K for parts, Uncle Mickey simply wrote a check. I doubt you can buy pencils at KGO now without Atlanta's approval. In Sacramento that's who KCRA grew to dominate the market. Clear management with the authority ( like the owner ) to make instant decisions. Running a radio station by Committee doesn't work, switching to FM won't work either. Its nobody's fault but your buddy MZ should toss a low ball offer towards Cumulus they might take it.
It is obvious that the fallout from the rush to cut costs at KGO was greater than anticipated. I think the old saying "The cure is worse than the disease" applies here. Listeners would have been upset if some hosts were replaced with "younger, hipper" people but over time people would have accepted the change. To completely abandon the format was a lethal blow. I think Mickey L. was right when he said they should have gone less news and more talk. Trying to go head to head with KCBS made little sense to me.
Interesting, KGO stayed the same. I had wondered whether KGO would spike due to Gene Burn's death and the "tribute" days. In some ways it would be good to know that the best ratings KGO had since they blew it, was due to Gene Burns. But would also hate to have them think it was their new improved whatever mess you would call it that caused a spike. Late, but was ill, kudos to you, Pat Thursten, and Gil Gross for the great tributes to Gene. I'm still giving a huge thumbs down to Ronnnnnn who made Gene's passing about RONNNNN and it was like "woe is me, how horrible it is for me, I am so moved, it, is difficult, I don't know how I can go on...MY FRIEND has died think very small letters here --Gene Burns died. He hadn't seen his dear dear friend in months....WHY NOT? But more than ready to pound his chest and wail and sigh. Same is true of the idiot chef, Ryan Scott. "Gene was a father figure to me...he fed me and my family Thanksgiving dinner for many years". "I am really following him on KGO"(oh, dear, poor Gene, sort of hope he wasn't listening) How long had it been since Ryan had seen that "Father figure".... And Joel, I can imagine how he is betwixt and between...falling over Ronn..."no hard feelings between KGO..we're all friends"...yup, Joel is without Gene, his guarantee of admission and at least somewhat acceptance in a world that he is clearly in over his head. Whose coat tails now? No wonder asking Ronn to have lunch....but Joel, Ronn can gain nothing from you...nothing..if he can't gain anything, he's not interested. I give Karel more props than Ronn or Ryan....but bless Pat the winner at KGO! LC
Gene Burns died on Memorial Day weekend which falls under the June ratings period, not May. Don't look for a ratings bump in June either since radio listenership drops significantly on holidays.
The Q getting it's Ass handed to it by KOIT So So Sad
ReplyDeleteMay was a pledge drive for QED
DeleteWell, KQED's ratings dropped for good reason: They were holding another one of those irritating, nonstop pledge drives, begging for money, which interrupts their regular programming. Many listeners, especially those of us who've already pledged donations, turn them off for this reason.
DeleteBefore anyone makes too much of these numbers, take a closer look. This is the Arbitron rating for listeners aged 6 and older. But there probably aren't a lot of 6 year olds listening to KQED, KCBS, etc.
DeleteAdvertisers tend to prefer grownups in the 25-54 demographic. I have not seen those numbers for SF for April-May, but I suspect you will see a somewhat different breakdown. Anybody have those #s?
Ummm...I doubt too many 6 - 18 year olds are listening to newstalk radio or classic rock or top 40 stations playing songs from the last 3 decades...this likely is a very good measure of that 24+ group that mostly listens to the radio as opposed to internet stations
Delete1050 with a higher cume than the Game. Who saw that coming? Oh yeah, everyone.
ReplyDeleteThis should be an opportune time for KNBR-AM 680 to be part of the new NBC Sports Network
ReplyDeleteKCBS does great work, but I still think the station is missing something. Some kind of zing, snappiness, more resonance. Some new sounders might help. SFers will not like reading this, but sister all-news station KNX 1070 better maintains its tradition of people with those "great pipes." KCBS used to have more.
ReplyDeleteA recent Radio Ink article ranked the Top 20 News and News/Talk stations. KCBS was #4 and KNX was #13...not even the best in their own market of LA as KFI was #3...though I don't think KFI should be ahead of KCBS, IMHO.
DeleteI know consistency is boring and may be bad for a marriage...but predictability in radio and meeting the listener's expectations counts...KCBS gives the comfort and assurance or reliable consistent coverage and information..big voices is so 1970's...folks want the guy next door to give them information.
People know what they are getting in KCBS: Consistency.
This can be a mix of a good thing/bad thing for music radio...but for news stations, you want reliable information.
You get that and more from KCBS.
To the guy who says Hal Ramey and Steve Bitker are "yelling"...you must not consume sports talk radio...both stations do not know how to converse without being as loud as jet engine on a decibel meter.
BTW KQED serves is purpose...they can go deeper into stories and issues, and that is a good thing and what makes NPR and Public Broadcasting good and important.
KGO has lost its identity...like in football, the cliche "When you have 2 quarterbacks, you have none"..applies to KGO...can't decide if they want to be a news station with talk shows, or a talk station who covers news...trying to split the difference alienates both sets of listeners...which explains their eroding cume and share.
The Bay Area is a much more sophisticated and intellectual market than L.A. What works there doesn't work here.
DeleteKfi is 100% Talk and does 46 million a year without sports.
DeletePost at 3:05pm
DeleteIf the Bay Area is so sophisticated, please explain Murph and Mac.
KCBS is fine like it is. All news all the time. There is a niche for that- even if it is repetitive at times. I may onlu listen for an hour or so at a time then go about my business then someone else comes when it's convenient. When an earthquake occurs in the middle of the night, it's comforting to be able to tune in and hear the newsreader interact with the "Bay community" via the phone ins. Yes. KCBS is just fine.
DeleteWith a +.3 to 5.7, CBS Radio news outlet KCBS-AM (#2) is within one-tenth of Cumulus’ KNBR, since the San Francisco Giants flagship slips from 6.0 – 5.8 (6+). Also making a three-tenths gain (3.0 – 3.3, 6+) is Entercom urban AC KBLX “R&B 102.9,” which inches up from #12 (April) to #11.
ReplyDeleteSo what r u saying 1:05pm--that KCBS is going to out bill KNBR because they r within 1/10 of a share point away frm NBR. this is all about billing and KCBS won't have a chance of out billing KNBR till maybe January after the Niners season is over.
DeleteArbitron (March, April & May, 2013)
ReplyDeleteAnd doing not so well, the talkers:
*KSFO, 1.9, 1.9, 2.0
*KKSF, 2.0, 1.8, 1.8
*KNEW 0.6, 0.5, 0.6
And mostly news but some talk:
*KGO, 2.6, 2.4, 2.4.
Could Michael Zwerling (KSCO/KOMY owner) turn around talk radio in the Bay Area if he secured access to a station here?
Realistic answer: Not likely.
DeleteHave KKSF's ratings changed since Len Tillem was fired and Gil Gross expanded his three-hour show to four hours?
ReplyDeleteGil is a solid, straight forward professional who delivers consistently excellent programming such that he is the bedrock of Talk 910.
DeleteLen Tillem may or may not have had good ratings. In any event, the problem was with his narrow demographic base. He spent way too much time promoting wills and trusts aimed at the 65+ age group. And he was too full of himself.
DeleteGil Gross sounds like a nice guy but four hours of daily monologues from him is just too much. No wonder the ratings are in the toilet. Rich Lieberman called it right when he said Gross on 910am would not move the needle.
DeleteGet rid of Raney and Bitker on KCBS. I'm tired of them shouting at me, especially with their Comcast and Cert-Pro commercials
ReplyDeleteVery true. Whenever I hear Hal Raney I want to cover my ears.
DeleteM E M O
ReplyDelete============================================
KKSF 910 - San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose
Drop the nationally syndicated programming.
Instead, pick up the "Rich Lieberman Program," weekdays, from 1-4 pm, and watch your ratings soar!
I'm a huge fan of Gil Gross's work and have been for a long time. He's absolutely one of the best broadcasters I've ever heard. He's a keeper for News Talk 910!
DeleteI worked with Gil Gross years ago and a nicer man you'll not find in the business. I'm so happy to see him with a regular gig. Long may he wave.
DeleteKGO is in deep trouble, and Cumulus is terribly disturbed by it.
ReplyDeletePulling the stops to drive up KGO's ratings is going to be their top priority in the months ahead.
That's what some insiders are saying. Not only that, but they think that simulcasting KGO on 104.5 to more effectively compete against KCBS 740 & 106.9 is imperative.
Here's the problem with such thinking. Why would you kill a station that still retains a strong (if shrinking) following to simulcast a station that most everybody has given up on?
If Cumulus wants to compete with KCBS, they'd better be ready to shell out a whole lot of money, and that seems futile given the non-comm competition from KQED and NPR.
It seems to me that Cumulus can work harder to bring in a younger demographic for KFOG at a much lower cost than propping up KGO.
When CBS decided to simulcast KCBS on FM, they picked a recent acquisition that had just experienced 2 short-lived and failed formats.
It's sad perhaps, but the most obvious course for KGO is just to keep it on low-cost life support for it's inevitable fire-sale a few years down the road...the way of most AM frequencies these days.
I continue to be amazed by the constant pursuit by the "younger demographic." The younger demographic, unfortunately, is most often saddled with student loan debt and perhaps living with multiple roommates.
DeleteBut I completely agree with you about having given up on KGO. It's really very sad to think about what it was and what it is.
I was chatting with a guy in a cafe today who is about 25, was wearing a Giants cap, and was listening to the 95.7 sports station on his phone.
ReplyDeleteI asked him why he was listening to 95.7 rather than KNBR or KTCT 1050, the other sports stations in town. He told me that he does listen when the Giants are on, but as for sportstalk he prefers 95.7 (he never did say the slogan or the callsign), because "it's hipper" and "more well-rounded" in the kinds of sports people talk about. He also said that 95.7 has some hosts who "bring a lot more to the table" than the KNBR/KTCT guys. "It's like they've got other lives besides just sports."
When I suggested that 95.7 is sort of coasting in the ratings department and that some people are speculating about whether the format would continue, he told me that if they dump the sports from 95.7 then he probably wouldn't be listening to any local radio station, either via his Android or his radio.
Not even the Giants? "Well, I like the play-by-play, but when the games are on I'd rather watch it on TV than hear it anyway."
I swear to go I saw this post, almost verbatim, posted a few months back when there was an anti Game post published.
DeleteSeriously, are ALL the Morning hosts and other On-Air Personalities on every station, really driving a Mercedes E Series and actually telling the listeners about their experience or just reading a script.
ReplyDeleteThe day Gene Burns was shown the door at KGO was the day that radio station died for me. Cumulus either didn't realize what a talent they had or simply didn't care.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it matter now?
DeleteI hate to think about what might have been if Gene hadn't been given this amount of stress by KGO/Cumulost.
DeleteI had heard of his conditions, but don't think that being canned by KGO and the stroke 1 month later aren't related. THEY ARE. Stress killed him. And KGO killed him.
Sad to see that Live 105's "reboot" hasn't given them any upward momentum; they're actually down a tick. Amazing what the beginning of baseball season did for the Knibber.
ReplyDeleteTime for a Spring Purge at KGO. Maybe we can fix weekends this time out. Then again ... the names of tomorrow's breed of great Bay Area legacy on the Big 810 will be? (Pick a few.) Who among the newsies to go as well?
ReplyDeleteOkay, there are Len Tillem, Gil Gross, commentaries by Ed Baxter (who's actually very good as a commentator), John Rothmann, and the syndicated Sunday night Bill Wattenburg.
DeleteAs of today, Monday, KKSF has added Tom Benner (former "Officer Vic" from KKKSFO), and Lloyd Lindsay Young doing weather!
Gil and Lloyd talked a bit about things, including Lloyd's recent wedding, where Gil officiated(!), so obviously they're good friends. I wonder how much influence Gil had over the hiring of LLY?
What did Talk 910 get for all of this?
Their ratings stayed in the basement.
So much for all the nostalgic talk about KGO.
And The Game continues to flat line, how much longer can this go on? Also "New sound of KFOX" doesnt really seem to be catching on...
ReplyDeleteFrom LaSelva Beach to Watsonville: Maybe MZ should petition the FCC to increase KOMY's transmitter power so we can hear Rich L in the Bay Area!
ReplyDeleteThere was some interest in Proposed Frequency & Area old KFRC 610
Deletehttp://bit.ly/KEAR610 http://bit.ly/KEARarea
As long as Entercomm wants to piss away dollars. Just about anything else would do better than the Game at this point. After almost 2 years, they're still essentially in the same spot. I hope for the sake of the A's and Raiders, they have a plan B. Entercomm could save their cash on the local "talent" and just simulcast ESPN Radio when the A's and Raiders aren't playing. Would anyone really notice a difference?
ReplyDeleteTony Curtis, Ronn Owens (Lowenstein), Michael Savage (Weiner) changed their names, and of course obama is actually osama and a member of the communist party and the bidabergers and Hamas and not really a us citizen (heard it on talk radio- must be right).
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Rich will change his name to RICH LEE if he ever goes on the air here in the Bay Area?
Now that Cumulus has launched a Country station in New York, what are the chances they'll try Country in San Francisco? Maybe put it on 107.7 with the call letters of the last country station to have any success in this market, KSAN.
ReplyDeleteNobody listens to Dr. Demento anymore. He doesn't even syndicate anymore. it's funny how these things go in cycles. At one time his program was so hot that MOR-formatted KSFO used to run it! Dr Demento was the cat's pajamas in quirky late-nite/weekend radio. And then little by little he kept losing affiliates.
ReplyDeleteLA is different from SF. Right wing talk radio has always done very well there, not so here. Oldies have also done well there and not so well here. Meanwhile, KQED Radio (NPR) SF has nearly triple the share that KPCC LA's NPR affiliate does. The markets are simply different.
ReplyDeleteSF Gate and the Chronicle report that Harold Camping's East-Bay based Family Radio network may be near the end - going broke. And not because the world is ending...
ReplyDeleteCould this be MZ's eagerly awaited opportunity to buy a station with a clear, strong signal that covers San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and the entire Bay Area?
Anonymous 1:59 PM
DeleteBut by that time, will it be too late?
And the little birdie sang Cheap Cheap Cheap
DeleteMZ: If you're reading this, give Dave Michaels his own talk show on KSCO/KOMY
DeleteApparently Annalisa is doing an "all-request lunch hour" thing. How many of those requests are off-the-beaten-path and how many are "classics" the station plays 20 times a week remains to be seen. A better idea would've been an hour-long "Radio Rewind" -- the feature she did the first couple of months on the morning show; songs from a specific year plus appropriate news/TV/movie clips. Yes, very much like 10@10, but she's damn good at that sorta thing.
DeleteHighlight of the last 20 years: I liked it when Michael Krasny was speaking at the graduation at Sonoma State and Michael Savage, who was there to see his son graduate, started shouting at him from the audience.
DeleteBob Gowa: I come across his voice from time to time and I wonder when he has time to sleep.
DeleteSo far in the last couple weeks I've heard him doing traffic on KGO, KNEW 960, KKSF 910, and just last night on KCBS as "Bob London". Always the consummate professional I've never heard him slip format or names, as each station has its own presentation style (KCBS has longer reports but the traffic reporter is introduced and does not say his/her name, KNEW and KKSF have shorter segments, often timed, and the traffic reports says their name at the end).
I fully expect that if I had the stomach to listen to KBLX or KIOI I'd hear him there, too.
Rich:
ReplyDeleteI absolutely unconditionally love you when you share your recipes on the air. So much so that I want to share this recipe, which Rick Dees was nice enough to send me with an autograph.
Rick Dees' Five-Star Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Pecans, chocolate, and bourbon combine with Rick’s Famously Unbeatable Pie Crust to send your taste buds into orbit!
Rick Dees' Five-Star Chocolate Bourbon Pecan PieYields: 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: Cooking time: 5 minutes; Baking time: 55 minutes
Ingredients:
1 single crust from Rick’s Famously Unbeatable Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Woodford Reserve bourbon (or your favorite Bourbon), or water
4 large eggs
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 tsp. cornmeal
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 Dees-grees.
2. Make pie crust according to directions. Use one single crust.
3. Fit pie crust into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Sprinkle pecans and chocolate evenly onto bottom of piecrust; set aside.
4. Combine corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar, and bourbon or water in a large saucepan and to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Whisk together eggs, butter or margarine, vanilla extract, and salt. Gradually whisk about one-fourth hot mixture into egg mixture; add to remaining hot mixture, whisking constantly.
6. Pour filling into prepared piecrust.
7. Bake at 325ºF for 55 minutes or until set; cool on wire rack.
Serve slightly warm, and with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
KREV has gotten so bad that many people I know who used to tolerate it now have bailed on it completely. It's a shame that Royce didn't continue with the programming that the former Energy 92.7 (KNGY) had; they were making decent revenue but couldn't handle the debt service. But Royce bought it for a fifth of what Flying Bear paid for the stick.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of looking older (or not) - I've noticed that Ronn Owens' "hair" has not aged or thinned one bit in all these years.
ReplyDeleteDon't mention his name. You'll only get Rich going on how much of a "sell-out" Ronn Owens is.
DeleteI was returning to my home in Mountain View from the East Palo Alto Ikea listening to 103.1, a K-Love station, when at 6:39 P.M., the music suddenly stopped, and the Emergency Alert System tone came on.
ReplyDeleteThat got my attention as that was the 1st time I heard it activated when it wasn't raining or for the weekly test. A guy came on, started speaking and then the ending broken tone came on. When the guy came on, I must have hit a bad spot because I got some static so I couldn't understand what was said. It was so short that I doubt that more than 2 words were spoken (the gap between the opening tone and the closing one couldn't have been more 5-7 seconds). After the ending tomes, the song I was listening to came back on. Does anyone have any idea what happened here? Was this an accidental activation?
I checked radio-locator.com and within 100 miles of Mountain View there are 2 K-Love stations on 103.1, one in Santa Cruz K276BR(KLVS) and one in Vacaville K276EK (KLVB).
I seriously think I was listening to the Santa Cruz station, but I have no clue as K-Love Station don't identify their individual call signs. What are the rules on station identification?
Here in San Diego there is a non commercial jazz station (88.3 FM) that has live jocks 24/7
ReplyDeleteWith all the sabre rattiling from North Korea, I say it's time to bring back CONELRAD. :-)
ReplyDelete*LEN TILLEM*
ReplyDeleteWTF?
When KGO let him go in December 2011, Len stated that his was the top-rated, most listened to talk show on KGO.
Then, KKSF picked him up and just as abruptly fired him. That was just a few months ago. Len claimed then his was Talk 910's highest-rated show.
What's with Len anyway? Why can't he hold down a radio show if his ratings are so good? Where's the "loyah" now?
The "Loyah" is Doing a daily podcasting
Deletehttp://bit.ly/TheLenTillemShow
http://bit.ly/LenTillemiTunes
The first K-FOX PD Entercom hired, Larry Sharp, lasted less than a year. Now Garner gets the boot just under 1 year. Greg Kihn and Tim Jeffreys were also fired last year. Doesn't sound like Entercom knows how to do classic rock.
ReplyDeleteKBLX has changed into an entirely different station with bad ratings.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to BOBBY OCEAN? Is he still alive?
ReplyDeleteWASSUP YA ALL!!!! IT'S THE WORLD'S MOST LOVEABLE AUTISTIC HAMMERIN' HANK. I WORKED AT KYLD(WiLD 94.9) IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR OVER FOURTEEN YEARS UNTIL I WAS LET GO IN AUGUST 2008. I'M CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR MY NEXT RADIO JOB, BUT TIMES ARE TOUGH THESE DAYS!!!!
ReplyDeleteGranted, I'm a casual listener to K-Fox, but it seems the new guy is scaling back a bit on the '90s stuff they added in October. It seemed like there were 2 '90s cuts an hour recently (the usual suspects: Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Green Day, Lenny Kravitz). In 8 hours this morning there were maybe 4 or 5 total. A smart move, it seems to me, since The Bone has been adding '90s stuff that seems out of place there (like Beck's "Devil's Haircut"). I realize everybody wants "younger" but keeping older demos to get a higher cume might be a good tradeoff for K-Fox.
ReplyDeleteEither Bone or K-Fox needs to budge. One of these two stations should evolve to a broad-based Mainstream Rock format. The amount of music they play that is more than 30 years old is unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteI would very much like to see Cumulus evolve The Bone into something that resembles the new sound of Rock 100.5 in Atlanta.
Yesterday Steve Perry into the Beastie Boys.
ReplyDeleteStunting?
FRESH 96.5?
ReplyDeleteIs any station still using a "super-commuter" (some nut in a compact car with all sorts of graphic on it reporting that he is stuck in traffic. etc
ReplyDeleteI may have mentioned this before but I noticed that what the little talk KGO now does there seems to be a long amount of time spent in "explaining" the subject matter up for discussion.
ReplyDeleteThis being done by the shows host.
It almost seems that the phones are not ringing and the talk show host is stalling for time ?
In the past KGO would bring up a subject matter and talk maybe 5 or 10 mins about it then start taking calls,now I've heard some talk show host talk almost for a half hour before they take calls.
Al
This seem to be the new format on 910 with Gil, and the new guy, Frosty, actually they hardly take calls, and mostly it is a big bore. Both talk with expert from Politico, Gil has a lot of experts on, he does umpteen boring stories about dumb criminals, and has now added school stories. It all bores me to death. Frosty seem to have some of the same format, sans dumb criminal or school stories, although I must admit I have not listen to him much. I think 910 is missing the boat, Gil's format is more of a news information by the host than a talk show. I never ever got bored with Gene Burns or John Rothman (save a few subject that didn't interest me, but that was very rare). I'm tired of added that Gil seem like a very nice man, which he does, but for the most part he bores me to death. I have no idea who thought this new format would be a winner, but for those of us that love, or should I say loved, talk radio, it is not working. Does younger people really like this? Gil sounds outdated to me, and I'm in my sixties. I loved John Rothman's show, I'm a history buff, and also love politics and John is an expert on both. Gil does well with politics, but he should have stayed with the format he had on KGO, as far as I'm concerned. Interested in hearing other's opinion. Wonder if Gil and 910 is?
DeleteI wonder if Cumulus wants its stations to eventually become all-news stations? I can count lots of their radio stations (WMAL, WJR, WLS, KLIF, KABC, KGO) that air traffic reports every ten minutes (on the fives, except for KABC). Most of their radio stations, excluding WJR and WMAL, have fallen into their own grave due to constant commercial breaks, as well as the traffic reports.
ReplyDeleteIt may be worse than we thought.
ReplyDeleteI was at my production house studios here in Vegas Friday. I was talking with the crew about AM radio in this market and the 20 something female office manager said. "I didn't know there still was AM radio".
Hey! I know Duke Morgan.
DeleteAM died along with KGO 12/2/11 !
DeleteRICH:
ReplyDelete"Streets of San Francisco" for your new theme song. Please!
Howard Stern once called Talk 910's weather man Lloyd Lindsay Young "The most successful mentally challenged person I've ever met."
ReplyDeleteHey Rich...some of these comments were lifted from the SF discussion board on Radio-Info.com! I thought some of them sounded familiar and sure enough that's where I've seen them before. A couple of them are even mine. It sounds like someone is trying to mess with you.
ReplyDeleteHey Rich....you are dead on what the numbers say and the recent demise of KGO. As a retired staffer, I can tell you KGO was as Lloyd used to squeal, America's greatest radio station! That type of market dominance won't surface again simply because that type of management style no longer exists. When the Chief Engineer needed 10K for parts, Uncle Mickey simply wrote a check. I doubt you can buy pencils at KGO now without Atlanta's approval. In Sacramento that's who KCRA grew to dominate the market. Clear management with the authority ( like the owner ) to make instant decisions. Running a radio station by Committee doesn't work, switching to FM won't work either. Its nobody's fault but your buddy MZ should toss a low ball offer towards Cumulus they might take it.
ReplyDeleteWhere is KGO?
ReplyDeleteWhat ever happened to all those awards and gloating from Ronn Owens?
The silence from KGO is deafening.
Those Award winning hosts were financially costly to Cumulus so they dumped them, hence the "deafening" silence.
DeleteIt is obvious that the fallout from the rush to cut costs at KGO was greater than anticipated. I think the old saying "The cure is worse than the disease" applies here. Listeners would have been upset if some hosts were replaced with "younger, hipper" people but over time people would have accepted the change. To completely abandon the format was a lethal blow. I think Mickey L. was right when he said they should have gone less news and more talk. Trying to go head to head with KCBS made little sense to me.
DeleteInteresting, KGO stayed the same. I had wondered whether KGO would spike due to Gene Burn's death and the "tribute" days. In some ways it would be good to know that the best ratings KGO had since they blew it, was due to Gene Burns. But would also hate to have them think it was their new improved whatever mess you would call it that caused a spike.
ReplyDeleteLate, but was ill, kudos to you, Pat Thursten, and Gil Gross for the great tributes to Gene. I'm still giving a huge thumbs down to Ronnnnnn who made Gene's passing about RONNNNN and it was like "woe is me, how horrible it is for me, I am so moved, it, is difficult, I don't know how I can go on...MY FRIEND has died think very small letters here --Gene Burns died. He hadn't seen his dear dear friend in months....WHY NOT? But more than ready to pound his chest and wail and sigh. Same is true of the idiot chef, Ryan Scott. "Gene was a father figure to me...he fed me and my family Thanksgiving dinner for many years". "I am really following him on KGO"(oh, dear, poor Gene, sort of hope he wasn't listening) How long had it been since Ryan had seen that "Father figure".... And Joel, I can imagine how he is betwixt and between...falling over Ronn..."no hard feelings between KGO..we're all friends"...yup, Joel is without Gene, his guarantee of admission and at least somewhat acceptance in a world that he is clearly in over his head. Whose coat tails now? No wonder asking Ronn to have lunch....but Joel, Ronn can gain nothing from you...nothing..if he can't gain anything, he's not interested. I give Karel more props than Ronn or Ryan....but bless Pat the winner at KGO! LC
Gene Burns died on Memorial Day weekend which falls under the June ratings period, not May. Don't look for a ratings bump in June either since radio listenership drops significantly on holidays.
ReplyDelete