Thursday, August 29, 2013

Bay Bridge Closure: The Un-Crisis Crisis; KGO-TV; KTVU; What if Fox Bought KRON And NBC Bought KTVU? Thursday Scrambled Eggs and Coffee

 Excuse me for gargling my coffee and reacting to the latest systemic performance of Bay Area media outlets, called: Why do we act this way? Act 1:

Instead of acknowledging the obvious, (psst, the Bay Bridge is down, we told you that about 10,000 times--maybe 15, 000, I lost count); and moving on to REPORT!, we get the usual breathless glee-club members who act as if this was the second coming. Jesus Christ!

Hey, people, I got a story for you: You men and women got it over the so-called radio and TV professionals. You are allowed to giggle. They don't have a clue--at least most of 'em. While you managed to make it to work and navigate through the relatively minor disruption, the media masses tried in vain to create, to reveal, to extract any form of havoc. Problem is, there was no havoc. There was and is no crisis--the un-crisis crisis.

If not for a few radio traffic reporters, (KCBS' Kim Wonderly, for example, and on TV, the reliably calm and collected, Sal Castaneda of KTVU), you'd have thunk we were about to witness the end of the world. As Phil Matier told Stan Bunger and Susan Leigh Taylor on KCBS, "we've been through a number of these rodeos." Translation: Pipe down the volume. Nothing extraordinarily happened for the most part. Sure, the traffic was a little more pronounced; BART and the ferries were packed. The commute was a little sluggish--ho hum, get back to me if and when there's real news.

**At KGO-TV, the conversation in the lunch room is who's next. I've heard about two senior reporters but if management goes that route, they'll be a fight and the union will weigh in and that's never pretty.

**Meanwhile, over at KTVU the paranoia patrol continues to carry on despite the fact IT, yeah, that thing, still ghosts the Jack London Square building. The prevailing strategy is to let IT disappear, go away only, ironically, the MO by GM, Tom Raponi is merely creating the opposite. It's one thing to carry on and exact a "business as usual" at the OK-Corral, but it's another to have a series of staff meetings further warning employees not to talk about it. Raponi, and more specifically, ND, Lee Rosenthal, are not out of the woods yet. And sorry to disappoint the KTVU PR Dept, but this story has NOT ended yet.

**News to muse: Suppose Fox bought KRON and NBC/Comcast purchased KTVU from Cox? Don't laugh just yet, bubby.

**Someone at the local CBS O and O went ballistic over a $500 expense-account lavish lunch at Kokkari. Why? The guy took a woman from KRON to lunch and loaded up on the Cabernet. I hope it worked, dude.

**That morning mattress seller on radio that wanted a sandwich to go at North Beach Restaurant didn't bother to even throw a buck at the wait staff who brought his highness his sandwich in the limo. Worse yet, he and his bud were back from a wake.

**Oxymoron personified: "The R and B Joke Hour."

**Witness Protection Program: KTVU Sales Dept.

**A joke submitted for the R and B joke hour: So this guy who didn't tip the wait staff at a restaurant instead threw down a Benjamin at a Union St. nail salon! Ha Ha ha!

**Jim Eason wasn't on my radio show Wednesday: He and his wife had a family emergency. We wish them the best. Eason will reschedule at a future date.

**Larry Beil, if it were up to him, would be the big fish at a Honolulu TV station. Translation: Lead anchor and only that. From someone who knows.

**The bar over at Grumpy's come Friday night should be packed after office hours. The purge happy hour.

**Follow me on Twitter



16 comments:

  1. This Bridge work is nothing,some Toll Plaza work and road striping.Hey Media nothing can go wrong until we get a Quake.The R&B joke hour is still alive? Now we know why the KGO ratings suck.Let us face it 24hr news and talk radio is dead.We need a fresh war to jump start the industry.

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  2. I'm not a huge RO fan, but when you start mentioning his level of tipping, or anything similar, it really takes away from what you're doing here. Petty is the word.

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    1. Anon 11:00 AM: not really. When a Million-dollars-a-year Yacker can't throw a small tip to guys that work very hard for very little, that tells you something.

      Let me guess. The sandwich maker was Latino?

      Same note: I've heard rumors that the Mattress Man doesn't pay his (legal? not?) yard help, house help, or former horse staffers well. (There is a Mexican word for cheap that was used... was it cochina?)

      Delete
    2. Totally disagree, Anon11am!

      What people tip, whether we are aware of the exchange or not, is a direct reflection on who they are as a person and how much they appreciate the labor involved. Waitstaff live on tips; what they make hourly is complete chump change.

      Delete
  3. Who is the PIX'er woo-ing the KRON'er? Again, Rich. You fail to name names.

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  4. Rich,
    Is it possible that the lack of a Carmageddon today was precisely BECAUSE Bay Area media did its job and made sure commuters planned for the bridge closure?
    People heard the reports, made plans, got up super-early and got onto BART, ferries, etc. and as a result the morning commute was not the disaster it very well could have been That would not have happened without a well-coordinated (and successful, you've got to admit) media campaign.
    Could you imagine what this morning's commute would have been like if local stations took your criticism and downplayed this major traffic event?

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    1. EXACTLY!
      But of course Lieberman is trying to convince us all how clever he is because he mocks main stream media's common practices.

      Delete
    2. You drink the Kool-Aid --they love you gullible torsos.

      Delete
  5. I know it is all advertising but I love when Sealy Posturepedic Man Talks about the New Lexus he is driving. Who is he trying to fool? he has not driven in 15 years.

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    1. Have we yet learned the name of the person who originated the "Wee Tu Low" Gaffe of the Century?

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    2. Sorry 339, that story is in the un-crisis file along with the Miley Cyrus lost her mind story. CNN has a cute kitten playing with a dog on their site though.

      Also, there's big trouble in Syria and the NSA is still plugged in if you prefer lite issues.

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    3. FOX 11
      NBC 4
      My Network 2 or My 20

      nough said....

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    4. Some how Lieberman can't quite grasp the concept that public service reminders from the media by their very nature HAVE TO BE REPETITIVE so that those who have somehow or other missed the information will finally get the message.

      Complaining that it's repetitive ignores the ultimate purpose of the reminder.

      Delete
    5. 6:54

      not going to happen.

      Delete