From a radio sage with a little more gumption than you think...
You know, if KSFO were really smart, (BIG IF), management would fire the current morning show and re-create America's Morning News, it's former lead-in as a center-right news show …John McCaslin is out of work and looking to move West…
Melanie Morgan is not under contract currently.
That way KSFO could get off the no-buy list.
But that is supposing that Cumulus really cares about ratings. Which most people agree they don't.
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That is a suggestion we could live with.
ReplyDeleteCertainly would be an improvement over the tough guy act currently on KSFO.
Oh well. No Lieberman Live on KSCO. I guess your agent and MZ's agent were unable to reach an agreement. Either that or the threats by the old fuddy duddies scared off MZ and you got the hook. Either way, your silence on the topic highlights the conflict of interest many of us pointed out to you which you denied. Perfect example right here. Anyway, nice try on the radio. You enjoyed 7 months of glory on the 1000 watt match stick.
ReplyDeleteHey Rich, You're not on KSCO as you announced last week. WHAT HAPPENED?
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to "Lieberman Live Switches To New Station/Primetime Oct 1-7; KSCO 2-4 PM Monday-Friday" ?
ReplyDeleteDid it fall through?
How soon is MZ going to buy KSFO so ratings for that station can rise?
ReplyDeleteCumulus cares about one thing: Money.
ReplyDeleteMost companies do, I get it, but they don't care about long-term success, ratings, and growth. They care about minimizing expenses, cutting salaries, selling off stations where they can, and using the airwaves to promote other businesses like SweetJack (what a piece of garbage website that is), and finding a way to make money through new businesses partnerships like Rdio.
Other large scale investors, etc, etc are looking for growth industries to make whole. Cumulus is taking one which could make money, trying to micro-manage it without resources, and finding the pieces they can make money with. It's what happens in my world when a big spender comes along, lures the people who are just shy of being really rich, and convinces them to "do the deal." The owners of Cumulus may have once cared about their smaller business. Now they care about paying back their investors and enriching themselves at the cost of the listeners, employees, and everyone else involved.
This whole idea that "radio is dead" isn't because it can't make money, or can't succeed, but because it's been corporate-raided by greedy low-lives, like the people who apparently run Cumulus. All just trying to make as many bucks for themselves while cannibalizing the industry itself. It's "dead" because they're killing it.
I'm surprised no one is talking about the pay cuts Cumulus is trying to exact from every person at KGO. Can we talk about that story? Halving everyone's pay? That's what I was told just this weekend. How are people supposed to live, and what type of people are you trying to attract?
You wonder why "radio is dying?" Stop wondering. The owners are finding ways to make money by killing it.
I feel for any of you who work for companies like these. Don't walk. RUN. Realize though, that's exactly what they want you to do, so they can replace you all more cheaply and show investors how they're operating at a lower cost.
Good luck!
I still think KSFO & KGO will be all National hosted programs as soon as contracts expire.
ReplyDeleteAnd when that happens they will officially have zero value.
DeleteRight now the national shows on KSFO are near impossible to sell. The only thing they could sell would be a local and live show, and that's not happening. The Hannity opening is being filled by Savage, and that's terrible news for KSFO because that show is not really sell-able in the Bay Area, regardless of any ratings bump. A city buoyed by youth and money, and KSFO is old and crotchety. Good move.
As for KGO, if this news thing fails syndication would probably be the desire of the company at large, but they probably don't make that move. Why? They can't.
What they probably do is try and sell off KSFO or KGO first, and then attempt to either buy CBS whole, or at least KCBS locally. They're hell-bent on news for a variety of reasons, none of which involve making audiences help. Service stations is their goal. Like the place you get your gas and the place you get groceries. That's what they hope from radio-at-large.
They can't really syndicate KGO because there's not enough conservative crap out there to put on it, and not enough other crap to make it worth syndicating, hence the sale.
The part no one thinks about is how KGO actually has openings on the weekends, and live shows. It's sad that the old weekend hosts are now the station hosts when the opportunity exists for any Program Director to create good shows! Think about it, where in America right now are new hosts being groomed? There are so few of them out there, and yet KGO has this chance but squanders it. Monty? Copeland? Thurston and Karel? That's how you spend what little you have? That cooking nightmare and whatever else they're doing? It's all a wasted opportunity. But I don't expect Cumulus to recognize this because they don't want those shows to succeed anyway!
Sorry to say, RCLogic, but while they probably desire what you speak, that's not how it will play out.
Wow. That would be interesting.
DeleteI guess if it cuts down costs then Cumulus would go that route.
I hope they don't. I prefer local content than national faceless nobodies.
Thanks for writing on this topic. Yes, John McCaslin and Melanie M. would make a good morning team once again. I wish they could be occasionally joined by Officer Vic. For the evening shift, I would be all for hearing Phil Hendrie from 6 to 9pm, if that is, Phil hasn't already retired or dropped the fictional vignette routines. Whenever I did manage to hear Phil over the last couple of years, it was (without fail) always via some radio station that would lose reception quality after the first half hour. Maybe the stronger stations don't think his show would sell on their networks.
ReplyDeleteAnon 4:14pm hit the nail on the head. Great observation. Very few people around the bay area (with the exception of those who have worked or currently work, or were throw out of work by Cumulus) truly understand how destructive and terrible this company is. They've wrecked two 'legacy' stations in this market (KGO and KFOG), and turned KSFO into an absolute joke of a station that only a handful of people listen to anymore. They hire neophytes and blowhards who are cheap (like Monty, who thank god is finally out of here!) and strip their properties to the bone. They have no plan. The way they handled the Ralph Barbieri fiasco is a classic example of that. They ended up settling for 4.1 mil instead of just working out a deal to pay him the last year of his contract at 300 plus thousand. They're idiots. They're bean counters. They don't have a clue. I only hope that that lose so much money on their properties that they will eventually go bankrupt. But that's a dream!
ReplyDelete