Some of you were grumbling about the massive coverage I gave to Barbara Simpson, the weekend talk host on conservative station, KSFO.As I have said here repeatedly I like thoughtful, sincere, and yes, entertaining radio. That's my MO with Savage as I disagree with most of his politics but I have always appreciated his show for its theatrics and unpredictability.
Simpson was, for the most part, a woman who quite frankly lost me on several fronts. I only occasionally tuned into her program because it was bereft of noise and gimmicks and possessed civil and most articulate discourse. When Barbara would present her pro-Birther talking points, I switched channels. When she'd have on some right-wing nut talking about lunatic conspiracies, I split. Alex Jones is one thing--Simpson seemed to equate some of her guests' bizarre rants as the gospel. Absolutely no input from the other side and that not only sounded bad but only further muddied Simpson's credibility. She should have known better. I'm not chiding her for offering sincere conservative passion and civil discourse on AM radio is a commodity --it was her bizarre forays into well-known "Coast-to-Coast"-type adventure land that made me ponder.
Still, the Simpson program was good enough to listen and pay attention to; a recent discussion on a lazy Saturday afternoon dealing with the problems of the current Republican Party was most entertaining and informative; thoughtful callers, concise and good pace and a retreat from most of the garbage on local radio. In other words, Simpson's KSFO presentation, when it wanted to, could provide Bay Area listeners an alternative to the circus taking place on 810 AM.
Barbara didn't have the most listeners but she did have a loyal and ardent fan base that has begun several petitions on-line to get her back on the air. I wouldn't hold my breath on that being KSFO--it's deeply beset with problems; part of the Cumulus abyss and, by all accounts, in a state of flux with more changes coming and very much for sale. The morning show is a daily disaster. The 9-Noon Titanic is possessed by a guy who gets fired every six months no matter where he goes. Simpson's show, albeit limited on the weekend, was the only local show that had any degree of relevance--now that's been erased.
If you clash with your bosses, ignore their requests and go off the reservation because you feel like it, then you will get fired. See: Mark Jackson.
ReplyDeleteShe did this to herself. A dinosaur (like most conservatives) who didn't want to get with the times is now extinct. Where's her blue-eyed Jesus now?
Dinosaur? Dinosaur, you say? It is obvious that you do not understand that conservative principles do not take polls or ask the opinions of others. If you consider family values, religious underpinnings to society and small, responsible government to be outdated then you don't understand what conservatism is all about. There is a stake in the ground that, if moved, will cause the ideology to be something other than "conservative".
DeleteApparently principles and convictions, for you, are also extinct--if you ever grasped what they were in the first place, that is.
DeleteBarbara poured her heart and soul into her programs. She spoke to us, not at us. I never got the feeling that I was listening to some generic time-filler production made due to prior obligations. Hopefully another station will allow Barbara to keep that window of communication open between we the listeners, and the interesting guests she was able to get.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I can't think of anyone else who will help that Oysterfarm out in the NorthBay, the Oysterfarmer that the EPA wants to shut down for no good reason. The EPA serve as Obama's landgrabbers, to take vast areas of public land out of public access. This serves to prevent Fracking, mining or productive farming to independant landowners. The EPA landgrabbers aim to push people closer and closer into tight little communities, soon to be deem car free.
I'll just bet Barbara and Melanie Morgan have had some interesting discussions. I can't get Mels Santa Rosa station on my radio, bad signal. The online version did not mention her last time I viewed it.
Dr Bill has eem pounding on the Eco Whackos for years about that Oyster farm.
DeleteBoth Pat Thurston and I have done several shows supporting Drake's Bay Oysters and the fight with the feds and the state to close it. President Obama does those yearly state of the union speeches, preaching about encouraging environmentally sound businessses..Drake's Bay is one of those. The Dept of the Interior and the state of California are both wrongheaded in their attempt to shut it down.
DeleteI heard several shows where both Barbara Simpson and Pat Thurston defended the Drake's Bay Oyster Company (sorry Christine didn't hear you on it, was probably working) it is the kind of subject that does not have, or should not have a political agenda. Both Pat and Barbara (and I'm sure Christine) did excellent shows on the perils of Drake's Bay Oyster Co, and the listeners could not tell if the host was conservative or liberal, that is a good host. I'm sure if Sussman talked about it he would somehow blame Obama personally.
DeleteWhen the morons at cumulus decimated KGO, the conspiracy theorists suggested it was a right wing move against the left. Now that cumulus has decimated ksfo we can lay to rest the conspiracies and plainly accept the fact that the Dickies and their henchmen are incompetent a-holes with no political agenda
ReplyDeleteGuess what, 9:25? Cumulus is not done "decimating" either KSFO or KGO. They DO have political leanings, but politics today is not the white-hot knuckle topic most people want to hear 24/7. There are changes to me made, yet. Remember, KSFO is for SALE at a decently high price in the millions. Without results soon -- very soon in fact -- Sussman will go back to doing weather possibly in Bakersfield, Katie willl be in Stockton and on the other side, Thurston will be the resident whacko because of her "water cooler" topics and ability to "fit in", Karel will be gone because he has prissy toed down the wrong path and brings nothing to the table, Craft is virtually gone for being too old to be relevant, Langan is in New York at a time no one on earth cares about and it's not worth replacing her because no one listens, Ethan Bearman is a KSCO reject making no money but trying to "fit in" but is lost even in Santa Cruz, Spencer Hughes can be good - but phones it in (as does Craft) and is lucky to have a gig and on it goes.
DeleteKKSF and KNEW are on the skids with bad programming, horrific signals in the market, little if any "localism" older non-changing "mature" non-wanted listeners who don't support advertisers like the 18-49 year olds and AM radio as we know it is just plain dead. It's the Internet, people.
KGO only survives because it has the signal from hell with 50,000 watts.
As "inside baseball" -- I heard that KABC Radio in LA (the 2nd largest market in the country) used to be #1 there. Then, with the Dodgers, they made millions of dollars. The problem: KABC only made $100,000 in profit a year with expenses that cost millions more than that. Heard it directly from the guy who programmed it today who was on KSCO. There is little profit and the earnings are dwindling each day with newer technologies competing.
The days of print's Herb Caen to radio's Don Sherwood, from Gene Burns to Bernie Ward and Jim Eason are over. Barbara Simpson needs to go back to Coast to Coast -- if they'll have her and that's a big IF.
Too little $$$$ and so few listeners..
It might be irrelevant, but I guess I'm not surprised you call the 50,000 watt KGO, "a signal from hell."Those of us with a little history there, think of it as the Mighty Wurlitzer.
Deletedear 1:53, Your conflation of age with relevance is inept.To cite a recent example of that, just look to all the younger jaws flapping about how Donald Sterling was through, finished, kaput. Meanwhile, others of us, older and wiser,dared to say that there were profoundly complicated legal issues like due process and California community property law which augured differently. Guess who was right, and who was irrelevant?
DeleteSimilarly, though not as recent, I recall the nattering nabobs of negativity(Spiro Agnew's greatest contribution to memorable phrases) who accused me for being somehow "too old" to understand what was going to happen to Ross Mirkarimi. All the younger, oh-so-relevant types insisted that he was going to lose his job, that due process thingy being so annoying and old and all. How could someone as old and as irrelevant as I apparently am, have been right again?
What are you going to do when the next President of the United States is a woman of my age? wet your pants? tweet about it? take a selfie ?
I'm always amused that you mention me at all in connection with talent on KGO. I just do fill-in there when asked and when I'm available. I'm not part of the ratings analysis in either good or bad times. I think you should focus on the folks who are. I'm no threat to you.
BTW - William Safire actually penned the nattering nabobs of negativism for Agnew.
DeleteChrstine, that was "then" and this is "now". The Mighty Wurlitzer died after Bernie went to prison. It is now merely a karaoke machine, even with you on it once in a great while. Let's see if Cumulus is brave enough to hire Ward back.
DeleteVerry well said, Rich. Good job. Barbara, after 19 years, had her fans, just not enough of them. As we bemoan the corporate mantra of "making money before making talent," that's business, no matter the business.
ReplyDeleteYes, "we" own the airwaves. The government doesn't give squat about how you or any business concern "programs" those limited airwaves, be it good or, .as we know too often, bad. The government doesn't care if a dime is made.
To disagree with those that butter your bread is one thing. To shove it down their throat when you don't like what they're doing and refuse erratically is not the way to keep a job. Barbara was deferential to the times.
Hello? To what show were you listening? Barbara engaged a fair number of you libs with sometimes more time than she gave conservatives. I think you were listening to the wrong show.
DeleteI entirely agree.
DeleteThanks Rich, Wonder if Bearrman will mention today that Simpson is gone?
ReplyDeleteOnce in a while, I as a Liberal would call Simpson's program to discuss some topic and she always let the liberals hold-on all the way to the end of the program. Then she'd answer the call so briefly with a curt, "We've got to go now our time is up for this hour". So that liberals seldom IF EVER had a chance to respond.
Perhaps Conservative listeners will now give the brilliant (and beautiful voiced) Pat Thurston a listen on KGO and if they do...they will learn why it is that most of America is leaving the Conservative Party and coming to realize the genuine kindness, caring and empathy for our fellow working Americans...'sacred values' that Democrats always speak of.
12;27 pm, My guess is Ethan B. will not mention The Barbara at all. He may be under strict orders from his boss, as was Ron Owen on kgo The Day After. Besides, if he does invoke her name, that will invite a caller response, something that could quickly overtake the pattern of the show. He doesn't want to open or even acknowledge that Pandora's Box still full to overflowing with angry, bitter feelings from Barbara's fans. For now, Ethan will have to do like when Leno took over for Johnny Carson, do not mention THAT name, just keep on driving past the flaming wreckage.
DeleteNO he won't. He has been told not to. It's "move forward" and forget it even happened in this business. Why should he? He's damn lucky to put KSFO on his resume. He won't screw that up. Not for a part time job.
DeleteRon Owens chose not to speak up out of loyalty to himself, and no one else.
DeleteYeah, I used to think that the Democrats were more concerned about the little guy, too, until I realized that it was all a gigantic con. Study history and you will learn. In reality, it is the small government, lower taxes, personal freedoms conservatives that actually reflect the little guy's values a lot more. I am NOT talking about the big government, corporatist, Chamber of Commerce type of Republicans. They are as bad as the Democrats. No, I mean conservatives. And btw, there is no "Conservative Party", at least not in California. Conservative and Republican are not always synonymous.
DeleteYes to everything you say. Unlike you though I always knew the Dems or so called Libs are caring only in words not in deeds. Caring is a big thing with them as long as it doesn't hit them in the pocketbook. Phoneys through and through. As for KSFO the sooner they get rid of Sussman and that screeching female the better they'll be off. That station died when they fired Lee Rodgers.
DeleteRich, Barbara's was not a news show. If you liked her (I did and do) you listened. She didn't have to give both sides no more that you do. She had some of the most interesting guests. Not people trying to sell books.
ReplyDeleteOne other thing Mr. Newsman. Would you please take down that snot gate story and the nude picture of the wx woman. You lost all credibility with me on those two stories. What "news" world did you grow up in? I think the news business needs someone like you. We have for a long time but when you cross over the line with
silly titillation stories, one that could have really hurt someone's career for no reason? What's that got to do with news? I think it tells more about you than you know.
Did somebody say a nude nekkid picture? Who? Where? When? Let me find it so I can be righteously disgusted too.
Delete"That's my MO with Savage as I disagree with most of his politics but I have always appreciated his show for its theatrics and unpredictability."
ReplyDeleteThat's like bragging about a restaurant because of their parking and silverware.
And the 'food or focus' of Savage, like FOX News, is filled with many poisoned lies against Democrats/Liberals.
DeleteThe conservative party is filled with much hate & venom.
As Mark Twain said:
"Anger/Hatred is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which
it is stored than to anything on which it is poured".
Look what it's doing to our current Republican Party.
4;18 PM, I beg to differ with your conclusion. It's not the Republican Party that influenced an MSNBC host Bashir to say he wishes a former Governor would be force fed excrement because the Governor was critcal of the President. Weeks later on the same station, this tentacle of the democratic party had another host physically and verbally assaulting a gay photographer. It's not the republican party that wants to shut down free speech of those they disagree with; i.e. on an American college campus last week, a Pro-Life group had their table of handouts shut down by the superintendant after a few people complained. There was a College Professor who specializes in "Black Pornography and Personal Liberation" who walked up to a pro-life demonstrator, snatched her sign away, waddled over to the nearest elevator and pushed at the girl who tried to retrieve her sign. I could go on, but I won't. The Democrats are showing themselves to be the party of intolerance more every week. It's becoming common to try to get someone fired if they think differently than you. This is very dangerous, very close to facism.
DeleteNot so 4:18. Savage, and Levin too, are equally and honestly critical of the GOP. Listen and you'll agree. Both are awesome, Levin more so.
DeleteAs Alexis de Tocqueville said:
I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.
The majority of the GOP(democrat light) is simply reaping what they sow. The dem's are no better than the gop when it comes to dishing the lies and hate. Both sides have EARNED any and all hate they receive.
5:03--What are you talking about? Levin doesn't criticize Republicans for being filled with hate and venom, but for NOT being conservatives, for being gutless and timid and without principles and only interested in their own power and perks, and for often being as committed to big government as the Democrats.
DeleteThis Bareman sucks. He's an alarmist. Used to hear him on KSCO in Santa Cruz. First half hour he was screaming and yelling about this EPIDEMIC of Chinese tourists having births in San Jose to ensure US citizen children. It's an EPIDEMIC. He also threw in a couple of shots at the vast number of immigrants with tuberculosis. Notice he's changing topics after no one got excited by his rant.
ReplyDeleteThis Ethan character on KSFO sure is making up for Barbara Simpson's lack of social media use. I've heard him ask people to Tweet him at least 50 times in 1.5 hrs.
ReplyDeleteEthan shows some promise. What starts as a lump of coal can become a diamond with lots of applied pressure. First though, I hope he can chose times to climb down off his high horse of indignation and just talk to us in a normal tone of voice. Very few people can remain in clenched fist, roaring rage mode and not wear on the audience. I know there are very tight schedules about hard breaks and incoming callers. He and his audience will need to learn about what to expect from each other. All this takes time.
DeleteHe has some young children, to whom he is very close. He was a math whiz and started a computer consulting company way back in the 1990's, when the 'internets were still drip drying in the summer breeze'. Meanwhile, there's somebody on 960 who sounds to be slowly reading the Dedication pages from Volume Six of The History of Individual Taxation in America; What They Don't Want You To Know!' (help!)
WTF?... Barbara's audience is not into tweeting. Trust me on that.
DeleteI listened to Barbara every weekend from as far from SF as one can get. I will miss her.
DeleteI see the Dickey brothers doing to Cumulus what Icahn did to TWA prior to selling it to AA ( buy the company, sell off the most valuable assets i.e., profitable international routes, then sell the company at a fire-sale price, albeit a high enough price to line your own pockets). Cumulus just fired 3 local conservative on-air hosts here and replaced them with, I'm sure, much cheaper talent. I quit listening to the station, as I will no longer listen to KSFO.
Admittedly, I am outside the 18-49 demographic by a number of years, I don't do Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc...........still carry a flip phone, drive a 25 year old car, am retired (early, thankfully) , am in good health and own my own business. I feel sorry for the 18 to 49 year old demographic group but, they voted for this mess the country is in and hope they enjoy their crap sandwich they ordered up.
I am with you all the way. What these radio station managers forget is that WE have the money to spend. The Silicon valley zillionaires don't listen to talk radio.
DeleteI turned on the radio today May 10th 2014 and was sad to not hear Barbara Simpson. She is a wonderful talk show host. She kept me entertained and I enjoyed the opportunity to listen to her on the weekends, and I was glad her show was expanded on Sundays to start at 4PM to 7PM.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the Bay Area has had some sad cut backs on the good radio talk show hosts from KGO to KSFO. Very sad.
I will not listen to KSFO anymore.
I was a dedicated listener to Barbara Simpson's show for over perhaps a decade.
She is very good at her craft of communication to others.
Barbara, if you are reading this, we love you.
Also, maybe she is fighting for a raise. Yes, maybe she wanted more money, and she deserved it.
The current man on the radio today does not get my business, in my opinion, and no offense, he is like a second grader host compared to Barbara and her way of capturing interest each weekend of a variety of topics, and Barbara did not always side with Republicans, she was even handed on all topics in my opinion.
I hope KSFO has a change of heart and brings her back.
Barbara, whatever happens, I will say a prayer for you and your family, and I sincerely thank you for all the good things you have done for all us Bay Area listeners who never called into your program but sincerely felt like part of the KSFO family for we visited your program each weekend.
No more KSFO for me.
Maybe I will turn to more book reading.
Mark in San Jose, California
Barbara was great - it doesn't matter if you agreed or not. She had style and class. If she had been on the other side of the isle she'd still have been great.
ReplyDeleteNo need to spin your Willie-luv. Many of us just thought you'd be better than that. Hey, I like salt and vinegar on my fries then I dip 'em in mayo. Nobody's perfect.
As far as the adult theme of this column, you really took me back to when I was a young man in media sales. San Francisco was the best place you could be. From drinks and the New Morty Show at Harry Dentons to steaks at Jacks, more drinks at Bardellis and finally winding up with Miss Right Now or drowning your sorrows at the Gold Dust, 7-11 or Daves, there was always something going on. And I haven't even mentioned what trouble we'd get in on the other side of Nob Hill! The M&M Tavern kept us occupied with endless games of dice and then there were places like Aqua or Rubicon for expense account meals when needed. The female AE used all their assets, at least the smart ones did, but either way you had to move quickly because no matter how short the skirt or high the heel they'd be gone in six months. 90% anyway. Which was great as there were always new fish in the barrel and once you helped a new girl with a "hot" lead that saved her ass, well let's just say the keys to the kingdom were yours. Good to hear that the playground is still open, although I bet they sleep these days.
What is this nonsense that her unwillingness to participate in social media had something to do with it?
ReplyDeleteI don't buy it.
It takes two minutes to have a FB page and Twitter feed and 15 minutes a day to maintain a presence....
Even the halfwit matress man Ronnnn has a social media presence.
Believe it. Today, you have to make that presence every seven minutes on Facebook or Twitter or you don't make it. Same with acknowledgeing tweets and emails from listeners. Today, one plays to the internet not to an one-to-one audience, sadly. Why? Because young people play online for "interaction." Older people do not. It's about instant gratification. It's more "fun" to see and hear yourself in the presence of a "personality" online and on the air. Make you feel "involved" in the process they experts say. Used to be that radio did this "interaction" by phone, but not so much now. Phone calls are screened to keep the show full of pace and compelling concise comments, not monologues by boring listeners.
DeleteIf management wanted Barbara's show to make greater use of social media, they should have given Barbara an on-air co-host who could keep track of the Twitter feeds and Facebook posts and then read them on the air. Of course, that would have cost them more money and Barbara probably wouldn't have wanted to do that anyway, but it would have been one solution to the problem.
DeleteInteresting...
DeleteOTOH, I listen to Savage and Levin and they are not harping about Twitter every few minutes.
My politics are totally opposite of Barbara Simpson's, but I listened to her show because it was solid and informative. As for the Coast to Coast stuff, that's just entertainment.
ReplyDeleteThere are far too many Communist rooted Jews owning running our Media ...PERIOD
ReplyDelete7:25 AM....WHAT? Who even brought this topic up? Can you give a few examples of these numerous Communist Jews now running our media? I don't doubt that many of this ancestry are high achievers. I will even agree many if not most will publicly identify themselves as Progressive. But Communist? Lots of them? I don't know.
Delete12:13 In my opinion there is no or very little difference between progressives and communists. The former just haven't resorted to kill people they disagree with, or so I hope.
DeleteRich, What's with this Matt Ray guy on KGO 810, he seems like a nice guy, but he is terrible on the radio. I was hoping that Ethan Bearman would get the time slot. Ethan is really good and get things going. "Good Radio". Matt Ray sounds like he is not from around here or even could be working out of his house in some other state.
ReplyDeleteMatt Ray does seem like a nice guy, I believe he has been around local radio for years, I'm pretty sure he lives in the East Bay, I like some of his show, some not so much, sometimes he tries to be too nice and agrees too much with the callers, it comes of as wishy washy, he is definitely better than Tim Montemayor, who not only was terrible, but I couldn't stand his personality. As for Ethan Bearman he is apparently replacing Barbara Simpson, he is another one in the Montemayor, Matt Ray camp, not an intellectual power house, I have heard him do some decent shows, he is more conservative for the most part, which is probably why is on KSFO. However, he has a very annoying habit of drawing out how he pronounce certain words like Beeaaaarman, uunderstaaand, It sounds like he is talking down to the listeners or like he is talking to someone who has trouble understanding him. I think Matt Ray has potential, he doesn't seem pigheaded like Montemayor.
ReplyDeleteMatt broadcasts, as so many do, from his home in the Chico area. He was with KPAY there for 7 years and has been a fill-in anchor on both KSFO and KGO. He also was a news anchor for "America's Morning News" where Melanie Morgan worked until it folded last year.
Delete@11:29 you hit it right on the head. Bareman talks down to the audience. In the same manner as Charles Freedman on KSCO an old fuddy duddy we have down here in Monterey Bay. The waaaaaaay Baaaaremaaaaaaan elongaaaates everyyy otheeeeer wooooord is extremeeeeely condescending. At the same time maybe he stuttered as a child. Stutterers are trained tooooo sloooooow dooooown and enuuuunciaaaaaate when they feel a stuuuuuuttteeer coming.
DeleteMatt Ray is a complete bore. This ethan guy sounds like a light weight masquerading as an intellect. Cumulus stations are terrible. And it looks like they gave Weintraub the heave ho as well like I predicted.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately you're incorrect. The gas bag named Weintraub filled in for pat Thurston yesterday. I literally changed the dial within five seconds of hearing his nasal, dude voice.
DeleteWeintraub got married a week ago. Back next week?
DeleteWeintraub hasn't been in town for two weeks. He didn't fill for Pat, but your discerning ear and opinion is still coveted by everyone here.
DeleteUnless there is a Weintraub sounding impostor, I clearly heard Weintraub during Thurston's hour yesterday which makes sense since Thurston's Facebook today states she was away at a camp and just returned today. Not that it matters. I'm more worried about the fact I clearly heard a "beer drinking type dude voice". One Weintraub type is enough pollution!
DeleteClearly you didn't. I'll take Weintraub type voice over a stupid Sussman or absurdly annoying Levin any day of the week. Yet I'm more into content. Is the impostor saying the same things too?!?!
DeleteIt seems obvious you don't hear what people actually say on the radio since Weintraub wasn't in for Thurston. Your opinion counts though, even if not based on actual fact. My guess is you don't read very well either.
I went back and checked the archives you ass hat! I wasn't too far off. Casey Barthelomeu was in for Pat Thurston on Sat. He sounds just like Weintraub. Both are Awful!
DeleteIn other words, you were wrong but you keep writing. Smart person.
DeleteNot my fault you're offended that Barthalomeu and Weintraub sound identical and both suck ass
DeleteI'm not even involved in this convo but the person above is blatantly wrong yet still defending? You must be the life of the party!!!
DeleteWrong about what? That two talentless hacks named Bartelomeu and Weintraub sound exactly the same? I tuned in for 5 seconds and when I realized the nasal sounding, beer guzzling "douchey dude" voice was Weintraub and not Thurston I changed the dial. The person above got offended that Barthelemou and Weintraub are interchangeable.
DeleteAll this blah, blah, blah about Simpson, a far right wing hack who never met a conspiracy theory she didn't endorse, and not a peep about Randi Rhodes, an intelligent, well-informed yenta who is leaving radio and has no one on the left to replace her.
ReplyDelete3;48 PM, Didn't you get the Memo about Ms Randi Rhodes?, The Tea Party demanded she be dismissed, due to lack of impartiality and professional decorum. I tend to agree. People would be surprised to know what this little swarm of busy bees are up to. The swarm is growing larger, especially after all the NSA revelations.
DeleteHence, why left-wing talk has all but disappeared on radio - be it AM (especially) or FM (not that many stations carrying it anyway.) It's not a profitable business to be in from the left and that has been proven. The format, as well as extreme right machinations, are failing like "Smooth Jazz" did two years ago, to where there are virtually none left. Too old an audience, no ad support and revenue losses. It would be like KGO going back to Middle-of-the-Road music or KSFO trying to recreate Don Sherwood again, or being "Top 40" as it tried to be once in its lifetime.
DeletePeople are fed up with potitics and hate speech. There are two and a half years to go before another major election. Now is not the time to wear the topic down to the nub at this time. The mid-terms mean nothing but a re-arranging of the deck chairs. So, radio wants to back off before it loses its way completely. That's life.
The mid-terms are hugely important. Left wing talk radio can be just as lively as right wing talk radio. What you aren't taking into account is the corporate mindset
Delete.Imagine you run a broadcasting corporation. Why would you want a host who frequently bashes corporations to be the voice of your own corporation? Why would you want your golf buddies to rib you for having a lefty voice on your staton particularly a female one, developing a successful audience?This is true in most places. San Francisco is an exception to that rule,of course for obvious reasons..If you don't think Bay area listeners like politics, you just don't know the area.You say radio can't be engaging anymore by doing the things the old way. However, you offer nothing of substance, nothing of even the slightest interest to replace it. Bottom line, there has to be a "there" there, to build an audience ,especially in this part of the country. KGO's most successful time was when there were hosts representing the whole spectrum of critical thinking,bouncing off each other and the news of the day
You, Christine, bring nothing of "substance" in your misguided post, but you rely on the past. That history is not going to repeat itsellf in AM or FM talk radio . It's about how radio at KGO, especially, and at KSFO, does not reflect the times or the mindsets of many people today. It's not hallowed ground as is was. It has lost its "mass" appeal..
DeletePeople know the politics of the Bay Area. That doesn't mean that people want, now, to talk about it 24/7. People have lives. No one has mentioned that lefty-minds like yours are going away. Not at all.
Christine, your know-it-all attitude is a great part of that reason. You have all the answers, none of the suggestions for change and worse, you don't ask enough questions. You bore with your intellect. That's why lib talk is dying and going away fast.
Your activism is quiet as the people who have gone away from radio in droves. Less than 2 percent of the available radio audience listens to you or KGO for good reason: Audience doesn't matter anymore.
History doesn't matter. You're only as good as your last rant, Christine, and yours have fallen on fewer sets of ears. KGO should be the market leader, not in 18th place with an older less-attentive, involved audience. You stand on the sidelines taking potshots at posters, and, essentially, have no cures. You know the situation at KGO and Cumulus, yet, you don't do a thing about setting the record straight because ... you can't. The tricks of the electronic media today are last gasp excuses, in hope that the bleeding will stop. You are an apologist and an excuse maker.
The "there" is "there." You just refuse to see it. Political talk needs to take a respite for now because people are fed up with it and know-it-alls like you are out of touch with "the little people."
People have been "dumb downed" to the point where they are, collectively, justifiably and hopelessly uncaring and indifferent now. They've heard enough of the condescending attitudes.
Many people are not as understanding of your message, nor care. If you have the gravitas why don't you run for office and make up the solutions to our problems -- and see what happens. I'm betting that your liberalism will win, but your accountability will then be scrutinized so much that it will haunt you for the rest of your life. It would be just like you are with people here.
Why not put your money where your mouth is and buy a KSCO or a KSFO or something smaller, maybe. Get your voice. Politicos like you have bought radio stations for years. Governors, senators, house members, many. Just do it. Then, we'll see how you do. You can hire people to do what you can't but it will still be your image. Just do it. Prove it.
Be you lefty or not isn't the problem. You refuse to acknowledge that corporations like Cumulus are not interested in the audience it serves and that audience just doesn't give a damn like it did in the past.
KGO, the Mighty Wurlitzer, has lost the best people in the business, because its remote controlled corporate management, its new breed of fitting a round peg in a square hole talent and the business community have shed its need to support AM talk as it did for 30 years. That's reality.
That means, in this sense, you, Christine, are berift of it. Reality.
Keep up the great schtick. It behooves you and is entertaining.
I will miss Randi Rhodes terribly. The left eats its own and doesn't support those who are advocates. This is exactly why democrats are going to get their asses handed to them on a platter in the midterms. So called progressives hate ACA as much as the wacko right wing and are still sucking their thumbs over single payer. Never mind that millions more have health care. The left didn't get their way and everyone else be damned. The left and the right are equally full of it. Losing in the midterms will give them something new to suck their thumbs about.
DeleteWow! What an interesting thread! I may be longest KSFO listener in it though. I listened decades ago because they STILL played some Olden Days radio dramas to discover Savage, Lee Rodgers, and Rush Limbaugh, etc. Lee Rodgers was the best and I still don't understand why he was so ignominiously let go to be replaced w/ that sophomoric jerk and that shrew voice woman who sounds like a teenage Hillary on some kind of hyper drug. I can't find Dr. Wattenburg anywhere - REALLY like Levin, Savage and John Batchelor. I don't watch tv and stream news on-line from foreign newspapers. I guess I just don't understand the business or American cultural mores have changed so much that mine are barely relevant anymore...Karl in Pt. Richmond...
ReplyDeleteWow Karl in Richmond. I am happy to find that there is at least one more person in this toxic bay area who thinks like I do. When KSFO started its conservative line up in 1994 I became an instant devotee. When Sussman et al took over the Monday morning show while Lee was on a 4 day schedule I knew things were going downhill. I am a big fan of Batchelor and Savage, not so much Levin. The latter's voice and presentation just irks me. Wattenberg is on 910a Sunday night. Not sure when he starts but he ends at 11p. Still the same old cranky self. I am sure you know that Lee Rodgers died over a year ago. Our family still grieves for him.
DeleteKSFO and KGO are like living in a small town with two ugly twins. Every time you turn the corner you see one of them. In this case, it’s every time you turn the dial.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm dating myself, but I remember when KSFO was THE station in the bay area, carrying the Giants for 21 years, the 49ers for 24 years, and they were owned by Golden West Broadcasting, one of the great companies on the west coast?
ReplyDeleteThe 'Singing Cowboy' Gene Autry also had stations in Seattle (KVI) and in LA (KMPC), and they were all powerhouse operations with strong on air personalities, great news people and top notch sports broadcasters.
There are very few independent, smaller radio companies left in this country, as deregulation has led to the 'corporatization' of the media with the Clear Channels, the Infinitys and the Cumulluses of the world gobbling up virtually everything, downsizing the stations and diluting the 'product.'
Remember Don Sherwood, Carter B. Smith, Dan Sorkin, Russ Hodgers and Lon Simmons, Mike Powell, Gene Nelson, sports producer Stu Smith and so many others at the old KSFO? The station was located in the Fairmont Hotel at the top of Nob Hill in the city. Those guys were all wonderful broadcasters with great voices, professionally training, and they all had great fun doing what they did.
What a contrast to what we have today. I will say no more because we all know what has happened to our radio biz in the 21st century! Now local radio is mostly C-R-A-P! Very sad!
Christine, here is a perfect example of why talk on radio and on TV, is dying. This is no worse than the Dallas traffic and news hounds on KGO Radio now. (San Roffle, Los Gatoz, highways that don't exist, Karel's fondness for himself and his wacked out thoughts) and why the right is no better. People, all of them in the Bay Area, deserve better. The problem, to, is there is no "inclusiveness" among KGO or KSFO people. It's all unpopular schtick not meant for the critical mass. Enjoy this.
ReplyDeletehttp://awfulannouncing.com/2014/al-sharpton-vs-the-teleprompter-the-eternal-struggle.html
Despite your tortured syntax, 8:54, a 50,000 watt radio station that reaches much of the western US,Canada, and beyond at night when that skip bounces off the ionisphere is still a mighty wurlitzer. When the next jumbo quake happens, and your smartass phone can't twerk anymore, that radio signal will still be golden.
ReplyDeleteIn any event, your ignorance of why mid-term elections are both important and prologue for the future reflects right back at you, not me.
As for another of your attempts to coin a new word, no one anywhere has ever been "berift" of anything. Talk about "dumbing down", you are the paradigm.
Christine - Sorry. You are clueless. Want to hear earthquake news? Get a scanner and get the news immediately. People don't sit around waiting for earthquake news on the radio. If they do, they will listen to KCBS if they don't get it on TV or Twitter or the "Internets." Get over yourself.
DeleteNo one gives a crap that the former Mighty Wurlitzer skips all over. It's horrifble ego-centric programming with poor talent. Advertisers buy shares, Christine, not because a station can be heard in Canada. Those days have long sailed. Too many stations now to fill that space.
Here, read this syntax and all. I'd be honored.
Here’s the one aspect that we need to keep in mind about Talk Radio: As a format gained more momentum it attracted listeners of a certain demographic and psychographic. The core audience grows older, and ultimately ages out of the popular "selling" demo 18-49..
The format’can't' replace its aging listeners with younger listeners.
At this very moment virtually every mainstream format is aging. including music radio.
Consolidation and radio’s fixation with centralized programming like at Cumulus / KGO & KSFO or Clear Channel KKSF / KNEW is worsening the problem. The groups that operate cookie-cutter formats are seeing wilting market shares.
The basic problem is this, Christine (and others.): People don’t listen to their parent’s radio stations.
Listeners who age into Talk Radio’s prime target have parents who listened to Talk Radio. They may be as politically engaged as their parents, they may share many of the beliefs and viewpoints of their parents, but they still want their own radio station.
You either stick with the old format and squeeze as much money out of the aging audience as possible, or you recreate the format for younger listeners growing into the target demo with relateable talent and image. Not your parent's favorites..
The first option makes more money in the short term, but only delays the inevitable. A competitor can reinvent the format and hasten a station’s demise - power and all.
There are rare heritage stations that manage to reinvent themselves every decade or so, but the odds of success are low.
As formats go, Talk Radio is long in the tooth here.
One day soon, Talk Radio as we knew it will run its course, but that does not mean the end of Talk Radio..The question is what will the new Talk on RADIO be?
Self-proclaimed futurists likr you, Ms. Craft, speak confidently of the future. However, the only accurate futurists are the ones that admit we can’t predict the future.
A lot of the signs show that Talk Radio will become less tempestuous, more measured, less extreme. Nicer.
However, I doubt it..
There will be better "personal communicators," intelligent hosts, more balanced discussions, less verbal bomb throwing on both sides and fewer "entertainers trying to fake it as talk hosts."..
New talk will fail like KGO is by putting lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig..
The next generation of Talk listeners doesn't want the same Talk Radio that your parents loved for 30 years or more. .
Perhaps when Rush and Hannity retire in a couple of years, there will be others capable of filling their shoes, but perhaps not.The format needs less clutter, shorter, faster paced shows, and there will be few three and four hour shows. Too long -- too boring.
The problem is, many, like you probably will not "defer" to the newness and for that, you will be gone from the airwaves more than you are now.
..
2:02--What are you, a radio consultant? You sure talk like one. Have you ever heard Mark Levin talk about the radio consultants, and what they confidently say has to be done to "save" radio, or make it "successful"? Exactly the sort of things you say. It's ridiculous. Levin violates every rule of it, and is wildly successful. Even if opinions and attitudes change with generations, there will be some people who want a full discussion of issues, in depth. Apparently you think that everyone under a certain age can't manage an attention span longer than 30 seconds, and that anything that isn't fast, easy, and superficial is "boring." Your ideas teach me more about you than what you think of others. As for Christine, I am not a liberal (no longer, that is), but I agree with just about everything she is writing here. (Her spelling, punctuation, and grammar are a lot better than yours too.)
DeleteSo, according to your analysis, if KGO had kept the format, it would be doing better now than it is? or not? How does your analysis explain the popularity of KQED in San Francisco?Do you really think that angst driven, ill-prepared hosts who are passionate only about their own anxiety are the key to ratings success?
ReplyDeleteVis a vis electronic realities, you know broadcasting isn't the only place affected. We started using I-pads and notebooks at the law firm long ago. It's so much easier than lugging around one of those lawyer carts to a hearing, deposition, or trial. I'm all for that,believe me. What you can't seem to articulate is why a younger audience, weaned on gadgets and short spurts of quasi knowledge, would want the same thing in a radio show. Have you ever thought that maybe people select radio talk because they want fewer instant calories, not more?(see KQED)
Do you honestly believe that anyone, young, middle-aged, or old will be drawn by the promise of adhd driven talk, without the staying power of even developing a discussion, changing the" focus'"every two seconds?
I have no idea what you mean by calling me a "futurist" You say that I was speaking "confidently of the future".. Where? specifically do you find that nonsense?
You don't need to capitalize the first letters of "talk" and "radio". It's not a proper name.
As for my parents, whom you didn't know. My mother wasn't a talk radio fan. She was an actress who did radio dramas in NYC. My father loved Rush and thought Sean Hannity was a big no talent. I do agree that four hours is way too long for any host. Three is a bit long, as well. Two is about right.
As for my own, very occasional shows, filling in for KGO, I always talk about a lot of things, some of which are political, many of which are not. I don't talk about things I don't care about.
Now go tweet yourself.
Whatever is said about Barbara Simpson, you do need to give her credit for her support of veterans. When I came home form Desert Storm the first voice I heard on the radio was Barbie. When my father came home from Vietnam the first news show she saw was Barbie Simpson on black and white TV. And when my Grandfather came home from WWII Barbie was on the radio.
DeleteFor those of you who miss her, you can still read post weekly on worldnutdaily.com God Bless Barbie God Bless America