A chance to interview the President. Fine and dandy. Looks good, especially during a sweeps period and so Bill Martin, the chief weather guy from KTVU was among a throng of weather anchors chosen to mingle with Mr. Obama on Tuesday.It was no coincidence that on the same day some weather peeps met with the president, the White House released a big report on Climate Change. Irrespective of your views on this important subject, it was nonetheless worthless for Martin, a fine weatherman to take part in the PR charade. And that's what it amounted to. No serious meteorological questions were asked. Nothing of substance took place. Matter of fact, I heard two local DC weather people turned down the White House invitation. Hard to grasp why Martin and Channel 2 took part in the affair--well, wait a minute, KTVU milked the entire meeting with endless promos all day and night Monday and Tuesday.
Speaking of climate change there's a very different news climate at Channel 2 where the leader, Wonder Boy Rosenthal, the ND who is fond of writing press releases and participating in American Idol tweets.
*More than anything else the overloud of commercials on AM radio is driving more people to tune out and switch to satellite. KNBR is the most serious violator, (some might say commercials are better than the bulk of their programs); KNBR runs nearly 30 minutes of spots on their afternoon and morning drive shows and when you add traffic updates and "sports minutes" you have very little content. And they wonder why people turn the dial.
*The latest barrage of new "Kars-for Kids" jingles is kind of hideous if you ask me. Now we have a country version of the spot which replaced the rock and roll version. What seems like a good cause has been muted by the endless assault of our ears by this obnoxious campaign.
*That "toilet money" John Madden gets to schmooze on KCBS pays him about $5 grand a week Do the math --$240K a year some chit-chat but good for the coach, he needs the money I'm sure.
*It's slightly disturbing that no one had heard from the "babe in the bunker" since KSFO blew out their 4-7 PM weekend tonsil. Barbara Simpson left a terse message on her Facebook page last Saturday and hasn't been seen or heard from since.
*Speaking of KSFO, their morning show host sank to a new low this past week when the host made fun of a 5-year-old kid who gave a much-played actuality on that serious circus accident in Providence. Even the traffic chick showed some on-air angst when the SussMAN began chortling over this poor little kid's voice tone. Disgusting. And the proliferation of fart noises, sirens, a sound barrage isn't resonating very well to the few listeners who have tuned out the morning carnival in droves. There's hope after all.
*The ND at 900 Front is supposedly snooping over the computer banks trying to find out who's talking to me--she'd be more apt to talk to the staff who are bordering on mutiny status if she doesn't get her act together soon. The Mickey Mouse suits are now on the radar which might mean some looming trouble down the road.
Another item: It should be telling when KGO-TV issued a press release denying my report about Cheryl Jennings and Spencer Christian contracts not being re-upped in December the comments merely said "is false" and ripped me. "Is false?" Yeah, now it is. By the way, neither Jennings nor Christian have denied the report. Probably because it's true and almost everyone at Channel 7 knows it.
*Not one of our local sports sheep media brethren dared ask the Warriors suits whether the firing of Mark Jackson could be, justified or not, met with anger and disgust from the team's African-American fans. It's a legitimate question particularly coming after the Donald Sterling affair. By the way, I'm in no way suggesting the Warriors organization is racist --they are not. But it's a question that needed to be asked and you don't even have to be an Insider to figure that out. Like I said, sheep.
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ABC 7 was the best job in town. Best equipment, best talent, and best managers. Now staff has to run and hide from the broom stick of News Director Tracey Watkowski. When will the GM & Disney wake up and 86 this psycho?
ReplyDeleteAs long as she's upping the profits they're not going to. The mice in suits don't care about the travails of 900 Front St--after all, they don't have to work there. They don't care if the product was once better and the employees once happier. They only care about the geld.
DeleteI have heard Barbara say that she has children, two daughters, I believe. Maybe her family members can contact someone to let us know that she's okay, well as OK as one could be after virtual disembowelment. One of the first comenters on Saturday chose to spend that time chastising Barbara for using a 30 year old photo, and how that was such a terrible disgrace. I don't care about that. All talk radio is a performance art, a type of theatre where you play a role, where you select a comfortable mask for the public. If that i the image she wished to project, that of the Perfectly Coiffed, Happy Warrior wreathed in sunny blue skies, then I am fine with it.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this person who says they see her often in Morgana, can contact her children, or personally stop by and pay a visit to Barbara and report back to Rich on the outcome.
Probably Barbara will get in touch when she is ready, I think for someone to try to contact her children would an invasion of her privacy. She also writes for Worldnet Daily, check there maybe she addressed her firing there, I also believe her children lives in another part of the country. I listened to her show off and on, but was not a huge fan, mostly because of her far left leanings, and her constantly bashing Obama, however it is not personal, I called her once on a show we agreed on (Israel, having lived on a kibbutz for a short time, I'm a strong defender of Israel) and she was very nice, I also use to e-mail her on subjects I disagreed with her, and she often answered me, although we didn't agree she was always professional and courteous.
DeleteYou may have a point, with not digging too deeply into someone's private life. They already give up most their privacy just being on the radio. Maybe there is an agent or representative she hires independently of ksfo. Do radio talkers still have publicists, or did that all stop after the Computer altered everything and became our altar we must now build our working lives around?
DeleteIt is interesting that Mark Jackson's former bosses and the two fired coaches are white, as well as the front office employees he reportedly got in fights with.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but think Jackson was hired primarily because he's an African American. Joe Lacob wanted someone to break in the young African American's on the team. Jackson's long career as a player gave him instant respect with the players and his speech making ability allowed him to connect on an emotional level with them. Now that he's done his job with creating a winning and team-oriented culture with the impressionable players, he's been discarded for what surely will be a white coach.
I think firing Jackson was a mistake that likely will come back to bite the Warriors, but I think the idea he was hired (or fired) because he's black is a real stretch. He had plenty of positive and negative aspects that legitimately drove the discussion. If one of those "sheep" reporters had asked Jackson of Myers that, I would have done a huge facepalm.
DeleteI find John Madden's segment entertaining and don't really care how much they pay him. They would not do it if they didn't think it was worth the money. "Kars for Kids" is the worst commercial ever no matter how they retool it. I hit the station button as soon as the first chord is struck! I would smash my car with a sledge hammer before I would donate to them! KINBR's commercial breaks that run for at least 8 minutes at the top and bottom of the hour make me nuts also and cause me to change channels. A few days ago someone on here gave an excellent explanation of the "PPM optimization" and how it works. For radio outsider I found that quite enlightening and also made me scratch my head and wonder how much of AM's problems are self inflicted wounds. I understand listeners have many choices and that is a big problem for AM especially but they are driving the rest of the loyal AM listeners away by their stupid attempts to look good in the ratings. I am a pretty loyal AM listener even though I have satellite in my truck too. I do find myself listening more and more to satellite especially when the above mentioned peeves drive me over the edge. AM is still the best for local news and topics of local interest.
ReplyDeleteAlso wanted to mention Tom Leykis on KKSF. That was an entertaining segment for me and I was surprised no one mentioned it here. I listened to Tom when I was working in LA and it was fun to hear him again. I thought he was quite entertaining filling in for Gil and handled himself well on AM. I could not help but think someone with Tom's style would garner ratings on AM. I am so sick of political themed shows regardless of who's side you root for.
Easy, easy, easy on the Jennings/Christian story. KGO brass might get their egos just pissed off enough to re-up Jennings for another stint...Then I'm stuck diving for my remote every time her face makes a covert appearance unbeknownst to me... EASY....
ReplyDeleteIf Barbara Simpson's Facebook page that sports KSFO all over it is, actually, KSFO property, maybe she has been denied access to it with an account change or password change if controlled by Cumulus/KSFO. That should not be surprising. I am, however, surprsided that the page with the KSFO logo all over it remains. I would think, as in many cases before, that the company would have deleted the account, although that could, by Facebook rules, take a couple of week before it disappears.
ReplyDeleteThe new coaching hotshot is Steve Kerr, who's white. Neither Doc Rivers nor Jason Kidd had any coaching experience when they started. I think it has more to do with the NBA being a player's league and that all three of those guys were also point guards with many years' experience. X and O guys can be found, but motivational leaders than can get players to play and facilitate the Xs and Os, might be a little tougher.
ReplyDeleteAll Madden says is "Well you know" " Ummm you know well you know"
ReplyDelete"Well I don't know"" "I guess ummm well you know"
That is all he says on KCBS.
You know.
Did you hear the "KIDS-FOR-KARS" parody that aired on April 1st on KNBR? Now THAT was funny!
ReplyDeleteIt was funny and a parody put out and produced "April 1st onlyz' by the Kars 4 Kids people. Unbelievable - but true. Not only here, but it was played across the country to see if people noticed. "...donate a kid ta'day." Classic.
DeleteBay Area sports media -- particularly those shrills at Comcast Sports Net and KNBR -- are pussies. They know their bread is buttered by the teams. There's a strong conflict of interest when you see that Comcast is in bed with the major league teams in this market. Let's also not forget the colleges. There's no objectivity. When KNBR became an ownership partner with the Giants, well let the ass kissing begin!
ReplyDeleteSo who do you trust? Bloggers? Most don't cover the teams. They get what they get based on "experts." That's scary. ESPN? Fox Sports 1?
Pretty bad ain't it?
"It is interesting that Mark Jackson's former bosses and the two fired coaches are white..."
ReplyDeletePlenty of legitimate instances of racism exist, but this ain't one of 'um. The same "white" former bosses who rightfully showed Jackson the door are also the ones stood by him during his stripper scandal. They're also the ones who long tolerated Jackson's refusal to practice, lack of game prep and his contentious relations with his own assistants.
Everyone is cooing about what a great motivator Jackson was, but clichéd sermons don't cut it. The Warriors needed more than a sideline cheerleader who repeatedly made poor in-game adjustments, relied on iso, and was incapable of Xs and Os offense.
Jackson's race has nothing to do with the fact that he was finally shown the door and not a moment too soon. He won't be missed.
Lots of head coaches don't do Xs and Os during the game, including Phil Jackson. Head coaches having to lay down specific plays in certain situations, depending on offensive or defensive scenario lies more with asst. Even if the head coach delivers it, it's most likely drawn up by asst.
Delete"Head coaches having to lay down specific plays in certain situations, depending on offensive or defensive scenario lies more with asst."
DeleteOh, gee. Turns out there weren't any assistants left since Mark Jackson ran them all off. And even when he was repeatedly asked to get a strong Xs and Os replacement--because clearly Jackson doesn't know how to use a clipboard--he refused.
Regardless, he was in over his head and needed to go.
Many similarities between Jackson and Barbara Simpson. Both had jobs they loved taken away despite winning and ratings. Both fired because corporate white males didn't get their way. And Jackson with a long playing career and 3 years HC got back talk. Barbara Simpson,many years...back talk. And now in her 60's she lost what might be the best job she could hope for. So I'm sure the stress factor for her is sky high.
ReplyDeleteAll sort of flies in the face of schoolbooks that say "Be an individual,be you". Yeah,be self employed.
"Both had jobs they loved taken away despite winning and ratings. Both fired because corporate white males didn't get their way."
DeleteIf Jackson loved his job so much, he wouldn't have floated his name to the Knicks and Lakers. And it wasn't the "corporate white male" that got him fired, it was his intransigence.
By the way, both George Karl and Vinny Del Negro had winning records, too. Both were canned after successful seasons and oh, whadda ya know--they're both white.
Sorry, Stan. That's just bullshit to see yourself in print. You can't compare the two. There was more behind the Cumuls curtain than you know. She faught regularily with the brass and in most jobs, you can only get so far. They pay the bills - the talent, for what it is, does not.
DeleteI'm not the first to notice..the assistant coaches,the son of the owner,the team vice president..not an African American in the whole organization to say they had any complaints about Jackson.
DeleteSure its complicated..that's life.
Mark Jackson deserved to be fired.
ReplyDeleteHe had the nerve to think he was going to run the team and make the decisions.
It is a owners league.
The owners make the decisions, pull all the strings and get 100 percent of the credit for the team's success.
Coaches are there to be a YES man and nothing else.
They are the clowns for the owners.
Hopefully Mark Jackson learned his lesson and will add the words, "YES SIR" to his vocabulary.
If not, he must be immediately fired again.
Serves him right!
I'm getting a little concerned about Barbara. No one has heard anything since what? last Saturday? This from a professional talker? She owes us nothing. We've already gotten years of companionship and top drawer service. Could be that she just needs time alone. Are there no close friends not sworn to secrecy?
ReplyDeleteOn the Warriors, that’s a solid question you pose. With the Warriors moving to SF, they likely don’t care much about the African American or Latino reaction about their business decisions.
ReplyDeleteSo by your reasoning the team should go out and find a coach that will appeal to the LGBTG community since the team will be returning to SF?
DeleteThe same white folks who fired him also hired him 3 years ago and stood by him when the minister/coach was mired in an extramarital affair with a stripper and while he went behind their backs looking for another coaching job only half way through his current contract too. Don't forget that.
Kars-4-kids is like cancer.......It's on every station now!
ReplyDeleteHow can a charity afford advertising on ALL stations ?
Or the station gets donation credits... for airtime?
Mark Jackson took that team further than it had been in many years. It is a perfect example of how being black means you better be three times better than anyone else, you better know your "place," and be good at shuffling and grinning. Management made a decision against their own self interest. Yeah, I'd say race had something to do with it. I look forward to them being in the toilet next year and the new white coach getting a big fat raise for it.
ReplyDeleteThe john madden segment, what a waste of time and money. At least Frank Caliendo's impersonation of him is funny. Madden is just further proof of the dumbing down of America
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Mark Jackson, as a retired former business owner, I once had to tell a black employee I was firing that if I didn't like black people, I wouldn't have hired her in the first place.
ReplyDelete