SKLENAR OUT as Cumulus SF Market Manager!Steve Sklenar, the Cumulus MM for San Francisco and responsible for all its stations, including troubled and ratings-challenged KGO was let go on Tuesday, according to a reliable broadcast source and was confirmed late into the evening.
The official wording was Sklenar "resigned"--in fact, he was shown the door over a variety of issues not the least of which involved KGO's deep retreat into ratings hell, the continued dysfunction of KSFO and the complete "cluster-uck" known as KFOG, barely relevant and almost in as deep a funk as once-legacy status KGO.
KGO is eventually going back to a hybrid news and talk, live and local re-branding --broken on 415 Media and when I confronted Sklenar about commenting on that development, he simply offered a "no comment." Twice. Never denied, but the mere fact he spoke on the record to me was not appreciated the very least by the Cumulus high tops in Atlanta.
There's no word on a replacement for Sklenar.
We will add further info as the situation is still fluid and developing...
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Where's that idiot Mel Baker now? Is he in the break room concocting another way to try to dupe Rich? Keep up the good work Rich, time is beginning to show how correct you were all along.
ReplyDeleteIs Karel being "reassigned" to pinch-hit for Sklenar? Rumor has it ... no, but a similar scenario may exist at that. Word is from the "inside" that the drama queen is ever closer.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the near-in-hiding intern plus, David Weintraub? Two sources tell that "he's a knat on a horse's ass and throwing his weight around to no affect" upstairs at 55 Hawthorne. Stay tuned. Hey, Weintraub - there's an opinion for a nigh talker in Tulare. Take it while you can.
The shakeout is about the happen. Watch this space.
Is Ronn ok? He sounds like he's really down. Health issues again, maybe?
Send some sandwiches over to the entertainer drama queen. He'd better stock up.
Weintraub, where in the hell do you think you matter? You and your blog suck. Stuff a sock in the pie hole and learn. You've been reassigned more times than anyone in the building. Want proof? Keep pressing your luck, a-hole.
Great job, Rich! You were first with the story and you stuck with it. The reward of being in the know with help from insiders proved true. Amazing, how the mighty have fallen ... again. Keep it up, Big Vinnie!
What if Karel becomes the new SF Market Manager for Cumulus? Changes will happen. Ronn will get the 1-5 AM which was once covered by Ray.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Karel just a big joke, only on for the demographics? Why would he become an "anything" Manager? Why is this a rumor?
DeleteWhat about Lee Hammer as MM....you know somebody who works in the market?
ReplyDeleteThis place has to be the most dysfunctional, unorganized and unprofessional radio cluster in the country. Seriously. Lee Hammer and Sheri Nelson, two employees with the worst work ethics here, who are beyond lazy, who literally do nothing but collect their paychecks, who are not respected by ANYONE who works with them, are still here and now the most tenured managers? Yet good people with good radio sense are getting let go? I've said it before but I cannot wait to get out of here. They should really use this whole debacle as a case study in Business 101 classes on how not to run a business.
ReplyDeleteExactly right 12:25. Hammer, the guy who gets called out on air for always taking sponsored golf trips? The guy who had to stand next to all the SFG when they went to the White House for their first title? That guy works the market? Yeah and Paulie Mac has strong sports opinions. LOL!
DeleteAbove comments about Sheri Nelson are absurd. But I guess anonymous says whatever anonymous wants. Signed, Anonymous.
DeleteCurious there's been no official word from Cumulus about Sklenar's departure yet. I don't think they sent out a press release when Ops manager Bill Pugh was recently let go either. So who's running things at 55 Hawthorne these days?
ReplyDeleteI understand the Ops Manager for KFOG/KSAN was also shown the door.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't really matter who Cumulus puts in the chair(s); the clusters are run by Atlanta, and when things go south, the Managers are shown the door as scapegoats; anyone who takes a management position with Cumulus is fooling themselves; I guess the Account Executives, the few that there are, are paid pretty well, so they stay on.
ReplyDeleteYeah it sucks to have no power over what happens in the local market and then get blamed when things go south.
DeleteI don't know if they still are but Cox used to be very centralized. Decisions were made in Atlanta and had to be carried out by local management. But, they didn't blame local management when things didn't turn out well. You could last there forever as long as you carried out whatever the plan of the moment was to Atlanta's satisfaction, regardless of the outcome.
Cox is still one of the better companies from an employee's perspective.
Delete10:55's spewing (a bit mean-spirited to suit me) has only one point that piqued my interest: the way Ronn sounds. My "take" on that - and what really annoys me - is that he always sounds like he needs to clear his throat, especially when he's speaking in a lower tone. It's ** really ** irritating - the constant frog-in-the-throat, and maybe that's just the way it is - but he never used to sound that way. Age does take its toll on all of us, tho!
ReplyDelete2nd point: One of the few times I listen to KGOne is in the morning, actually ** before ** Ronnnn comes on, and this morning, there was a "commercial" by Cumulus for sales people!! Don't know why it just sounded weird, under the circumstances....
Abe Vigoda developed frog-in-the-throat late in life too.
DeleteTo the 2nd point: Cumulus needs inexperienced salespeople who don't know that you can't sell at the same rates before the stations were brought to the bottom of the pile. Coach Pizzati gives the pep talk to go out and sell. The new ones don't even realize that they have nothing to sell.
DeletePizzati the Atlanta oaf is back to navigate the rudderless ship. First order of business is to drill some holes in the hull to see where he is going......
ReplyDeleteGary Pizzati, unloved by some after his seven month stint prior to Sklenar and Crespo, maybe, just maybe, will do something. .
DeleteLike, LISTEN to the radio stations for a change, especially "News / Squawk 810."
Say bye-bye Karel and to other fools like Ryan Scott, David "You Can't Hurt Me" Weintraub; a cellmate with Casey Bartholomew at Walt Sabo consulted New Jersey 101.5 unttil, well, "Gee, that was fun, now, I have been canned. Again."
For keep the boat afloat, Mr. Pizzat has the chops to bring the Cumulus cluster to life. Honest. He's got class, he works well with most people he doesn't fire, (and he DOES fire people,) and he plays nice until one pisses him off. Cumulus, however, has put him in charge of a couple to three dozen or more clusters all at once.
As reported here May 24: "Gary Pizzati had been serving as interim market manager in San Francisco for seven months until he left. Sklenar was assistant VP and director of sales and Crespo was national sales manager at Lincoln’s San Diego cluster.
Pizzati left while he was "interim market manager" of both San Francisco and Cumulus' Minneapolis cluster. He is now back in Atlanta "coaching" local sales managers and local marketing and sales managers in 25 - 40 markets for Cumulus, and doing "development of revenue" for those markets. He also does development of regional VPs for Cumulus as well as "sales talent." He is Cumulus' "sales trainer" and coach for "senior management." Pizzati also is the lead in implementing the many "Cumulus systems" in all levels of sales.
Pizzati has been with Cumulus 16 years after a tenure with Barnstable Broadcasting. He has been Senior VP since 2005 and covers both revenue building and operations for many Cumulus markets. He works with both Ron Escarsega, Sklenar and Crespo.
They all answered to him in Atlanta.
Go get 'em Gary, get Ron to make the moves he should at KGO, you do your huge task and you'll be back in Atlanta in, oh, six months. This time, please, with all due respected, talented man, LISTEN to the cluster, institute improvements AND change and LISTEN to the market. Get rid of the kids in the sandbox who are sucking the air out with nothing to speak for. Not everybody, mind you, just a few -- starting with Mel Baker, Karel, Renee Bakos, David Weintrab, Casey Bartholomew, Chef Ryan Scott, John & Jeff,and Mo' Hangin' With Langan who isn't making strides, but has improved, slightly. Send Ethan Berman back to Santa Cruz where he came from, get rid of Sussman and Katers on KSFO. Don't feist the congressman from Michigan on us in November and think about where Savage can really fit to make it work here if that's possible..
Add real local news, weather and real local "traffic on the fives," lose a couple of producers who are causing trouble like, well, never mind, and a board op wannabee or two. Hi, Susan Whynot!..
Bring back the likes of Tillem, Rothman, Craft, Thurston. Put Larry Van Nuys on KGO and split him with KSFO, where he phones it in now. Turn down the gigglefest in the morning and say adios to the "Finch Files" guy now "reassigned" to KGO. Put John Hamilton out to pasture. Great guy, but needs some life. The show's now a snooze. A new "God Talk" person would be nice, too.
Add some new imagery, new jingles and sounders or put the ones you have at WBAP or WABC on KGO.
Put KGO on FM, Gary, like on KFOG. Let NASH develop in San Jose before importing it here, where country has died twice.
Do better ticket giveaways. Younger demos don't listen to KGO for Peter Frampton tickets -- or championship non-debates miles and miles away from San Francisco.
Get the Raiders on KGO Sundays, Cal football on Saturday and that would be a good start, maybe? .
I remember before leaving I was told this great man Gary Pizzati wanted to sell the kgo news cars to make budget. Smart idea. Real thinker. Then he posted all our names on the wall like Glengarry Glenross in an effort to show us who was the best. Worked wonders for morale. He knows nothing about radio, and should be kept from making any decision regarding programing. Not that he'd ever be allowed to anyway, let alone even want to.
ReplyDeleteThe above post is so asinine.
Surprised that Cumulus has hired a PD for KSJO. What's he gonna do...make sure the satellite feed from Nashville is on?
ReplyDeleteWorking for Cumulus is like being an Australian foot soldier at Gallipoli.
ReplyDelete