Sunday, July 20, 2014

Ask Rich Lieberman 415 Media




Fire away!


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73 comments:

  1. Has Karel ever given a negative review to a show for which he's received free tickets?

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    1. I don't know--I stopped listening. I have enough pain and suffering of my own to worry about the "entertainer."

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    2. Nope. He even compliments his own shows as "the best I can do each week" when he knows that most all of us things he's the worse thing on KGO and radio in general.

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    3. So true Rich. I get tired of the "Woe is Me" every week. He goes to Ireland every year I don't know if it's on trade or not but that still takes money

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  2. Rich, with the troubles of radio as we know it - both AM and FM, do you believe that listeners don't really matter to companies like Cumulus? Are they solely in the game to make money for shareholders? If AM radio is so dead, how willl talk radio be saved when young people hate talk radio, let alone of it being on AM, which they never listen?

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    1. Yes, I believe the days of companies "caring" in any industry let alone radio are long gone. There's exceptions of course, but by and large, especially in this era of deregulation, the bottom line is the bottom line, which is OK so as long as the public's interest is taken care of--corporate radio, led by Cumulus and Clear Channel have pretty much destroyed radio, talk radio especially and damn the public. It's a new era and a bad one at that.

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    2. It's sad how the Oakland A's are without a decent flagship radio station. Any chance that the Raiders, who are in the same position, could move to KGO?

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    3. Sure.
      The Raiders are unhappy with their current flagship station, "The Game" and its weak signal. So too, the A's.
      I wouldn't be the least surprised if the Raiders ended up on KGO--they could both use each other.

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  3. Sooo - still kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop at KGO/radio - big changes still not evident to us listeners. Anything new?

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    1. Be patient.
      Changes are a comin'--they didn't bring this guy in to buy wall paper. He'll make his move(s) --based on their ratings, it can't be soon enough.

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    2. KGO and KSFO don't rely on people to actually "run" the place. That's done in Atlanta at Cumulus headquarters. The new "Pig Virus" guy was brought in to scare the troops on Hawthorne, but he won't get to make moves on his own without Atlanta's direction and approval. The former operations manager, Ron Escarsega, found out the hard way. KGO and KSFO are about keeping the transmitters running, not about good programming. It costs too much money to do that. Cumulus knows in SF, New York, Chicago, Detroit and other places it owns where bad radio with historically low ratings exist. WABC, WLS, WJR, KGO, KSFO, KABC among others are prime examples. Talk radio is dead.

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  4. Do you why KSFO played a repeat of Mark Levin's show Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. instead of having John Batchelor on as usual? 3 hours of Levin is more than enough, but 6 hours!

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    1. Batchelor may have been under the weather or on vacation and an engineer couldn't find a "best-of" loop.

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    2. Questions like this always make me laugh. Why would you think that Rich would know? You think that Cumulus is going to call Rich and say, "Hey, we aren't going to run Batchelor on KSFO tonight." Really? Did you think of calling KGO or KSFO and asking someone directly? I mean, how would Rich know?

      They had a shift of "new" engineers/board ops this weekend who were clueless. Anyone listening to the red carpet entertainer heard Diedra Miles from Dallas doing news and traffic for WMAL in Washington, DC twice, for example. The ABC feed was cut off in midstream a couple of times and it was a joke to listen to ... again. I'd bet that a rookie board op didn't know shit from shinola on getting the satellite feed and didn't know how to switch or that the automation computer failed to synch or something.

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    3. Uh, thanks--well stated. I think.

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    4. It was meant to be well stated to your benefit.

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    5. You are a bit arrogant aren't you? I asked Rich because this blog said ask me anything. I was moving from the Peninsula to the East Bay, and didn't have a lot of time. Besides often Rich does have the inside scoop.

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  5. Have you heard what KSFO replaced Bob Tanem's third hour with? I almost drove off the road today when I heard it. A freaking infomercial for "brain health"! No wonder Tanem was so pissed a couple of weeks ago about "changes" to his show.

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    1. KSFO is slowing tanking into the deep, dark forest. I'm not surprised anymore.

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    2. Get used to it on bot KSFO and KGO. Infomercials mean $$$ for a half hour or an hour's time, especially on non-sellable weekend times, With ratings so low (below a 2 share for both KGO & KSFO) advertisers are scattering like roaches. they don't buy stations with so little impact, so, the stations turn to infomercials to put a few thousand dollars on the books for weekend programming. God help us when the Purity Products, American Products and others spring forth with the colon cleanse infomercials and worse. They are buying signal coverage at cheaper rates and this is what you get. WABC in New York was running infomercials all night one night a week in place of "Coast to Coast" to pay the bills. They now have a historic low of 1.3 in the current ratings. It's going to get worse. Kevin Metheny can't stop it as it involves the stations making much needed money. Clear Channel does the same on KKSF and KNEW.

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    3. If Tanem's show was better rated with more listeners, it could be locally sold. But it can't. So, Cumulus is not about to lose a buck. Tanem can be upset all he wants, but if the show can't be sold due to bad content or low listenership and lower ratings, that's radio for ya. Maybe he needs to do a better show.

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  6. So what's going on with Radnich? Do we who have made remarks have to worry about anything? Or was he only after you? I noticed you started a comment disclaimer after mentioning it.

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    1. To your first question, I have no idea. I wrote a piece about an acquaintance he knew about to be shown the door in NY...as for the disclaimer, I consulted my attorney about placing it on the web site and he recommended I do so and I did.

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    2. Well the one day you mentioned you were busy with "Radnich bullshit". Do you care to elaborate on that or are you not able to?
      Thank you for responding to the first question.

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    3. I think I wrote that he was beginning to annoy me and I'd been "Radniched"--something like that, let me sip a drink and I may elaborate next week.

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  7. Simple question for you Rich... Can KGO Radio be saved?

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    1. As its older self, no, that ship has sailed.

      As an overall quality radio station, that's a matter of opinion but the ratings, (or lack thereof), indicate they need a lot of help and no one's listening.

      The problem is that for the station to become more listenable and entertaining, it takes time and energy--money too. I'm not so certain Cumulus cares about KGO's legacy to fix and fine-tune all the necessary steps it will take to make the new KGO worth listening to.

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    2. In a word? Uh, no.

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  8. So, Rich...
    Whatever happened with that Beautiful Lady Friend you told us about?

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    1. None of your damn business.
      That said, nothing exciting happened but I may talk about it some day.

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    2. So we get the unsolicited Penthouse Forum story and now the "outcome" is kept private. If this episode is "none of your damn business" why would you make it public?

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    3. "Because it's MY blog and I can do what I want."

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  9. Why are you such a whiny, jealous little bitch?

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    1. Oh, it's probably in the blood --us bitches you know --we have a mind of our own but thanks for the compliment.

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  10. Do Radnich's co-workers at KRON appreciate his constant "good natured ribbing" or is Gary hated behind his back?

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  11. Rich, If, and I mean IF, KSFO has brain enough to remove Sussman and Green from their Morning Show, any ideas on who may be considered to replace them? Is Sherry Yee still a radio producer for them and is she likely to be replaced too? I recall one odd commercial spot with Brian saying he wanted to have some Chinese music played in the background while he talked about a local news story. So he asks for the music, and "Sherry says NO". As much as I don't care for Sussman on the air, I think Sherry was being way to pompous and disrespectful if that really happened. What the hell do you mean she "says NO" to the talent? Why wasn't she fired?

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    1. They like this guy, Ethan Bearman a lot.

      I'm not a Sussman guy and don't/haven't really listened much to his players or the minutiae so I'll leave the rest to everyone else.

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    2. They'd save money axing Sussman and putting Imus on. His sow is owned by Cumulus and he can't do any worse.

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    3. Reason: The talent does not run the show. The producer does. Be it Ronn, Sussman, Karel, Thurston, etc. The talent does the show, the producer runs it. She was right not to run the music.

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    4. Oh God have you listened to Imus? I started listening to him at the old WNBC back in the 80's when I was in middle school. He has that Keith Richards thing going for him. With all the drugs and alcohol abuse, he should have been dead years ago. I find his show boring and hard to watch and listen to hearing him struggling to breathe after falling off a horse. Terrible

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  12. Have you noticed KTVU's disgraceful slant on the Stockton bank robbery tragedy? They've tried now for several days to sell the story that the the dead hostage's family is "Demanding Answers" of the police. Yet, while there's been lots of statements made and interviews recorded, Channel 2 has yet to support this claim (from what I've seen the mood in Stockton has been, appropriately, one of extreme grief, not outrage). Last night, perhaps in desperation, they paired their Stockton coverage with an in-custody death from NY City.

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    1. Maybe the 'Investigative Unit' should get on this.

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    2. KTVU is the only outlet suggesting that the cops were the ones who shot and killed that woman. Takes balls. Other outlets keeping quiet for fear of upsetting their police sources and camaraderie.

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  13. If KNBR really thought Kate Scott had any ability/personality beyond reading yesterday's scores, wouldn't they have used her to replace one of their duds (Pauly Mac, Stuttering Rod) by now?

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  14. Alright, let's get down to the serious stuff here.....

    If you could go hot tubbing in Vegas with 5 Bay Area news personalities (past or present, anchor, weather, sports), who would you pick and why?

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    1. I'm afraid of the water--I don't do hot tubs, but I like showers.

      That said, I have no further comment, but nice try.

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  15. Are the A's in San Jose yet?

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    1. suck it Giants fan. This isn't SF Gate. We can and will kick you in the nuts.

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  16. Your pal weintraub has taken a lot of time off. What's the story there? Did they cut him loose? He was hired under Escarsega so it wouldn't surprise me. Last night Casey Bartholomew was on in his place and I'd rather hear Ryan Scott discuss the middle east than that guy discuss anything. He's worse than Monty's worst day!

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    1. Bartholomeu and Weintraub's nasal delivery is interchangeable. Nice of you to notice. I bet most insomniacs up at that time of night don't notice the difference between those two jokers except when they give out their names.

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    2. Excellent observations. Well said. Thanks.

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    3. Weintraub and Bartholomew have both been fired lots -- Weintraub from both New Jersey 101.5 AND by Michael Savage, personally. He's a creep. Casey has been fired more times and still operates out of NJ but unemployed since 2011. He did some creepy crap about Mickey Luckoff Sunday morning that was far from funny and didn't even sound like he knew what the hell is was talking about. Great line about Ryan Scott discussing the middle east instead of that wack job. Good point. Big changes coming to all Cumulus talkers, allegedly, and quickly.

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    4. You should get your facts straight. Casey was fired from 101.5 and weintraub never was. I don't think the two sound alike at all. One guy is a shock jock who sounds like a buffoon and the other actually takes on real topics. Nasal voice? Have you heard Howard? Anthony? I guess I hear what people say and not how they say it.

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    5. Savage didn't fire weintraub. That was actually the problem for Savage that he wasn't allowed to. And it seems he went from savage to his own show, no? Seems like a trade up if you ask me. I'm surprised he gets away with bashing Savage, Levin and Owens like he does. Figured Cumulus was too weak to allow that to happen. I went from thinking weintraub would last a month to now thinking he'll be the last one standing at KGO. The casey guy is absolutely terrible. I couldn't agree more about the Monty comment. Couldn't stand the guy personally and on air but I'd take him over this new guy AND the guy who replaced him, Matt Rey. What a complete and utter bore. They keep putting on people who aren't live in the Bay like Casey, Matt and of course Karel. Syndication doesn't seem like a different thing.

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    6. @8am, I too try to listen to what the hosts say not how they say it or how they sound; however when you have two weak and shallow hosts one tends to tune out what they say and start nitpicking their inflection and nasal voices. Tom Leykis is a perfect example of an annoying radio voice but the guy is a master at content and delivery. Last week was great radio on his show. I can overlook a bad radio voice if content is good. Weintraub and Bartholomeu sound awful and have even worse content.

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    7. Weintraub is fantastic. He's the best thing to happen to KGO in a long time. He started off poorly but when he filled for Karel a few months ago I thought it was great. I'm signed up for his podcast since but I am concerned that he hasn't been live lately. What's the deal lately? Is he on thin ice?

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    8. Matt Rey is better than Montemayor, he is more intelligent, he thinks his subjects through and his personality is nice, Montemayor's was obnoxious. None of them can hold a candle to Gene Burns and John Rothman, but those days are gone.

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    9. Monty and Ray are different sides of the same coin. Neither has a lot of value but do it very different. From the standpoint of being thoughtful Matt is clearly the deeper thinker. Yet he can be very boring.

      John Rothman is pretty boring to me as well. Gene was great but what's the point in making that comparison? The "what was" crowd needs to move on already.

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    10. As to who are boring I guess that is a matter of opinion, I happen to find John Rothman very interesting about85 % of the time, he talks about subjects I'm very interested in politics, and the Middle East, and he knows his stuff. I am a big supporter of Israel, having lived on a kibbutz when I was very young, for a short time (no I'm not Jewish,I'm Danish), loved the country and the people. Do support and Palestinian State, if they can stop lopping rocket as Isreal.

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  17. I find it odd that Cumulus has not installed Don Imus on either KGO or KSFO. Or have they and I just don't notice? Imus is on in morning drive at many of the Cumulus stations in the Cumulus major markets and they own his show., don't they? How much worse could Imus be than Sussman?

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    1. I wondered the same thing. Imus or Ethan Bearman? Yeeeech. Imus would be cheaper as Cumulus owns the show plus, Kevin Pig Virus Metheny has experience up close and personal with the I-Man. Bearman is a hack from KSCO.

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    2. @6:43 Bearman has clearly kicked it up a notch since his KSCO days. Do you actually listen or just pontificate negativity? I like him when he fills in for Sussman and on the weekend. This improvement is probably the reason Rich said @1:22pm they are liking him on KSFO.

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  18. Guess I'm late on this.

    1) How do you think the Niners will do this season?
    2) How do you think the Raiders will do this season? Oh, wait, cancel that. They are the Raiders, after all. Rhetorical question. Poorly. (Sorry Raiders fans. Actually, no, I'm not sorry.)
    3) Will the Niners lost another playoff game on the same stupid pass that was easily read in in the Super Bowl and NFC Championship game, if they make it to the playoffs and the game is on the line?
    4) If a returner fumbles the ball in a close playoff game, will the Niners still allow him a chance to fumble the next kick or punt, thereby ending their playoff run?
    5) Am I a pest? (no fair asking my wife, but you can ask my cats. I feed them.)

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    1. Not a pest, more a troll for baiting Raider fans.

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    2. Glenn, do you know what they say about Men with Cats?

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    3. @8:49 what do they say about men with cats?

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  19. On Sunday, Karel was lamenting the hectic life of an "entertainer." What a poor soul.

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  20. Don Imus is ancient. Cumulus going in the other direction.

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  21. Rich, at the top of your page, above the link to Rush it says "Click here to listen to Rich Lieberman Live 2-4pm". Is it true? Have my prayers been answered? Are you back on air baby!?

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    1. Congratulations on your return to the airwaves Rich! However; I'm confused. You are back on KOMY even though you and MZ previously stated that you had "graduated" from KOMY. I'd rather you were on KSCO but happy to see you're back on air. There's no one on KSCO from 2-4pm better than you. I'll be tuned in today!

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