Monday, July 14, 2014

Metheny's First Day On The Job at KGO/KSFO; 'Pig Vomit' Big Meeting Monday AM; 'Day of Reckoning'; Fear Permeates 55 Hawthorne

 The first day of reckoning!


*First day on the job for Kevin Metheny, aka: Pig Vomit.


*Big meeting with EVERY one of the KGO/KSFO worker bees mid-morning.


*Changes on the horizon. And Atlanta has given him 6 months to "clean up the doo-doo."


*Newsroom source at KGO: "They're, (Cumulus), cutting the hourly-pay people."


*Dissatisfaction with Deb Monroe, ND.


*Talk and News hybrid guided by Metheny.


*KSFO: "Only way to go is up--Lot of people are afraid here."


*Developing...






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21 comments:

  1. KSFO "Morning Show" @ 8:26 a.m.:

    Brian Sussman just identified caller Ethan Bearman as "no doubt my future replacement." He not so artfully covered, "... when I am old and ... when my ass is too old.."

    Still ego-involved, Brian added, "Just want everyone to know that I discovered you. I discovered my own replacement."

    Ethan agreed.

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  2. Stop saying "talk and new hybrid".... It's ALWAYS been a talk and news hybrid. They just might add more talk.

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    1. I wouldn't be quite certain about Bearman being Sussman's replacement. Ready for morning drive on KSFO? Hardly. I'd still not discount Imus coming via syndication. Metheny has a history with "Mr. Imus."

      Cutting around the periphery, first, is always the first thing in the Cumulus playbook, before the bombs unleash. Hourly employees out first? You bet. Not only news types, but part timer talk types, too, not secure. Then, union hires, followed by franchise players like Owens.

      Weekend cleanup of the doo doo will be fast and furious with the six month time line. Metheny needs too get his shit together fast, if he is to take on the stripes of fixing the other major Cumulus FAILS in New York, Chicago, LA and his last residence, WJR Detroit. His reward if he cleans up SF will be the new promotion nationwide, but that's a big "if."

      Easy fixes: Weekends, Karel, Chef Scott, Hamilton, part time "auditioners" like Bartholomew, maybe Weintraub and Sussman / Green. Hughes? Don't have a guess in the tea leave. Savage? A big investment for Cumulus. A move to KGO? I'd say doubtful. All night? Should be an easy fix with syndication if not simulcast to "put a bandage on it for now.:" Sports? Time will tell. The unemployment line forms to the left.

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  3. Maybe some in news and elsewhere should have been "afraid" while some were swinging from the chandeliers thinking they were, still, "The Mighty Wurlitzer." The "nothing will happen to me" along with the "I don't care what they do" is not good for job security. So goes horrible management, so goes staff, so goes revenue, so goes business. Not that everyone should be blamed, certainly, but those who walked around like this poop doesn't stink are what got KGO / KSFO into this mess. They can, and should, blame management, certainly. However, management should have cleaned up "the doo doo" by surgically removing the cancer, not merely the symptoms and they didn't do that.

    We fire the managers, not the players, yet, in Cumulus' case, they did both to no avail. They didn't cut deep enough when they should have and the results are what you have now.

    The pep talk today will shed no light, in order to prevent a stampede at the corral gate Typical Metheny. Just wait a few days after the "Hi's" and "Howdy's" have been made. There should be no comfort at that wing of 55 Hawthorne and the same with the telephone line to Long Beach, New Jersey and various other places including Sacramento and the offices of SAG/AFTRA. This will not be pretty.

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  4. If this guy really is going to Clean House like all imply, I hope he takes the precaution of having a Nurse or Medical Assistant on site, with that electric gizmo that pumps the heart. You know, in case somebody get's a case of the vapors of something. Poor Gene Burns never did recover from the Morning Massacre that flipped all the little ships.

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  5. Karel, I can't tell if that's another fresh deposit of human feces on your driveway or your pink slip...

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    Replies
    1. Both. Don't look now, but Metheny could just like Karel's "hate" so much because "it attracts listeners who remember him." Just sayin'.

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  6. Why does KGO keep Matt Ray on the radio on Sat./Sun.? He is way in over his head. He does not know how to run a talk show where you let other people talk without cutting them off in the middle of their comments. He is terrible and should be let go.

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    Replies
    1. He must work cheap. That's ALL that matters now.

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    2. He works out of Chico. He is union-scale cheap and he could well be gone in the new regime that began today. Just don't count on it, at least not yet. There are a LOT of things more important to fix with 10-1 on weekend mornings not one of the priorities. Don't be surprised if Karel is kept.

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    3. Matt Ray sounds like a nice guy, he often has decent subjects, he sounds intelligent enough (not a genius, but way above Montemayor) but he is not that good at engage the caller, sounds like his is scared of offending someone. Considering all the different hosts on KGO and other stations since Dec. 2011, he is not half bad. He is better than Joel and Corey, more interesting than Gil (although Gil is smarter) better than Sussman, Karel and Bearman.

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  7. Is there any chance this means Barbara Simpson will get her show back on KSFO?

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    Replies
    1. No. She was fired for being argumentative with Cumulus management and not being into "social media." Only the operations manager has changed. Doubtful. They want younger listeners. Especially this goof-ball program director, Kevin Metheny.

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    2. Remember, you as a conservative listener are insignificant to Cumulus. They don't care about you 3:31 and you are too old for them to matter. Sorry, but don't be surprised to see KGO become "The BIG One" or "The BIG 810." Or, "The BIG Talker" with programming by screaming shouters designed to bring in 35-50 year old "kids". No, I am not kidding. Have seen what this guy has done to too many other big stations that ended up being ruined San Francisco will be like a city of liberal, extreme, fun and outrageousness. He's not a news type, more of a sports fan (a Steelers fan, at that) and not a big Savage fan, apparently. Could go conservative like Detroit, but SF is too "hipster" for that. Left leaning extreme "young", hip and affluent.

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  8. Her ratings were terrible too.

    Be realistic.

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  9. It's easy to say there's going to be wholesale house-cleaning at KGO and KSFO, but what comes next? The stations have NO bench strength, so where do they go for replacements? Would a decent talk talent at a mid-market station come to a losing group owner with a bad reputation in one of the highest cost of living cities in the world for essentially less than subsistence wages?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, there "could" be a housecleaning, but probably not. Cumulus doesn't want to throw money that it doesn't have at improving it, just not subsidizing it. Doing news as it has done is cost prohibitive, especially with lower revenues and higher competition. A big mistake. They can go cheap, like they are now, by cutting salaries (per hour people), forcing Ronn to quit, getting rid of extra producers and board ops, getting rid of part timers when syndication will do and so on and so forth. Hoping that Gary P. can, again, work some "sales magic" by getting the revenues to at least stop falling. Metheny will suggest, but not totally control. He is answerable to Randall Bloomquist and they may hire a a program director and/or a news director to make it look good. Don't look for miracles. This isn't about rebuilding the brand of KGO / KSFO - because there is no brand, now. The Dickey's have no intention of reinvesting in what has been a "red zone" problem since they took over in 2011. They'll get "talent" the old fashioned way - resumes, CD's and from the hundreds and hundreds or thousands of people who are on the beach out of work. They are out there.

      Or, there are other third tier "entertainers" and "comedians" looking for work, probably some "radio chefs" and travel guys, too. There is also automation. Maybe they'll break the AFTRA union next.

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  10. I've said this many times but no one answers. Why does weintraub get away with insulting legendary hosts? First Owens and this weekend Savage. Who is this guy related to? I guess he's stuck in that hour for a reason.

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    Replies
    1. Here's the correct and truthful answer. "If a tree falls in the forest - does it make any noise?"

      Weintraub could, literally, say FUCK YOU on the air and all by his producer and his board op would hear it. No one listens to him and his shitty two hour "show." Last weekend was so bad, he did one show then replayed it the next night in its entirety. Did anyone notice? I did only because I reached over to turn it off while getting laid. He gets away with his creepiness because no one is listening to him.

      As for his "picking" on "Wiener / Savage" remember -- Savage fired him as his board op because he knows that Weintraub is a prick and a no talent one at that. Savage got rid of him and was tired of arguing with him. So, crybaby that he is, Weintraub begged to be "reassigned' to something else and ended up doing midnight to two am.

      He is a suck up to anyone who will listen and he thinks his shit doesn't stink. He and Karel don't get along (but who does with that moron) and Weintraub doesn't want to pack and head back with new wifey back to New Jersey. He sucks.

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  11. 6 months? You can be fucking God and still fail. Audiences take time to develop. Corporate bean counters have zero concept of that. Plus,since you are trying to reanimate a few corpses, there is a question as to whether or not you can even find the right body parts to Frankenstein something that someone can listen to. I personally I hope Cumulus is eating it big time for what they did to a great station.

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    Replies
    1. Remember, Metheney is far from being the brightest bulb in the lampshade. He failed at so many places from Detroit (where he didn't have to do much and still fell on his ass in a year and a half), Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland and other lesser known markets.

      Cume-less is not looking for miracles. They just need to stop the hemorraging, not spend a lot of money trying to, get rid of more dead wood (and there is plenty) and that's it. He's here to clean up the crap, and not break the bank doing so. He'll be gone in 6 months to a year if he doesn't.

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