Rush Limbaugh's broadcast clout is still considerable and he's no doubt the GOP's right-wing proxy but his move back to 560 AM is merely industry fodder.
Truly, it's NOT that big a deal and says more about the condition of Clear Channel's "960, 'The Patriot'--AM" outlet than KSFO making a bold move. They didn't.
They didn't. In fact, what I'm hearing from the worker bees at 55 Hawthorne is that nobody knows what the hell is going on. There's a distinct lack of communications. Hell, their own talk-show hosts don't even know who's minding the store but that's considered a commodity at Cumulus, nice going, Metheney.
*At KGO, a king-size table worth of rumors abound. We're on it.
*Developing...
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What happens to KNEW? New format?
ReplyDeleteI looked at the KSFO site and Sussman and Green are still on the schedule. How do they manage to keep their jobs. They are juvenile trailer trash.
Should give KSFO a slight boost if the KNEW listeners come over.
Is KSFO strll up for sale?
this must be part of cumulus's move for that younger demo.
ReplyDeletei wonder if they'll have rush change topics every 8 seconds like the "new" kgo?
I heard Sussmann announce the new line up on KSFO coming in the next few weeks. Or should I say the old and tired line up. Rush from 9 to noon, Savage stays, so does Mark Levin, Batchelor does not (too bad, he was different and at times very interesting, even if you don't agree with him) 6 to 9 p.m. Sean Hannity, 9 to 12 midnight Glenn Beck, then Red Eye radio. Three of these hosts are on 960 (Rush, Sean and Glenn) and Sean and Glenn are also on 650 Sacramento, so it leaves very few choices for the consumer, unless 960 is changing their line up. Doesn't anyone have any creativity anymore? Not only KSFO/KGO, but look at 910.
ReplyDeleteP.S. to my own blog above, unbelievable, but Sussmann and Katie stays, at least for now. I agree with Rich yawn, double yawn. I assume Rush wants to come back to KSFO I think he has too much say over his own show to be pushed around. Sean Hannity was bashing Cumulus big time when he left, said he didn't want to be associated with them, that the ruined several once great radio station. Gee, Sean what changed? Need the money? I thought you had some principles at least that is what you like your listeners to believe.
DeleteJohn Batchelor is the only one in America who covered the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL ~ and it is NOT ISIS) and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). He broke the truth about Benghazi and the dirty tricks the CIA and the ambassador were involved in. You can credit them with helping to arm ISIL, just like President Reagan (whom I voted for and would again, even though he made some big mistakes as all presidents do) funded and supplied the Mujahedin when they were battling the Soviets and Afghani communists. When will America learn to stop this dirty dealing?
Delete@ 9:29am Batchelor is one of the better informative show out there. HIs interviews are superb. .. I am slightly surprised. Of course, this is the Bay Area. It should be obvious. ...
DeleteBatchelor gone? Yay. His show is a yawner. He doesn't take callers. I know I'm not alone. I know for certain other KSFO fans feel the same way. i wish they had more local shows though.
DeleteWe don't normally do this, but we're going to carry this topic into the next minute...
ReplyDeleteAny news on the weekend? Changes? Please KSFO send Bearman packing.
ReplyDeleteHow Sussman gets away with his cr*p on air and still will be on in the mornings escapes. Not the brightest bulb and he's a nasty person with a temper. When I used to listen it'd start to come out and he'd check himself.
Bachelor gone? How sad. The only radio talk show I listened to a times.
You repeatedly post you hate Bearman, good for you. I am a big fan of his since KSCO. He just keeps getting better. Did you call him and lose a debate, is that why you are always posting about him?
DeleteI'm a different poster but agree that Bearman sucks. Mainly his over enunciation of words and the way he elongaaaaaates what he says. I was shocked he was lured from KSCO. He must work very cheap. The guy is ok when broadcasting on a small station. He's third rate at best...
DeleteAgree with 12:59 Bearman is annoying the way he elongates words, and often his tone of voice sounds like he talks down to his listerners. You don't have to hate him or have something personal to not like his show. His subjects are fine for the most part, I think he is intelligent enough, but his style sucks.
DeleteBearman is a little more talented than Sussman. Not saying much. And his talking down to listeners is something I noticed too. Does he still take very few calls? Guess he feels its beneath him.
DeleteDoes this mean that KNEW is the one being sold?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Is this a temporary move forced by KNEW and Clear Channel. KNEW's ratings are barely a blip and Clear Channel had to do something. Is KSFO still for sale? Does Susman have something on the owners? How does he manage to stay? I'd rather have Bearman replace him if that were the choice.
DeleteClear Channel has leased out one of their AM signals in Boston to Bloomburg. So there is precedent between the parties.
DeleteI really wouldn't be shocked to see Bloomburg take over operations of KNEW. It's a deal that makes perfect sense on paper.
Figures. Batchelor was the only one worth listening to on that crappy station.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't surprise me if Batchelor winds up on KGO in some fashion. They will need to fill airtime when Bloomburg programming is dropped...
DeleteI suspect that the Rush/ Hannity ratings were poor on the inferior signal of KNEW and pressure was placed on Premiere to make the change. Rush never left most of the other Cumulus outlets. I wouldn't be surprised to see John Batchelor show up in the evening hours at KGO. Former San Diego (KOGO) personality Chip Franklin would probably be a good weekday afternoon fit. I wonder if any of these changes are related to the anticipated arrival of Bloomberg Radio in the Bay Area?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like 960 KNEW is being sold to Bloomberg Radio. Clear Channel is giving up on The Patriot...how long before they do the same with Talk 910?
ReplyDeleteKSFOs ratings last month were 1.5. Near the bottom of the Bay Area radio market. Is the station making money with those kinds of ratings? Was bringing in gun advertisers a desperation move to get more ad revenue? I thought the station was for sale.
ReplyDeleteHey Rich, was it you that labeled KSFO "Reichstag Radio' a few years ago? Love that title, but it's really not apropos because if you remember your history, the Nazis allegedly burned down the Reichstag to help them consolidate power in the early 1930s. Still, it does have a catchy sound to it, I'll have to agree, and given the super-conservative bent of the talk show hosts that are now featured on KSFO, it seems fitting.
ReplyDeleteI have wondered how much the KSFO morning show deterioration is Sussman and how much is the suits messing with it. Suss man seemed to carry on the Rodgers tradition for awhile, but the lost me when they stopped being informative ( lots of interviews with newsmakers, reporters, etc) and went to reading the Drudge report and just taking phone calls. The "Thirsty Thursday" type stuf is ridiculous. But it seems the bosses at Cumulus like the "pot and pan banger" types.
ReplyDeleteWhite conservative owners tell their white conservative lackeys to put on tried white conservatives who aren't getting any ratings anymore. The same model that killed the business is the only model they know. Now they're asking these 3rd tier programmers to come up with "new ideas" on whatever talk products aren't conservative, but those fellows never knew what they were doing in the first place. The decent programmers left the business years ago when the corpora-cons slashed their salaries to nothing, having deemed them unnecessary to create solid radio. What you have is a top down model that is more hell bent on cutting costs than delivering a product, which in turn only delivers the same garbage that hasn't worked in years. They hire a retread like Kevin Metheny to send out the marching owners knowing he's just desperate enough to do anything they ask of him. Hangers-ons like him will say or do anything in order to keep a job, in the hopes that their 40+ year careers will finally land them with some power, or a decent salary. It's like a sad game of musical chairs, where the contestants keep getting older and slower, and the chairs become shakier.
ReplyDeleteIn summation: the guys who own the companies, and the managers who remain, do not know what they are doing when it comes to talk radio. They haven't known for years. They will fail.
bravo.
DeleteBrilliant analysis. Whoever you are please keep writing. You capture the essence of the charade of what's happening to radio perfectly. I especially enjoy your description of the players.
DeleteCowboys!!!
ReplyDeleteTwo sides of the same coin but it always seems to come up heads. Cumulus is prepping for 2016. Yes, they will want to see RESULTS before then but Pig Virus is no moron - no matter how much certain people wish he was. He's learned that it takes time to build revenue, sustainable revenue. With the plethora of media options the old pump and dump style of ad sales doesn't work anymore, especially in SF. It will take some time to make Cumulus properties attractive to advertisers and Metheny has already sold the brass on that concept. He's safe until 2017. This is why KSFO has brought back the reliable conservative battleships from the weak signal mothballs of KNEW. The ads for "traditional value" businesses like gun stores will increase but so will ads across all segments. The reason is that not only conservatives who LOVE Rush will tune in but those who HATE him will also - in greater numbers. That leaves the tails side of the coin - KGO. Moving to a news/talk format will give Pig Virus the time he needs to A) build KSFO into a right wing powerhouse 2) build KGO's credibility and get a line-up of moderate lefty hosts in place. It won't be KMAO but there will be enough of a difference to attract those listeners that just can't listen to KSFO. Maybe if the right talent is recruited and a miracle happens (Art Bell returns to terrestrial radio) then the coin might land on tails more often. These changes should be firmly in place by next May - in time to put some focus on what promises to be the most divisive mayoral election SF has seen in decades. If everything works out Cumulus will have the lions share of the market for the 2016 election year and for those who don't care about politics they've got sports and rock n roll. Of course this is speculation because as Rich pointed out nobody really knows what's going on. It's a need to know situation at 55 Hawthorne and Pig Virus knows that the closed door management style will cause a little insecurity amongst the troops. When this happens some will rise and do everything needed to avoid being fired while others will make being terminated easy. This is Metheny's last waltz and it will be toxic.
ReplyDelete...And young people don't know what the AM dial is.
Deletebut it's a good story!
Mitt Willard Romney 2000+16.
DeleteWill any of these hosts in the "new" 560 lineup ever bash Obama?
ReplyDeleteJust wonderin'...
Wouldn't surprise me if CC leases 960 to Bloomberg or one other source says they go to Fox Sports. Why? A 4th sports signal in the market? And the worst signal to boot? Maybe they'll sell airtime for paid sports to the local colleges (USF, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, SJS) that can't get on the better signals that carry Stanford and Cal. The SJ Giants are looking for a radio home as are the SJ Earthquakes. Maybe they should just broker the time out on the station hour-by-hour like the old KIEV in Glendale.
ReplyDeleteRogers, Officer Vic, and Morgan worked on KSFO. Sussman and Green don't. I love Suss but the quality of the morning show, the SLAP stick and crudity, turn me off. I communicated with Sussman early when the announced the loss of Rush saying it was a death knell for the station. His response,"I know, I know!"
ReplyDeleteI turned to what ever station provided Rush and Hannity, but 960 is nearly un-receivable in many parts of the South Bay. Now with this change back, I hope some station will carry Hannity real time. I really wonder how Savage holds the 12: to 3: slot and is a POOR lead into the Lavin show.
Savage is an in-house production by Cumulus itself, and is distributed by Cumulus Media Networks, which is being integrated into the Westwood One complex. And KSFO is recognized as Savage's flagship.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing to really wonder about.