The latest charade, and I'm being kind because truly this was the mother of all charades, was the worst ever even by Cumulus standards and that's saying a lot.
To think that two yappy, disingenuous, phony females were allowed to grace the microphones that just years ago were home to the likes of Gene Burns, John Rothmann, Jim Dunbar, and the like was a complete embarrassment--wait a minute, more than an embarrassment, more a crime really; an insult to the people of the Bay Area, really.
That it happened in the wee hours of the morning makes no difference; it was bad, it was ugly, it was gross and it should have resulted in the instant firing of the latest Cumulus clown who directed it. There's a reason why Keven Metheny is known as "Pig Virus" and "Pig Vomit." He has a track record. Go do some googling, it's all there.
Every day I think it can't get any worse but acts like early Saturday on the 810 AM dial make me think otherwise. This latest "audition" is the baddest of them all and there's a lot on the menu to choose from. It muddles the mind. It further marginalizes the legitimacy of KGO as a real radio station even to those good people in the newsroom who work on and try to do their best with a bunch of nincompoops running the show. What a travesty, what a pathetic and sad deviation from years past when KGO represented the very best and is now reduced to teenage-sounding girly neophytes yapping "vagina" and "penis" on the air to, what?, get attention, strike a chord? How pathetic, how corrupt, how sad.
Metheny is a fool. A miscreant of massive proportions that will be gone in six months, give or take a few, because that's the Cumulus MO. A bunch of know-nothing, non-radio bunglers of mass destruction devoid of any real meaning and incapable of garnering anything even remotely interesting or creative. Once again, how sad, how completely corrupt and insulting to all the good folks of the Bay Area whose radio station was kidnapped by a bunch of Dickey heads in the middle of the night.
Pig Vomit and Cumulus and the Dickeys: Birds of a feather...
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I normally listen to Sirius/XM now and haven't tried terrestrial options in ages. While my car was being fixed last week, I drove a rental and only had regular radio to listen to, so I tuned into a few stations while driving to work. Wow, what a joke. It's not just Cumulus but Clear Channel stations as well. Weekend infomercials, amateur hosts, too many commercials, just a overall poor sound. I've been reading this blog for a couple of years and listening to the analysis which pretty much says the same thing, but it wasn't until I actually tuned in that I realized how bad it was. Everything sounds like a college station....in Montana.
ReplyDeleteNow, sir, sir, sir...wait just a moment now, sir. My personal research experience with the 50,000 watt signal going up and down the west coast of this great planet, into parts of Canada and parts of Mexico, indicates that we have very respectable highly intelligent listeners much like yourself who used to call in from Montana and share their years of wisdom and personal experience with the western world. Furthermore, sir, you must be aware of the fine Montana college djs playing a wide range of excellent American jazz, supporting the efforts of musicians of all colors and a wide range of ages and backgrounds. College radio stations in Montana certainly deserve better from a highly intelligent person of the world like yourself. "Sometimes I wonder, other times I'm sure..."
DeleteYeah i agree. There are a few decent hosts but we're talking about the same lame syndicated people we've heard for 20 years, weekenders, and now a truly low point.
ReplyDeleteThe radio industry destroyed itself. It wasn't the Internet that did it. It was poor repetitive copy cat programming and now just an abyss.
I've never listened to the girls you're talking about or this Weintraub fellow but I wonder why they even want to be on these stations in the first place. It's an abyss, run by the uncreative in a dying industry. And why do we even care?
Satellite radio and podcasts destroy what these people provide
The niner pre game show was 20 minutes late due to technical difficulties. Cumulus is a disaster and very bad for the overall health of the Radio Industry.
ReplyDeleteListen to KMJ 580 out of Fresno. 50k watts that reach the bay area well. Listened to them for years but recently, it's been my go to. Almost like old time talk radio and the farm/ag reports and commercials are cool too.
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too. It is the closest thing to old school talk radio that I have found.
DeleteI forget about KMJ...but I like it when I remember, or when I'm scanning in the car and the signal is strong enough for my radio to stop on it. Didn't KGO bring the woman who does afternoon drive on KMJ up for a trial shortly after "the change?"
DeleteHowever, the ladies probably did not cost a lot. BONUS TO THE BOTTOM LINE!
ReplyDeleteBay Area radio is changing, like it or not. Personally I'm sad to see some veterans go and happy to welcome some new voices at the same time. The bottom line is that whatever makes money is what we will hear. It doesn't matter what it is - if there was a way to put those stupid cat videos on radio they'd do it. I don't listen to too much radio except for a game when I'm in the car. I don't know too many people who still do. It will be interesting to see what formats win.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be a "there" there. Just because something is "young" and "new", does not meant it will be a ratings and money maker. Just as it is with someone who dubs themselves a comedian, an edgy comedian, it doesn't mean he or she is funny. The only reason to listen to talk radio is because the show is interesting. Surely, Shirley, there's someone one young out there who is is edgy, smart, scintillating, substantive, and fun to hear? Maybe it's because, until you have some difficulties in your life, you aren't that all that interesting yourself. I think talk radio has always appealed more to those over forty, than under. Yes?
DeleteWhen KGOne broadcasts the Cal and 49er games, the pre-game chat, then the game, then post-game BS take up - what - at least 8 hours of air time. And Cumulus could care less how many people are actually listening, because they're making a boat-load of money by simply putting all that crap on the air. I completely agree that WHATEVER MAKES MONEY IS WHAT WE WILL HEAR - whether we like it or not.
ReplyDeletewhy blame cumulus and pig vomit? if advertisers took their money elsewhere then cumulus would have no business. you say they are making money. well, call out the advertisers then.... name and shame them
ReplyDeleteChristine's problem is that now she is "older," and consequently, she can't get as much regular work because the broadcast industry, like most American industries has gotten younger and generally likes to put the older, more well paid employees out to pasture to save money. I feel for her because I've seen this happen to many others in our once highly respected profession. A lot of the youngsters getting into broadcasting today, have not paid their dues by working their way up the ladder, and consequently, you have a much less professional corps of broadcasters on the air, and consequently, a less informed public.
ReplyDeleteThe airwaves are not just a private business for some mega-media companies to make a financial killing off of, they are also public airwaves and the Congress never should have deregulated the media back in the mid 1990s. It's been one of the great disasters in this country's history, as it has wrecked out broadcast industry and now the public is becoming more and more dangerously uninformed.
When bleating, bloviating apologists for the oligarchs such at that bloated windbag Rush Limbaugh, or that smarmy know-it-all Sean Hannity (don't you sometimes just feel like slapping that schmuck in the face?!) dominate hundreds of stations in the place of good local talk shows, it doesn't speak well for a once respected industry that so many of us have worked in for so long and still love.
I'm sorry you have had to go through that crap Christine, because you're a true pro and deserve better. Many of us out here have gone through the same nonsense and it isn't easy. It's sad that you've sometimes been reduced to posting opinions on Rich's website instead of broadcasting as you should be!
In other words Christine: 'REGRETS, I'VE HAD A FEW, BUT THROUGH IT ALL, I DID IT…..MY WAY!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMonths away, as I am, from full geezerhood, my "problem" isn't with what's new and improved(There's no tenure in broadcasting for anyone). For example, you assume that I detest Rush and Sean Hannity, but I don't. I gave Rush a job once, and still believe that he has enormous talent on the radio, regardless of his point of view. Hannity, a wannabe, cleansed of any originality and just does't hold my attention. The point of my original post on this thread was that neither youth, nor political affinity, nor ability to earn a living doing standup comedy,nor writing a blog post here or elsewhere makes one good on the radio. It's an ineluctable quality. I know it when I hear it, and when I don't. I think I've heard the two young women in question before on KGO, though not this latest time. I think perhaps, they think they are the first generation to actually have vaginas, yes?
ReplyDelete