Monday, February 9, 2015

Jason Barrett Leaving 95.7 The Game As PD; Pens Cute Letter That Doesn't Provide (Real) Details; The Real Reason(s)

 Jason Barrett, the embattled PD of all-sports 95.7 FM The Game is leaving the station in June.


Here, he spells out in roughly a few couple thousand or so words why he's leaving...it reads lovely and cutesy and cuddly and all that but other than mentioning family, Barrett conveniently leaves out the specific reason(s) why.


Funny, I'm not surprised. I've been wondering for some time how Barrett has been able to hold down his Entercom gig despite the station's relative irrelevance and truth be told, The Game, while holding down marginal demos like adult males who covet beer, boobs and sports, has never reached a ratings crescendo --hell, hasn't even come close.


 You're probably going to read the press-release version of this and take it as the positive gospel but it's mostly bull. It's anecdotal verbal messing that's designed to imply that the honest PD misses him and wants to explore his next life. Which would be nothing out of the ordinary and make perfect sense only Barrett doesn't mention some of the things that more than likely accelerated his departure.


As I said, The Game has never registered any real traction in the Bay Area. Never. Its attempt to be an alternative to KNBR, which would have been nice, hasn't materialized. Part of that is sports-radio on FM doesn't work, especially when it's hard to actually listen to that station. The Game's signal is barely audible in most parts of the Bay Area. I can pick it up fine and even better on my car stereo but I'm in the minority. That's not Barrett's fault but it's on his ledger that other variables are and were--

*It was Barrett who hired contest winners--listeners--who became immediate air talent on the radio station. That would work well in, say, Tulsa--not so much in the Bay Area. Furthermore the idea of placing contest winners on the radio station speaks volumes about Mr. Barrett's style of management.

*Both the A's and Raiders want out on The Game. The Raiders have been looking for an alternative for months now because they're unhappy with their Bay Area flagship--so too the A's who have complained about promotion and are also unhappy with the signal. Again, that's hardly Barrett's fault but there's ways to schmooze the suits and get around this--Barrett didn't get the memo.

*The constant reshuffling of the air-talent. There's been a significant fallout on Barrett's every-other-day rearranging the furniture on The Game--his mishandling of the morning show features has been woeful and disruptive --the very best morning show, "The Rise Guys", were held out to pasture and replaced by a startling bad current program whose hosts like to talk about their penises --how thought-provoking and creative.

Simply stated The Game went kaput before our very eyes and ears. There's nothing wrong with that --hell, lots of radio stations are like restaurants --most fail even under the best of intentions. And while everybody would relish an alternative to wildly less-than-mediocre KNBR, The Game struck out. For now and more than likely, the future too.


39 comments:

  1. I don't like Jason Barrett. I think Jason Barrett is a gross person in the sense that he has always seemed dirty in a physical sense. I don't think Jason Barrett is necessarily talented. I do not think he has done anything special at the game. I think most of his hires have been poor and that his sidekick is a bit of a joke. I do think his letter is real though. From the time I met him he complained about not being closer to his son and family. Best of luck!

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    1. Barrett probably doesn't get the chance to shower often. How many tens of thousands of dollars did he spend flying back and forth to New York every other weekend for the past 4 years? 4 day work week too? Entercom sure is generous.

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  2. If John Lund's and Greg Papas sinking to laffs of animal sexual and physical abuse is what they do in ratings desperation? Cut the cord now. Really,just get them off the air.

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  3. Again, why replace the Rise Guys? Why? They were actually good, skilled radio folks. Local, comprehensive, funny. For a boobs, beer, sports, male between 18-54 there has literally been nothing on Bay Area radio to replace their show.

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  4. Sadly, they are irrelevant. Damon Bruce figures he has it made over there, and he's certainly the most talented guy they have outside of Papa. Damon has to be happy because they pay him a lot more than what he was getting at KNBR and give him the sweet time on the air in the afternoon. It's too bad he couldn't get along with management at KNBR and blew his chance over there though, but his ego is way out of control. He showed up in the bay area about 8 years ago and acted as if he owned the place. Hey Damon, guess what? There are a lot of folks out there who have more credibility and experience and talent than you my friend!

    Bruce Is very talented, but he is so full of himself that it's really annoying listening to him sometimes bloviate all over the place.

    Chris Townsend does a nice job with baseball and knows the game, but he sounds like he's constantly yelling. Tone it down Chris! We can hear you.

    Papa knows sports as well as anyone, but putting him on with John Lund sounds awkward. Lund is okay if his doesn't revert to juvenile humor, but that happens all too frequently, and what's really upsetting is that Papa seems to encourage it.

    The new morning show is not working because it's awkward and they've brought in two guys from out of the area who are not familiar with Northern California and think they know it all. Guess what guys....you don't!

    The update folks are okay, but they don't give you a whole lot of substance, so what's the point of even doing updates?

    Overall, you'd have to give the station a c minus grade, and that's being generous. The big problem as you mentioned Rich, is that their signal is weak and can't be heard that well outside of the central Bay Area. Yes, they've made some minor dents in KNBR's ratings, but they've been minimal. I don't think changing PDs will make any difference either. Another big problem is that the A's and Raiders (like it or not east bay fans), will always be the poor stepchildren to the more glamorous and recently more successful Giants and 49ers.

    There you have it...I don't think that 'The Game' is ever going to be making that much noise here in the bay area, but we'll see. You have to at least give them so credit for trying to challenge KNBR however, and that hasn't been easy.

    But hey, good luck to the 'Game.' They are no longer the 'Bay Area's "new sound for sports however," as they've been doing this now for almost 4 years.

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    1. I agree, agree, agree with what you wrote about Bruce, Townie, and Lund. I used to like Damon, but he has become very bitter and negative. I don't like Townsend's partner, Zachariah--he, like the Three Amigos, is too young to know Bay Area sports history and it shows. Finally, the Game's radio signal is a little too weak at nights.

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    2. Damon has got to be the most redundant ego maniac in sports. He bashes Levi Stadium and Jed York 24/7. Not sure if he has anything else to offer.

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    3. I stopped listening to Bruce several years back around the time, if I'm not mistaken, that his engagement fell through. Since then, the few times I've listened, he has seemed very angry. Could it all have had something to do with his infamous rant against females a couple of years back? Just thinking...

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    4. "Damon has got to be the most redundant ego maniac in sports. He bashes Levi Stadium and Jed York 24/7. Not sure if he has anything else to offer."

      I agree about Daman. Kind of the way Rich Lieberman bashes Ronn Owens 24/7?

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    5. Andrew, I think you're on to something. Connecting the dots . . . I wondered too about what happened to his engagement.

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  5. "I don't think that 'The Game' is ever going to be making that much noise here in the bay area, but we'll see."

    If they can't be heard marketwide, it'll never happen.

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  6. I don't understand the reason for the perverted humor on the "afternoon delight" Is it mandated or are the hosts a little sick? Papa on the pole? Really?
    Otherwise Papa is the best sports guy in the ba. Lund is tolerable.

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  7. I could be wrong, but none of Barrett's athlete driven shows lasted longer than a year.

    Aside from Tienery who went with the approach to pis off A's fans on the first day, the others all fawned over them like schoolboys. "Tell me more about the girls you slept with on the road"

    I get JB wanting to be closer to his kid, but I wonder why after working in STL, he never made the move to be closer.

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  8. I'm sure the A's and Raiders want 95.7 to be the same kind of pimps for their teams as KNBR is for the Giants, Niners and now, Warriors. West coast sports fans complain about east coast bias from ESPN (the all LeBron station all the time) and other influential sports media, but they have nothing on KNBR. It's all Giants (and Dodgers), Niners (and Seahawks) and Warriors. Shoot, you'd never even know that George Karl is in the running for the Sacramento Kings job but their best player, DeMarcus Cousins, is against it. But I digress - I think both sports talk radio stations need to work on lots of stuff in different ways but in opposite directions - KNBR with more national sports stories and 95.7 should pander a little bit more to their sports teams and their fans.

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    1. The main reason 95.7 talks about other teams is that Oakland A's and Raiders talk=crickets. They have to talk about the Giants, Warriors and 49ers because they bring more listeners. KNBR doesn't have to do the opposite as they know who the majority of listeners want to talk about.

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    2. Talking about the giants, warriors & 49ers hasn't helped The Game's ratings. Besides they get their best ratings during baseball season when they broadcast...wait for it...A's games.

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    3. Well, I would say you're right about more popularity for the Giants and Niners because they're winning, but it wasn't too long ago that the A's dominated the Giants in attendance and they have the highest walk up sales in baseball, or did. And the Niners have only been good for four years now - Bay Area sports fans are notorious bandwagon jumpers IMO. The Game hasn't really tried that approach for the A's and Raiders and it might be worth a shot - nothing else has worked.

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    4. 11:10
      The last time the A's had higher attendance was 1993, 21 years ago.

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    5. "but it wasn't too long ago that the A's dominated the Giants in attendance..."
      the last time the A's had higher attendance than the Giants was 1992 - 23 years ago! Also, that trend started 8 years before AT&T Park - since then they have never come within one million or more in any season.

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    6. Yes, 1992. 22 years ago. (1993 is the year new ownership brought in Bonds)

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  9. As long as they are broadcasting actual programming during KNBR's 38 minutes of hourly commercials, I'll continue to tune in when I need a local sports fix.

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  10. I have an idea about how to improve 95.7 - get rid of the crude, ridiculous, sexual innuendo jokes - mainly between Papa and Lund - there are times I'm driving when I cringe it gets so bad - why do these guys act like they're 16 years old? Papa, you're better than that, aren't you?

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    1. yes, it's constant and repetitious. over and over. inserted at every opportunity just like little boys just having reached puberty. act like you've had sexual relation before and that it's not a brand new thing to you!

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    2. Amen! It's gotten worse and I'm no prude, by any means, but when I hear that misogynistic/crude/poop humor, I change the station. Who are they targeting with that crap.

      I know and like Papa a lot. He's brilliant and well prepared when it comes to Bay Area sports. I feel sorry for him.

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    3. Apparently acting like a 16 yr old boy/girl is Lund's shtick, Papa likes him so he goes along with it I guess...It's gotten old, in a hurry...grow up guys.

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    4. I wonder if the crude humor is mandated by management.
      Kruk and Kuip dabbled in some weird off-color humor 2 years ago but righted their ship last year. Did that come from management trying to broaden the demographic?

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  11. In other sports media news, I see Andrew Baggarly is out as Giants Insider at CSN Bay Area, and Alex Pavlovic replaced him (he was on KNBR this morning). Any news on that, Rich? Did the Giants push Baggarly out?

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    1. It was one of the conditions re Romo re-upping with team.

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    2. Yeah, it didn't help that Giants players froze him out last season.

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    3. Why did that happen? Baggs was pretty good for a sports reporter.

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    4. He announced in December that he was stepping down to work on another book on the Giants. http://extrabaggs.com/ has his 12/5 post on his leaving CSN.

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  12. Apparently, Baggarly is writing a book.

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  13. i remember when KNBR acquired 1050 and i had hopes that they would follow the duopoly model that KGO and KSFO were using in those days...680 would remain the SF station and 1050 would be it's East Bay Raiders/A's nemesis... is it too late for them to try this?

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  14. Why does he have so much FAT around his neck for such a young man. ?

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  15. Baggarly's 2014 SF Giants road trips were cut back to almost none by CSN so he was commenting about games by watching them on TV. Someday I see him going to Comcast Chicago to cover Theo Wizard Cubs since he is from there...

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  16. it must be contagious...Gary & Larry were having way too much 'fun' with the name of ex-pitcher/pitching coach Dick Long this A.M. enough already boys!

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  17. Whenever a guy says he's leaving his job to be with his family, he's lying. I've heard this excuse used so many times.

    On his blog he says he's NOT leaving for lots of reasons, but doesn't give the reasons why he IS leaving. This station has never performed, ratings are in the toilet, the cluster is bleeding money even though stations like KOIT & KBLX are profitable. His station is the cause of the hemorrhage.

    Look, Dwight Walker was forced into "retirement". This guy is being forced to "go home". You don't always win, guy. Just shut up, take it like a man and go try again somewhere else.

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  18. I don't believe Andrew Baggerly left Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area on his own, but I could be wrong. Meanwhile, the departing JB has run through way too many on air people, but then so has Comcast sports net bay area. Damon Andrews, Matt Morrison, Chuck Fisher, Jamie Sire, Dave Benz and Scott Reece have all moved on to better jobs or have been fired and found work elsewhere. Think of all the folks 'the Game' has also run through in the short four plus years they've been around. The Game and Comcast are so lucky to have Greg Papa as one of their mainstays, but I will agree with the other posters who say Papa and Lund get into the sexist, juvenile nonsense way to often on their afternoon talk show. It's embarrassing to listen to and I really don't think it attracts more listeners Papa is one best, if not THE best radio play by play guy in their area, but when he comes on with Lund and they do the giggle-fest, chortling about about sexual nonsense, it's kind of creepy and stupid and really serves no purpose other than to embarrass both guys and the listeners. I agree with an earlier poster. Papa...knock it off...YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT!

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  19. It's time to say Game over to this station. Time for a change in format.

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