KGO Radio and its corporate owner, Cumulus, fired Kevin The Rat, (Radich), longtime sports PM anchor/reporter Thursday.He started at KGO in 2007 (he also had a long stint at KNBR)
Cumulus is in the business of trimming and leaning out selected tenured air talent at both KGO and KNBR so this won't be the last transaction.
KGO used its CNN generic feed and in-house PM-drive anchors for Thursday's sports reports. No word on a permanent replacement but my best guess is, for the time being and probably for the foreseeable future, don't expect some name sports anchor. Not in the budget.
By the way, Radich was escorted out of the KGO building by Cumulus personnel.
Classy.
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What a joke. WHAT A JOKE. Kevin was the MOST creative and talented person working at KGO. What a piece of shit company. He'll land on his feet because he's actually talented. More DREX! More RONN! More WALCOFF!
ReplyDeleteGood dude. He will be unemployed about half and hour.
ReplyDeleteThat blows. I liked him. Radich was so much more professional and listenable than Walcoff - who is the poster boy for schadenfreude, and always takes the handoff from Bristow with "yeah". Walcoff must have film on someone.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad, I was looking forward to his views on the Carson Raider's draft selections.
ReplyDeleteAnother stupid, inexplicably dumb move by the world's most absurd and unprofessional broadcasting company-Cumulus. This move makes absolutely no sense. How do they expect to compete with KCBS if they don't even have a sports person in the afternoons?
ReplyDeleteHaving the anchors read headlines sounds weak and isn't going to fool anybody. They have plenty of news people, some of whom are very good, but some who are also pretty crappy. Why didn't they just get rid of some of the crappy ones instead of firing Kevin? But why are we surprised by this move? We shouldn't be. Time and time again, Cumulus has displayed their indifference to quality programming on radio. Don't expect anything brilliant to ever come out of the minds of the Dickhead Brothers who run this awful company out of Atlanta.
I feel sorry for the folks at KGO, having to work under conditions where each one is now probably wondering when and where the next 'budget cut' will fall. Clueless bottom feeding jerks!. It's a shame they've been allowed to take over much of America's broadcasting industry. But most of the American public don't even give a sh....because they have their heads buried in their smart phones, like a bunch of sheep.
If he put an "n" in his last name,brown nosed management,he would last forever and could park in the handicapped zone if he felt like it- no problem.
ReplyDeleteGood point. It's good people like Kevin who get shown the door while disingenuous assholes like Gary that keep getting paid. And for doing what? Outside of his stupid, tired comedy routine and his famous: NO ONE CARES! line WTF is he good for anyway? If Cumulus wanted to save a bunch of money, they should have fired Fatnich's sorry ass!
ReplyDeleteDidn't he get his start here in the Bay area by sending in a listener audition tape to do sports on KFOG? ... or am I thinking of someone else?
ReplyDeleteYou are correct sir. Kevin won a contest to be M. Dung's sports guy on the KFOG Morning Show because M. didn't know squat about sports.
DeleteHate to see anyone lose a job, but who listen's to KGO for sports anyway?
ReplyDeleteFor 5:40 - Yes, Kev started at KFOG when they ran a contest to be the morning sports guy for a week. Kevin was so good that he was hired full-time.
ReplyDeleteIf they escorted the great Gene Burns like a criminal it is no surprise "The Rat" received the same treatment. Bastards.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about Kevin the Rat. I remember him on KFOG along with Scoop Niskar. I wonder who is going to be left in these nice new offices and studios KGO has just acquired? They keep bragging about them but what is the point if they are letting everyone go? Or is it that the execs from down south plan to move themselves to SF?
ReplyDeleteRemember: "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own."
Angela
I want to be among those who will escort the Dickey brothers out of the broadcast business.
ReplyDeleteWanna join me?
To 7:56: We'll all have to wait awhile. Cumulus has been 'dicked until at least 2018, as Lew signed a contract extension on Monday.
DeleteKevin is great at what he does. He'll get hired soon, or at least I hope he does. He's creative in ways few people in that building are, if any.
ReplyDeleteThe real problems with KGO isn't even the firing of Kevin, or any number of people. The REAL problem is the constant state of unknowing, which filters all the down from the Dickeys. Right now you have a corporate suit in the building every other week, and have since Metheny died. It's like the place has an overseer, and no one there will do anything other than exactly as they're told to do. There's a climate of fear, distrust, and again, the unknown.
Cumulus either thinks people work harder if they fear the loss of their jobs, or they don't care that people are so on edge about the future. Everyone hired is part-time, every producer is part-time, and aside from Owens I don't even know if the talent is full-time. Cumulus may think this environment leads to people working harder, but in truth, none of the jobs are that good in the first place. For many people losing a job there is a relief! If it wasn't for the business itself which most of the employees love, everyone would quit.
I feel bad for Kevin, but they did him a favor. Maybe now he can find a good place to work, where there's a real boss. Not some chain-smoking suit, or wife-cheating suit, neither of which knows a damn thing about this market. And that's the thing of it, they don't give two shits about this market (or any market). They're "one size fits all" employers. They don't hire enough people to be creative, and it's exactly why the industry has been destroyed.
It is the worst place I have ever worked, and I have dug ditches for a living. At least I felt a sense of accomplishment in that job.
I am sure Walcoff will be gone tomorrow as well.
Drex ratings are up! They realize talk is better. News costs too much. Slowly slicing everyone off. Syndication coming. Surely they'll be looking for a new morning show soon. It'll be back to KGO talk, but without the suits admitting they ever did anything wrong. It'll be a "different kind of talk."
Yeah, a kind of talk that maxes out around 12th in the ratings, that's vapid and garbage.
Fear not though, Ronn Owens will tell us all how great it's going to be...
Radio just sucks today and those who are on the air work cheap with little skills and abilities
ReplyDeleteHe is much Better than Walcoff but had the stupidest name on radio. Kevin The Rat.
ReplyDeleteReally really annoying to hear "I'm Kevin The RAT!" on the radio. Hope he drops that Rat sig line shtick. What is he, 12 years old?
A guy loses his job and that's your comment? What are you, 5? He's been "the rat" his entire career but since it annoys you so, perhaps he'll change it for his next job so you can have a less irritating life.
DeleteYeah, a 50 year old guy shouldn't be on the radio proclaiming himself to be Kevin the Rat. Not amusing. And it sounds gross too, especially to the women listeners. Time to grow up.
DeleteHe wasn't that good anyway. I won't miss him on the radio a bit. Hope Walcoff joins the Rat boy.
1:15,
DeleteNow that he is about to turn 90, I suppose Yogi Berra should go back to being called Lawrence.
KGO has fucked up their weekend lineup a little more now. They are adding another financial show this Saturday.
ReplyDeleteCumulus Q1 net revenue is DOWN 7.2%, quite a stark contrast to the modest rise in most other radio groups this quarter. These people are unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteiHeart revenues up 4.5%.
DeleteI remember Kevin when he did the sports with Frank and Mike on KNBR. I had just moved to California at the time and that was the first show that caught my attention. I was a loyal KGO listener also until enough birthdays had pushed me out of their demo and they decided they did not want me as a listener anymore so I moved on. KGO prefers young people who prefer incessant "Kars for Kids" commercials even though that demo is too young to have Kars to donate. It all makes sense to someone out there but I never figured it out?
ReplyDeleteIt sucks to lose your job in your 50's. New prospects are greatly diminished after a certain age, especially in radio. Doubt he ends up at 95.7. Maybe KCBS where his wife works.
ReplyDelete"It sucks to lose your job in your 50's."
DeleteYikes, he is that old and still call himself the Rat? What a dufus.
....and you are??? Oh yeah an anonymous dufus.
DeleteEnjoyed Kevin Radich's sports updates & reports. He did this very well.
ReplyDeleteTo be escorted out the building is insulting.
What happen to allowing someone to exit with dignity?
KGO ought to consider signing off at midnight and back on again about 5am.
ReplyDeleteThis would cut expenses and nobody is listening to them anyway.
Companies that can people usually escort them out of the building. So it's probably SOP with Cumulus. They should be used to doing something like this, like second nature.
ReplyDeleteRadich wasn't exactly the most talented sports announcer, but he's a damn side better than Fatnich, who mails it in on a daily basis. Why didn't they let that pompous ass Walcoff go? Wait a minute, maybe that yutz is next.
Loved his take on sports. He had depth, humor and clearly lots of knowledge from having played the games. Plus he was just an excellent broadcaster. Anymore, excellent broadcasters don't belong at KGO. It must be getting awfully lonely there for the few who remain. Best of luck to Kevin. I've followed him since KFOG days, when he so creative and had that great rapport with Joe Montana.
ReplyDeleteyes! i remember how he was able to access Joe when others could not. Kevin never made a big deal out of it and when they spoke it was in a very casual manner as if they were friends in real life. who knows, maybe they were! good luck to "The Rat!"
DeleteIt's a shame what Cumulus has done to this radio station. I would understand it if their ratings were up, but apparently the ratings are lower now than when they jettisoned all the talk show hosts. So what was the point?
ReplyDeleteRat Boy escorted out of the building. Now, is that really necessary? Morale must suck over there.
ReplyDeleteExcept for Ronnnnnnn. I'm sure he will never be escorted out. Corporate suckup that he is. Perfect fit for Cumulus.
Kevin previously worked Saturday nights at KCBS before KGO
ReplyDeleteKevin is a friend and he is a very fine sportscaster. He put all of his energy, creativity and humor into that job and can walk away feeling very proud. His body of work in the bay area doesn't need me to pump it up. He'll keep busy and stay focused. Fine broadcaster, but an even better person~
ReplyDeleteWell said.....and very, very true.
DeleteI never cared for him, but got used to him over the years, that being said don't like to see anyone getting let go because of being cheapskates.
ReplyDeleteAnd now MIchael Finney is being squeezed. His show has been cut by an hour, and he is sandwiched between two money shows that are in all probably two infomercials disguised as radio shows. He didn't sound happy. Also, after having moved away from taking a lot of on air calls to more interviews, he is now moving back to more on air calls.
ReplyDeleteSo Finney is being squeezed? What swift retribution after he squeezed the life
Deleteout of the St. Patrick"s Day Parade on Channel 7