I get a fair amount of criticism that Rothmann only knows foreign affairs, the Middle East and presidential politics --huh?
We're in the early stages of the 2016 Election. The Iowa Caucuses are in January. Hillary Clinton stories are already invading the Sunday talk shows. So, yeah, if you love politics, you're in heaven.
Enter Rothmann. Maybe, maybe not.
Rothmann should be the obvious selection for "Talk 910"'s newly available 10 AM-1 PM time slot. I mean, the choice is too obvious. Anyone else is a slap in the face to a Bay Area audience looking for intelligent radio.
Rothmann brings an aura to the radio that is addictive if you listen long enough. When I first began to listen to him I thought he was a little too regal but when I heard his interviews; when I became riveted to his historical audio recordings; his political acumen (He worked for Dick Nixon and served as an aide to Senator Milton Marks); then it became appointment radio to listen to Rothmann.
Screw all the one-trick pony stuff. Rothmann knows his stuff. More importantly, this is going to be a monumental election. If the minions at "Talk 910" have any credibility, they owe it to their audience to hire Rothmann.
Immediately.
No matter what time John Rothmann might be on, I would listen to him.
ReplyDeleteEither live or on podcast if he's on during the day and I'm not home til night.
I can't think of a reason why anybody would NOT hire him.
Rothmann neither needs the work nor the little money that iHeart Media would pay him. He's already been to the top and doesn't need to work for the 28th ranked station in the Bay Area with a dog signal
ReplyDeleteHe worked for Richard Nixon? Wow, John doesn't look that old.
ReplyDeleteRothmann, cory and Joel and then Gil? Might be the worst radio lineup imaginable. I don't even count Armstrong and Getty from Reno.
ReplyDeleteThey've moved to Reno?
DeleteNo but that's the audience their humor appeals to. I've never ever laughed hearing that show but I guess it's because I'm from San Mateo.
Delete9:54 you are most likely correct that John does not need the money or work, but if you ever listen to John when he is filling in, it is obvious that he loves being a talk show host, and more important he loves callers. I agree 1000% with Rich on his analysis of John, and that 910 should hire him, I just don't have any confidence in 910's management intelligence. They seem to like hosts who don't take calls, however Spencer Hughes has filled in a lot lately and he takes calls, and say what you will about Spencer (sometimes I like him, sometimes I can't stand him) but he makes it very clear that calls is what makes his show, he does not want to spend 3 hours talking to himself. There have been a lot of different fill ins, but no John Rothmann, not a good sign. On Friday they had 2 yahoo's on who bantered to eachother, a format I often find more annoying than a host just talking to himself. Armstrong and Getty pulls it off for the most part, Joel and Corey does not, and Drex and whoever is on with him not at all. Talk stations fire hosts, hire new ones, or put in paid programming, however back when talk stations were top notch, whenever a host was fired or left, or a syndicated program dropped, we got something better or at least of the same quality, now when a change is better we usually get someone worse, not very encouraging. When KGO dropped Dr. Laura we got Pete Wilson, when Pete died we got Gil, not an improvement, but he was better then. Now the fire Angie Corio and we get paid programming?? To 9:58 I believe John is in his mid to late sixties, Nixon was president from 68 to 74 and I believe was a young intern in the Nixon white house, do your math.
ReplyDeleteWeintraub too was on a lot then he disappeared. He doesn't take many calls but probably because he loves the sound of his own voice. He pulls it off though to his credit. Probably all that experience of having no listeners on overnights.
DeleteOh God - unending anecdotes about Nixon & how Israel can do no wrong - makes radio hard to listen to
ReplyDeleteThis is a station that only has one host I will listen to and he has become kind of marginal. All their other hosts are the worst people on radio. I won't hold my breath waiting for them to put John Rothmann on the air.
ReplyDeleteIt would get me back as a listener!
ReplyDeleteRothman was the second choice to Ed Baxter the last time, so now it is his chance!
ReplyDeleteRothman also knows Bay Area subjects since he is a native of the area, he is a real PRO. He deserves the shot!
Said it in the last thread on Baxter: the bay area needs new voices who are talented. Not the same old people and syndicated garbage. I'm betting it will be cheap syndicated crappola. I prefer a live voice over that but I prefer the next Gene Burns over a fellow who has never done anything overly interesting. At least not on the airwaves.
ReplyDeleteI am critical of Rothman because when he did get a regular weekday gig at KGO he did drone on and on about the Middle East. He can be fascinating to listen to and uses interesting historical clips rather than the nonsense for a lame joke or a political jab clips other hosts use. I was simply disappointed with his show.
ReplyDeleteWhy not Bernie Ward?
ReplyDeleteI prefer a host who has extensive knowledge of a few subjects as opposed to one who has superficial knowledge of many subjects.
ReplyDeleteChristine Craft knows the Bay Area, is experienced and is willing to take calls from her listeners. She is a little too combative for my tastes but as a women I find AM radio a vast boys club and would like to hear another voice in the room.
ReplyDeleteI said that several days ago and am glad you agree: "The obvious choice would be John Rothmann, but then he has always been the obvious choice. My guess is that the empty-headed ding-a-lings in management will continue to bypass him. With a major election season just starting, this is criminal malpractice. Talk 910 could be building a great radio station, but they refuse to take advantage of opportunities in their own backyard. "
ReplyDeleteI'm so cynical about Bay Area radio that I dare not hope. However, if they pick John for this slot, I'll be listening. And calling. And spreading the word.
This market will never grow recycling the same old hosts over and over again. Yes new blood needs to be injected to bring this market back to life. I get it KGO was the gold standard back in the day but the time has passed whether corporate destroyed it or not. For me Gil Gross is the only thing worth listening to and everyone else needs to go away.
ReplyDeleteGil Gross is the new blood? He's borderline vampire. I agree with the new voices idea but KGOs are pretty bad. They've added new stupid voices.
DeleteNo Gil Gross is the foundation is which to build on. In my experience every radio station has at least one "Elder Statesman" regardless of the format. I learned from people like that.
DeleteHe's also the guy with a 1.0 share, which I suspect would be better than Rothmann.
DeleteUntil KKSF increases their broadcast power, it is still a struggle for some to listen to their daytime program. I think they should bring in Dr. Bill.
ReplyDeleteKKSF can't afford Rothmann. Wasn't that why Baxter was chosen over him a while back?
ReplyDeleteI agree that Rothmann would be perfect for the 10PM-1AM slot, for all us insomniacs out there.
ReplyDelete10AM-1PM? Not so much.
Why not some women? Two women should be able to fill up three hours with some interesting, relevant chat.
And two women would be cheaper than one man! win-win.
DeleteWhy not 3? Or 4? Or the View?
DeleteOh right because no woman has ever carried a talk show in the last 15 years.
It's a wonderful idea, but like you say, John Rothmann is way too smart to be on the radio. I tried to stump him on American History and American Presidents. Guess what, I couldn't do it.
ReplyDeleteHe's a good guy but like Dr Bill, plays well to a narrow, very loyal group of listeners. Do Millennia's want to listen to a polite guy that sounds like Walter Cronkite go on about Israel and Presidential History? John is an Elderhostel lecturer. He may deserve the honor of a full time slot but I doubt he gets it in this era of South Park, The Daily Show and Bill Maher... That said, pair him up with Eid from Berkeley, now you'd have some fireworks and the entire Bay Area glued to the radio!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe Rothmann will end up at KCBS as some sort of political contributor, now that his old boss Jack Swanson is PD there.
ReplyDelete