THE KGO RADIO ANXIETY Meter is at full throttle mode --among some of the more interesting things I'm hearing...--A big Dickey and corporate Cumulus suit gave a direct ultimatum to KGO staff Tuesday afternoon: "If you (guys) don't get your act together in 4-5 months, we're making 'major changes.'"
In fact, changes are already in place no matter what happens in the future.
The entire news department may be shoved to the street. The anxious soles are already commiserating over the uncertainty. One source told me staffers were openly scouring Craigslist looking for jobs. Not good. Then again, a 50K-watt radio station without a news manager and Program Director would seem to be an operation devoid of leadership and management.
--Speaking of PD's, I'm told by a knowledgeable source that a new PD could be hired within the week. The Dickey told the station staff that "we're losing our shirts here, changes are coming, and you're all on the clock." I'm paraphrasing, but seems the shit has hit the fan.
--Developing...
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Perhaps they can hold auditions at various mommy-n-me gatherings across the Bay Area to find new show hosts. We need more biased, 1 sided points of view. Get on it, Cumulus.
ReplyDeleteThey already have that. It's called every other talk station they own. And it's failing.
DeleteNationally, Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, Levin and the rest are getting destroyed. If it wasn't so cheap to put them on the air none of them would have major market jobs.
I think it's great that Owens is getting hammered in the ratings so Cumulus decided to put him on EVEN MORE!
Geniuses.
Now go blame the help.
2:59 Failing in the same way liberal juggernaut KGO is failing?
DeleteThey're ALL failing because they're all AM stations. Stick a fork in it. A few AM news and sports stations across the country are able to hold on for now, but their days are numbered, too.
DeleteOh Drex and Chip are liberal? Interesting.
DeleteChip is liberal, yes. Well here in the Bay Area he is. Funny how he went from right to left just by going from SD to SF. Others who heard his show in SD before coming here have echoed that point here on Rich 's blog as well. I really want to like Chip but I question the flip flop.
DeleteThis is so correct about Chip Franklin. In San Diego he had to be to the right. I'm from there and it is rare for a left leaning host to make it there. Stacy Taylor had a good run in SD before he was on KGO. Chip moves to the Bay Area and all of a sudden he is a big Liberal. He's just an act and not a very good on. I listen to him some, but I also reach over and turn his ass off at times too.
DeleteCould KGO actually go into the red?
ReplyDeleteSeriously,
What could be done now?
LGBT format???
Speaking of radio and ratings...I see Roberta Gonzalez and Stan Bunger on KPIX..both wearing black shirts that have KCBS news AND Adams pool solutions decals. What did I say about kron and Raddy? I called it again. News learning from NASCAR,and...me.
ReplyDeleteThe Evil Tricky Dickies are at it again. They destroyed a once great station and now are blaming the unfortunate souls left behind. How much worse can they make KGO?
ReplyDeleteHahahahahah. What an asshole. This can't be true.
ReplyDeleteThis from the clown who doesn't have a successful radio station anywhere. This from the clown who destroyed the station with a news format, was quoted as saying "maybe we cut too deep", continues to try and cut pay, pays part-timers, avoids giving out benefits to employees, hires Renee Bakos, Randall Bloomquist and Kevin Metheny, and he's directing this at the KGO employees?
I find that hard to believe. Even for assholes like the Dickeys.
Everything they have touched turns to shit. It's why their stock is worthless and will continue to be.
"Major changes." Go for it. The best thing that would happen to the employees of Cumulus is to get fired. So many of them stick around because they care more for a place than the parent company does. So many of them hope something can come of this station.
Keep bringing in your idiots from Chicago and Atlanta and folks like Drex, then blame the staff. Keep hiring moronic managers while firing experienced people like Jack, Paul, Ron and letting folks like Jared, Gina, Laura and countless others walk. Make sure after your PD dies not to hire another, and after you fire the adulterers, put Lee Hammer in charge.
Get a clue. You don't understand this market. Your one size fits all policy doesn't fit anywhere, but especially in San Francisco.
Very very well put! This same stupid process of blaming the victims has been going on, ever since some drunkard invented the concept of corporations, way back when. So interesting that it's never the owners who get blamed.
DeleteLast time I checked, Cumulus Media stock certificates are being sold as modular wallpaper at Home Depot. I hear that they're especially recommended for bathroom applications, due to the "absorbency" of the paper they're now printed on.
I agree, anyone clueless enough to hire Randall Bloomquist with his documented track record of destroying radio stations to run the entire Cumulus talk division has no right to criticize anyone's performance. That decision alone would cost you your job if your daddy didn't found the company.
DeleteI read where that moron Randall Bloomquist has started a consulting firm with his partner in crime (and elsewhere) Renee Bakos. I wonder what kind of consulting they'll be offering, perhaps how to have an improper relationship and lose your job.
DeleteThe May ratings were worse for KGO than the cume numbers you posted yesterday. Much of the day, KGO's total audience is 5,000 people. Not 5,000 in the demo, but 5,000 12+. At night, the Dreck show is so awful he's getting beat by the SF school district station KALW.
ReplyDeleteThe account execs have nothing to sell because the numbers are so small. They'll be lucky if revenues top $1.5 million this year, and that won't even cover half the payroll. Of course layoffs are coming. My guess is that they drop news and bring in more syndicated programing.
And I hear there's bad news ahead at KCBS. You know the expression, if it ain't broke, don't fix it? They've never heard that expression at CBS. Some management changes have occurred and the new suits want to make some changes to the No. 1 station in the Bay Area. More happy talk, more material from the network, etc. Stay tuned.
The notion that San Francisco/BA is a "unique" market is just no longer true.
ReplyDeleteKGO Radio and others would do fine if they had quality programming.
Newstalk seems to be doing just fine in plenty of other cities and that's because it is entertaining.
So Rush is beating Ron???
Maybe it's time to try Rush out on KGO.
Everyone is beating Ronn. He's terrible. I've been saying it for years.
DeleteRush won't be gaining stations unless they officially give up.
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/09/rush_limbaugh_is_cooked_the_stunning_fall_of_the_rights_angriest_bloviator_partner/
A news station (unless it's 100% entertainment) without a news dept is idiotic. They should do MORE news. Here's the chance to rebuild and take the lead, not cower and chicken out. We are news-driven in this area of the country and to the victor goes the spoils. They just need someone smart enough to handle it.
ReplyDeleteSometime recently I heard Ronn make a snide comment about people changing things that were working fine like changing the format of a radio station that people liked. Considering the position he took at the time it was pretty disgusting to hear him say it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, "that's what she said" jokes are not particularly funny coming out of a twenty year old. From Ronn it sounds like dementia. Maybe he has been listening to Drex for tips on how to be hip.
People just don't get it. There is NO money to "re-build" KGO. You would have to sell off stations for cash because news is not cheap to cover correctly.
ReplyDeleteThe Dickys burned down KGO...
But there was NO fire insurance.
It's toast. Just sell it off for cash while it still has some(little) value.
Dumb Dickey tellin' the KGO turds what to do...hilarious! For as Karel said to the ObamaCare rep, "I'm Karel, goddamit!! Gimme healthcare!!"
ReplyDeleteTired act.
DeleteI am not in the industry but have a question. Who made the decision to change the format? I would not think the PD would have that authority so it must have went to the top? If that is the case, should Dickey not be looking in the mirror?
ReplyDeleteIt is well known the change was orchestrated by the Dickies from Atlanta. The BIG lie was the claim that "our research indicates that YOU the audience wants more news, therefore we will give you MORE news and fire every talk show host worth a damn". This was followed by Blowensteinnnnn's proclamation the next day that: "we needed to make some changes and I really think you're going to LOVE the changes".
DeleteDoes Karel beat Ronn ... in the ratings ? .. OMG
ReplyDeleteMore people listen to a school district station then KGO ?
.... Must be the Kars-for-Kids syndicated programming.
There have to be a few well-liked Bay Area TV personalities that would give radio a shot and have built-in name recognition. I'd start there when revamping the talk line-up.
ReplyDeleteOh, so you think it's easy? Air America tried that move. How is it working?
DeleteActually a very interesting idea, particularly in this market where there are more than a couple of folks who must spend a lot of time and money keeping their appearance "air worthy" who wouldn't have to bother on radio...
DeleteIt won't matter who they get, if they keep enforcing this insane policy of 10 minutes per topic.
DeleteGene Burns surely epitomizes a Golden Age at KGO, as did, Gene's equal if not better, Pet Wison at noon. Burns crafted feat evenings of stimulating talk of the best sort. The guy they have now is so awful, I guess a bozo can run a station. Incredible.
ReplyDeleteIf they were smart they would start the John Batchelor show in the evenings at 8 or 9pm, or substitute it for the chatty Cathy Glenn Beck show on KSFO. It is a shame what is happening to both KGO and KSFO, although the latter's numbers are unknown to me. I just judge by the vacuous programs like Sussman's morning show with that irritating female screech owl. Honestly those two are way worse than the dufusses on 910a. Whatever....I gave up listening to any of the morning radio shows as none of them are worth spending the time on.
ReplyDeleteHave been in the business for over 40 years, and and one point worked for the Cumulus for a limited time; felt that when they came into the Bay Area, they decided that the great local leadership of the prior owner of all the stations, was no longer needed. More telling is that they have gone through 3 or 4 more market "leaders" since the takeover; all nothing more than a mouthpiece for Atlanta, until things go (further) south, then the Dickeys "shoot" the current hostage. A mess...and very sad; some great people and programming part of that legacy.
ReplyDeleteI'm not especially a shill for CBS, but I recall when they took over a chain of stations, most very successful, they kept the status quo pretty much intact and have continued to do so for years. They took over the chain, in part, because they were and had been successful. It wasn't broken, so they didn't try to fix anything. Cumulus came into to this cluster (and others), thought they knew better than everyone else, and really screwed things up.
Delete