The layoffs at CBS Radio we reported this morning now apparently have hit local all-news KCBS.According to my sources, long time Sales chief David Bramnick was fired as was Public Affairs broadcaster, Liz- Saint John.
Another CBS-SF source tells me more pink slips are coming.
*Developing ...
We'll update if we hear any more information.
Keep it here.
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If only was the similar firing scene over at KGO, where the "big meeting" is expected. Heads need to roll over there, starting with DreX, Heather, news and much more. Good to see the blog maintaining the "Dana King Watch" to no fruition, but there are much more important happenings going on. Wonder how Jack Swanson will come through the national CBS gauntlet. This situation at CBS Radio is not pretty at this moment. Over 200 let go and hundreds more to come.
ReplyDeleteLiz St. John was useless. They'll find people to take on her limited responsibilities
DeleteNothing yet at Radio Alice? Seems like a lot of people working with the morning team, even though the ratings are good.
ReplyDeleteDavid Bramnick's LinkedIn page says he was station manager at KCBS not "Sales chief" but maybe it's really the same thing? I dunno.
ReplyDeleteIf they're getting rid of the station manager it would seem that it's likely a whole new slate of folks on the way out (and in), one way or the other. Of course maybe no replacements, network feeds, remote traffic service, and automation just does wonders these days and probably a lot of listeners can't tell the difference or they don't care either. It is just a business after all.
Thank you Democratic party.
ReplyDeleteHere's a Kleenex 1:02. You still have a fleck of bullshit remaining at the corner of your mouth.
Delete4:32 you have 1:02 confused with a Democrat politician. You misdirected your Kleenex...much like the DNC misdirects it's voter base.
DeleteA Democratic president's signature appears at the bottom of the Communications Act of 1996 that allowed all of this to take place.
DeleteOhhh, but everyone who embraces the corporate race to the bottom is a conservative piece of shit. So I guess a signature vs the greedy makes things even?
DeleteHe could have stopped it, but he didn't.
DeleteMost of the CBS higher-ups are Democrats.
DeleteAnyone who thinks the loss of wages nationally, people having to take on multiple jobs to get by, downsizing, etc is because Bill Clinton signed a piece of paper is utterly clueless. For had he not signed it when he did are you so delusional as to think the next President wasn't going to?
DeleteThis all exists solely because corporations run America, period.
This is a quote from Sumner Redstone, who is supposedly a "liberal":
"I don't want to denigrate Kerry," he went on, "but from a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration is a better deal. Because the Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on. The Democrats are not bad people. . . . But from a Viacom standpoint, we believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company."
Get your head out of your ass.
Sumner Redstone is a registered Demorcrat and has a lifelong record of contributing to Democratic causes and campaigns.
DeleteHmph, wouldn't expect anything else from Cohen & Rosenheim; give them a gold-star bagel. I wonder what the spokeswoman of the PLO, C. Craft, thinks of this.
ReplyDeleteThis is an unfortunate situation nationally. I spoke with a very successful sales person in NY who told me directly, "I had a big salary but it would have been nice if they asked me if I wanted to stay for less money. Not sure I would have taken it but at least have a dialogue with me."
ReplyDeleteThis gets back to the fact these companies slice with a big blade, and don't care about any of their workers. Cumulus is clearly the worst, but CBS is making strides to get themselves in the game alongside them and iHeart. They're firing successful people who bring in revenue!
I can understand the firings from FM stations because those people are a dime a dozen, and soon FM will be in the toilet.
I can tell you how this is going to shake out in a year or two, and it starts with the AM dial being utterly worthless. They will have to start selling properties to foreign language owners, and hope they get pennies on the dollar for them.
KCBS is the news leader, but they're trending in the wrong direction in the most technologically advanced city in the world's history.
Exactly! They fire the successful workers who bring in BIG REVENUE because they make "too much". I guess CBS wants to beat KGO radio to the bottom!
DeleteGlad to see Lez St. John got the boot.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Sincerely GOOD person who did a great job with what she had to work with.
DeleteExplain to me why Swanson was hired? He brings in his people but KGO was trending old when he was there. Now they're firing people who made too much money or who they think are aging?
ReplyDeleteHe's there to deliver pink slips? He must have come cheap.
Old isnt necessarily bad. Who would you rather have listening to your commercials? Millennials who spend 75% of their paychecks on rent and Starbucks, or "old" with millions in equity and lots of money in the bank?
Delete4:51 is spot on. Millennials lack the attention span to dissect complex issues of the day. Most of them are overloaded with school debt and live at home. Yet the geniuses in charge of radio want to cater to them and ignore their parents who actually have the money to spend.
DeleteCatering to their grandparents.
DeleteYou need new listeners. The ratings show it. You want these companies to cater to YOU. Then what?
4:51 ... sorry, but you apparently don't know radio well Olders may have the money, but they don't spend it. They are also fiercely "brand loyal" from years of "achieving." They don't take chances with the many "new" and "changing" values in buying. So, it costs advertisers much more to "attract" older demographics / buyers in order to convince them to buy a new or different product. As a result, advertisers do not spend lots of money in chasing older audienes They go for the millenals and the 18-49 or 25-54 year olds ... those who are willing to spend to buy new products and to make changes in their buying habits. Ask any "soccer mom" and you'll see.Been that was for 50 years and times have radically changed from those days. I'm in broadcast sales and have seen the changes for five decades.
Delete6:29 I've been brand loyal for years from everything from razors and shaving cream to shampoo, deodorant, soda, fast food outlets, sandwich shops, pizza, brand of clothing etc etc etc. At least for the past decade as I certainly was at the age of 30. Does that mean advertisers are screwed?
DeleteIn a word, 11:47, the answer is "maybe." In economics and competitive marketplace changes at major market ad rates today, the times of changed. Advertisers are a lot more careful about those days of old in trying to convince people to be "new brand progressive." it, still, cost less for them to target media which reaches those willing to change and not stick with people like you or me who have already crossed that bridge. There are many more "young" and "impressionable" people in the 18-49, 25-49 and 25-54 demographics. There are also 40 radio stations solely for the San Francisco market, not counting those coming in from outside. Also, AM is of no attraction to the younger to mid-adult audience as it once was. The result is less ad buying on AM, less ad spending on older audiences and much more targetted audiences more likely to change brands than those who notoriously don't.
DeleteCBS-SF is more than just KCBS. They also own KLLC, KMVQ and KITS. They've escaped big layoffs in the past so we'll see if that trend continues.
ReplyDeleteThis is all the white person's fault. Somehow. Not sure how yet but I called it 3 months ago. Somewhere. Not sure where but in my head I called it.
ReplyDeleteI heard something about a country station moving into the same building (maybe studio?) as KGO radio and wondered if Rich was right all along about it changing formats.
ReplyDeleteWho gives a damn about Jack Swanson. I always liked his main squeeze, Melanie Morgan, but her move to the minor leagues at KSRO was too much for me. I think OV is at KSRO as well. Those two fools got carried by Lee Rodgers big time.
ReplyDeleteDavid Bramnick was not the station manager; Doug Harvill is. Jack Swanson wouldn't have been the one to decide to fire Bramnick, as Jack's not his boss. He runs the newsroom, not the sales department.
ReplyDeleteDoug spent his life avoiding corporate but it looks like they found him.
Delete@4:58 PM
ReplyDeleteIsn't the country station NASH 92.3?
Is NASH 810 in the future? Well, it would be the simulcast of NASH 92.3.
No. Never. Won't happen. Music will not bring listeners back to "Ancient Modulation."
DeleteStick a fork in it. It's done.
DeleteYes, "San Jose's" Nash 92.3 is now originating from a window seat along Broadway at Battery in SF. From a technical perspective, it would be trivial to flip a few switches and have 810 simulcast it, 24x7. Save Cumulus a lot of salaries. No other real country on AM dial around here; KNEW gave it up years ago.
ReplyDeleteCould happen....
No it can't, 10:33. The Cumulus "Nash" format will not work on a high power FM in one of the nation's top six minutes. What for? KSJO covers the area on FM just fine. Cumulus' new "Nash Icons" won't work, either, because it, too, is an FM based format Will not play well on AM. People do not and will not seek out an AM for music.
Delete1:44 you mistake me: I didn't say it makes any kind of *business sense*, I said it A) would be trivially easy to do, technically, and B) would save Cumulus a lot of $$. Those two things are why it "could happen." We are talking about Cumulus here. They understand $$. They do NOT understand radio.
DeleteWhy don't we start our own on-line radio station with Rich? Get together at Tommy's Joynt or an East Bay restaurant and map it out. Assign specialists for news, media, food, art, politics, books, etc. to do short features and post them.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad about the firing of Liz Saint John at KCBS as I thought that she was doing terrific interviews with authors, political and other figures in the Bay Area without having to listen to super-earnestness and attitude of Michael Krasny and others at public radio.
Do it as crowd sourcing. Get some advertisers to pay Rich for the solo labor he's put in all these years and get some pay for the reporters. If KCBS, which I admire, is going to be stripped of talent and money, then with all the insiders who post here, put a product together and see what can be done.
I've heard enough whining and gossip about anchors and weather girls here. Who needs it?
As Scoop Nisker used to say, "If you don't like the news ... go out and make some of your own."
You just won't lean, will you? You are not funny and are an idiot. Crowd sourcing will not work here First, even krappy Karel can get $700 a month for his Long Beach train wreck. Second, advertisers do not buy online shows in a single market - especially one unproven. Third, they won't spend much, if any, money. Period. A sales staff would be needed That won't happen. There is no intiative to do it.
Delete92.3 used to be KSJO. Somewhat ironically, it's where Lamont and Tonelli -- now heard on the Bone down the hall -- spent years coming to prominence.
ReplyDelete8:41..Bramnick's title was Station Manager; but primarily responsible for Sales and Business Development; Doug is Market Manager, overseeing all properties.
ReplyDeleteWow, people saying they are "glad" someone else got fired and FM employees are "a dime a dozen." What goes on here?
ReplyDeleteI made the comment about FM employees. They're not all equal. Obviously there are some really talented ones but considering how many have been fired from jobs over the years it seems the stations can clearly find one for less. That was my point.
DeleteBecause even if you're the BEST at what you do Cumulus and now CBS will fire you anyway.