 |
| John Rothmann returned to the KGO Radio airwaves Tuesday night |
It was a vintage KGO night and Rothmann brought back memories of the old KGO in its heyday.
Rothmann interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Jon Meachem. on his new book on George H.W. Bush. It was riveting radio once again. A host in command of the topic; a subject matter perfect for political junkies; for a change, thoughtful, passionate, educated callers who added significant girth to the discussion.
Rothmann was superb and the three hours flowed by with precision timing and pace. News-talk topics were discussed and old callers flooded the lines. Too bad a mass infusion of commercial spots and traffic/news updates upset the timing but Rothmann managed to keep things moving. It was welcome listening.
I give credit to KGO boss, Lee Hammer, for having the good sense to call in Rothmann and let him guide the ship. It's especially vital for KGO --in this upcoming election year, that Rothmann be involved in the station's up-coming reinvention into a hybrid mix of talk and news. Rothmann's political acumen and interview technique is second to none. There should be a permanent time slot allotted for the Bay Area native who proves that educated, concise and informative radio is still bankable.
*The Warriors are thrilling the sports world on the court--16 straight wins to begin the season will thrill even non-sports, non-NBA fans, but the Dubs are fortunate to have superb play-by-play radio broadcaster, Tim Roye, make it interesting for all parties.
Roye's style of precise wording describing the action brings back memories of the late Bill King, who broadcast Warriors' games on radio for over three decades.
 |
| Tim Roye, PBP Broadcaster for the GS Warriors |
It was so refreshing to hear John on KGO again; I was also impressed with the number of old familiar callers saying 'hi.'
ReplyDeleteI hope they put him back on the regular roster.
Do those callers call in when 34C is broadcasting?
DeleteKGO between 7-10 was like an early Christmas present.Happy for Roye even though I am not a Dubs fan after all those years under Cohan when they had such awful teams.
ReplyDeleteFrom across the Atlantic, it's Francois sey HOCQUE!!! Vive' Le' France, Bunghole!!!
DeleteRoye is good, but Bill King was the greatest basketball announcer of all time
DeleteBill King was great, but he also complained much too much about the referees.
Delete8:14,
DeleteCould you image how King would respond to the officiating in "today's" NBA?! He rode Mendy Rudolph unmercifully, and Rudolph was considered by many (including myself) to be the best ref in League history. Legendary announcer, nonetheless.
I work on the Peninsula and live in the East Bay, yesterday I got off work at about 6:15 p.m. traffic was bad on the Hayward Bridge, and I was in a bad mood anticipating a long boring commute, couldn't wait until 7 p.m. when I could listen to Pat Thurston or Alan Colmes, I like them both. However, when I heard John's voice I was overjoyed, and if my commute had taken all 3 hours he was on I couldn't have cared less. He will be sitting in for Chip Franklin on this coming Friday, unfortunately I will be working on Black Friday. I gather that he might become a regular fill in, first I thought he was in Pat's spot because it was her call (she has had him on as a guest several times). I cannot imagine that Drex's ratings would be better than John's, Pat's or Christine, he belongs on 910 am, that station keeps getting worse and worse. KGO is certainly not what the use to be, as you so accurately are pointing out on a regular basis, however they seem to slowly move in the right direction. getting rid of Drex and finding a regular spot for John Rothmann, would be a huge improvement. Please keep us updated as much as you can, Many of us KGO listeners are rooting for John to come back as a regular.
ReplyDeleteBad regular taste
Delete10:35 you are either an idiot, airhead, or a right wing fanatic you cannot not tolerate another point of view. Read Rich's blog about John he is spot on.
DeleteI'm with you 100% Anon 9:11. I work nights with a radio close by and love Pat and/or Colmes at 7-10p. Drex has to go. I wish there was something good @ 10p. Bland John Batchelor doesn't cut it and George Noory's hit and miss with the UFO stuff. Give Pat the 7-10p, spot, Rothman@10p and Christine Craft more weekends or 1-5am weeknights. I'm sick of right-wing drivel and want the progressives back on so badly. Missed Green960 with that awesome lineup.
DeleteThere's a reason progressives die on the radio. People can smell the bullshit a mile away..
Delete12:29 how so very tolerant of you to instantly rip someone with a dissenting point of view. A page right out of your party's playbook. You are no better than the people you love to rip. Dumbass.
I don't follow any party's playbook, I listen to both sides and make up my own mind. I like Tom Sullivan and Larry Cudlow, even though they are more conservative on most issues than I am, I find their shows interesting, informative and intelligent. Some progressive shows might be bullshit, but no more than what you hear from Levin, Hannity and Rush. I ripped the person not because his dissenting point of view, but because is was narrow minded, I love a dissenting point of view it makes me think. One reason I love John Rothman on the radio is he often takes callers who disagrees with them (as does Tom Sullivan) yet he engage in a polite disagreement with them, and challenge their point of view, that is good radio. You sound like someone who is following a playbook, assuming I follow a playbook, assuming progressive radio is bullshit.
DeleteIf Hammer was smart, he'd encourage the Cumulus Shekel-Meisters to cough up the $ to bring John Rothmann back, a Bay Area Media stalwart & a true example of professionalism & class. If not, we'll have to settle with the ilk of Christine Craft, someone who begs to be a substitute host because her workmen's comp lawyer gig ain't payin' the bills. Christine smells like Ass...ASS!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at how descriptive Roye is when doing Warriors play by play and especially this year and last when the Warriors pass so much. That would seem to be the hardest, describing all the passing and where the ball is on the court. When Tolbert joins him as analyst for the home games, the two have great chemistry. You can hear Tolbert's ESPN experience and he helps keep it light and insightful.
ReplyDeleteRoye is very good. When NBA Commish Silver was visiting for the playoffs and was talking to Roye, he even said how really he enjoys his announcing.
DeleteI no longer listen to KCBS for anything except traffic updates--which are usually wrong anyway (or outdated by at least two hours).
ReplyDeleteI didn't hear John this week, but he's one of my favorites. I'll try to listen Friday. What's going on with Drex, btw? I heard he was in the hospital weeks ago, but have heard nothing recently.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry I missed his show. But, I have not listened to KGO in a few years. Even removed it from my radio pre-sets in my cars.
ReplyDeletekind of a bummer...scanning the headline i thought Rothman was back *for good*, not just as a fill in. he is one of the all time Bay Area best talkers! bring him back full time!
ReplyDeleteI posted the blog at 9:11 a.m. I would love nothing more than having John back as a regular, but my hope is, KGO will use him as a fill in, and seeing his ratings and popularity, will eventually bite the bullet and give him a regular spot.
DeleteGood God, I had to turn the TV down and listen because it was classic John Rothmann radio - so enthusiastic and happy to grab the reigns again. Why cant the damn station execs hire back this gem?
ReplyDeleteTim with Tom Tolbert is so much better than Fitz and Jim Barnett
ReplyDeleteI would much rather listen to Tim Roye on the radio than hear Bob Fitzgerald preening as usual on TV. While Roye is no Bill King, he's been doing this now for 20 years and calls the game pretty well. You don't miss anything. Tolbert makes the broadcasts more interesting with his insights and fun-loving attitude and the Warriors are lucky to have them. Love Jim Barnett on the TV and Fitz knows how to call the game, but it's his manner that irks a lot of people. There just seems to be a disingenuous quality to the man. And his over the top cheerleading for the team is really getting old.
ReplyDeleteRoye is a solid broadcaster. He has talent and doesn't have to resort to kissing ass and infuriating others like Rudy RahRah. Rudy RahRah has no talent. He should go back to doing group ticket sales for one of the area's major sports teams, which is what he was doing before he talked/brown nosed/sucked tool to get to where he is today.
DeleteJohn Rothmann is a kind of genius and a spectacular talk show host with encyclopedic knowledge. You might accuse me of being biased because I have known John since he was born, being his first cousin about 10 years old than he is. But I can tell you he always has been and always will be brilliant. KGO would be very smart to bring him back on a regular basis. Other hosts are good, but there is nobody like John.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice note from a family member who respect John. I would only hope to inspire such gracious and sincere praise as that.
DeleteRothmann has probably figured out who you are if he's as clever as you say.
Let's face it, no one misses Drex. In fact his absence has been a major improvement for KGO.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited!!!!
ReplyDeletehow dumb were the morons who chose Spencer Hughes over Rothman at 910? what's their rating now? 0.1?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the 910 management are morons, but they did not choose Spencer Hughes over Rothman, they picked Gil Gross over Rothman, which might be worse than Hughes, then when Ed Baxter left, the had Hughes as a regular fill in for months, then they moved Gil to the mornings, and put another 2 morons on from 4 to 6 p.m. and reruns of Armstrong and Getty, as far as I can tell all bad boring radio.
Delete910's lineup has gotten worse. Only 1 good show and that's Alan Colmes @. 7p. Armstrong and Getty are boring right-wingers. Gil and Rhoda are annoying as hell. Corey and Joel is just plain horrible, and JV and Elvis are like a morning zoo garbage.
DeleteI wrote the blog at 12:38 and you pretty much summed 910's line up, the have definitely gotten worse. I use to listen to A&G more than I do now, I find them funny at times, they are kind of right wing, but can be fair and reasonable (unlike Savage, Levin, others). Corey and Joel are bland and boring cannot listen, same with the new guys sound like total airhead, talking about nothing of interest or importance. What I don't get who in programming think these hosts are so interesting that they don't need callers, and mostly talk about themselves. I'm not really interested in their lives, I'm interested in politics, current events and what is going on locally and word wide, and then I'm interested in hearing other peoples opinion. 910 fails on all of these, Gil can do a good interview, but unless he is doing it at the top of the hour, I don't stay tuned long enough to hear his interviews.
Deletedefinitely gotten worse, Corey and
finally, intelligent radio back on the sf airwaves. after listening to copeland lie for an hour about the texas clock boy, in order to fit his "everybody but me is a racist", and then cut off anyone who disagreed with him, it was great to once again hear someone who can form an opinion based on fact, and had no problem arguing the points, no matter how absurd the caller was
ReplyDeleteand the interview was brilliant
kgo would be wise to find john a regular spot
why not dump franklin...no way that doof has any real ratings
Thanks for sharing the fact that John Rothman was on KGO and hopefully, he'll be on again. I'll have to find a way to track that. There is someone who talks about the middle east at 10:00 on KGO, John Bachelor who I do not like.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Tim Roye, the word "longsuffering" comes to mind. Actually, when I think of Warriors fans, I think of "longsuffering". Enjoy this team and the organization that's now in place, Warriors fans!
ReplyDeleteIt's remarkable that all the posts here are positive. Maybe Rich is only posting those? Seems to be the case. This man has always been an utter bore on the radio and would never move the needle. People who need to do interviews to entertain are boring. Savage hardly does any and rush doesn't either. Today's why they're great. Rothmann is far from great.
ReplyDeleteTalk 910 is a joke. The new show is vapid like the GM Don Parker. They have no idea what a talk station in the Bay Area should sound like. They're idea of sophisticated talk is what's best in Sacramento and Castro Valley. John Rothmann is certainly not the answer for stimulating talk but neither is what's being programming on 910 or 810 for that matter.
ReplyDeleteTo 8:24 I don't think Rich choosing to just post the positive comments about John Rothman, fact is John has many fans in the Bay Area, every time he is on the radio, he gets lots of call from fans. So I gather you don't like him and find him boring, does that mean you think everyone has the same taste as you? I personally find both Savage and Rush boring, Savage rants and raves too much, and EVERYTHING is the fault of liberals, he can be somewhat entertaining when he does not talk politics, but on the whole he is too negative for me. Rush also blames everything on liberals, neither Rush nor Savage deals well with opposing points of view, from you post I gather neither do you, perhaps that is why you like them. As for a host doing interview, it depends on who is being interviewed and who does the interviewing (and by the way Savage has of late taken to interview Trump several times) John Rothmann interviewed John Mecham, who is an excellent writer, and has just written a very in depth interesting book about George Herbert Walker Bush, both John Rothmann and Mecham are highly intelligent informed people that makes the interview extremely interesting. John had a long run as a host on KGO, first as a week end over night host, then the 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. slot Monday through Friday, John is more than capable conducting an interesting show without doing an interview, perhaps you don't like John because he has different views than yours. I happen to be very interested in the topics John does best: politics, presidential history and the Middle East (I lived in Israel for a short time in the sixties). I don't find Savage or Rush very interesting, like the late great Gene Burns use to say "that is why the make chocolate and vanilla". 8:45 you are right about 910, and to a certain extend 810, but whom do you like? There isn't much too choose from in the Bay Area.
DeleteAck! I missed John Rothmann back on KGO. I don't suppose...no, it won't happen.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy listening to Rothman, but I am not going back to KGO until they stop running 4 minutes of programming and then interrupt for news, traffic, and a dozen commercials. This is their new modus operandi, and it wears out the listener. Any momentum generated is snuffed out by the ruse of a look at the headlines (a ruse because it's just a way to get back to the commercials). If I want headlines and traffic, I'll turn to KCBS like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteJohn Rothmann is a complete bore. Clean out your ears people.
ReplyDeleteRich,
ReplyDeleteYour high regard for Rothhmann makes up for your putting down almost everything else out there.
You are spot on right, but WHY does KGO not give the nightly spot to John R? What a pleasure it would be; my own qualm when last he held a spot is that he seems obsessed with Israel. Still, I will take John R anyway. Thurston is too much a mixed bag, from engaging to rank amateur.