BREAKING: Ronn Owens fights move to KSFO; with assist from agent on specific language in contract; plans to REMAIN at KGO and be on-air Tuesday...*My sources tell me it's all "100% Legit."
*Owens has clauses in contract prohibiting him from moves to another station "while under contract."
Basis of language at heart of Owen's fight.
*Attorneys meeting in SF and Cumulus --Atlanta.
*Could Cumulus buy him out? Could they just outright fire him, with cause? Hefty buyout in Owens contract ...
*Mark Levin, the KSFO syndicated host has told insiders and listeners he "will be on air come Tuesday."
*Developing Story...
*415 MEDIA EXCLUSIVE
*Check Back for more developments later...
Who cares.. Talk radio just some assholes opinion
ReplyDeleteYou must be the "next generation" of listener they're looking for......
DeleteMark Levin just mentioned this scenario on his show in the last hour. He mentioned that he has been fielding messages about KSFO dropping him and he wanted to state that he is going NOWHERE. He just recently signed a new contract as well. He will be there as usual next week from 3 to 6pm. Also, apparently one of the suits at Cumulus came out and said Mark's going nowhere. He has some of the if not the highest ratings for ages 25 to 54 and there's no way they would move him.
ReplyDeleteI was feeling sympathetic to Ronn but at this point I'm more and more feeling "just go away". How is it a new KGO if its all the same hosts? Cmon now.
ReplyDeleteWhat would happen if they moved him to the 12am-3am slot?
ReplyDeleteThere may be a clause in his contract, preventing that timeslot move
DeleteThe battle begins
ReplyDeleteGod help us all. I'm glad Mark Levin is still around. Ronn its time to say bye, bye everyone.
ReplyDeleteI say make cumulus squirm and make it uncomfortable for them. That the ONLY reason I'd do what Ronn is doing. Good for him!
DeleteDearest Gods, kids- KGO was eviscerated years ago. Just let the thing die already- allow some dignity for the damned thing, and bury it. Cumulous has sodomized its base for profit and there is no,coming back from a size 23 poop-chute.
ReplyDeleteMark Levin has a rabid, but increasingly elderly audience. That he would be a factor in 25-54's in the Bay Area is hilarious. Average listeners of Levin or Rush are north of 60.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. We're all that much more intelligent because of it. How would we live without you?
DeleteMark Levin is cumulus only big name host they own.
DeleteTo give up a flagship to ronn seems absurd. Guessing the SF idiots got a bit ahead of themselves.
His demo #s in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham are great. Top 10 markets he's garbage like the rest.
Owens is a joke. His rating don't even exist.
I can't tell if this is an April Fool's joke or not. I'd love it if Ronn fought and won.
ReplyDeleteRonn threw all his co workers under the bus before now it's karma time...he's a hack who's time has passed...probably shouldn't have bought his wife that Mercedes Benz then maybe he could have some class and retire
ReplyDeleteSo now Ronn is flip-flopping. He said on Thursday during his announcement that his contract says that he can be moved to another Cumulus station, hence he was moving "down the hall."
ReplyDeleteAt this point I really don't give a flying fuck what KGO does. I've got my presets set again to 910 for Stephanie Miller and Gil Gross and like both of them. At 2:00 I'll switch to 740 for a bit of news. On the weekend I will still listen to KGO some if they don't change it too much. I enjoy Kim Kommando and I have taken a liking to Ric Edelman. Then I tune out the snake oil shit sellers. Then back for Pat Thurston. With stinking Copeland going to weekdays maybe Christine will get his spot? If not I hope she still fills in on weekends
ReplyDeleteRonn Owens should hire Gary Radnich as his agent.
ReplyDeleteWe understand he is a skilled negotiator.
Then they can both strut while walking out of Cumulus offices.
I want RONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN to win, only so that it absolutely short-circuits this "New Generation of KGO" Cumulus suits are spewing.
ReplyDeleteClassic Cumulus...runs a promo for 5 days about the new KGO which is 5 hosts who are currently on KGO and a two middle aged hicks from Sacramento.
ReplyDeleteCLASSIC CUMULUS.
If I were Ronn, I would take a huge buyout and leave Cumulus for good. This company is the worst.
ReplyDeleteThey are the worst because or people like Ronn.
DeleteInteresting on two points. If Cloud company legal failed to really review his contract,then their General Counsel might have some hard explaining to do as well as the SF Market Manager to Mary Berner. To have missed the contract clauses issue would be epic.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Ron could gracefully step aside or accept the KSFO shift for an additional bonus. I still think it might make great radio if he were on KSFO and if positioned that way, he might like it for a while and wait until his contract expires, then retires with honors.
Omg...i swear to jesus and the legion of demons he does battle with...what in the wide world of sports is going on here?
ReplyDelete7:34 pm Unknown. Well put and very funny. I'm going to borrow those lines and give you credit. Thanks!
DeleteI don't really care what happens to Ronn; I just want Mark Levin to go away--or at least to a less desirable time slot. He has to learn that there are repercussions for being both a radio host and a shill for a Republican candidate: Ted Cruz.
ReplyDeleteTV and Radio are in the shitter in the Bay Area.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteAll you sophisticated bay area radio listeners don't recognize sophisticated radio formats when you see them.
This will be energetic, inspirational and far more intelligent then what is programmed anywhere else.
Bonnie Peeper would be proud.
Mark Levin definitely plans to keep his show on KSFO at the 3-6 time slot. He said so on Facebook this afternoon. No comment from Ronn about it, but for you haters, he did acknowledge the mass firing at KGO on F.B.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Lowenstein, but I'd love to see him win because it would embarrass the cloud company. It would be delicious. The new format is going to suck.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with Ronn? First Cumulus comes in and immediately guts the station of its talented talk show hosts, thus decimating the ratings. And Ronn talks about how excited he is to be a part of the 'new KGO!' Then three years later they fire almost the entire news department, (with the exception of Brett Burkhardt, Nicky Madora and morning traffic man Mark NIeto) and he again talks about how "excited I am!" What a tool! I wonder how the mattress man sleeps at night!
ReplyDeleteGood post 8:56pm. We all ask ourselves how he is able to look at his former co-workers in the eye.
DeleteRonn with 2 Ns should just retire, with dignity and grace. He is ill over 70 go enjoy your sleep train mattress after a long days road trip in your wife's Mercedes.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, but I think the dude needs the money. Suffered big gambling losses back in the day, maybe he still owes loan sharks some big money.
DeleteIt occurs to me considering the chess board of Bay Area media, which is more like the game of Monopoly, and this is pure speculation on my part.
ReplyDeleteBut if Ron were to jump ship to another future news/talk FM station, say the previously reported on this blog Live105 (which I guess is considering a change) and they also pick up many of the former KGO staff recently displaced and in the past. It might be actually good.
Now the Ron's contract might have a non-compete clause but that might be negated by the KSFO move if this is all true.
It does make me feel better that this week's KGO staff changes might then have another better radio employment option. And if I was the Cumulus SF market manager, I might be nervous and the KCBS management team might be chomping at the bit to do this. Again, pure speculation.
Agree.
DeleteI don't know why others in the media business haven't jumped on this idea. The Bay Area is fertile ground for another talk format station.
Mark Levin was not dumped from KSFO he is just being moved from 6 to 9 .m. instead of 3 to 6 p.m. Isn't Michael Savage syndicated on Cumulus he is on KSFO, so that would be another big name other than Levin, personally I don't care for either one of those two gentlemen, both are nasty and short tempered. If Ronn's contract has a clause in it that he cannot be moved, of course he should fight it, it has nothing to do with my feeling about Ronn at all. But, what good is a contract if it is not followed? I work retail at a major department store, for 4 years I worked in handbags, then about a year ago I was moved to Social dresses, I didn't have a leg to stand on, but I would have sued if I could. I liked the department I was in like the people I worked with. 5:47 has a point.
ReplyDeleteFire Ronn "for cause"? For what reason? "For cause" is only used for major incidents, such as embezzlement and the like. Cumulus cannot get away with that in California because employment in our state is "at will." Ronn is more than protected by his contract.
ReplyDeleteI say, Go Ronn, put these sleazeballs up against the wall. Like Ronn or not, he has had a successful career and (was) KGO's biggest draw. Cumulus needs to be run out of town.
BTW, has its stock been de-listed yet?
In the past couple of days I've tried to bring all this up in conversation with colleagues and acquaintances. Very few even know who Ronn Owens is, and even fewer care. If they've even heard of KGO, it's a station they USED to listen to. Not everyone in the Bay Area is hanging on what KGO does next. Many have moved on. This is a microcosm of what the world is going through, and a week from now even you won't care as much. Cumulus will still be going broke, and KGO's new format won't move the needle. Much like the last format did not. As much as we all might like to hold onto the importance of so-called heritage AM radio stations, nobody gives a sh*t.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone at Cumulus had the sense to look to one of their own radio stations, FM Talk 102.3 in Chattanooga, TN, they'd recognize that they have world-class major market talent in Brian Joyce who would be a great fit for a "next generation" KGO. Smart, left of center, with a diverse resume & well-travelled. I often stream his show and think he'd be a great fit for a more progressive market.
ReplyDeleteRonnn in essence has been put out to pasture. If the move to 560 does indeed go as planned he will spiral into oblivion with a one way ticket on the fast train,destination unknown.. He will be the only leftie in a bullpen of right handed pitchers and the callers alone will disrupt his curve ball to the point of never even reaching the plate. He'll be a single cat in the dog pound and the cloud company for once will have hit a grand slam. The lone guppy in the shark tank will not stand a chance. And the matress company is soon to find itself with an abundance of over stock....this should be a blast.
ReplyDeleteA home run for that post!
DeleteAs someone who has had the good fortune of working in Bay Area radio since 1967, I am deeply saddened and upset at the loss of good paying jobs lost by my Union Sisters and Brothers at KFOG and KGO and their loyal listeners. I am keenly aware of the changes in the media since the dawning of the Internet and the meteoric rise in social media, however the way Cumulus handled the slaughter of these two properties was inhuman . Many lives beyond those that were fired will be affected for many years to come because of the loss of income of those involved. Some may have relocate because they can not afford to live here while others will have compete for the few remaining jobs with their colleagues. It’s not a situation no one wants to be in. Meteorologist Mike Pechner
ReplyDeleteCumulus are a bunch of idiots.
ReplyDeleteI hope Ronn succeeds.
If only to show how dumb they are.
Not that it will KGO much. It is dead. Now bury it
Laughing when people are having their lives disrupted. Ronn, how special he is with two "n's", isn't the little fella? He can go grab a quick crab dinner on the coast while his coworkers are trying to figure out how to pay for their rent.
ReplyDeleteMeow!
DeletePersonally I'd take Ronn Owens over Mark Levin ANY day of the week. I'm thrilled!
ReplyDeleteNot a huge Ronn fan but would listen to him over Mark Levin, who is plain nasty. Spewing hate, saying Hillary "Rotten" Clinton, all day. Typical right-wing garbage.
DeleteI say get rid of Ronn, Copie and the dead weight. Get some new blood. Owens has gotten stale. Copie stutters too much. Their R and B joke hour sucks. Old jokes. Like them. Change is good. Sometimes painful. But good.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments here from all different points of view. As an avid listener to his show I myself feel a little taken back if not insulted that Ronn made no mention of the massive layoffs of his so called "co-workers" on his last show. All he kept asking his listeners was "Will you listen to me on KSFO." As was stated earlier, I wonder how Ronn feels after he eats that expensive crab dinner, rides in the luxurious Mercedes and sleeps on that Sleep Train(if he is able to.)
ReplyDelete