KCBS Reporter Chris Filippi was shown the door--it was a cost-cutting move pure and simple.Filippi was well-respected and liked at the station but that doesn't matter in CBS corporate circles where lean and mean has become the operative business model.
Filippi may have been well-regarded as a street reporter and journalist but there's hundreds of those individuals out there.
Filippi got caught up in a numbers game, pure and simple. The bottom line always rules.
Filippi isn't the last at KCBS to get pink-slipped.
He was a fine man and had many friends. He will be missed by all.
ReplyDeleteKCBS is the latest radio station to lower its standards. Sad
ReplyDeleteCBS seems to have gotten a pass from you, Rich.
ReplyDeleteIf this had been FOX you would have put your spin on it about how FOX is so so so so so so bad.
My theory of one a month at KCBS still holds. Look at how one veteran a month leaves. Superman was the previous.
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ReplyDeleteWait 'til they cutback on sports guys (though I think they farm the sports guys out to a traffic reporting company). so far only Hal Ramey has gotten the hook as a one-a-month guy last year.
Steve Bitker, Dave Lewis and Joe Salvatore have worked for KCBS for many years. The other sports guys could be contracted out.
DeleteSteve Bitker will retire in the next year or two if he isn't forced out before then. Kevin Radich will survive, as he's always managed to find work in this market. As far as news folks, I expect to see more veterans getting shoved out the door by a tight fisted radio company that is unfortunately not that much better than predatory rascals such as Cumulus and Clear Channel. KCBS used to be the standard for top notch news locally on the radio and still is because they have ZERO competitors. KGO fired almost their entire news staff, a bigger massacre than the one a few years previous to that when they sent most of their veteran talk show hosts packing. KNBR hard a handful of guys who get paid well, but the rest of that staff is being given peanuts, and despite their well-intentioned efforts to unionize and get better pay for their producers and 'lesser-lights,' they'll never be able to get an equitable deal from Cumulus. Radio is still on the one medium that is free….you don't have to pay for it. A lot of folks still listen to the radio in their cars, and although listenership may be down, radio hasn't fallen through the cracks like the newspaper industry. But the true 'radio folks' who made the industry the great one that it was for nearly seven decades, have long since moved on, and their replacements are nothing more than spineless yes-men and women who will happily and efficiently execute the cold blooded corporate game plan. Maximizing profits and making sure the CEOs are fat and happy. is mor important than loyalty to employees, and public service to the community. And the FCC? Toothless and useless. What is happening to radio is symptomatic with what's happening in the US in general today. Downsizing, offshoring, consolidating. It's sad, destructive, and the powers that be don't seem to realize that they are not only short-changing our country, but ruining the future for a lot of young Americans who have yet to get into the work force. I don't know how any of them can sleep at night, I honestly don't.
ReplyDeleteGood post right here. No one gives a fuck about quality. All people care about are profits, profits, profits. Venture capital people know nothing about the products they invest in. If they tell you otherwise, they're full of shit. All they want is to see black on the spreadsheet. America is going into the dumper. Soon, the business of the federal government will be controlled by someone in India. Can't wait.
DeleteHe's cute, but that doesn't matter on the radio, unless you're a talk show host.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter how well you do your job. I can't name a business/company which will keep a person around for a gold watch. I know the pain of losing a job that almost cost me my family. When the bean counters are through with you there is no defense. The shame of it all is that you had to be good in order to get the job.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad. Enjoyed his work. KCBS's standards have been slipping. If it pukes on itself like KGO I might as well remove the radio from my car as terrestrial radio stinks.
ReplyDeleteI don't know the business, but I keep hearing about the sale of CBS Radio. When it eventually becomes a done deal, probably the ranks everywhere will have been considerably thinned beforehand.
ReplyDeleteThere were also deep cuts announced at WWJ in Detroit. PM Drive goes from two anchors to one. And they basically eliminated the overnight staff. It will all be pre-recorded now with just a board op. Let's hope nothing significant happens overnight.
ReplyDeleteKCBGO seem to be the new call letters. Half of their staff are former KGO Radio people who are good but not nearly as good as the KCBS folks who preceded them
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