This is Mike Anthony, the Program Director of KGO Radio (and KSFO); Anthony is responsible for show content for the current roster of talk hosts (except Ronn Owens) where the daily menu is chock full of sweet nothings; banal personal interest stories; useless trivia; TMZ minutiae --in other words, non-serious, actual "news-talk" that Anthony thinks the Bay Area audience, women especially, can't or won't listen to.Anthony is already on the hot seat according to a broadcast source because the ratings at KGO remain putrid; the recent spike in numbers had nothing to do with content and was dictated by a few Warriors games KGO carried.
Because of recent serious news; the Orlando tragedy; Dallas and Baton Rouge police ambushes and the Nice, France terror truck attack, some senior staffers had a come-to-Jesus moment with management and screamed bloody murder about talking about mush.
Anthony, Opps MGR, Lee Hammer, too, supposedly relented and a minor format tweak ensued; talk hosts were allowed to switch subject matter and discuss the breaking news. Gees, how thoughtful of the suits to do what was so obvious from the beginning or would it sound and look insane if, say, a "Drex" was pontificating about the Kardashians while Dallas and the country were grieving over five cops being ambushed by a lunatic gunman (and police brutality too against mostly unarmed black men in Minnesota and Louisiana)
Anthony is in full control of the mantra and is supposedly good for the year before the Cumulus rats circle the building and chew off their latest victim and hire another genius who knows nothing about programming a Bay Area radio station.
This guy is a COMPLETE DOLT! He LOVES AUTHORS! That's radio death! BUT HE LOVES THEM! He has no idea what he's doing and there's a reason he never had a job in the Bay Area until radio came crashing down. Then they found this guy at a garage sale! Hammer is a jackass because he's the guy who hired this guy and told us he was "talented." To think guys like Paul Hosley lost a job so guys like this could get hired? It's just awful. Our station is the worst.
ReplyDeleteHe was GM at KLIV in San Jose. Clearly he's worked in the Bay Area.
DeleteWait, I recall the thought was that Hosley was a complete moron and should have been fired. And authors are what KGO used to have on all the time, from Eason to Burns, so I think that would be a good thing.
DeleteAuthors are boring speakers, that's why they write.
DeletePaul Hosley was asked to run a second news station in a market that barely needed one. He was a good enough boss. He at least had a plan. This guy has no clue.
This is Steven & Christine, two Christian Americans who bless us all with their love & knowledge of grammar & history. HOCK!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat's the deal with the Mike McVay Disney mumbo-jumbo. How's that working out?
ReplyDeleteThank God and Rich that we can trash this lame station without worry.
ReplyDeleteThey can't fire me if they can't find me.
The scary thing is the entire place is still on Windows XP....waiting for a virus.
ReplyDeleteWindows XP, sign of a tight fisted management.
DeleteHow do you spell cheap? KGO Radio.
Last time I noticed, Kaiser Walnut Creek was using Windows XP, too. Wonder why everybody knows your personal medical stuff?
DeleteHey buddy: Throw in the towel and make KGO the first station to broadcast white noise 24/7. Wait a minute, aren't you doing that now?
ReplyDeleteWhite noise, very good poke.
DeleteIf they (Cumulus, and their lackeys) had any brains, they would recognize the blunder of 2011, reinstate Rothman, try to get Gil Gross back ... and, start broadcasting to adults.
ReplyDeleteAlas, that's IF they had any brains.
They spent all the money...they can't even afford Karel.
DeleteSo what am I missing? I find that since the PPM methodology of measuring ratings was introduced, almost all American talk radio, except for the partisan talkers, has switched to a keep it light and keep it moving format. The only talk radio I can find that's like the old KGO is LBC in London. What am I missing?
ReplyDeleteOther countries citizens talk openly about politics because their system isn't as contentious. It's not as contentious because their systems aren't awash in money. The sales managers who run radio stations are conservative in nature as most sales guys are. They all pushed the right wing, white guy in the car talk. They paid too much money for the properties. They never adapted. They never created new talent. What they were left with was older, angry, white guy talk that doesn't generate ratings, can't compete with new technology, AND WORST OF ALL, is shunned by major advertisers.
DeleteWhat happens next? Does the white sales manager type like a Justin Wittmayer say, "Lets try a little balanced talk" or "Lets try left talk in the Bay Area..." Nope. He's not smart enough for that, nor could he stomach it. See, these sales guys have to have radio they can PERSONALLY stomach, so leftist radio can't work. Even though NPR stations and the like continue to dominate. Even though all media OTHER than radio is run by artistic, creative, generally liberal minds. But not radio. That's run by salesman types because the radio station used to be owned by a small businessman type who himself was probably conservative.
Once you take into account all of these factors, when they realize the golden goose is dead and that right wing talk doesn't work anymore, they don't say, "lets go left" or "lets try progressive", they say, "people want lifestyle talk...no one wants to hear politics anymore..."
They say that because THEY DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT ANYMORE because THEIR BRAND OF IT DOESN'T WORK.
In the Bay Area, a strong, progressive, entertaining, FM Talk station would work. Would it be dominant? No. Nothing is dominant anymore. But it would undoubtedly work in the Bay Area, and could be syndicated down to LA, up to Portland and onto Seattle.
But when your station is run by a guy doing Push Ups without his shirt on after he runs through a bag of blow, probably not going to happen.
Cheers.
Well said !0:00am. It went from the likes of Swanson and Luckoff to a revolving door of fools like jwitt, Anthony, and McVoy.
Delete" Even though all media OTHER than radio is run by artistic, creative, generally liberal minds. But not radio. That's run by salesman types because the radio station used to be owned by a small businessman type who himself was probably conservative."
DeleteTrust me, TV is run by the same kind of clowns.
Yeah TV is run by sales idiots as well but at least the programming is generally created by artistic types, or at least the shows which are written. Reality shows are produced by conservative a-hole types but that's because there is no creative writing and there are fewer "actors" to be paid!
DeleteThat's how Trump and Hillary win elections.
ReplyDeleteSooooo this is what is respinsible for the flushing toilet known as kgo in its current incarnation huh?? Does anyone at that station listen to that man-child chip franklin...ever?? Well, if they did they'd realize that chip could hold the attention of a small crowd at the puppet show in happy hollow for more then six minutes if admission was free..810 has about as much spine these days as a common night craweler and its inability to put out anything even remotely close to adult content would be laughable if it wasn't so utterly sad. Drex would be much better suited as a door to door proctologest in western guam ,im sure its a market even he could corner. In ending id just like to thank mike anthony for all he's done....keep up the good work!!
ReplyDeleteJudging by the happy talk I hear at KGO, especially with Ethan Bearman and his side kick producer,(the chick who can't stop laughing) Mike Anthony's tenure PD has been a complete and utter failure.
ReplyDeleteThis is a shame because Bearman is a quality talk show host who deserves better than this.
Ethan Bearman was fine where he was. He's not a big market guy, but then again who really is? No one is being developed. I guess even average is what gets a stage these days. And I totally agree about the laughing chick. Hannity used to have that flipper chick, but she at least had a brain. Miss Giggles is just terrible. Lets not get too crazy though, Bearman is merely average/good.
DeleteKGO is basically one jock with a hole or two telling him to "behave" like they're his mother, wife or girlfriend.
DeleteFrom what I heard, Justin Whitmire was the one who pulled the plug on the news operation. He did it impulsively, throwing a bunch of people off the air and apparently it really POed the suits at Cumulus' Atlanta Headquarters. who had never given him the okay to do it. I would be surprised if he's still around by the end of the year.
ReplyDelete