HAS Bay Area radio ever been worse? What a sad state of affairs it is. I'm writing on a gray Memorial Day morning. How fitting that I'm writing about radio on a day we honor those who sacrificed their lives to save ours.Wait, that's sacrilegious, but you get the point.
Bay Area radio is dead. Kaput. Beyond redemption. No need to sugarcoat it because doing so would be dishonest and phony. Sure, radio, especially AM radio as a whole is dead, but in the Bay Area there's no hope. We have greedy bastards and sons of bitches who killed some of our greatest broadcast institutions and laid them out to pasture. Bye Bye baby.
KGO Radio is dead. Only parasites still left over caring for the carcass. What a shame. What a sham too. An embarrassment every night and day. And to think KGO was once the gold standard now in the radio morgue.
KFOG, dead too. Embarrassment. KSFO was long dead but now resting on call letter kitty litter with a life machine keeping it static and a morning show better suited for cattle ranches than listeners. Ditto KNBR with some of the worst radio ever imagined but only slightly ticking from Bay Area teams which use its pulse to broadcast its games because KNBR was long ago buried in Colma with a wake in Daly City. Bury the KNBR casket.
KQED Radio: an NPR disaster; Forum funeral services are pending. Bring leftover pretzels and put your hand on the casket and listen to a Michael Krasny conversation with Terry Gross.
Bay Area radio is dead. Bury it.
Terry Gross is not "bay area radio"..She's national radio . She's a national treasure with superb interviewing skills. You never hear her ego on display. She gets people to say insightful things they don't say elsewhere. Her pieces are long form and substantive. Perhaps you don't like her because of that? or because she doesn't wear low cut tops revealing fake breasts? What the hell are you complaining about, at least vis a vis PBS, KQED? You don't like "Newshour" which has some of the best analysis in the whole country? Shields and Brooks? It's the only thing worth a listen these days.
ReplyDeleteYeah, people like Brian Hackney, who know how to hold a salad fork, scare him too.
DeleteGive me the good ol' days. I remember taking broadcasting classes at Chabot College and we had some of the great radio personalities visiting our classes telling how great their station, etc was. Now that's all gone into the crapper (or grave as Rich puts it).
ReplyDeletePretty intense graphic, Richard. But it's true. Was listening to KCBS late yesterday and it sounded like a student from the Columbia School of Broadcasting was delivering the traffic report. "There's a lot of traffic out there," the dork says.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who think Dick is going overboard with this assessment, you're probably in the business trying to save your jobs.
Take a good look and you'll see he's right. Radio really sucks now. KGO with a once-popular show host withering on the vine like rotten grapes. Sports talk that's really a landing spot for advertorial ("real" content and advertising). News radio that sounds like an endless loop every hour. Mindless ranting talk shows. Companies who practice media monopolies in the interests of saving money and raising profits.
Can't wait to see what people say here.
10:55...That was the "aah" guy. Aah this, aah that, aah everything! Can't construct a sentence without using the aah word.
Delete"Aah, traffic slowdown on aah 101, aah causing reduced aah speeds aah along that aah corridor, aah expect a aah delay!! Beam me up Scotty, I can't take it anymore!
There is a "true" professional out there reporting the traffic, I have never heard her say aah or another favorite of mine, uumm, not once....Robin Winston, she gives a perfect performance each and every day, I salute her!
Am remembering the 14 from my Navy squadron who didn't have a chance to come "home" from the Vietnam war, 12 are still missing in action. Every day is their day, but today is "extra special."
The winds of fate favor the ablest aviators but do not blow at their command. And those who fly missions long and demanding are sometimes sacrificed to their deeds. But that which was worthy of their death did not die nor can it die. And we who remain must have sufficient strength to endure misfortune and continue their purpose, leaving the rest to God.
OK, Bay Area Radio is Dead!
ReplyDeleteWe know.
What would KGO 810 ratings be if it was on now with the old crew from years past?
ReplyDeletedoesnt have to be the old crew. just the same format that kept it number one in the market for decades and that was often copied by other stations throughout the usa
DeleteI was as big a fan of the "old" KGO as anyone. I grew up with it and continued to listen throughout my adulthood. It was very much a part of my life and I miss having THAT station. And yes, it's been horribly managed, especially the past 5 years. But let's not try to kid ourselves that if not for poor management, the old KGO would still be where it was. Times have changed. People's attention span is different. People's priorities are different. Young people weren't going to flock to KGO or any kind of talk radio no matter how well the stations were managed. It's like lamenting the demise of classic rock. Let's bring back The Lobster on KSJO and rock will be back! Uh, no. Times and tastes change. As we grow older, things we grew up with and viewed as just part of life fade or change drastically. That's just the way it works. So I too, miss the old KGO and talk radio in general. Remember it fondly, and move on. The clock ain't turnin' back as much as we might want it to.
Delete@1206... I think the ratings would be better than what they are for sure, at least #10. They were #1 for 25 years and slipped to #4 in 2011 before they changed to all news. Then they slid very fast to #15 then to #20. They're around #15 right now, just ahead of KSFO who's slipping since Trump's disastrous start. This is the prefect time to beef up to more liberals. MSNBC is doing great, while Fox News is lipping a bit.
DeleteKSFO (which once billed itself as "The World's Greatest Radio Station") does have Michael Savage, and no matter one's view of his ideas and opinions, is a radio original, and originals are in short supply now.
ReplyDeleteThere are bright spots out there in the darkness. Atlanta and Detroit have decent local talk but it's all conservative and business oriented. We don't have that here and we'll never have it here. Demographics.
ReplyDeleteKMJ Fresno 580AM isn't bad, either...their mid-day and afternoon guys are very listenable. Mornings are sometimes OK (and sometimes close to unlistenable)...evenings and overnight are Cumulus "free to O-and-Os" content. Weekends are mostly brokered, but they do a fun, old-fashioned "Car Talk" show Saturday mornings, with a local repair shop owner and, I think, a service manager from a local dealership (that, presumably, advertises); and a very folksy, small-market restaurant/food/wine talk show Saturdays at 1pm.
DeleteBA radio sucks because you are all too freaked out about being P.C. and not offending anyone.
ReplyDeleteDown the coast in L.A. and San Diego talk is doing just fine.
KOGO in San Diego is doing 4's and 5's now that Chip is gone....they used to pull a 2.3 average.
KFI doing well...KIEB doing fine also. in L.A.
And that's LOCAL shows....not national crap.
Even this Thurston/Rothman pair-up is a joke. 2 yappers yapping about how the sky is falling, and the proof is "I worked for Nixon"....
WTF???
Yup....
Bay area radio sucks...
Now what?
Who will tell you how to vote?
Has Rothman done ANYTHING since "Nixon"?
Being PC or not offending anyone? Another silly Trumpster who doesn't have a clue. You got your KSFO with it's 24/7 hatefest which you probably enjoy. KGO was it's best when it leaned a little left (Bernie, Rothmann, Sean Nixx, Ray, Pat, Christine filling in) and a mix of everything else, like Gene Burns, Dr. Bill, Ronnnn, the Lawya. Pat and John are the best thing going and they need prime time gigs. And yes, the sky is kind of falling with Orange Mussolini in charge. Where have you been?
Delete@5:38
DeleteSorry...but the rest of the country grew up.
5:38 "Pat and John are the best thing going'. Oh man. Please seek medical help.
DeleteConservative moron sales guy runs the station. Cheap Suit programs KGO. There's not a creative idea between the two of them. People hated Jared Hart and Ron Escarsega but they actually understood that radio is ultimately entertainment. It has only gotten worse!
Delete@10:16am...I'm 5:38 and I'm fine. I know good radio when I hear it. What do you want in a radio station? If its Con radio, you got KSFO hatefest appealing to the real stupid and a less vulgar version in 860. You guys are set. Not us Libs.
Deleteis there anywhere in this country where radio is still an important part of the local community?
ReplyDeletethere is only one way to save radio and tv for that matter. rewrite the 96 telecommunications act and bring back competition in the market place.
if that doesnt happen, you will see more and more people turning to pay radio and when you tune into your local stations, you will only hear dead air
Bay Area radio IS dead. Bury it and move on.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I stream WCPT from Chicago - and I've never even been to Chicago. They are one of the few talk stations left that is not corporate owned. The broadcast media has been on a downward spiral ever since de-regulation. Once there was no limit to how many media outlets one person or entity could own, it was the beginning of the end. I still remember James Gabbert having to sell K-101 when he bought channel 20.
ReplyDeleteAs well as Mr. Gabbert's other stations were sold. And the best part is he (and his great staff) brought that same radio sensibility to TV20 and turned around a struggling station and tapped an audience with a product was warm, family like, and fun. Then he returned to radio ownership along the way. I have hope that in the coming year or two, new ownership of various stations will bring a fresh form of radio, that I suspect will be engaging but will be surprising familiar to many readers of this blog.
DeleteIf this is a hint that Gabbert might get back in the radio game, that would make me very happy! I grew up watching TV20, and loved his creative vision. The best was watching him hosting late night movies at his fictional bar, second only to his Golden Age of TV series with old kinescopes of classic TV that was never syndicated because the video quality wasn't high enough
DeleteSo Bay Area radio is dead. I've known that since KFRC left the airwaves. Time to clean house. Bring in competent people to bring Bay Area radio back to where it was and where it should be. And bring in variety instead of all those redundant talk shows.
ReplyDeleteIt's been dead since Tall Tom Campbell (and his red Corvette) left KYA and before that Little Orphan Annie signed off for the last time in 1942!
DeleteFYI: WCPT has precious few local shows. It's mostly syndication. Doesn't show in the Nielsen ratings.
ReplyDeleteWhat we all should be praying for is the death of cum-u-less. It'll die, eventually, we just have to wait it out. Next we pray for a company to come in that knows the business and wants to establish local ties to the community via local programming, local hosts, intelligent content, and true commitment to the people of this area. Let us pray!
ReplyDelete> Bay Area radio is dead. Bury it.
ReplyDeletePhysician, heal thyself.
Someone should try bringing back a KFRC. They could be surprised, it just might work.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the eastbay in the 70's, 610 KFRC was the station to listen to.
DeleteKFJC is doing just fine.
ReplyDeletemmmm.... KFC.... wait, what's KFJC?
Delete9:31 if memory serves KFJC is the student run low watt broadcast service of Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.
ReplyDeleteKFJC is also listened to worldwide thanks to the internet. It is primarily listener-supported.
Delete