WHILE THE LATEST NEWS from Napa this Saturday became quite serious; fires picking up more force due to winds and more evacuations as temperatures rose, KCBS Radio expanded its coverage, as did KGO-TV and KTVU. Makes sense --and why not? This is the BIGGEST story of the year in the Bay Area, hands down.
I hate to pile on (no, I really mean it) but KGO Radio committed (again) broadcast malpractice.
The cloud 810 AM went with taped financial shows and essentially blew off the Napa firestorm intensifying --this is nothing new as when the first fires erupted last Sunday night, KGO was MIA and not really interested in such business. The "live and local" station was anything but; making matters worse, KGO's weekday morning idiots (for which they literally are trying to dump without having to pay them off) were making jokes and talking gibberish about everything BUT the North Bay Wild Fires. Unbelievable.
Could you imagine a NY radio station ignoring Hurricane Sandy? Could you imagine an LA station ignoring the Northridge Earthquake of 1994? KGO Radio has pretty much ignored the Wine Country fires --their talk-shows hosts don't count and they did a crappy job anyway; you want real idiocy and WTF?! action in action? Clown Brian Copeland was interviewing a comic nobody heard of when the crisis in Santa Rosa reached its peak. Copeland is a mental case and should not be taken seriously. The only person who think Copie is legit sells mattresses on the radio.
In any case, there are standouts and real news outlets that have proved their metal and then some. There are TV stations like KGO that have done great work; KTVU and KNTV the same but KGO deserves top honor for total commitment. On radio, KCBS has been incredible and its reporters, totally top notch in providing live and first-person accounts, notably, Doug Sovern and Jeffrey Schaub.
KGO Radio? Asleep at the wheel. What else is new?
KGO Radio? Asleep at the wheel. What else is new? 
Rich....KGO radio hasn't done news radio forever now..I realize we all miss the KGO radio of yore...but they've told you already they don't do news, they do "lifestyle" garbage..Why would it be any different now. They are utterly irrelevant to anything important.That's what they chose to be.
ReplyDeleteThe Armstrong and Getty thing is a huge joke. The constant wheezy laughs and modulation of voices is insane
ReplyDeleteWas Spanish and Chinese radio covering it? I need to know, Rich.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm beginning to see things your way.
ReplyDeleteMelanie Morgan has been back on the air on KSRO 1350 / 103.5 for most of the past week reporting on the Sonoma County fires.
ReplyDeleteKGO is no longer a news station. Please stop expecting it to be.
ReplyDeleteWell, it IS a talk station is it not? Back in the old days, when it was all talk (Gene Burns, Ronn, Ray etc etc) they would have gone wall to wall with any disaster of this magnitude (Loma Prieta). Problem is Ethan is not even local and he's on half of the day parts. Plus, the edict is to do fluffy lifestyle talk, not anything that actually matters. It's an embarrassment, period.
DeleteRich, They don't do news anymore. BUT...They have recently cut the salarie of Their Mkt Manager Justin and some of the Operations staff...They gave their CEO Mary Berner a 1 million dollar bonus, BUT they are almost Bankrupt...they can't renegotiate their Debt with Lenders...Their National Sales Manager is leaving because the would not renegotiate with him. Not doing NEWS is the least of their problem. Those financial shows are the only money maker on the station about 2-5K for an hour. You need to investigate more than just the obvious about KGO and KSFO...Where are you sources? Have they gone silent or did they get fired. Read the REAL Radio Trades!
ReplyDeleteSpanish language radio stations and the Chinese language TV channel were covering the story extensively.
ReplyDeleteIf local A.M. radio stations don't want to be informative during disasters they should be unplugged and fined.
ReplyDeleteWhen our power goes out I reach my A.M. transistor radio. Such disrespect for the community can not be tolerated.
Buy a police and fire scanner...learn how to use it.
DeleteIt will save your life.
People in the UK (internet friends) have heard how serious the fires are. SO,its got world wide attention.
ReplyDeleteWhat a collapse. My Grandma Hill used to listen to Ira Blue. I listened for years to a variety of hosts, and to the news. I wouldn't even cover the station, Rich. It is beyond bad.
ReplyDeletethey needed to have on Ryan Scott and his life coach!!! what a pathetic arrogant asshole
ReplyDeleteKGO is barely surviving....the "canned" shows on week-ends are their only real source of income.....no amount of whining and crying will get them to send staff in to cover disasters - or ANY news - "as it happens".
ReplyDeleteI used to be a HUGE A & G fan, following them to KGO from Talk 910, even watched them on tv when my wife was in the hospital and I was with her. Unfortunately they changed, most of the change started when they hired Dominic to be their producer. I guess I changed also though which led me to find alternatives to morning listening.
ReplyDeleteBetween their childish acronym for being Friends of Armstrong and Getty, their misogynistic interviews with female guests, and their need to defend Trump behavior even though they like to pretend they are more moderate. And because they have the strong DESIRE to go national they tend to stick to generic news stories and staying away from anything local/California state like they used to in the past. They are always plugging something up next and usually never getting to it until a later hour when I cannot listen anyway. I found alternatives, will not be sad when KGO dumps them in the future.
I agree with you Rich about KGO... if this was all happening years ago. But today, particularly for the past year after they went away from their heavy-news format, it's not really shocking or newsworthy that KGO stuck with taped financial shows. That's the business model they've decided on. They have no news department. So at this point, it's kind of like criticizing KOIT for continuing to play music instead of covering the fire. I miss the "old" KGO as much as anyone. But it's a new world now, and pointless to expect anything resembling the KGO of old.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the old KGO is gone. Time to change their station call sign letters to LOL. LOL 810, I like it!
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