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| Ronn Owens |
*Ronn Owens, who has been doing an eight-minute report three times each week day wants to return to his talk show gig for an hour a day; with no guests Monday thru Friday.
Owens is not 100% but having him on versus the insufferable Ethan Bearman is much better radio and makes sense.
Owens still has a big following; after 43 years he should.
*Bearman's future? I have no idea but he is horrible. He has no identity here and worse, does his show out of LA. Which is where he should be anyway; they are perfect for one another.
*Brian Copeland is almost assuredly back; one, he's both an Owens and Swanson favorite and he's Black. Demos well with younger listeners. Oh, I'm not a fan but what do I know.
*John Rothmann and Pat Thurston are all but back, maybe as a duo, but at the very least an hour each on weekdays.
*The weekend programs on KGO are all but gonno as Swanson, who will be hampered by money (he's been given a strict budget with Cumulus' financial woes) tries to bring back a modified KGO.
*More later late today or Sunday; check back.
If Jack Swanson brings back Ronn Owens then he's basically saying, "I'm just collecting the paycheck to pad my retirement and I have absolutely no ideas."
ReplyDeleteRonn is not good.
Encouraging, but about seven years too late!!! I'll give them a chance though. I'd like to see Ronn, Gil, John Rothmann/Pat Thurston, Len Tillem and Brian Copeland back, and maybe give a new LOCAL voice all chance. And ALL taking callers!!!
ReplyDeleteDo we need to bring back the mummies from the old KGO?
ReplyDeleteIt would look and sound like the original Night of the Living Dead.
The vivacious Christine excepted.
How about some innovation and fresh talent.
Where would he find it...there is no "farm system" for talk radio anymore. Maybe there are some pod-casters out there...maybe...
DeleteWhat about ON THE GO with John Hamilton Sunday mornings ? Love him !
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Flying Cars sometimes...but PLEEEEZE get rid of all those weekend financial investment shows....and vitamin pushers! What will happen to Armstrong & Getty?
I know they aren't local but they've kinda grown on me....and I enjoy them between 5 & 8 am. between coffee and walking the dog. I also wish they'd bring back Jennifer Lee Jones or is it Jennifer Lee Jones...whatever...I enjoyed Jen and her news buddies.
John Hamilton is still on, TeaParty crap with A&G make me puke, Jennifer Jones is with KFI in LA
DeleteUnfortunately the paid programs make about five times what the station could make if it sold out the inventory for a traditional news or talk program on the weekends. Sadly, I think commercial radio on AM on weekends won't ever be anything but these horrible shows.
DeleteWhere to begin?
ReplyDeleteThe old KGO worked because you had strong programming (Jack) and a solid sales team (Mickey). The station's owner, ABC knew how to manage radio stations and provided a wide package of support that Cumulus doesn't.
Cumulus had to come up with a boatload of money to get Swanson back. They will also need to add a second boatload to get the programming the station needs. As noted before, a lot of the talent from the old days is dead, retired or otherwise unavailable. Some won't want to come back. What's left attract an unfavorable (old) demo. The talent comes at a high price and that doesn't include building a news operation.
You need lots of advertising - radio, TV, billboards. Not cheap!
Rome wasn't built in a day and KGO won't climb to the top of the ratings heap quickly if at all. Cumulus will need a lot of patience, which they really don't have.
It's almost 2019 and prime time for a radio station like the old KGO ended a dozen or so years ago.
Can't wait, somethings better than nothing...
ReplyDeleteThere's only one way that KGO is going to recover some of its squandered glory, and that's to surrender to reality and simulcast on one of the Cumulus FM signals. Since KSAN is doing acceptably well, the default choice would be KFOG. Switch that to KGO-FM and maybe, just maybe, KGO Newstalk 810 might have a fighting chance of riding a resuscitated talk format back to some ratings success.
ReplyDeleteIf Jack can't pull off that little hat trick, there's nothing he can program on KGO that's going to have any chance of long-term success. Time's up for stations on the AM band appearing anywhere near the top of the ratings in any major US city. Anywhere. That ship has sailed, hit the iceberg and is in the process of sinking.
With an FM primary paired with the legacy 810, he might be able to use Ronn, Gil Gross, Rothmann, Thurston as the tentpoles, short term, to rebuild KGO with some younger talent from out-of-market. (Hint for Jack: you ought to give a listen to Chris Daniel at KMJ Fresno. Good talker, some past SF experience, has a major market pedigree as the son of the legendary WMCA Good Guy Dan Daniel, and by the way KMJ's a Cumulus company so the guy's already in the corporate family.)
I have my doubts whether the Cloud People are going to give Swanson either the time or the budget to bring the corpse back to life, but if they do, Jack's one of the few people out there who have a shot at succeeding.
Good call on Chris...I like what he does a lot. His politics are decidedly "right" but he's not a whacko and he's surprisingly good at easy to listen to pop-culture stuff. "One Line Wednesday" and the "Friday Movie Topic" would play well here in the Bay Area.
DeleteGod please do something, ANYTHING, what about Melanie Morgan Jack? Love her!!!I'm about ready to tune in the weather channel at night. Pat Thurston still sounds so insecure with her adnauseum repeating 80 80 810. We KNOW the number Pat, it's BEYOND irratating. Please Jack. Fix KGO
DeleteMaybe Mel Mo will be coming back.
ReplyDeleteI not a Melanie Morgan fan. However, the Brian Sussman and Katie morning show is a disaster. Since Melanie is married to Jack Swanson I would say it is a strong possibility. Melanie was back with Brian and Katie for a short time, didn't work out to well. Not sure if it was a personality conflict, but have a feeling there is bad blood between Brian and Melanie. Any insight Rich?
DeleteKGO will never be what it once was. Too bad they killed a Golden Goose
ReplyDeleteThe station should go Spanish or Chinese if it wants to make any headwinds in this area.
ReplyDeleteSorry old white hippies, the Bay Area has moved on and for most of you, priced you out. Your "progressive" days are over. You should have spent less time feeling good about the free love you were having and more time in class or investing in the tech wave. Don't worry, they have PBS stations in Reno or Phoenix.
What an ass...
DeleteBut the PBS stations in those cities don't have the lead free coffee mugs for pledge swag.
DeletePlus the license plate frames that they give away are made of that cheap plastic.
Ewwww!
Progressive politics brought us to this. Keep voting those Dems into power!
DeleteOmg that same plastic that ends up in our oceans?? I'm so stressed right now I need to head to yoga. I'll stop by Starbucks afterwards because I deserve a treat after a day like today. And then Monday I'm heading off to get a Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi bumper sticker for my new Prius.
Delete"John Rothmann and Pat Thurston are all but back, maybe as a duo, but at the very least an hour each on weekdays."
ReplyDeleteOh brother, nothing says "New KGO" like giving Pat Thurston a spot.
Will the "New Generation of KGO" be left out to dry?
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna miss that 3 year old Ronn /Hillary promo that keeps getting into the overnight rotation.
Compared to the current line up, Ronn is not a bad choice either is (can't believe I'm writing this) Copeland. Thurston is OK but I rarely agree with her and she needs to tone down the Trump hate. Agree or not, it gets real old. Rothmann is great all around.
ReplyDeleteGross, unless he takes many calls is a boring radio voice. And lose the wife on air.
BUT please find replacements for the cartoon/impersonator/recreational outraged Bearman and the fool of Franklin that thinks he's funny but is just a boor.
As Paul McCartney once said about the Beatles getting back together, "You can't reheat a soufflé."
ReplyDeleteHow about a remote from Dr Bill in Heaven?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, if you're wanting to hook up with THEE Dr. Bill, your remotes are pointed in the wrong direction.
DeleteTry the Southbound Connection. The entrance is usually protected by Gargoyles on short, tight chains.
And let's lift a toast to those former Kgoers who made the station what it was these last 7 years. You remember, the likes of Justin Twittmayer, Mike Anthony, The Dickey's, Mike McVoy, Kevin Metheny, Renee Bakos, Lee Hammer, Ron Escarsega...oh the list goes on and on. All horrid scumulus frauds brought to you from the fine people out of the disgusting Atlanta GA HQ.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember Leslie Marshall? I don't think she ever had a regular show, but she did some heavy fill in for a while. Would like to hear her again.
ReplyDeleteIs this the same Ronn who said the doomsday change was going to be good for KGO ... we were getting stale ... I'm excited about this. Now he wants to go back?
ReplyDeleteGet a grip ... it's over ... go retire and count your money.
Calling Karel!
ReplyDeleteA long-shot, but, I suspect, not entirely out of the question.
DeleteJack Swanson is no one-trick pony. He is a brilliant programmer who could do any number of things with KGO & KSFO. Anyone who assumes he'll program a redo of what went before, well, just doesn't know Jack! I, for one, can't wait to hear what's next. Congrats, Jack.
ReplyDeleteI hope Swanson is not a one trick pony. But if he brings back Copeland, as Rich says he is, he is definitely a clueless buffoon.
ReplyDeleteJust because you don't like Brian does not mean others do not. I don't like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, but I'm not so narrow minded to think that others feel the same way. I like Brian and many others do, he has a different take on things, he is local, often interview local politicians, and also does good interview with show business people, I heard him interview Ben Vereen, (a favorite of mine) Johnny Mathis, the daughter of Grace Slick and Paul Kanter, that is not a one trick pony, and just might be something a lot of listeners are interested in. If you are not, don't listen, it is very simple.
DeleteWell, well, this is certainly worth watching but alas, I do think it may be too late to recapture the magic. Just the fact that Jack is back is amazing however and I would be willing to give them a chance again.
ReplyDeleteOne more for the Gipper
ReplyDelete