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| Left to Right: Mark Thompson, Pat Thurston and John Rothmann |
"A total disaster", says a KGO source who tells 415 Media Thompson is not only not drawing an audience, worse yet, he's not drawing any feedback whatsoever.
"They might as well hired a canary," said industry figure based in the city. Only the canary would have been cheaper.
How bad is it for Thompson? I LEARNED that Thompson had lunch with former KGO host, Ronn Owens and Thompson repeatedly asked Owens, "Why am I not connecting?" I'd suggest to Mark asking Owens that questions would be like Mel Gibson asking someone "why do the Jews hate me"?
Thompson has a three-year contract worth nearly $350K a year. It's not the kind of money that will make Cumulus CEO, Mary Berner, stewing, which she reportedly is. It was KGO brass that convinced Berner to sign off on the deal in hopes of revitalizing KGO as a legitimate news-talk outlet; sure, not the ratings kingpin it was in the late 90's and 2000's but enough to make it relevant and a soundboard for politics and news. Wrongo.
While Pat Thurston (Noon-3 PM) has registered better than average numbers (the full ratings are not out yet) and John Rothmann (6-9 PM) has cultivated a following amongst SF-based listenership) Thompson's mixture of topics and interviews have been received with near zero significance. Like a capital Z.
Making matters worse, KGO (really Cumulus) spent major bucks on billboards and TV commercials promoting Thompson's return to the Bay Area. Only nobody really listens to Thompson and those few that do have NO IDEA who Thompson is and that he was indeed a highly popular figure at KRON but that was over thirty years ago.
KGO, word on the street says, thought Thompson's Bay Area past would catapult him into a strong morning position and would at least offer a true "live and local" personality that not only was Bay Area centric but had major personality to boot. Wrongo!
Thompson is a disaster but a lot of it is not his fault. He's irritating and insulting with his extended and disingenuous voice emphasis but it's radio, OK, not that big a deal. Only Thompson sounds contrived and phony as if he were on a fourth-tier market audition. Part of what made him popular and engaging at KRON was his genuine humor and shtick --almost making the weather report irrelevant and centering all the attention on him. At KGO he's just another vanilla voice and not that big a deal. When the best thing anybody says about you is, "he's better than Ethan Bearman", then you know there's a problem. Lots.
It's early in the game --Thompson began his KGO stint on March 11, barely three weeks into a long journey and he could get better. But he could get worse too. The problem, and there's many here, is Thompson is trying to force laugh. When you're really not that funny and you're trying to appear as if you are, and the people are not buying it, then you have to change the furniture. Thompson has no idea as to how to reset and altar the game plan.
He was lucky in LA because KFI had a need and he did well for the most part. He was also aided by a popular main cog named Tim Conway Jr; as a second fiddle, Thompson was bearable. He's not only not bearable now at KGO but worse, no one apparently gives a damn because no one is listening and that's the worst and only conclusion.
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Rothman and Thurston are OLD KGO Talent, Not New, just a reshuffled hand which is what Cumulus does. I have seen NO Billboards or TV spots for Thompson HIM/THEM. As you said "It has Been Thirty Years" since he was relevant in the Bay Area, Tastes change...He is also 30 years older. Perhaps GROW UP should be written on a memo to him. Any pain and suffering that Cumulus feels here they deserve, John and Pat are NOT going to solve there problems either. They, Cumulus,
ReplyDeletedestroyed KGO, a profitable Listenable radio station because they COULD...Hired a bunch of losers to run it...Took what they had broken and then SMASHED the broken pieces. Now they have got the tube of crazy glue out, and our trying to sell us the IDEA that they have fixed it...Sorry too late...I predict KGO will be sold eventually to service the STILL enormous Cumulus Debt. KGO's Future will end up being Religion or Foreign Language. Lee Hammer who is running it now, is just waiting around to retire. I hope sooner rather than latter.
He is here,he has been talking about walking around where he use to live.
DeleteThompson reminds me of dull Pat Sajak pretending he's Letterman. Just can't pull it off. Thompson screams goofy local TV weatherman trying to be interesting, informed and creative and he whiffs on all three counts. Just a forced deep voice that sounds line a controlled burp.
DeleteIs Mark Thompson here, in the Bay Area? Or calling it in from a studio in L.A.???
ReplyDeleteMomentum. KGO has lost it. It will take a very long time, if ever, to get 1/2 the audience they once had. Even if Ronn in his prime (1990ish), Bernie (pre conviction), Gene Burns and Jim Eason would to miraculously appear on air, the listeners just aren't there anymore. They have moved on.
ReplyDeleteJohn and Pat, especially John gets lots of calls, and most comnent on how pleased they are to have back on the air full time. Also being on 5 days a week they often tackle local issues which listeners seem to like.
DeleteGee, I wonder who your source was regarding the lunch between Ronn and Mark? I doubt Ronn is your source since he hates your guts, but Ronn is the jealous type who would like to spread rumors about Mark's problems. Mark isn't going to spread a rumor about himself like that ... was it the waiter?
ReplyDeleteAnother question -- who is worse, Thompson or A&G?
One more thing ... I'm no fan of Pat Thurston. I agree with her politics but I hate listening to somebody who is misinformed. She doesn't bother to do her homework, she just reads talking points from somewhere. Today was different, though. She started talking about a San Francisco issue -- how ride-sharing contributes to traffic in the city, and how the city is becoming unaffordable. It was good radio from somebody who is usually dreadful.
My suggestion to Mark, Pat and John is to skip the national topics -- you can get commentary about that anywhere -- and focus on local issues. You have a monopoly when it comes to broadcast discussion of those issues. Give your audience something they can't get in 1,000 other places.
Does everyone fail to realize all the hippie types that made KGO what it was in the 80's and 90's are now dying off and out of the area due to cost?
ReplyDeleteThe Bay Area is not what it was. It's almost like it sold its soul to Asia. Welcome to the future. The new jingle will be K-G-OOOOO, Cantonese Talk Eight Teeeeen.
Thompson & Getty ? LoL
ReplyDelete...as the cloud company thinks
Sorry there are very few liberal talk show hosts in this area, 910 has some, but Pat and especially John are more balanced and better than what l hear there,
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you should post this topic. I've often wondered if TV/Radio hosts and news people talk the same way at home on a Saturday or Sunday with friends watching say, a ball game or movie. Do they enunciate and pronounce every word carefully or do they relax and get a little sloppy or comfortable in their dialog?
ReplyDeleteThat's how I see Thompson. Too put on, not relaxed. I couldn't handle being around him at a BBQ, party, or out to a casual drinks and dinner.
I don't expect or want Franklin obnoxious casual, just a bit more talking to a neighbor in the driveway thing. There is a time for serious, a time to relax and draw in your audience. Hopefully he will find that balance.
Hate to say it but that's what won Ron O his audience.
PS: He's still better than Ethan Beerman.
I am actually quite impressed with the way KGO is sounding these days. I haven’t heard much of Mark, but Pat and John are sounding good, and the quality of the calls is much improved. It’s hard to say what the ratings will be, but it’s way too early to know now. There are no ratings at all yet for the new lineup.
ReplyDeleteBring back Bernie. I'm sure he has a lot to say. He served his time and deserves a 2nd chance. Of course, put him on a 10 second delay, they'll be a bunch of nasty Trumpster's who will give him a hard time. I'm sure a few will chime in and rip this post.
ReplyDeleteAgree about Bernie. Was definitely one of the best talk show guys anywhere and would be even more interesting now with much to say about the judicial/prison system and Im sure a lot of hard earned wisdom.
DeleteI tune in regularly now that news talk is back. It's hard for Thompson because at 2 hours the show doesn't have enough time each day to air out. It will take time. But judging by the amount of calls, all the shows seem to be doing a million times better than before the change 3 weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteGee, I'd love to help out, but in this day and age, with what I have to say, I'd need full time bodyguards.
ReplyDeleteHello Christine, I wouldnt mind hearing your very opinionated self once again.
DeleteBring back Lloyd Lindsay Young.
ReplyDeleteThey have moved on alright...To the cemetery in most cases. KGO's Problem is also that their DEMO is too Old 60+. It always has been.
ReplyDeleteThe Money Demo 25-54 and 18-39 have be lacking since the days of Mickey Luckoff.
Today's sixty and seventy years old, are alive and well, many still working and being active and enjoying listening to a good radio program (John Rothmann, Pat etc. for some Hannity and Savage etc. for others) when the putter around at home or commuting to and from work. You must be very young to think many who have listened to KGO for years have died off, not so.
DeleteYour comment on the DEMO that listens to KGO is spot on. And there is zero chance that the 25-50 DEMO they want, will ever tune in. Mark Thompson is dull and I don't see him ever pulling in the ratings. They were better off putting Ronnnnn back on.
DeleteI've never heard thompson take calls. Probably because I don't listen long enough. Quick burn out listening to him crazy about his voice!
ReplyDeleteRe: 10:39 pm: You pose the solution in your statement of the problem: 18-39 are NOT listening to AM radio. Ergo, stop trying to pretend that you can do something on the radio to attract them: they'll never hear about it. Instead, cater to the 50+ crowd, who actually are far more likely to act on a good deal they heard about on the radio than any millennial is.
ReplyDeleteIf the AM stations cater to the remaining audience, and tailor ads that are attractive to that audience, the advertisers will succeed, and by extension the radio company will succeed as things spiral up. The "money demo" of 3 decades ago has nothing to do with it.
Unfortunately, somebody needs to whisper this little secret in the ears of Cumulus execs, who think that "effective use of radio" lies in selling 6 repetitions of the same spot in an hour, and spamming them over all channels. They bemoan ratings but they sell hour blocks of vitamin ad shows that are themselves produced more than 10 years ago, they just repeat the same ones every single weekend, and then wonder why nobody is listening.
I love KGO, huge fan. But for some reason my dial stays on 560am. Been that way for years now.
ReplyDeleteRonnnnn a bay area guy tried doing a LA show and flamed out. Thompson an LA guy trying to do a bay area show and is quickly flaming out. Perfect lunch partners.
ReplyDeleteThompson was unlikable here years ago as a weather man. Also, I saw the jerk yelling at his girlfriend on an airplane from Cabo once in around 1990
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Mark Thompson's deep voice but I don't find him interesting, although I haven't had much time to tune in... Absolutely shocked he's earning that much. Good for him. How the hell did he get bankrupt Cumulus to fork over that huge amount. WOW.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately that booming voice is followed by the screechy piercing tones of woman-child Pat Thurston.
Unlistenable. Christine Kraft would be far better than this stupid child
I've been listening in now and then since the line-up change & I think Mark Thompson might well work out at KGO. It's only a few weeks after all. It may take several years for him to build a healthy audience. There's one improvement imo Thompson could easily make straight-away: build a firewall between his show's content & Ronn Owen's commentary segment. His chemistry w/Ronn is noticeably awkward. Understandable, as he's replacing Ronn's long running show. I'm happy to hear more of RO, but pal'ed with MT? Not so much. Beyond that, MT's challenges are the same as KGO's: The morning duo lead in show to MT's is really bad. Just no good at all, unlistenable; and the John Batchelor show at the end of the day is equally bad listening. For KGO to be successful they have to keep their audience's radios tuned to KGO. And that isn't happening. Every time the far right morning duo comes on, or the far right Batchelor show, AM radios all across the Bay Area switch to KCBS or KQED. Installing RO in either of those time slots would work ratings wonders.
ReplyDeleteThompson should shed the safety net. Do the show all by himself, without anybody else chiming in. He's good at his choice of topics and especially good with cultivating the callers; the problem is when a KGO staffer interrupts, all momentum is lost. He'll do better once he loses the safety net & does the program like the rest of the talent, a candid conversation between just him and the callers.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you are calling out how pathetic Mark Thompson is! Not a scintilla of sincerity in his voice. He sounds like a fake talk show host and his awkward attempts at "joviality" are simply off putting. Unlistenable. Get rid of Bret, too. He is an idiot.
ReplyDeleteFire Mark Thompson today.
Pat Thurston's shrill opinions and rat-tat-tat delivery with annoying repetitive phrasing makes my skin crawl. Can you imagine having her in your family? Having to listen to a poorly informed opinionated blow hard? Not to mention she is pedantic and doesn't listen to anyone - at least not with an open mind. Get rid of her, too.
KGO can do it, after all they showed enough back bone to dump Ethan Bearman. I used to think Ethan was just foolish at times, and then he proved himself to be a total fool. He was way in over his head.