BECAUSE HE WAS GETTING KILLED IN THE RATINGS by KNBR drive rival, Tom Tolbert, Damon Bruce (95.7 FM 'The Game') was force fed Ray Ratto, the curmudgeon contrarian who thinks he's bigger than the entire galaxy. More on Ratto later.
Bruce, the sports talker who chirped for years at KNBR, has been at the FM station since 2014--he boasted that he would kick ass and Tolbert would succumb to his greatness.
It hasn't worked out that way. Tolbert and KNBR dominate the afternoon while The Game continues to flatline at best. Even the Warriors' flagship status hasn't bumped this cadaver into relevance --a still awful signal and air talent that sounds as if it was acquired from the San Quentin Prison cafeteria doesn't help. Even Greg Papa is boring. Maybe he (Papa) needs a reset.
Bruce, who is full of himself and thinks everyone on the planet is immersed with his life and religious practice, often is his own worst enemy. His bits are no longer prime listening. They lack direction or relevance. Many times I have wondered of late just what the hell Bruce was aiming at. He's sort of unglued now and as someone who would know that avenue, I can confirm Damien has reached the dark side.
Ratto I've never understood. He can write well, that's a given. But his eternal gloom shtick is boring and tepid and never interesting. He looks like a Berkeley shrink with severe toe and brain fungus. It doesn't work out well on radio or TV and which is why,I guess, he was sacked by both KNBR and Comcast.
Ratto doesn't help Bruce much and Bruce is quietly disgusted by Entercom SF execs who paired him with Sumo Wrestler Ratto and his nasal voice and dreaded verbal excrement. That combo provides a big dose of dog-doo afternoon on 'The Game' which is used to that element.
Honestly, I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would listen to the AM station. NO ONE on their airwaves is worth listening to for any length of time.
ReplyDeleteAs for The Game... I haven't exactly loved the changes they've made over the last year or so but at least it's listenable. I also don't get the crying over their signal. I can pick it up from south San Jose, out to Livermore, all of the peninsula, and up to Santa Rosa. Pretty much covers the entire Bay Area.
Rich, this post is another post of yours filled with opinionated envy.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking ratings you should at least discuss the poor signal that the FM station has. I liked Bruce when he was on KNBR but have not heard a minute of him once he switched stations as I can't get that FM station here where I live while driving here.(North Bay)
Tolbert's the best thing on KNBR.
ReplyDeletePlease. "Beer, beeeeer oh man beeeer. Angels.". That's his entire schtick.
DeleteI guess I am in the minority but I could not listen to Tolbert and the other guy, whatever his name is a few years back. Tolbert is a huge blowhole as D Bruce is. Ratto speaks so slowly and it's painful the silence in between each word but he is knowledgeable and I do listen to the Game on my morniing and afternoon commutes. How is the Game morning show compared to the Frat Boys?
ReplyDeleteWorser, Neal.
ReplyDeleteLove the word sorser Rich
DeleteSo, it is official that Ratto has been added to Damon's show?
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand why Ratto has been unofficially added to Damon's show. Yes, it's good to have a different perspective every now and then on a show like Damon's, and I think when it's Damon and Kolsky paired together, the show could work, but I just can't stand Ratto at times. Don't understand why 95.7 is giving Ratto an opportunity to be honest. I thought Damon did have good ratings in the afternoon drive time slot as he points out on his show from time to time, but as you alluted to Rich, bringing in Ratto kind of shows that maybe he hasn't been.
I just don't get the direction of this move. I still like Damon's show, and like many others, have been listening to Damon on his show since his Sportsphone days, but a move like this has killed his show. I hope it doesn't lead to Damon leaving 95.7 or moving to another timeslot altogether. I guess we'll see what happens. Damon wife is about to have a kid so I doubt he leaves 95.7 at this point without getting picked up by someone else.
If I was KNBR and if Damon is unhappy with this move, I would try to bring him back. KNBR never should've let Damon leave the station anyway. He was arguably the best host on that station when he was there.
I've been listening to the team of Bruce, Ratto and (I think) Kolsky recently on "The Game." Ratto, who I used to like when he was initially paired with Tolbert, but who's "I'm a grumpy guy" shtick got old fast, somehow manages to make Bruce sound like a pleasant, rational guy. Quite an accomplishment.
DeleteThe whole Ratto as curmudgeon/contrarian schtick has soooo run the course, caught a few minutes of the show last Friday afternoon and the lack of flow and wit was hard listening. A bunch of dudes soloing at once, kinda like the band Cream.
ReplyDeleteI have always liked Damon Bruce and his brashness and eagerness to make his point, but it's an approach that works best as a single host, perhaps with a lower-keyed secondary voice at times. I bet Ray Woodson or a type like him would pair well, but has Ray Ratto ever agreed with someone, or do most of his sentences start with "No, it's not that so much as..." ?
Ray fucking blows.
ReplyDeleteThat’s all that needs to be said.
Every utterance from Bruce is cringeworthy; even the great Ratto cannot salvage that show.
ReplyDeleteTolbert is a genuine and funny guy; everything Bruce is not.
The ratings reflect that.
Ray Ratto was awful on NBC Sports Bay Area so adding him 95.7 makes no sense. Ray Woodson is a good host and KNBR was stupid letting him go. Woodson should be back on the air. Bruce wants to be a solo act. I recall the shotgun marriage with Gary Radnich on KNBR which was a royal cluster fuck.
ReplyDeletei believe ray woodson stepped down on his own, he did get picked up by 95.7 and for awhile he was working with "steiny and guru" and some other losers who were on the air at the time
Deletejust throw in too, since its dump on knbr fm day, how hard it is to listen to the two guys who come after bruce, ryan and joe the butcher/plumber two over hyper guys who reminds one of the person who is sitting at the end of the bar drinking and yelling at everyone about their political and sports opinions who people try to avoid
ReplyDeleteI still enjoy the Ratto-as-curmudgion schtick, and find he makes more intelligent observations than 99% of sports talk hosts. He's the major reason to listen to The Game in the afternoon. KNBR & Tolbert are so overloaded with commercials and Lund brings nothing to the table. Tolbert & Ratto were great and easy to listen to. Tolbert is great when he's speaking with Steve Kerr or other figures and Lund has to take a backseat.
ReplyDeleteRearranging deck chairs on the titanic
ReplyDeleteI prefer watching my toenails grow to listening to the self-important, pompous, I invented sports Papa. The poor guy stuck there with him gets to say about ten words a show; hopefully, he doesn't get paid by the word.
ReplyDeleteBruce hasn't been a worthwhile listen since he got married. And he was just beyond milquetoast after getting raked over the coals for his neanderthal rant about women in sports. Honestly, Damon hasn't been worth listening to since leaving 1050. At least on 1050, he was able to throw the clock out the window and cover everything of note, even the San Jose Spartans. Unfortunately, Bruce's hands are tied by upper management issuing the demand of "you're only allowed to talk Warriors, Giants, and 49ers". And if he tells you otherwise, he's lying.
ReplyDeleteThe Damon Bruce Show is better with Ray Ratto. Ratto is not everyone's cup of tea, and his schtick is contrived, but when he opines, there seems to be a basis in rational thought. Damon Bruce needs someone to tell him when he is just reflexively spouting off.
ReplyDeleteWhy they included Matt Kolsky in this is a mystery. Kolsky is an intelligent guy, but he has a voice meant for sign-language. Whoever decided that this guy had on-air potential deserves an exploding cigar. Kolsky can bend his pipes from smooth mellifluousness to whiny, whinging in less time tan it takes to broadcast the legally required station identification. If not for his fellow ex-KNBRer Ryan Covay, I would say he has the most irritating voice on the radio.
Damon Bruce is not very good, he is somewhat self-absorbed and I can rarely follow his sense of humor. Ray is great, and has been great in every medium, sure he's old and a little crabby. What I cannot figure out is how this program is able to book such great guests, Bob Costas and Joe Buck in recent days. The producer keeps hitting home runs with bookings, and Ray seems to be the only one who asks decent questions.
ReplyDelete