Shortly before 10 PM, KGO, KNBR, KSFO, KNBR (1050 AM), KNBR FM( 104.5) and 107.7 FM (The Bone) were OFF THE AIR a good TWO HOURS. KNBR regained power around 11, but suffered occasional power outages. All the other stations remained non-functional but regained power later Friday morning.
The embarrassing snafu was the SECOND such incident affecting the SF Cumulus radio cluster prompting speculation that the power shut-off might be SABOTAGE. Cumulus' SF radio studios and offices are headquartered at Broadway and Battery in Downtown SF. Other stations near that location, KCBS for one, were still on the air. A KNBR source told me that the power outrage was a "mechanical system-wide failure" but also maintained "this is weird and unusual that it could hit again."
I agree.
Cumulus suits put out a gag order to employees urging they don't talk about the matter. Which they couldn't do on-the-air anyway at the moment because there was NO POWER.
Ouch.
The dead air sounds like a programming improvement.
ReplyDeleteYou just like typing THE BONE.
ReplyDeleteI was listening to Sebastian Gorky lying on KGO. I thought the truth fairies shut him down.
ReplyDeleteWhen did Seb Gorka, move to KGO 810AM??
DeleteIt's Bonnie Jill's revenge!!!
ReplyDeletei never heard about a gag order...u seem dramatic rich. the engineers in the hall said it was planned after something blew up in the basement.
ReplyDeleteWasn't there a 6. point earthquake yesterday near Reno about 10pm?
ReplyDeleteI got a text notice on my phone. I have not heard anyone discussing it. Maybe this caused the outage you speak of.
Knbr in particular has had strange audio issues in the past where they cut off for about 20 seconds at various times..
ReplyDeleteSilence is golden. Especially from those dreck meisters. The ears got a break. Why couldn't it happen during the day?
ReplyDeleteI heard those audio issues on KNBR, Rich. And not to be morbid or bring this thread down, but are you at sometime in the future going to comment on the passing of long time south bay DJ Laurie Roberts? Not sure if you grew up listening to her. I sure as hell did. Greg Kihn has blogged that she had been in declining health for some time (e.g. Diabetes, Circulation and Joint/Leg issues, etc...). I know she recently worked at KPIG down in Gilroy. Nevertheless, I loved her as a DJ and she will be missed.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunely, She passed away.
Deletehttps://www.mercurynews.com/2021/05/05/the-great-laurie-roberts-a-legendary-bay-area-dj-has-died/
Is it just the SF Market, where this is happening??
ReplyDeletePerhaps is was maintenance because there is no body there at that time of night
ReplyDeleteThe entire SF Cumulus cluster depends on one digital audio network, with all the stations' content -- programming and commercials alike -- all tracing back to what is essentially ONE rack of equipment. If ANYthing happens to that rack -- power, fire, water, whatever -- ALL of the stations go dark, as do the studio-to-transmitter links. There is no manual override short of driving out to the individual tower sites with a pair of pliers and a karaoke rig.
ReplyDeleteIt was a planned outage to replace the backup power system that failed during the initial battery replacement service last Friday. The power bypass failed when the contractor hit the switch, knocking everything offline. There is a complex web of digital systems that need to reboot and start talking to each other. That's why it took so long for everything to come back online.
ReplyDelete