In addition to his own personal woes, Somerville is also dealing with a nasty divorce and in-home issues. He might be looking to take more time off but that might be problematic. "He seems to perform better when there's crisis, "said a KTVU souce. So far, he has the backing of FOX/KTVU management until the ratings dip. They contimue to remain decent. Until they don't. We'll see.
*KGO RADIO is running a promo of JOHN ROTHMANN arguing feverishly with a TRUMP loyalist. It's the same doofus caller that has annoyed all of us for months now. It's also why I've QUIT listening to Rothmann because his indignation over the Trump banality rings hollow. There's really NO OUTRAGE whatsoever. It's obvious here Rothmann's anger is nothing but a gimmick to stir up FALSE anxiety. You can't have it both ways. Either you're really angry, John, or you're simply trying to stir up the pot for ratings sake. Only the FAKE anger is not effective and therefore, gimmicky. Atrocious crap if you ask me.*I've soured a bit on TOM TOLBERT, the Warriors radio color analyst and KNBR talk host, but he SCORED bg time on Saturday night during the team's basketball game versus OKC. When STEPH CURRY was going off with another 3-Point barrage, it was Tolbert on air who railed about a team (the Dubs) and its star Curry (up by 40 points late in 3rd Q) throwing up 3's no matter the score. Tolbert said "sorry but this doesn't look good; maybe if they were only up by 20, but his? Not a good look." I'm paraphrasing, but the gist of what Tolbert said was that the Warriors' act in front of the worst team in the NBA needed to be said, and Tolbert said it. It was the right call.
*Just when you think MARK THOMPSON can't get any worse, he manages to get worse. For the 5000th time, Thompson thinks he's funny. He's not. H also talks to people as if he's some LA DJ (wait a minute!) with a bloated mouth and loads of false v erbal blubber. Thompson is no loner sincere. It's quite a struggle actually which is why his KGO ratings continue to crater.*If you believe word on the street, the CHRONICLE is losing a MILLION bucks a week and that's not good even if you have HEARST money to ward off RED INK.
*The 49ERS are BIGGER NEWS than the SF GIANTS and we're smack, dab in the height of baseball season which is why KNBR is having a tough time selling the Giants. And furthermore. why the 49ers are TOPIC A even though the Giants are in first place and the talk of MLB. LARRY BAER must be in a tizzy.
*JON MILLER showed up to the ballpark with a pair of jeans the other day. DAVE FLEMMING, too. NO suit. NO tie. THat, ladies and gents is an OUTRAGE!
The CHIP FRANKLIN side income: spots for termites, propane tanks, banks, cars/kids, plumbing ads--who needs talk shows?
*NIKKI MEDORO: she's slightly funnier than ELON MUSK.
Rich, are you high? Jon Miller often wears shorts and a Hawaiian shirt to the ballpark. Unless they're on TV which they are not, this is a non story
ReplyDeleteSometimes flip-flops as well. It's radio. R-E-L-A-X.
DeleteBaseball...ugh.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to wonder why you want to continue to write about radio, since it seems there is no one you like. Granted you write about local TV and also sports, but I'm not a sports fan, so I skip those posts.
ReplyDeleteI get that Rothmann is not perfect, I get that you might not like some of his shows, I don't like all of them, but you have gone from being a staunch Rothmann supporter, to being very critical of him frequently. I'm not suggesting you just write fluff pieces, but a little balance would be nice. Why shouldn't John take calls from Trump supporters, I like to hear how outrageous they can be, and John calls them on it. I don't want a talk show host that only take calls from listeners who agrees with them.
Take it from a guy that used to go to 30-40 games a year and now hates it. Baseball is dying. It has become a longball or nothing over shifting boring game. Small Ball, steals etc are gone. Watching strike out after strike out sucks. Baseball will become a second tier sport in 20-30 years after the diehard fans of today are gone.
ReplyDeleteSo what if Flemming dresses like he's a tech executive while Jabba the Hutt Miller looks like a beach bum? After all, they won't be seen on TV (unless you count that ridiculous Baseball Rap). As many people have stated on this post, baseball is dying on the vine. What used to be a great game has turned into a gong show. Three-hour ball games. Digging the long ball. Emphasis on the whiff. Emphasis on metrics. Boring. Sell me another $20 beer.
ReplyDeleteShirt and tie to broadcast radio? Even TV, nobody cares but you Rich. Get over it, those days are fine and never coming back
ReplyDeleteBaseball's (and the Giants) success are tied to being able to attend games in person. Prices are reasonable (compared to the other sports), there's a communal feel and it's a nice time out. COVID has killed all that. It will be a slow build for Baseball to regain their season ticket base, re-establish the communal connection and move up in the talk show hierarchy. Love the game and hope it can get back to something resembling how things were pre-pandemic.
ReplyDeleteShe's slightly hairier than Elon as well.
ReplyDeleteBlame Frank for not having a perfect good life, he got a high pay position and good job, but lost everything blaming himself with an affair, divorce, $$$ and drinking issues. But, hey, no one can replace him. Mike Mibach, the earlier anchor, Andre SR, the 7:00 anchor.
ReplyDeleteI worked at KTVU for a while and I always thought Frank looked hung over. He looked like someone who drank regularly, and drank a lot. Between the late afternoon/evening shows and the late news, he would dress in workout clothes and presumably hit the gym. Perhaps this was a bid to counteract the negative effects of all that booze. In any event, I hope he realizes that three days to dry out isn't going to cut it. He needs to subject himself to a 30-day program at least. And he will still be fighting a lifelong battle. Good luck to him.
ReplyDeleteChip - your termite company didn't find all the termites, the biggest termite is still talking.
ReplyDelete"...the gist of what Tolbert said was that the Warriors' act in front of the worst team in the NBA needed to be said..."
ReplyDeleteTom--like other Old Timers--needs to get with it. The Geriatrics are consistently bitter about Curry's beyond-the-arc wonders, but the reason for his performance against OKC (who is NOT regarded as the worst team in the NBA) is because he's competing for this season's scoring title.
Thank you about Rothmann. I thought I would listen to him forever. But. I'm done. He is a name dropping phoney person. Trump is gone. Drop the subject. I have now stopped listening to kgo completely. I thought it would be hard. Not in the least. Thought I'd feel sad after over 50 years listening to kgo. Not in the least.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing on KGO worth listening to until John Bachelor at 9pm.
ReplyDelete