KGO Radio, what a mess.
And it's not going to get any better anytime soon. With a revolving door of hosts and virtually NO MONEY, KGO will operate but will do so as a benign broadcast outlet with ZERO spark and ingenuity,a sinking ship with no buzz and no energy. KGO is dark and empty, it's become a centerpiece of mass indifference and crater-central.
*I'm told Chip Franklin was SHOCKED he was given the boot; Franklin has been tweeting away on Twitter without any mention whatsoever of his firing. Call it denial, I guess. Franklin may have thought he was safe given his decent (not great by any means) ratings and his many commercial reads but financially strapped and cash poor Cumulus didn't care. As a pure afternoon drive guy, Chip could carry a program. His ability to go from one topic to the next and interview a bevy of guests was better than average --Franklin at times was snarky with callers and a tad too ego-minded but he fulfilled a need. Until Cumulus stopped everything.
*Again, I want to be clear: John Rothmann is NOT a PM drive host. Rothmann's skill is politics and the Middle East. That's fine but he's not multi-dimensional--especially on pop culture and that will spell problems for him from 4-7 PM. He's also not a particularly good interviewer and that is also problematic. To be good on PM drive you have to have an ability to think on your feet and move point to point, issue to issue; in esssence, work the clock. With traffic breaks and multiple news updates, it's paramount, even by dilluted KGO standards, to be able to charge and re-charge. Rothmann, as I pointed out, is more suited for single-topic, hour-by-hour discussion. Drive shows are more caller-driven and the schedule is more moment-by-moment. Rothmann will have to adapt and I'm not at all confident he will win at 4-7 PM. It's a difficult proposition.
*KGO 2021: analog radio. And for that matter, for the past fifteen years.
*Lee Hammer, the PD of KGO that had to give the bad news to scores of personnel at 750 Battery, for all his enthusiasm and programming vigor, FAILS miserably on commenting or talking to press and blogger explaining what's taking place even though, yes, we all know.
*Hammer's love affair with mutt head, Chris Merrill, STOPPED immediately when fill-in guy Merrill was not even considered to replace Franklin. That would require money and Cumulus has no cash.
*KNBR, another Cumulus radio widget, went from a 6.9 rating to 4.0! --yeah, these are beauty contest numbers but how the hell do your DROP 3 POINTS! in the middle of football season and the NBA and Giants' hot-stove? It means your talk-show product SUCKS and your hosts aren't very good. The verdict is in: GUILTY.
*Sports-talk radio THRIVES in the East. Places like NY, Philly, Boston, even Chicago because caller-driven radio and interesting hosts make for solid, ENTERTAINING back and forths. KNBR doesn't take calls from their audience; they prefer their hosts to interact and the hosts themselves don't like taking calls but that's because they don't know how to converse. They also don't talk a lot about sports. What's the purpose then? Talk about beer and boobs and utter stupid pop-culture references. And so the listeners have TUNED OUT. It's an indictment on the radio station, really.
*If Phil Matier were to have a new gig at The Examiner, you read it here first because Clint Reilly needs a headliner and Phil loves money.
*The Chronicle on Sunday: thinner and thinner.
*Saturday morning on KCBS Breaking News: only one or two WRONG sounders were played, sports instead of traffic, my God what a DISASTER.
**NOTE: 415MEDIA: is READER-SUPPORTED--PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TO SUPPORT THIS SITE. THANKS.
I think at this rate we're going to see Matier at the Pennysaver flyer next, under the coupons for the canned peaches.
ReplyDeleteChip Franklin , please move back to the East Coast ... ( too many privileged white guys here ) Ha , see you later !
ReplyDeleteAgree that Rothmann is not a drive time talent. His content is dense. He's great for a focused radio hour but not for flipping from segment to segment every 10 minutes. He's be great on a podcast. I guess he hasn't found a zoom box slot as a cable TV commentator based on his Israel/Jewish expertise because he's too dense, none of his words are wasted. He seems like his ass would always be very tight.
ReplyDeleteCurious why KGO management didn't simply replace the Franklin show with the Ramsey show, leaving John Rothmann from 6 - 9 pm. Ramsey would be better for the afternoon drive-time segment anyway. At that point ratings improvements would still be possible if they'd replace the 9 pm - 1 am Batchelor slot with a live/local talk host instead. Chris Merrill, albeit a little amateurish at this point, he would be a major step up the Bay Area progressive-leaning programming ladder from Batchelor. The Batchelor 9 pm - 1 am program remains KGO's biggest problem, as it causes a bouquet number of listeners to switch the channel at 9 pm to KCBS or KQED; it then may take 2-3 days before these listeners remember to switch back to KGO.
ReplyDeleteI'd wager Batchelor pulls in more listeners than the number that tune out because their feelings get hurt with real news outside the echo chamber.
DeleteBatchelor is the only thing I ever listen to on KGO. Outstanding interviewer, particularly with authors, and more knowledgeable on world events/politics than the rest of KGO's lineup combined.
DeleteI agree about Batchelor. Most informative program in the Bay Area by far and the only thing I listen to on KGO.
DeleteBatchelor is conservative, and althoug I'm mostly liberal, I at times enjoy his program. He covers a lot of international news that other hosts don't. I don't always agree with him and his guests, but be covers China and the protests in Hong Kong very well, Gordon Chang is very knowledgeable about China, and a lot of that is not left or right, just very factual.
DeleteIf kgo wanted a younger demo, rothmann is certainly not it..he does seem to have a group of older listeners/callers that will still follow him to the earlier time slot..yes,his weakness is trying to sound hip or cool,he cant pull it off,and he makes bad jokes and puns..another thing,finally 86 the sappy opening theme song please
ReplyDeletePeople who grew up in the 50's and 60's grew up with AM radio. People who grew up in the 70's grew up with a mix of AM and FM stations. People who grew up later than that had no reason to listen to AM, so they (with limited exceptions) never developed the habit of switching to the AM band, whether to consume KGO, KNBR, KCBS or anyone else. Millennials never listen at all to AM, Gen Z doesn't seem to turn on a radio period, unless stuck in a car with zero other options. You gotta get real. KGO can have old people listeners, or no listeners. And the quality of AM sound, with all the electronic interference, is killing the band for any remaining listeners. It is not a promising situation. Lipstick on a pig is a waste, but on a dead pig?
DeleteBay area radio is god awful. Ive given up trying to find anything even resembling mediocre. Bottom of the barrell talent and the same old tired forumlas. Feels like theyre stuck in the early 2000's minus the good talent and creativity. Thank good for spotify and youtube
ReplyDeleteGet an internet radio or use a radio app such as TuneIn. There is very good radio in other cities.
DeleteIs Chip hanging out with Frank Somerville??
ReplyDeleteToo bad the owners of the Cloud Clowns will never be fiscally punished for ignoring listeners and regions on such a frequent basis.
ReplyDeleteToo bad readers and other citizens can't come together as one to expose and stand up to disgraceful businesses like this. Smh
"expose and standup up to disgraceful businesses like this"?? IF you don't like a radio station, don't listen..It's pretty simple. No station owner is required to program what you like. It was a marvelous fluke when the legendary KGO had great programming for decades, in great measure due to Mickey Luckoff. Everything changes.
DeleteIs there any difference between KRON and KGO AM? Both are has beens with rich history and influence.
ReplyDeleteWhen tiny right wing radio station KSCO in Santa Cruz is more entertaining than KGO you know the mighty have fallen hard.
ReplyDeleteRich, you're spot on with your KGO radio analysis . Looks like they will be operating on a shoestring and only the low paid hosts will be kept on. It's also sad that they didn't give Franklin the chance to say goodbye.
ReplyDeleteHere's the deal that any grownup broadcaster should understand before getting their "feelers" hurt. You never get to say "goodbye". See if you can figure out why.
DeleteI'm sorry but, KNBR sucks now. I honestly felt KNBR hasn't been the same since Damon Bruce left.
ReplyDeleteKNBR is great for Giants and Niner games, and Marty Lurie during baseball season, but other than that, KNBR is not what it once was.
After Damon was exiled to Siberia (KTCT-1050 AM), KNBR's late night show was fine with Ray Woodson. Other "talents" (e.g., Eric Byrnes, Drew Hoffar and Kevin Frandsen, the shrill Ryan Covay, and nothing burger Mark Willard) were not so successful. Dieter and Kerry are showing promise. Even Adam Copeland would be interesting at night if he dials it down a notch.
DeleteI also wonder how much Gary Radnich not being at KNBR, has changed the station. Yeah, it was time for Gary to retire, but looking back now that he's been retired for over 2 yrs now, he really did help bring stability to KNBR. He was also kind of a throwback to how the station used to be and how sports media was back in the day, even though sports media is different now.
ReplyDeleteSometimes every now and then I think to myself, what would Gary Radnich say about the Niners or the Warriors or the Giants currently? Never thought I would do that, as I agreed with him retiring when he did. Maybe Gary retiring/somewhat being forced to retire might not have been the best thing for KNBR.
One of the things that make sports radio fun is to complain about your favorite team when things go wrong - that is why the East Coast version is just more entertaining. KNBR's problem is that they are so beholden to the Giants and Niners that they can never say a bad word about them. You end up getting an insincere conversation that is not worth listening to.
ReplyDeleteBingo!
Delete1:47 pm (12.5) says :"the quality of AM sound, with all the electronic interference, is killing the band"
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good point. KGO's signal, even at 50K watts, doesn't seem to be strong enough to compete with the electronic interference generated by home LED's and compact florescent light fixtures. Don't believe its the light fixtures? Try turning all those off in your house as an experiment, I expect you'll get clear AM reception then. AM radio station owners should lobby gov't officials for better EM emissions standards from the lighting companies, and/or come up with some other sort of technical work-a-round for this electronic interference problem.
Those were my comments (12/5 1:47). 2:25pm is exactly right about LED lights and CFL's. Also your digital TVs, computers, tablets. Routers can be a big offender. If anyone wants proof of concept, find an old battery-operated portable AM or AM-FM radio and walk around your house. The closer you get to any of these devices, the louder the buzz will be on the radio. And conversely, as you move away from the offender, the noise will drop off quickly. This isn't the forum to get into Engineering 101 about why this is, but anyone with one of these portable radios and ten minutes to spare can experience it for themselves. Another offender is the dimmer you have in place of a simple on-off switch, whether built into a wall or in a torch lamp. Those guys can radiate buzz like mad. Oh, one other thing: don't forget that some of this interference can come from your neighbors, it doesn't even need to be in your own home, and apartment dwellers can have it even worse from the adjacent apartments.
DeleteI enjoyed listening to Chip Franklin, since he's gone I'm back to listening to Sirius XM. I don't waste my time with right wing content. Cumulus is a dinosaur.
ReplyDeleteChristine Craft is correct on all counts. Everything does change, and sometimes it ain't great, and sometimes it is. Only when an announcer leave's with the station "blessing" do listeners know. THe rest of us just disappear.
ReplyDeleteRich- Many thanks for your excellent and informative post. I know of nowhere else one can find this reporting. i also agree with all of the points you make, particularly KNBR. I would only add that the talkers on KNBR sound like they're on stimulants. I esp love it when all three talk at once, which happens often. ron
ReplyDeleteSimple math. The sales whores can't sell airtime, so they bring in Dave ''Super Christian/Super Hypocrite'' Ramsey so he can pet people on the head for handling THEIR finances the way HE wants them to. The show, like most syndicated ones, come pre-loaded with commercials, and it costs the station NOTHING to run the show, whether or not there are any actual listeners. What's next for KGO, 'The Best of Rush'' re-runs? Sad broadcast times for Baghdad by the Bay.
ReplyDeleteIt began when Ray Taliafaro left
ReplyDeleteAM 860 is THE ANSWER
ReplyDeleteChip Franklin was never a good fit for the sophisticated Bay Area market. It wasn't the money, but the ratings and the image.
ReplyDeleteThese changes are all super-sad. I have loved KGO for decades, even with it's ups and downs. Not a fan of Chris, so I'm glad he didn't get Chip's spot, but the new line-up isn't working. Wrong dynamics. Ron Owens was the super-star for me. Those were the days! I hope Mark Thompson stays....he is great with the young and the old. Thanks for this insight.
ReplyDeleteJohn Bachelor was canceled over here, years ago.
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't been heard in the Fresno/Merced corridor since the 2000s
Take a step back and remember the talk show hosts in 2006. KGO was #1 and had been for years. Cumulus absolutely ruined the station. They haven't learned yet, bull headed morons applauding their shenanigans.
Delete