Larry Krueger, one of the two tossed sports talk-radio hosts from KNBR, has already, (through his agent) reached out to 95.7 FM, "The Game."
Through the years, when I talked to Krueger, he often flirted with 95.7. They offered him a gig a few years ago but he decided to remain at KNBR. Probably used it as leverage to get a raise. Now, looks like he will try his best to hook up with Entercom's SF FM sports outlet. Or maybe not, as I speculated The Game itself has NO RATINGS and very little money. Their new line-up has resulted in no traction and Krueger's possible manuver would be a surprise transaction but nothing is impossible.
*Something that cushioned their eventual demise: the "TKB" guys, Krueger/Brooks themselves knew their end was coming because their own ratings were lousy and in the down arrow. Plus, both Krueger and Brooks's contracts were just about up. Timing is everythng. And they sort of knew their own time was up.
*KNBR won't touch Greg Papa and imbecile, John Lund. In the breakdowns (non PPM) ratings on that show, (10-2 PM) had strong numbers in the all-important A25-54 demo. Of course, Lund had zero to do with it which is why he kisses Pop's tuchas so much. Papa is the reason why John Lund eats.
*If both KGO and Cumulus were smart, John Rothmann would broadcast 7- Midnight. It would allow him to go all in on one particular subject and engage with callers without commercials and a PM drive clock. That will not happen as KGO has no money and simply threw Rothmann in to a slot that is not condusive to talk and engage with solo topics, like the current Ukraine-Russia war.
Too bad, because a monumental story like this deserves more time and not interupted ad nauseum, as it is now with Rothmann having to stop and adjust to a clock. Rothmann himself has said much the same.
*The alleged all-news radio station here thinks by sending some doofus to interview a clown at the Sonoma town square that it's covering Ukraine...the dreaded local angle. So tired, so lousy, so amateur too.
*I have tried to listen to The Bone' (107.7 FM)s "Lamont and Tonelli." It's not that great, not that bad. Which is why I get people telling me how awesome the guys are and how wonderful a show they do. I'm like, OK, whatever. Maybe I'll try to do some expansive listening.
Rich - how much do these sports talk show guys make? Was Krueg and Brooks making $150k/yr? $200k?
ReplyDeleteYes, in that vicinity--good guess. But nowadays, that's nowhere to be found which is why they're both goners from KNBR.
DeleteI think it was Ryan Covay who mentioned several years ago that when he was working at KNBR as a producer and fill-in talk show host, he was making minimum wage.
DeleteRyan Covay is a hack
Delete@12:05- Ryan Covay is good. He is still missed on 95.7.... I think the only thing that he did that was a little much was talk about his dog. Yes, people love their dogs I get that, but at times he was kind of cringe with the way he would talk about his dog.
DeleteLamont and Tonelli were huge in the 90's. Surprised they're still around.
ReplyDeleteDo they still get women to whip out their tits all over the Bay on "Ta Ta Tuesdays"?
Whoa, Lamont and Tonelli were/are doing that? Sounds like they're the Bay Area version of Howard Stern (getting women to get naked on the air. LOL).
DeleteL&T are okay, now that they are the only show in town and most of the stuff they play are re-runs due to legal reasons. When they were competing with KOME 98.5 and KSJO 92.3 they were continually getting stomped in the ratings. There show now is old and stale just like the rest of FM radio, playing the same crap from 50 years ago.
DeleteSounds similar to Tom Leykis's "Flash Fridays," where he'd get women to flash people in their cars during the Friday rush hour.
DeleteLamont & Tonelli are OK. Alex Bennet was the King of FM morning rock radio shows.
ReplyDeleteLamont and Tonelli were solid when they were on 92.3 KSJO. They used to have Rug Munching Monday -- you can read into that. Dirty Friday had no holes barred. Do A Favor Thursday pushed some envelopes. But now, they're part of that corporate bullshit. No more fun. It's not their fault. It's those owners. They don't reek, sting and burn as much as they used to. Thanks Cumulus.
DeleteI was a fan of Blazy and Bob on KOME back in the day.
DeleteThat was some politically correct stuff that L & T did back in the day. I remember they interviewed some Arab guy named Sully who worked at some random 7-11 store to get his view on the newly started Iraq Gulf War. Sully ended up taking a regular, sorta hosting role on the show as i recall. I wonder what ever happened to him? Might be a good assignment for Rich??
DeleteSully left a few years ago due to health issues.
DeleteIt's more like, Lamont and Chasta featuring Tonelli.
DeleteCopeland maybe worth a try with Tolbert , I do agree " Brooks " will have a hard time recovering...
ReplyDeleteKrueger would be great on Sirius XM NFL channel...don't know how well the numbers would crunch but he would be an asset.
ReplyDeleteRich, John Rothmann broadcasting from 7 to Midnight would be a great idea. He's on too early for me.
ReplyDeleteBring back the old KFOG or KMPX from back in the day...
Correct me if I'm wrong Rich, but I believe a few years back you wrote that Tom was making 300k a year and he wasn't happy. It would have been easier to cut him loose and keep the other two.
ReplyDeleteNo, because Tom drives the car. The other two are basically crumbs. I'm not necessarily a Tolbert guy --I'm just giving you the real deal.
ReplyDeleteRich I agree. If KGO 810 was wise and smart having him do 7pm-Midnight would definitely fill a programming void monday-friday...
ReplyDeleteRadio listening drops off a cliff at 7pm. Cumulus is not going to pay anyone for live and local when they already own Jim Bohannon’s show. They need someone 4-7pm and John fits the budget.
DeleteRothmann was on from 6 to 9 for several years up until this past December, when they moved him to drive time. I'm pretty sure that the majority of his listeners liked him better in the 6 to 9 time slot. Maybe radio listening generally drops off after 7, but it's different when John Rothmann is on. I don't know anyone who listens to the stuff they have on after 7 now. I understand that it was a budget thing, but it lost a lot of listeners who previously listened every night until 9. I, for one, turn off my radio at 7 now.
Deletewho is the brain-dead idiot at KTVU who decided to broadcast the Chinese New Year parade NOT when it was happening last week, but tonight in delay??? Talk about anti-climactic. Mind boggling. Face it, it's not all that exciting to begin with, which cries out for the vitality of LIVE to compensate for the fairly staid content.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was shocked the Chinese New Year parade wasn't show live last week. Not sure who's decision it was to show it tonight instead of last Saturday.... Not sure if the Olympics had something to do with that as last weekend was the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
DeleteWas that narcissist Ben Fong Torres one of the hosts? No body misses his self-serving Radio Waves dribble in the Sunday Pink section. His column is like the radio biz. Dead.
DeleteRatto better watch his mangy back. If the Game can swap him out for Krueger, that would be a major upgrade. His cynical, cliched, I-hate-everything act was tired from the start.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I would definitely take Krueger over Ratto on Damon's show. Plus I think Damon and Krueger have chemistry from when they worked together doing the Niners radio pregame show back in 2011 and I think 2012 too. Krueger could be an asset to Damon's show.
DeleteRatto, yeah, he can recall historical moments in sports and give you knowledge on sporting events and players from yesteryear, but him hating everything kills Damon's vibe for the show. I know it's his schtick, but half the time Ratto doesn't even want to be on the show. Five minutes into the show he's ready to go home for the day. It does get tiresome and you have to wonder at times how Damon can stand it.
I think it was last week that Ratto and Whitey were paired. Whitey tried to get Ratto's opinion on something, but Ratto overanalyzed the premise of the question and never answered it. What a buzzkill.
DeleteLund is alright, when it was Papa/Lund on the game, it was a great show.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately knbr has made them both nothing more than cheerleaders on 680
I agree, Papa and Lund was a much better show on 95.7 than it currently is on KNBR. They tried to bring back the same segments they had on 95.7 on KNBR such as the Caboose Pistol, but it's just not the same with their KNBR show.
DeleteShows how talented Gary Radnich was. KNBR been trash since he left. I'm black but I been cool of Rod Brooks for a looooong time.
ReplyDeleteyou know how pathetic gregi and johnny are, a few weeks back when the 49ers beat dallas, on that monday, not once, not twice, but three times they played highlights of papa's play by play set to the tune of dallas..its 4 hours of john lund putting his nose as far as he can to greg's buttocks..the cabose pistol, after three years, time to blow it all up..but john lund must be protected because greg would throw an all time hissy fit if they got rid of his "partner".. after lund left 95.7, he picked bonti hill to work with, which he later said he regretted..
ReplyDeletePapa seemed very dismissive of Bonta. Perhaps there was a lack of historical knowledge, but Papa could have corrected Bonta off the air.
Delete@11:01- I agree. Even though Bonta and Papa overall had a great show, Papa would sadly get on Bonta about stuff where like you said, he probably could've talked to Bonta off air or in their pre-show meetings.
DeleteI think for Bonta it was his first time that we knew of at the time, hosting a regular weekday show and hosting a show with Greg Papa is a different deal. Bonta was up to the task, but Greg Papa wants things a certain way and if it doesn't reach his standards, that person he works with might be replaced.
I think in this case, once Papa got the Niners job, it kind of made sense for him to move to KNBR, even though it looks like he wanted to reunite with Lund. It was messed up how he left without telling Bonta though. That's another thing they could've discussed off air, or maybe give Bonta a heads up he was leaving 95.7 for KNBR.
Copes and Crowley can drive am or pm.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of sports, can't remember who Ibanez dated for awhile, was it Leslie Griffith or Christine Craft?
ReplyDeleteI was struck by Rod Brooks' meanness as well. I always wondered if he got it from working with Fitz.
ReplyDeleteSame here. Rod never acted that way with Fitz. Kind of bizarre how he got on Krueger.
Delete