Most of the KGO hosts who expressed "shock" (except one) were caught off guard even though the format change was in full plan mode. Cumulus execs wanted to change course in Sept. but held out for an October launch to get the process better traction --the irony? KGO saw a modest uptick in ratings but that didn't sway the Cumulus bosses.
*Kevin Graham, the current KNBR PD and now in charge of the KGO mush, was quoted by a trade as expressing the new format would be "aggressive and enlightening"--for who, Kev? You and your ego, maybe the gaming people who have a frequency to play with for a few months? Graham, a Texas guy who is part of the Cumulus middle-aged white guy exec mob, knows zero about Bay Area pedigree.
*Great, an area steeped in political news and progressive ideas has no talk shows -no local talk shows and I'm not counting KQED because its an NPR station and tends to offer no opposing viewpoints; KCBS doesn't do talk but given its current news decline and meltdown, should consider a midday, public-affairs program with calls and host.
*An historic, important mid-term election is a few weeks away and no talk shows. Depressing and unpatriotic.
*Next week, Cumulus execs from LA will visit SF and talk to a few execs--those of you that think KNBR is not on the betting-sports radar should think again. KNBR's talk hosts are not ratings nirvana; they don't drive the station; the 49ers do, and to a lesser extent, the Giants. Cumulus could shed a few million of costs by eliminating the talk shows on KNBR. And it could happen any day now, don't be shocked.
*I've said it a gazillion times: Cumulus is not a radio broadcast company. It's a lousy business owned by a hedge fund with penny stock. It couldn't lead a hooker to a bachelor party let alone run radio stations so please, spare me the sob stories, I've been chronicling these clowns for over a decade. They suck? Of course they do but what were you expecting, schmucks will be schmucks and that is Cumulus.
*The same company, Ronn Owens said in 2011 would be "exciting and groundbreaking", yeah, Ronn, bet on it.
*Dear Mark Thompson, the next time you have a gripe with me, don't contact a former KGO host and get them involved in our drama, contact me directly since you seem to have some issues with moi, Marko, and tell it to my face.
****
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ReplyDeleteThat had me on the floor laughing. I think the hookers will find out it's Cumulus and deny services - they want to get paid too!
DeleteCumulus couldn’t sell pussy on a troopship
DeleteMany of the folks on the troopships are now pussies.
DeleteAs stated on other posts I'm not a sports fan. So don't know what sports fan consider a good show. I turned in to 810 a few times for a few minutes yesterday. Once when I turned in they were doing what sound like betting, it sounded awful, boring a lot screaming, do serious sports fan really listen to garbage like that? I agree with Rich, with the upcoming election there is a huge void. I'm already missing Mark Thompson this morning, on Tuesdays he usually had David Cay Johnson on who had some really good insites. David Cay Johnson does have a website so I guess I will check that out.
ReplyDeleteMany have suggested streaming, but the problem is often listen to KGO while doing stuff on the computer. I have to see if there is a way to hear the radio, while still going to other sites.
Get rid of the sports talk shows? Eliminate the idiotic show hosts from KNBR? Let's do it. They add NOTHING. The programming has been so useless for so long. Only the KNBR zombies would be missing anything. They can go back to their cell phones and play Candy Crush or whatever the brain dead game of the day is...
ReplyDelete10:06 Eliminate sports talk shows?? Hell, I'd rather listen to sports talk than political talk....or issue-oriented talk shows.
DeleteI gave up listening to KNBR and KGO looong ago...before the suckage started...and instead switched to the national sports and news/political talk shows. Better people...better topics...and better guests.
You understand that KQED-FM would be well advised to give John Rothmann ample prime airtime to benefit immensely from his astute and insightful political commentary, thought-provoking interviews with newsmakers and politicians, as well as taking phone calls from listeners.
ReplyDeleteRothmann is a dork plus KQED-FM has no opinions other than what the government tells them to have because they are government funded.
DeleteKQED does not program based on anything any government tells them.Their focus is fact based, not opinion based. Therefore talk shows that preach political opinion of any sort wouldn't fly.
Delete"Most of the KGO hosts who expressed "shock" (except one) were caught off guard even though the format change was in full plan mode"
ReplyDeleteYou mean to tell us that the same people that were spewing their opinions and divisiveness daily on KGO didn't even have the awareness or just plain common sense to know what was going on with their very own station/employer? Now that is funny. And people take their misguided opinions and rhetoric as gospel. Morons.
11 a.m. You are a moron. Talk shows are about opinions. Didn't Rush have opinions, what about Michael Savage (love or hate him he had STRONG opinions) Hannity and Mark Levin ALL have opinions. Rush and Michale spread divisiveness, so you can't tell me that was the problem. The old KGO had opinions, Gene Burns and Bernie had strong opinions. The old KGO made money. the new format failed, because Cumulus made too many changes, and failed to put money where it was needed. It had nothing to do with opinions.
Delete12:07 you are in fact the moron for missing the point. He said how fucking stupid are they (2 of 3) to not realize wtf was going on. We all saw it. Rich saw it and wrote about it constantly. Even Stevie Wonder saw the writing on the wall.
DeleteThe post at 11 a.m. tied the phrase moron to the hosts being opiniated. If you read the post Rich posted after talking to Pat, she does say she was not surprised. Even if they knew or had an inkling they would not broadcast and what did you expect them to do? Go on the radio and saying we are on a sinking ship. Getting another radio job is not like getting another retail job or similar, the possibilities are few, so they stayed and did the best the could for as long as possible, and I'm grateful for that. From what I hear neither Pat nor John need the money desperately, Mark seems to be doing a few different things so he will probably be all right. Not sure about Nike, Kim or Clark Reid.
DeleteMy question is, just how many sports oriented stations do these guys (Cumulus) think the Bay Area can support. Like others have said, this is an average at best sports town/area. We now have KNBR, The Spread (don't make me barf), The Game, and maybe one I missed. As you (Rich) stated, The Spread will just dilute KNBR's ratings. There are in direct competition with one another. There is definitely better potential for a progressive talk station done right. Look, KQED is #1 in the area. KCBS, the all boring, all the time, news station is #2. You can't tell me that a vibrant talk station with a solid news dept. (like the KGO of old) couldn't snug in to at least a third or fourth place spot in the ratings. KGO failed because of death of thousand cuts (money and personnel). You can't say it really got a fair chance, as it was planned to fail by Cumulus execs. KFBK Newstalk in Sacramento is #1 in ratings and KFI Newstalk in LA is #4. The concept still works in todays world, when done right. Someone with big bucks has got to step up and take the chance.
ReplyDeleteI can't get the lyrics of that one Elton John song out of my head after seeing him in Santa Clara a few days ago.
ReplyDelete"Say, Pat and John. Have you seen them yet?
Ooh, but they're so spaced out
N-N-N-Nikki and the Chimp
Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh, Nikki. She's really keen
She's got electric boots, a mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine, oh
N-N-N-Nikki and the Chimppppp"
Very creative! I sang along!
DeleteYou're starting to sound like that torn and frayed Pat Thurston with your tired "middle aged white guy" bullshit
ReplyDeleteWouldn't the logical thing have been to make KNBR a sports betting station that also hosts the 49ers and the Giants?? With maybe a special pre-game and post-game local show for both teams?? And to have kept KGO as the community based talk show format as it was?? I guess I'm being logical and like you've intimated Cumulus is not even in the ballpark of reason in that regard. The suits ruin everything!!
ReplyDeleteSucks...Because KNBR's sports talk is played out. Used to listen back in the day with The Razor (Ralph Barbieri...RIP) and Mr T. Tom Tolbert. That was when the station was in it's prime and right before they continued to ride the wave of success with the Giants successful World Series runs. Tolbert is still there with whatever dolt they're able pull out of the washroom to co-host with him. Where they talk about everything manly and ridiculous and sports is often an afterthought these days. Yawnzilla. The show is a shell of itself in it's best years when Tolbert and especially Barbieri knew how to do talk radio. Those days are gone. And Twitter has sort of taken over as the Town Square for everything. Silicon Valley killed the radio star. So, they indeed should be worried over there at KNBR.
Sidenote: George Noory's syndicated program is gone from the local market with KGO as well. Used to tune in every once in a while on those sleepless nights. Where else could you learn about space aliens, Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedy assasination ad nauseam. And hear right wing dolts like John Curtis foam at the mouth about how Joe Biden is responsible for all the wrong in the world. All while suffering through ads from Noory about how NewsMax is the most reliable source for news that America needs. Classic stuff...in a weird hydroplaning black hole universe sort of way. :-/
Tolbert is the Ed McMahon of talk radio, never could carry a show
DeleteIf you're North of the Bay Bridge you can probably pick up George Snoory on KSRO (1350) at 10 pm. They also run a 25 year old tape of Art Bell on Saturday at 6 pm (unless pre-empted by a football game.
DeleteAlso turning KNBR into a sports gambling outlet with no local talk makes no sense. KNBR isn't drowning in red ink like KGO was. The whole point of the new "The Spread 810" is that most of the "programming" is paid. Why would the gambling interests want to pay to program on two different stations in the same market that are very close to each other? And this almost certainly would cannibalize what they are trying to do on KGO. So I would be more than shocked if they did the same thing to KNBR.
ReplyDeleteLast night @ 10p KNBR and KGO were playing the same syndicated sports show. I assume that will happen each night. What a cluster.
ReplyDeleteI think it did die a 2nd time. Sigh. Perhaps it is best if cultural institutions fade away rather than just get shut down.... mayhap? Thanks to them All. 35 years - Adieu.
ReplyDeleteAny idea if any of the KGO staff or on-air personalities got more than a 2 weeks severance package. Anyone on longer term contracts that will need to paid. Or was everyone week to week.
ReplyDeleteLastly, during the day and early evening weekdays, what was the size of a typical audience...in numbers, not ratings.
Meaning 5,000...or 15,000 in the audience at any given moment.
Seems I remember back in the 80's mid morning and afternoon shows they might have 40,000 or 60,000 listeners (including all those car radios)
Any ballpark estimates from the past or more recently?
Can't speak to KGO's day-time hosts, but I expect KGO's evening shows of yesteryear, Gene Burns, Bernie Ward, John Rothmann, &Ray T, I be surprised if there were fewer than 100,000 listeners to any of the 7 pm to 2 am weeknight segments.
DeleteWhat a waste of air both KNBR and The Spread both air CBSSportstalk at the same time latenights.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I'm wondering is this: what will we do now if there is a natural disaster? In the past, we could use battery-powered radios to tune into KGO for information. This is what we did after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. But now, with local radio pretty much dead, where will we tune in when we have a massive power outage due to a natural disaster and all we have is battery-powered radios? In a situation like that, we really need a LOCAL station to give us information on a LOCAL level. It's scary to think that we won't have that in the future.
ReplyDeleteKCBS should be able to give out information and handle it.
DeleteKCBS will be able to give you up to date news, but they don't take calls, the calls from listeners was what made KGO like a family. KCBS could add some talk show to their format. Back then KGO had high rating the had the morning news, 3 or 4 hours, the noon news 1 hour I believe and news from 4 to 7 p.m. KCBS would be more interesting if the had talk from noon to 4 p.m. and then 7 to 10 p.m. perhaps even a few hours after 10 as well. The news on KCBS gets repeated all the time, why not mix it up and make it more interesting, I think they would do well with John, Pat and Kim McAllister.
DeleteKNBR is a sinking ship. They peaked during the Giants World Series runs and have been in gradual decline ever since. But now the tables have turned. KNBR chose to stand still and stick with the same stale programming and same washed up blabber mouths, while 95.7 delivered fresh perspectives and an entertaining product.
ReplyDeleteWhile “The Spread” will eventually flop hard, in the meantime they’ll steal a audience share from KNBR more so than from the Game. This will further accelerate KNBR’s decline.
But hey, at least they still have Carmen Kiew, Marty Lurie, and FP “creepy dude” Santangelo.
You forgot to add Murph to that list, Mr. Ass-kiss extraordinaire.
DeleteRich, KCBS has far higher ratings than talk-radio KGO had in its final years. Why should KCBS take your advice and give over some of its time to the talk format that failed so spectacularly at KGO? If KCBS wants to give more space to local election coverage, they should simply expand the time allotted to their star analyst - Phil Matier. Currently his segments are way too short.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I tuned through both the AM & FM dials, SF Bay Area, didn't find anything worth listening to other than KQED and KCBS. But neither have much in the way of progressive-leaning talk. It appears podcasts are my only option for that. So wondering, Rich, and anyone else out there in the know, any recommendations for good podcasts? I've heard reference to "Tom Hartmann", but don't see any way to access the mp3 files via his webpage.
ReplyDeleteYou can access Tom H. directly via YouTube.com or FreeSpeechNews.com on your browser. He is on from 9 am Pacific to 12 noon, Monday thru Friday...
DeleteI'm guessing Cumulus wants KNBR to do the play-by-play while KGO will focus on mid-game bets so half-drunk ppl will be tempted to chase bad bets with good money.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes no sense to me is why ppl would want to listen to two AM stations at once & also juggle a phone. Seems like a smartphone app with the KNBR game stream and substitute ads about ongoing betting is all that is nec. So my bet is that "The Spread" fails unless it also goes bust and it sells links to live porn.
The good news is that should KGO again fail, all that Cumulus will have to market is a powerhouse spot on the dial. Perhaps at that point, a white knight will appear, buy KGO, & set up the station using hourly network news and live "at home" podcasts. I would suggest said station follows a modified PBS model, raising revenue both by selling ads and by asking for donations.
A lot of us would pay good money monthly to have some semblance of KGO return both to streaming and over-the-air. I'm sure John Rothmann would do it if someone would set up the technical aspects for him. Unfortunately, Pat Thurston will probably say she can't afford to spend time podcasting because she needs as much money as possible to put her triplets through college.
It is Pat and her guests that I will miss the most. Mark Thompson I expect will be resuming his own podcasts regardless. Keep Googleing for such podcasts just in case Rich doesn't get the scoop.
Thurston had an annoying screechy cackle. Nails on a chalk board. She sounded like a child. Good riddance!
DeleteHave you ever been in a Suds House having a beer after work on Friday and you are seated near 2 soused fools jawjacking about nothing in particular, and following the drunk rabbit down the chatter hole? That is exactly what KNBR hosts sound like. “Who’s better? Verlander or Kershaw?” Gud-Kriced, this passes for Sports Talk? Fire the entire crew and play re-runs of Mr Ono, it would be funnier, more educational, and less non-sensical.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Cumulus wants KNBR to do the play-by-play while KGO will focus on mid-game bets so half-drunk ppl will be tempted to chase bad bets with good money.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes no sense to me is why ppl would want to listen to two AM stations at once & also juggle a phone. Seems like a smartphone app with the KNBR game stream and substitute ads about ongoing betting is all that is nec. So my bet is that "The Spread" fails unless it also goes bust and it sells links to live porn.
The good news is that should KGO again fail, all that Cumulus will have to market is a powerhouse spot on the dial. Perhaps at that point, a white knight will appear, buy KGO, & set up the station using hourly network news and live "at home" podcasts. I would suggest said station follows a modified PBS model, raising revenue both by selling ads and by asking for donations.
A lot of us would pay good money monthly to have some semblance of KGO return both to streaming and over-the-air. I'm sure John Rothmann would do it if someone would set up the technical aspects for him. Unfortunately, Pat Thurston will probably say she can't afford to spend time podcasting because she needs as much money as possible to put her triplets through college.
It is Pat and her guests that I will miss the most. Mark Thompson I expect will be resuming his own podcasts regardless. Keep Googling for such podcasts just in case Rich doesn't get the scoop.
It looks like some of the KGO hosts might develop a YouTube show. I know Thom Hartmann , the progressive broadcaster out of Oregon, streams over YouTube. I could see it as a viable platform for Mark, Nikki, Pat and John.
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth is a company like Cumulus, that obviously has ZERO interest in serving the community allowed to own KGO and KNBR in San Francisco, one of the largest markets in America. And then allowed to turn a top radio station into a sports gambling station. The last I checked, sports betting is totally ILLEGAL in California. Where the f@ckity f@ck is the FCC on this? Hello?! Anybody home?
ReplyDeleteThe FCC left the building decades ago.
DeleteWhat I can't figure out is how Brett Burkhart survived three purges at KGO, then left the Titanic before it hit the iceberg?
ReplyDeleteThe new format is known as "wager-tainment".
ReplyDeletei like mark, but when he interviewed boudin, he showed why you have to have a local host do local talk radio. he has no skin in the game and allowed chesa to lie to his face.
ReplyDeletethe writing was on the wall when they fired chip, moved john to drive time and went with crappy right wing and then conspiracy syndicated shows at night.
and to those cheering on that ksfo right wing talk still exists so that proves right wing talk rules...go look at ksfo ratings.
cumulus doesnt care because all the shows are free and they only need a monkey to push a button to play the few local ads that they have.
At least we dont have to endure 20 mins of reintroductions of his 2hr staff, "why dont u text it", new-Albert & dreadful marks madness. His highs didnt equal the show's lows
DeleteWhat if Luckoff had foresite to have obtained an FM signal under his direction and "try" to find a few talented younger people who could freshen up the station, might not have gotten to this point had they had better ratings.
ReplyDeleteThe only question is: how long before "The Spread" turns into "The Flop" ? It's going to fail. Everybody knows it.
ReplyDeleteAs a one time long term employee of KGO/KSFO from Cap Cities to Cumulus here are my thoughts. Cumulus is teetering on the edge of a 2nd Bankruptcy, so Killing KGO makes since. You wipe out the payroll of union employees. Sure there is severance, but you are DONE beyond that, I think...Don't know for sure, but there is even some Tax Advantage for the Corporation. The severance will be what SAG/AFTRA negotiated in their staff agreements, I don't think anyone had a PSC, Personal service Contract, most of them were under the STAFF or Freelance agreements...this time they even blew out the Board Ops, which says they can automate this thing...NO PEOPLE...NO COSTS. I have a feeling they are also getting PAID to carry some or all of this programing...much like the infomercials that ran on the weekend...They are renting the space. Even without Good Ad Sales, this mess could still make them money because it is NOT costing them much to run, in which case the ratings don't really matter. Ask any religious station about that business model. "Here is my tape and my check" BTW not sure Hedge Funds own the stations/corporation, It is held by a large group of Investment Banks, The last 3 years or so of this Station were so lame, I am surprised they did not do this a year ago. I loved the people who claimed it was rising in the ratings...four months ago they were at .09 in the ratings...there sister station KSFO was beating them, ALL AUTOMATED. Time to put KGO to sleep PEOPLE it is a "DEAD THING"
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how a company teetering on bankruptcy can afford to pay Mark Thompson, who has pathetically low ratings, over $300,000... Something is fishy.
DeleteI recently traveled to Santa Fe, NM (what an awesome town!) for a wedding. I spent the last night in Albuquerque--about an hour south, and where there is a Cumulus "50,000-watt flamethrower" type of news/talk station. I had some time to kill, so I stopped by just to say "hi" and see what a non-SF Cumulus station looked like. Well, lemme tell ya: Nice building, nice location....and only 4 people on the entire floor! And Cumulus owns about a half-dozen stations in New Mexico. On my flight home, I started envisioning that I just saw the future of SF/Bay Area radio. (Oh yeah, that NM Cumulus news show is very pro-Trump. Every time I tuned in, it seems the local guys were bashing their woman Democrat governor.)
ReplyDeleteI worked at the top-40 station there in SF in the early '70s. Pay was just above minimum wage. Radio has always paid poorly for on-air ppl but sales ppl drive nice cars. Idaho, Cal, Utah & Colo were no diff
DeletePlease just stop this trash talk. People lost jobs and you’re trying to profit off their loss and beg for donations.
ReplyDeleteIgnore the haters and naysayers.
DeleteKeep up the great reporting, Rich!
Let’s put this into perspective:
Deletea bunch of narcissistic ass kissers who’ve been severely overpaid to sit there and listen to themselves talk have now lost their jobs.
Cry me a river.
You are such a compassionante person. First off all very few of the hosts were overpaid, since Cumulus kept cutting and asking more and more of them. Who's ass were the kissing? Most didn't listen to themselves talk they took call. Do you feel the same about Sean Hannity, who definitely is overpaid, and what about Mark Levin. Anytime someone loses a job it would be nice if you could have a little compassion. Besides that, a lot of us lost a radio station we like to listen to, and that kept us informed and entertained throughout the day. You the one sounded like a narcissist, can't envision that lots of us like to listen to KGO even if it was not your cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteCBS Sportstalk 810
ReplyDeleteWhy should anyone be compassionate about somebody being fired? That’s what happens when you work in broadcasting. There is no security. But as far as what has happened over the last 15 years with deregulation,( pushed enthusiastically by the GOP back in the early 1990s,) people are now fired for more than just not getting along with their bosses or not doing a good job on the air. Their jobs are eliminated by these mega-media companies to save a few bucks. I don’t listen to sports, but when I’ve tuned in the KNBR I hear nothing but noise and nonsense. Junk food for the mind.. Kgo Radio News was almost immediately downgraded as soon as Cumulus took over. They’re a bunch of jackals who should be run out of the business. And Mark Thompson is totally clueless. He knew this final purge was coming, but he was wearing blinders. Sad state of affairs but radio is virtually Dead in the Bay Area with the exception of KQED public radio and maybe KCBS, although as Rich points up, it is almost to the edge of the cliff.
ReplyDelete