Sometime in the next few weeks; probably the middle of July in a downtown hotel near the Embarcadero, two senior executives from Cumulus will meet and go over, in detail, a model they see as a "last-ditch" business plan to keep KGO Radio afloat and relevant. Or at least, what in their mind, is relevant. If the two execs have it their way, theoretically, the idea is to clear the air, maintain some degree of civility at the besieged AM 810 outpost, and finally, allow current staff people to breath a little and not have to worry about what lies ahead in the immediate future and down the road. Perhaps Cumulus, YOU should look in the mirror.The two execs, believed to be both John and Lew Dickey, who effectively run the company, have made it clear that they're both unhappy with KGO's performance and that the constant uncertainty that the station has been operating under, will have to cease immediately.
John Dickey himself was in the Bay Area recently meeting with KGO management --staff too, saying in no vague terms that "if you can't make this go in the next few months, we're done!" Maybe he was referring to Cumulus stock, whatever the case, and however dubious and ridiculous it may have come across, it was direct and left no vagaries.
The upcoming meeting later in July, (which I was tipped to) will involve both Dickey brothers taking inventory on KGO and its weak performance. The latest ratings have KGO in a most precipitous ratings free fall; a mother of all dire-straits that shows no signs of improvement; a situation that has the station's staff on emotional egg shells --and all of this at a time when KGO is in the middle of union negotiations with Cumulus.
"We haven't had a decent raise in years, " said a longtime news reporter. "And they (management) offered up a package that was frankly, embarrassing and unbecoming." From Cumulus? Gees, and here I thought they were just like Levi Strauss!
The next month or two could be, as Arte Johnson says, veeeery interesting.
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