KNBR Talker Tom Tolbert Is Irate Over Station Promo That Insults His Athletic Prowess; Confronts PD/Opps Mgr Lee Hammer and Sales Dept; 415 Media Exclusive

  KNBR/TOLBERT PROMO FROM HELL!






Tom Tolbert

KNBR land has been universally swell and positive; the Warriors just won the NBA Championship and KNBR has been raking in millions and has another World Champion to add to its partnership--until now.


415 Media has been privy to a recent STATION PROMO: Apparently the great sales people at KNBR sold a new segment called {"Tolbert's Takes" } to a local Honda dealership which began sometime during the Warriors playoff run.  It was an easy sell because many advertisers wanted to take advantage of Tolbert's high profile and great relationship with the Warriors, which is understandable. After all, Tolbert is close to Head Coach Steve Kerr, his college buddy mate at Arizona.


What transpired next is the start of the problem. Station PD and Opps MGR, Lee Hammer and the sales people signed off on promo copy that read "...lets hear it from the guy who never got off the bench...Tom Tolbert!" (or something to that affect). A station source heard it once and was quite surprised.  It has since been changed, but of course KNBR has no accessible archive.


THE FIRESTORM BEGINS...Tolbert was completely insulted by the promo and immediately called Hammer to inquire as to what was going on.  Hammer, at first, completely denied knowing how something like this could happen, even though he personally signed off on it.  Rumor is he attempted to blame a part-time production staffer and not himself, or the sales people responsible for insulting the station's biggest name.  Imagine the head of the station blaming a low level employee for something he was responsible for?  If it weren't so serious and potentially devastating --involving the top station's TOP personality, it would be laughable. Only no one's laughing.

Rather than press the matter further, according to a 415 Media source, Tolbert decided to "let it go...because he just wants to come in and do radio.  But he was very upset."

Tolbert is very loyal and a good company man; it is rather surprising that something so juvenile, so arcane; something so important and potentially troublesome could be allowed to occur --yet occur it did, but moreover...

Sources tell me THIS is not the first time Tolbert has been insulted by Cumulus as the company told him last year he wouldn't be getting a raise, even though the station continues to be the only money maker for the entire SF cluster.  He was told "holding the line is this year's raise."    

Will heads roll? Will these clearly doofus sales people be fired?  Will Hammer, who is generally believed to be, at the very least, a competent if not occasionally clumsy, boss and manager, continue to remain untouched by such things?

I guess we'll have some idea of the answer if Cumulus starts running a 35th minute of commercial spots an hour asking the audience if they want a "great career in sales!" 

Better spot to run "Want to manage a station that practically runs itself?"

Lee Hammer

*Rich Lieberman 415 Media Exclusive

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KCBS Suits Not Entirely Thrilled That Willie Brown Did KGO Ronn Owens Show; Sussman In Line For Pay Cut; Happy KTVU; Roye And Tolbert Winning Radio Combo On Warriors PBP; Hot KGO Traffic Chick Only Dates 'Christian' Guys; Friday Notes; I'm Back

 WILLIE BROWN is regularly heard on KCBS every Friday morning during the AM news with Phil Matier of the Chronicle and KPIX.

It's about three minutes of political shop talk and SF/Sacramento/Washington nuggets.

Recently, Willie had a good one involving Hillary Clinton.

Cut to last Monday during the Ronn Owens show on KGO: Your guest, Willie Brown talking.

My CBS insiders said a few high suits had a hissy fit when they learned Brown did the Owens show although it's well known in SF media circles that Brown and Owens have been friends for over 30 years and in fact, Brown used to be Ronn's attorney.

Nonetheless, execs at 855 Battery were ticked off; the Chronicle could care less--they continue to bleed red ink. Another indication of budget mindedness? The Chron didn't send its own Cal beat writer down to cover the Bears-USC game in LA. Embarrassing. In the print edition, an AP-bylined story was used. Like I said, embarrassing.

FRIDAY ROUND-UP

*Brian Sussman and his dorky KSFO morning zoo bizarro is in for a surprise at the end of the year; "Suss" can expect a 50% pay cut which, given Cumulus' flat business situation, isn't surprising. He won't be the only one.

*Here's proof positive that the alleged FM sports station in town has a Program Director that doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Nice concept: Offend Hispanic community with show that nobody will listen to anyway, kind of like "The Game." He must have pictures.

*Take this with a grain of salt but from a good KTVU source, the natives are relatively happy since the Fox takeover. It's early of course.

*Best NBA play-by-play radio team hands down: Our illustrious Warriors tandem of Tim Roye and Tom Tolbert. Hard to believe they've only been together barley a year. Chemistry? Check. Knowledge? Check. Sense of humor? Check. Tolbert gets a little too giddy every now and then but he and Roye make the broadcast a pleasure to listen to. That would be good.

*A big thanks to all of you that contributed to this website --overwhelmed. By the way, it takes a helluva lot of time and energy to keep this running 24/7. Being that I'm the one-man show that writes, sells ads, makes sure the crappy tech elements are in place, yeah, it's nice to keep it going. Huzzah to all.

*That extremely hot and gorgeous traffic lady on KGO Radio in the afternoon, (she's also at KRON) is single. But she only dates very religious Christian guys--yeah, must be tens of thousands here. Good luck.

*Overused words/slogans that are a pain in the ass: haters, selfies, just sayin', I'll take my answer on the air, And, oh, by the way?.

*If you, like me, like something, enjoy reading someone like a columnist or writer, just because it's on the Internet, it's not against the law to pay to read that person's work. We've managed to create a new generation that thinks and believes that everything is FREE. Wonderful society.

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Tom Tolbert KNBR's MVP

 TOM TOLBERT is KNBR's MVP. I would not have said that a few years ago because as much as I liked his show I felt he lacked the luster to carry the show; in addition, his interviewing was subpar and the constant non-sports, pop culture, Arizona-infused chatter was a major irritant.

Times have changed. Tolbert is now relaxed, funny, candid, most importantly he knows his sports and he's become a terrific interviewer.

All the while Tolbert has cachet with several of the Bay Area sports community and therefore he's able to get the best guests and draw more personal info from jocks who might otherwise not want to divulge too much.

Furthermore, I like Tolbert's take-no-prisoners persona and hold-the-bullshit stance --it's a refreshing change from some of his other worker bees who hold court early in the day.

It would be nice if KNBR cut its commercial overload into four clusters as opposed to ten-minute blocks during the afternoon, (and mid-morning drive), but the Tolbert PM drive show is worth waiting for. I know, I can't believe I said that too.

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Glaser and ND Watkowski Weren't Chummy; Overworked/Exposed Cook May Have Been Impetus Behind De La Cruz KPIX Hire; Damon Bruce scores Guest Coup over KNBR's Tolbert; Thursday News and Notes

  So, from a number of KGO-TV staffers, Leigh Glaser, who's set to leave this Sunday after 23 years at 900 Front, wasn't a big fan of News Director, Tracey Watkowski... Supposedly, Watkowski is a control freak. That wasn't what accelerated Glaser's decision to leave; she was ready to split and wanted to be with her family.

On the other hand, the polarizing Watkowski, who's been monitoring weekend newscasts with a mounting urgency, was known to call into the assignment desks and producer's box and make a lot of rash inquiries, including talent. Watkowski wasn't going after Glaser directly but some of her busy bees may have passed on some notes. Weekend newscasts, particularly Sunday nights, generate some of the highest viewer numbers in the Bay Area and Channel 7 in particular. The good news for Watkowski is that given KGO's fairly solid numbers her status is safe but some veterans aren't thrilled with her mercurial style. Factoid: Glaser's sudden decision to leave was announced to the staff via an e-mail by Watkowski. Draw your own conclusion.

*Veronica De La Cruz is set to join KPIX in May and will work the 6 and 10 News. We told you that and made an inference about what may have led management to look for a "prominent hire." Turns out, according to my spies at PIX, Elizabeth Cook, who was almost the face of the operation working the 5, 6, and 11 newscast, seemed to be burning out. Cook is a capable news reader and proverbial "cutesy female anchor look" but PIX's early-evening numbers have been steadily down and just recently they have been getting killed by KGO. The De La Cruz hire is the first major move by PIX upper management. She came to the city via MSNBC and will work alongside Ken Bastida.

NEWS, NOTES, and COMMENTS: Score round one of the guest wars between KNBR and 95.7 FM, "The Game" to Damon Bruce. Bruce, who began his new show on Monday, had highlighted his first guest, retiring Cal basketball coach, Mike Montgomery. Only problem was KNBR's PM driver, Tom Tolbert, had also told listeners "we're trying to get in touch with 'Mike Montgomery...turns out Montgomery did his scheduled 10 minutes with Bruce and about 30 minutes later, went on the air with Tolbert. Kudos to Bruce and The Game which seems to be attracting the better guests and scored another coup by nailing down Giants MGR, Bruce Bochy on its morning show a few days earlier. The latter was especially embarrassing for KNBR considering Bochy was on the A's flagship station. Probably helped that one of the Game's AM drivers is ex-Giant, Aubrey Huff...A note about Bruce: only heard bits and pieces of his first show and while I've had my ups and downs with the new Game PM host, he's at least a breath of fresh air and more than an alternative to commercial spot-heavy, KNBR with 800 hours of commercials, traffic and sports updates. While KNBR's Tom Tolbert has the advantage of Giants/Warriors lead-ins and a better signal and 50K-watts, Bruce's edgy repertoire will sway a few listeners over to FM...Freaky situation over at legendary leftie airwave Berkeley's KPFA where a bigwig was fired only she locked herself into the back office and blocked the door and has the support of many of her staffers...

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Fox Wants KRON Badly But NBC Does Too Or Does It?; KSFO; Spencer Hughes; Katie Green; Tolbert-Warriors TV Gig; Friday Run

  Both News Corporation, (Fox corporate) and NBC officials from NY are meeting in SF later next week to take a look at KRON and presumably, fight over what could be an interesting prelude to a news content and acquisition war, Bay-Area-rooted.

Make no mistake: Fox WANTS a SF property desperately so its sports division can have control over the NFL 49ers market interest. Right now, KTVU, a Cox Media-owned company, carries all 49ers-NFC games. (If Fox bought KRON, that would solve the issue. (Duh!)

There isn't any impending transaction soon on the horizon with KTVU even though conservative-oriented Cox has never been endeared to its Oakland high top--why? Because KTVU is Cox's biggest cash cow and is in the 6th -largest market in the country.

Then again, Fox might up the ante with a blown-away offer to acquire KRON. And then KTVU could conceivably be Fox-less.

One HUUUUGE factor still to be debated down the pike: KRON's building and studios at 1001 Van Ness: Although not officially on the market, it's widely believed corporate-- (Media General-New Young), want its building to be involved in any potential transaction. Most real-estate analysts in town say KRON's building could fetch anywhere from $100-$150M. That's a conservative estimate.

And don't forget about the TV station.

*The human blowhard with the most annoying voice in town, Spencer Hughes, (it's a fake name), has been filling in for KSFO's Brian Sussman. Sussman has taken a few days off amid some smoke that says the local tuna fish dept. at 55 Hawthorne is auditioning Hughes. Not so. Yet.

*The problem with KSFO's Morning Show, as I've opined several times, is that it has severely-MISPLACED, Katie Green as part of its AM show. Green is flat-out awful. Her voice is terrible; her involvement in interviews is embarrassing--even by KSFO standards and her back and forth with Sussman, (Hughes too) simply sounds lousy, crummy, like out-of-place.

*Those betting guys that appear on KNBR do so because they PAY for the interview, pure and simple. I'd only wish KNBR would let its listeners know. The password is: disclaimer.

*Sure, Tom Tolbert would be great to take over for the retiring Jim Barnett, (next year), but Tolbert has a family too and that afternoon gig on Knibber, (3-7 PM), works well as opposed to a lot of travel. It's Tolbert's job if he wants it.

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Warriors Radio Team also a Winner; Roye and Tolbert in the NBA Broadcast Booth; Chemistry and Humor; Friday Sports Media Wrap-Up



Tom Tolbert



Tim Roye

The Warriors are the talk of the town. You win, you have a loyal and loud fan base and you captivate a region with a sport that almost everyone loves...well, you know the rest of the story.

I'm happy for the team but most especially, their play-by-play broadcaster, Tim Roye. He's among the elite NBA broadcasters and he's one of the very best and actually, most underrated.

Roye has an exciting delivery and knows his game--his style resembles the late Bill King, the Warriors legendary radio PBP guy whose rapid-fire descriptions and worldly vocabulary made for must-listening. (Unless you were a ref).

Roye isn't King, but damn near close. And he's also not a homer too which many NBA guys are all too often. Early in his career with the Warriors, Roye created a signature great call, Elevation Sensation!, sort of a Bill King's Holy Toledo! I was not to thrilled to hear it at first but it's since grown on me and now look forward to hearing it.

Late in the season, Roye  was joined by Tom Tolbert, the ex-Warriors player and talk host on KNBR. Tolbert is good. While at times, I've been critical of his talk style, I enjoy his color analysis and sense of humor. Most jocks-turned-broadcaster are boring because they usually either say nothing or offer very little substance. Tolbert offers more of a variety and his chemistry with Roye, particularly in the playoffs, is quite evident.

The Warriors have begun a mojo on the court--it's nice to know they have a great radio broadcast team off the court as well.

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Tolbert joins Roye as Color Analyst on Warriors' Radio Broadcasts

Tom Tolbert of KNBR will join Tim Roye as a color analyst for the Warriors on ten radio broadcasts beginning early next year.

Tolbert's first broadcast will be the Jan. 2 game against the LA Clippers.

Tolbert will continue to host his PM drive show on KNBR. He's had previous TV stints on ESPN and ABC.


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