415 Media Exclusive Monday: Paul Deanno Leaving KPIX

Paul Deanno leaving KPIX

Veteran KPIX weatherman, Paul Deanno, is leaving the local CBS O and O (owned and operated) outlet on Battery and Broadway --parts unknown, 415 Media has learned exclusively.

Deanno, I'm told by a few of my PIX spies has a gig but hasn't told anyone at the station just yet and is mum about his destination to even his closest friends. But a high-level station source confirmed to me he is headed elsewhere; this post may accelerate that announcement.

I wrote earlier in the year (and even prior to that) that Deanno was mulling a hybrid gig (news and weather anchoring) offered by PIX top brass but Deanno was royally ticked off by the money that was being discussed.

In fact, I'm told it was essentially a "peanuts" offer and that it would involve more work, more responsibilities, and less money. A recipe that didn't please Deanno, obviously, and may have influenced his latest move. He came to PIX via Seattle from KOMO, the ABC affiliate there, and that may be on his itinerary but he may also be headed east too. I'll know more soon.

Deanno is a good guy. A very talented personality to boot; one of the few PIX assets that garners local praise and attention in an Internet world that marginalizes local news talent. (Among other venues) It's therefore, highly surprising and unbelievably incompetent (but not entirely shocking) that PIX would let one of its prized assets leave the building.

This is not a good move but then again nothing makes sense anymore in these fractured times at local TV newsrooms.

I will post you any detailed updates as I gather more info.

Out of The Abyss: The 415 Media Last Supper (Maybe)

HERE WE ARE AGAIN YOU MISSED ME AND I SORTA MISSED YOU ALL (Maybe)

IT'S AMAZING SYNERGY that when you lack any significant funds laboring this daily ritual, you lose the natural creative forces to produce a column. It's a fancy way of saying I have ZERO moolah and thus, was ready/am ready to shut all this down and thought I would just disappear and head for some nomadic outpost in Lake Merritt savoring a last plain turkey on rye and root beer. I WAS DONE doing this and had no intention to post anything anytime soon.

Then you all chimed in. At least some of you and then I was left with what to do, just ignore, move on, react, don't react and just quietly fade away which would invite unintended trouble because you really cannot fade into oblivion these days, that damn internet makes it so difficult unless you just do a blatant mode of secrecy and again, that invites crap that I don't want to create.

This site was intended, originally, as a device to report on; create; produce; comment on and write about Bay Area media; mostly TV and radio and digital too. It quickly branched into another element which at first I was enthralled but as time moved forward and responsibilities grew more tedious, I simply wasn't prepared for the onslaught. Sure, I was taken by the enthusiasm and tried my best to carry forward your desire to read a daily site that wet your appetite for the Bay Area goings-on for 24/7 media; a legit feeling for a TV/Radio Top 10 market that should be able to support such an endeavor. I thought wrong.

From the early goings, my thought process was to write this as a non-profit project and simply provide a service to you, the public. It was a simple theory: I don't necessarily have to make money but I'm not going to work for free either which is completely within the realm of decency and nothing extreme nor out of bounds. YOU ALL seemed to like the migration into more edgy commentary and non-filtered content; the shit you would normally read in the trades or the Chronicle (WAIT! the Chronicle does NOT cover media in this or any other city) therefore the idea of asking for donations and paid subscriptions would not be met with insults and ridicule. It has mostly not been but unfortunately those of you that sent in money (some of you, multiple times) are/were outnumbered by the freebie crowd that thought 2 bucks a month was unacceptable\ and in, of all places, the zeitgeist of billionaires alley from Downtown SF to Silicon Valley.

I cannot make it writing a 24/7 daily media blog and I'm not going to write periodic blogs every now and then and be a DH. It's either an everyday deal or NO DEAL at all which I'm perfectly OK with because I've had a few rodeos in my life and ego enhancements over the years to be satisfied. I'd be happy with a roof over my head and lifetime supply of cherry-flavored seltzer water. A few bucks here and there is not good enough which is reason for this latest (and truly last) post about 415 Media's future, if there is one.

Here's the game plan: I love writing this blog. It is cathartic and it goes after targets that should be targeted because they think their egos and BS are bigger and better and they get a free pass; you have indicated; most of you at least; that you want these buttheads and their Neanderthal leanings to be held accountable --and that's where I come in and have repeatedly produced for you. Because having worked in this fractured industry, I know how these lemmings work, I feel your pain. I am here for you but I cannot perform gratis. I am not a Zuckerberg nor a Musk nor anything else. I am more a half-eaten TV dinner bereft of fruit compost and just trying to break even, literally.

Beginning Monday, after gauging interest, contribution(s) to my latest plea for capital enhancement (big words) I will, once again, write multiple stories, ideas, scoops, non-scoops, commentary and the like that you all have grown to appreciate and relish. But I will do so with the caveat that you step to the plate and BOTH pay for a six-month, one-year, two year or lifetime subscription to 415 Media make it worth my time and effort to provide you the entertainment you deserve and look forward to every day. I REPEAT: I'm here for you.

I CAN'T and WON'T WORK for free. I have tried to sell advertising but because the major gist of my work here is off the conventional chart, it is difficult to bring in sponsors even though I have *50,000 daily clicks and *20K unique visitors. You folks in media and PR and advertising guys/goirls LOVE MY SITE and I know it but unfortunately have taken in the Internet-Is-Free detour, wrong move.

TO INVEST in 415 MEDIA and make it a sustainable and UN-FILTERED, INDEPENDANT, site devoid of advertiser-influenced control, then I ASK YOU to CONTRIBUTE. It's easy, affordable, and you'll have my constant ear and eyes. Even you haters and corporate enemies that detest me but find a way to come here repeatedly on an EVERYDAY basis. If KQED (worth north of $500M) can ask you all for money --which includes a cheap coffee mug, ouh la la--17 times a day!!, then I most surely can do the same but I will not. Oh, and my content is way more interesting and exciting than meh KQED.

TO SUPPORT 415 MEDIA IS SIMPLE**

1. BUY a PAID SUBSCRIPTION NOW: It's $25 for one year (roughly 2 bucks a month); $30 for two years; if you want to donate more than I'll be grateful and personally call you and/or e-mail you thanking you for your contribution.

2. HOW TO CONTRIBUTE: Go to the Pay Pal "donate" button on the right side of the blog (scroll down, you'll see it) simply CLICK on the donate button and follow the prompters; it takes less than a minute (you can use any major credit card) and it's 100% safe and secure; confidential too.

*THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUPPORT MY 415 MEDIA.

KTVU is Still Scared To Death of Tom Vacar

 

ONCE UPOUN a Time, KTVU veteran reporter, consumer editor, Tom Vacar, was a sight to behold reporting on some profound issues involving top-of-the-mast stories, consumer developments and political analysis. Legal issues too which included high-profile court cases and that makes sense for Vacar has a law degree and although he doesn't practice law, certainly knows the ins and outs in the legal world. Which is exactly why KTVU and FOX specifically is scared shit of him and is afraid to dare ask him to retire or accept some buyout and we all know FOX loves buyouts nowadays.

Vacar has been in the doldrums recently and all you have to do for proof of that is just watch him. He doesn't smile much and when  he does, it's by accident. His overall demeanor is somewhere between gloom and doom, like a pervasive itch or abscess that doesn't go away. He's sort of resolutely mean and depressing and that's the positive thing about him; more often, Vacar seems to have a fixation on appearing glum and mum, like the town center of a Lodi strip mall.

But seriously, KTVU brass has for years has, behind the scenes, quietly urged Tom V to take a hike but not in earnest because they seriously are AFRAID that the old cat would sue their ass and thus, they have stayed off Vacar's behind and hoped he would get the message and just slip away and retire and go home but that's not on his agenda and KTVU knows that and is stuck. Why so? Because Vacar could sue on basis of age discrimination and probably win. He does have a pulse.

Every now and then, Vacar's expertise in worldly issues like the law and governmental affairs come in handy and he's quite good at explaining the situation. If there's a major airplane crash (God forbid) Vacar the aviation czar could be an effective on-air contributor but we're off on a tangent now.

Vacar seems glum even when he's happy chewing on a good cigar; I can attest to that when I was lucky enough to receive a Cuban stogie from him during a wine-cellar dinner at Cypress Club way back in 1995. It's not there anymore and to my best of recollection, the last time Vacar smiled.

Tom Vacar in his KGO-TV days

Armstrong and Getty, MOR? Fuck You; Trump Sycophants in Reality; And Some Other Greetings and FU Factoids; Happy Friday and FU Too

FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU --Did I miss something? Oh right, Fuck You

 "Armstrong and Getty", about as neutral as Tom Cruise in a Scientology house. 

It was none other then the Gruesome Twosome, AandG fuckheads DEFENDING TRUMP when he did his bullshit FAKE map indicating the hurricane, Dorian, would possibly hit Alabama. They not only suck Trump, they're STOOPID too. 

*Bonnie Jill Laughlin makes Kate Scott look like Golda Meir.

*Hey, a big FU to Jon Miller who EVERY TIME NOW has to tell listeners "that ball was 110 miles off the bat!" --I'm guessing Miller is getting paid to plug the company that gives the info of the MPH off the bat because Miller can't STOP saying it on and on and on; once and a while, OK, it's good baseball stats; every damn minute, it's an ASSAULT on the senses --Jesus Christ, Miller, enuf is ENUF!

*Tom Tolbert? Trump Supporter; who knew? FU, TT.

*Rod Brooks is an asshole.

*Damon Bruce is an asshole

*Ronn Owens is a double asshole

MORE ASSHOLES SOON

*Meanwhile....

Once upon a time ago, a very special KTVU intern followed the yellow brick road.

*Damon Bruce if you're gonna rip me tell it to my face and don't hide behind a keyboard.

*Ray Ratto: Yeah, the beard makes you look like  fat John Feinstein but at least JF has more girth.

*A SOLID FU to Aaron Pero, the asshole ND at KRON because KRON and Nexstar are afraid to fire the bastard apparently because he has pictures of the KRON basement then and now and it's sort of ugly, I guess.

*Hank Schulman of the Giants Chronicle beat writer dept? Fuck Off and quit brown-toilet-papering Larry Baer but at least you don't write cum pieces after the Pam Baer video.

*By the way, in case you're wondering? The reason why Pam wanted so much Larry's cell because one of many Larry GFs was on the line and Pam wanted to check the competition.

*FU to the KGO host who received a lot of love when the times were not so good and called on a regular basis to a certain person only to IGNORE that person once the he got his gig but on the other hand, there's no place I'd rather be than right here with you all right now.

*A MAJOR FUCK YOU to RONNNNNNNNNNNNN BLOWINS --let's be serious for a moment and go back in time, the Saturday after KGO's first massacre courtesy Cumulus, Dec, 2011: while Lowenstein devoted 15 minutes to the radio assault, and said like a high-school cheerleader, "THIS IS GONNA BE A GREAT RADIO STATION!", Pat Thurston on her Saturday show devoted the entire three hours to the KGO blowout and took calls and commiserated with angry/shocked listeners. Thurston could have played it safe and done a half-hour but risked her career and then some by using common sense over outright buffoonery. There you have it: CLASS and ASS (Lowenstein)

*I SEE BLOWENS plugging another of his November cruises --courtesy of the "Ronn Owens Report":, which finances Ronn's cruises and pays for his brunette girlfriends who must be the female Stevie Wonders.

*FU to Ryan Scott --the reason why Ronn's boo was on "Good Morning America" last week was because he promised the GMA EP the full two hours of his fake KGO show to promote a book. Scott is a fraud and the only asshole I know who cheated on his pregnant wife, classy move by the arugula asshole whose KGO show was thrown to the kale river a few months back. Karma, dude!

*KNBR DUDE ALERT: Memo to the Bay Area chapter of the American Cancer Society, every time the morning BOZOS say "dude", a thousand bucks to the ACS, now that's a dude I could plug.

*Owens/Lowenstein once ordered about 5 sandwiches from the cooks at the North Beach Restaurant and left a ZERO tip which is all you need to know about RONNNN BLOWENS Lowenstein.

*Am I bitter? No, just factual and opinionated.

FU? Sort of pedantic, yes, but YOU ALL get the truth and not the BS from the Chronicle and Internet radio chat groups.

No BS Zone

YOU WANT BS? THEN GO LISTEN TO KQED AND SIP YOUR DAMN WHITE WINE AND LISTEN TO JAN WAHL. YOU WANT THE REAL DEAL? THEN PAY ATTENTION RIGHT NOW!

*Yeah, right, Gil Gross is about as interesting as a Dixon Dairy Queen bathroom at midnight.

*KGO Radio tried to get several other fill-ins for Mark Thompson (before settling on Gross); 415 Media has the list of just who was contacted; among them:

Paul Harvey
Owen Spann
Ira Blue
Ray Taliaferro
Steve and Eydie
Sonny and Cher
Carol Doda
Ann Frasier
Ross Macgowan's first wife
Betty Ann Bruno
Claud Mann
Claudine Wong

*The "Ronn Owens Report" has all the warmth of a poodle's toe fungus. If you listen to the RO Report, you are a certified mental case.

*Ronn had a nightmare the other night and couldn't go back to sleep: Jan brought over Tara Fields and all they ever talked about was Ronn's mani/pedis.

*Greg Papa is now outright asshole; how do I know? Ask Greg's multiple sloppy seconds. Pop is such an egotistical prick he made one of his girlfriends moan, "TouucchhhDown 49ers!"

*Another putz: eternal nebbish, John Lund, who likes to talk penis jokes on KNBR which for Lund is a short story.

*Lund has all the excitement of a Damascus whore house.

*Damon Bruce, MR UTTER BULLSHIT: Yeah, Damian, for years you told everyone under the sun, "I only work solo!" --which is news for your wife.

*Papa thinks he's the second coming of Bill King when in reality he's slightly less interesting than the current Larry King.

*New bumper sticker at KNBR: "Has Greg Papa hugged a college-girl intern today?"

*NO BS: Should be called the "Giants' Post-Game Crap." --watch out, Miller's doing a #2!"

*Really, who gives a flying fuck whether Larry Baer's in control now sorta akin to wondering if Darya Folsom's Winnebagos are real.

*Tom Cibrowski the GM/VP at KGO-TV: care for some after dinner mints?

*Tracey Watkowski-Silva, ND at Circle7 you have more baggage than the United Terminal at SFO.

*Lund cackles so much to his boytoy friend, Papa, he had to go extra miles to buy the brown toilet paper.

*BOTH morning shows on 'The Game' and KNBR: Both Suck; Both suitable for mandatory five-year sentences at Santa Rita; both suitable for mandatory five-year sentences at Napa State hospital.

*Brian Murphy: Darwin was wrong.

*Paulie Mac: Jimmy Hoffa in dust vomits when he hears your blithering shit.

*Bonnie Jill Laughlin: Open wide.

*Murph, like Ronnnnnnnnnnn, loves the guy, "Copes" so he can brag to his Marin buddies that he loves to hang with the brothers.

*Yeah, Powlie, you're about as New Jersey as Leah Garchik's armpits.

*KRON: more dead air than Sharon Tate's coffin.

*KNBR "FM"? Now we can all get organic shit in stereo! What a bargain.

*Stan Bunger is an egotistical blob with overbearing BS on an everyday morning basis with obnoxious cackles and jokes that are NOT FUNNY. And his weather embellishments are now almost comical except they're real. Maybe Stan is the new Bay Area Willard Scott on radio. 

*Hollie Quan: a lightweight in every sense of the word makes Susan Leigh Taylor look like Margaret Brennan. 

*Frank Somerville and Mark Ibanez are working on a new made-for-TV feature: "The Persian Woman Principle."

*Ronn told KGO suits that "hey, look, you can use me for a few minutes every day, I'll be your name and you'll get to sell me and have my recognition!" Which is kind of like a guy who leaves the clinic and tells desperate hookers, "hey, I still have remnants of Herpes 11!" Let's Party!"

*Yes, Greg Papa is a douchebag but he's my douchebag.

*Dave Flemming: two loafs of wonder bread --extra mayo.

*Jon Miller: "Uhhhhh, uhhhhhhhh, Adios Polita!, Uhhhh, Uhhh…"

*Chris Townsend: NO BS, last year before an interview, Jon Gruden told him, "hey, don't ask me any more kiss-ass questions, you fucking tool!" --my coach of the year, Gruden.

*Townsend's A's Post-game show on some right-wing AM radio station slightly more interesting than triple root canal.

*Wayne Freedman: looks like the poison guy on a medicine bottle.

*Brett Burkhart: Rothmann's wife hates you too.

*Mark Thompson in Africa: news reports indicate he's more detested than an Idi Amin disco party.

*Gil Gross' wife on radio: radio GITMO.

*Sherry Brown, the traffic yenta at night on KCBS, a much better tactic for men who don't like cold showers.

*Doug Harvill: Cumulus #1 SF ASS-KISSER.

NO BS!

Who Reads The Chronicle for Columnists? Hardly Anyone is Worthy

Audrey Cooper, Chron EIC (left) and Leah Garchik

WHO IS WORTH READING IN THE SF CHRONICLE?

Even when the Chronicle was daily lampooned and ridiculed (rightly so) it could still boast a pretty damn good staple of columnists --Herb Caen, Art Hoppe and the like. I wasn't a Jon Carroll fan because he constantly wrote about his cat but his writing style was fairly solid.

Now?

The Chronicle is so, so lame. There isn't one decent columnist I look forward to reading unless its in the sports dept. and Scott Ostler is worthy of a glance, occasionally Bruce Jenkins.

If Leah Garchik is considered the woman Herb Caen we're all SOL. I can't read the other scribblers because they aren't interesting. Peter Hartlaub? Gimme a break. What an amateur.

Mick LaSalle on Sunday and his Friday movie reviews are worthy of reading. Everyone else? Yuck.

190 Year Old, Crotchety Dickhead, Radio Retread, Gil Gross Fills in For Dopey Mark Thompson on Old KGO Radio

WOW, KGO PUTS DINOSAUR IN STUDIO, IT IS UGLY

Who the hell was responsible for putting on 120 year-old HAS-BEEN , Gil Gross into the studio today (Wednesday) from 10-Nooon? Was Owen Spann not available? Yes I know Owen Spann died several years ago which even at that would have sounded better than the horrible, disgusting and rank idiot, Gil Gross is and was.

Gross is BORING. His voice and demeanor an utter DISASTER! The MOTHER OF ALL RADIO RETREADS! KGO could have put on a fresh, interesting, YOUNG voice with only mild credentials --that would have been refreshing and different. Instead, we get the guy who has a terrible voice; a horrific sound; a TOTAL DISASTER and sounds like a drunk collie in heat, yeah, great pick to fill in for the guy who picks an African safari in September as vacation. But seriously, GIL GROSS?

Yeah, GIL is GROSS! Crotchety Fucking Gil Gross is GROSS!