From another Insider at 55 Hawthorne:
"In the past week and a half, Cumulus San Francisco has lost 6 employees: 3 KGO/KSFO AE's (one was a long-time employee), 1 KNBR AE, an FM Sales Assistant named Christine and the KGO Assignment Desk Editor, Laura Podelak. Just a little history-- not too long ago, KGO/KSFO had about 30 AE's combined at any time. We now have 6 total (and I'm told a couple of those are out the door very soon)! That's why Bill Bungeroth is begging people to take Sales jobs on that on-air spot! Every time it's heard in the building, everyone laughs out loud, even in the Sales Department!"
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Good ol' Principal Bungersquirt. What a complete disaster that place has become. It looks as if alll his sales reps are leaving and taking business across the street with them. It also seems all the major agencies are getting clued in on what that major Skidmark Stain is all about. Thank you for the update!
ReplyDeleteAnd yet Cumulus in Atlanta will assure you all is well in San Francisco. They can see it on their closed circuit feed.
ReplyDeleteI'm told none of this is false. It's actually worse than this. - Roy
ReplyDeleteSo what is Cumulus's end game in all this? They had to pay a fairly substantial price for KGO, based on 30+ years of high ratings (admittedly that may be mis-leading depending on how the ratings were determined.) Right now, the station can't be worth nearly what they paid for it.
ReplyDeleteCould it be a total mis-reading of the SF/Bay Area market? I'm confused.
I think Cumulus big wigs are just incompetent. Nothing more, nothing less. To think they have a ”plan” for an ”end game” is giving them too much credit.
DeleteYou could apply a similar line of thinking to buying house. If you bought a house in 2007, it's probably worth less than that today, due to the market. But it would be worth a LOT LESS than that if you destroyed the interior.
DeleteKGO ratings down but the profit margin is way up. It's a business for crying out loud.
ReplyDeleteprofit margin is way up? what is that based on? are you suggesting their ability to make money with news programming is enhanced because their overhead is lower? that is a really dumb argument if that's what you're suggesting. please elaborate for me. - roy
DeleteThis is a surprise? Has anybody been paying attention to the way Cumulus does business? What they did at KGO back in December should be any kind of a surprise. This is what they've been doing at all of their stations for as long as they've been in the business.
ReplyDeleteCumulus doesn't give a whit about quality as far as the on-air product goes, they don't care about serving the bay area listeners, and they don't give a hoot (I would use a stronger word, bus this is a family blog, isn't it?) about loyalty. As matter of fact, their attitude throughout their six plus years in the bay area has repeatedly been, "screw you (people who work at the stations), you'll do as we say or you're out the door!"
Cumulus has not 'exit' strategy. It's kind of like former VP Dick Cheney's philosophy about Iraq. When Colin Powell asked him about that, Cheney's remark was a tart: "We aren't into an exit strategy. We're there permanently. This is what empire is all about!"
Translation: You've got some bad ass people running the local stations from out of town and they're here to stay! Sad but true!
Look up the Cumulus Media stock price on the Web. Their management has made it into essentially a penny stock with their nationwide incompetence in media outlet management.
DeleteHahaha. There IS a God!
Rich, what are AE's? Assistant Engineers?
ReplyDeleteAccount Executives, in other words a sales rep who sell spots
DeleteThe thing is this... Cumulus corporate (which Bunghole is part of) had no respect for anyone. Not talent, not programming, and certainly not sales. They really believe that using their own "CSOS" sales system, any idiot can sell their stations. They are finding out how wrong they are.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of company do not want to do business with CBOS any longer since they gave the fickle finger of fate to the industrys best. Remember you reap what you sow.
DeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the point about telling us what AE represents. I get so weary reading posts here and elsewhere where words or phrases are dissolved into only letters of the alphabet.
- What's the point of using acronyms and/or some form of "alphabet soup" if folks don't understand it?
Uhhhh, AE is a common, known term in not only radio, but media, and pretty much any business that has salespeople. (Then if you don't know there is this little secret website called Google. Typing AE KGO radio might do the trick).
DeleteSounds like both of you are the type of talent needed in the Cumulus family of stations. Would you be interested in pursuing a rewarding position in an exciting media market...
DeleteSnarky aren't we?
DeleteFor many years, KGO has had the same few advertisers Sleeptrain, Armstrong paint, Safeway, etc.
ReplyDeleteDon't see how any sales rep is suddenly going to bring in new advertisers...
I wonder how Cumulus is paying off its debt. It almost seems like what you saw with newspapers a decade or so ago. Small operators suddenly taking on more established chains and while they can work it for a while by cutting costs, merging operations and surviving on cash flow, the net worth of the property drops quicker than they can cut. It is unsustainable. How long can you book - say $10,000 and make sure you cut enough to save $1,500 of that in "profit"?"
ReplyDeleteI think most of the Citadel debt went bye bye in the bankruptcy before Cumulus took over. SweetJack deal for Cumulus to take over Citadel mostly debt free.
DeleteTheir overhead will drop by about $800,000 once the McTalk morning host's contract expires in a few months. (Ronn Owens)
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping Matress Man does the dignified thing and retires into obscurity.
DeleteGadzooks! If the AE situation is half as bad as described here, they are in bad shape. The consequences may not show up short-term due to exisiting contracts with advertisers, but renewals and new business could take a real hit.
DeleteWhen will 910AM get a repeater to strengthen their signal in areas needed? I have problems getting it in Dublin.
ReplyDeleteKKSF can be streamed live, 24-7-365, from anywhere in the world, from the Internet via iHeart Radio < http://www.iheart.com >.
ReplyDeleteKKSF, Newstalk 910 AM, doesn't have the discretion to amp up its power because of FCC license conditions intended to protect the signals of other stations operating on adjacent channels from signal interference.
Likewise, MZ, the iconic owner of independent station KSCO, AM 1080, Santa Cruz, where Dr. Bill Wattenburg has migrated from KGOne and where the author of this blog has been a guest host, would love to increase his station's authorized power so its signal and mix of talk show and infomercial programming would blanket the more populous Bay Area to the north.
But back to 910 AM, the new home of former KGO all-stars Len Tillem (3-4 wkdays), Gil Gross (4-7 wknights), Ed Baxter and John Rothman with occasional commentary, and the blogs of Gene Burns (recovering from a stroke) until he can return to the air.
From a transmitter on the bay just south of Richmond, KKSF has a relatively strong signal at 20,000 watts daytime. That's much stronger than most stations, which are limited to 5,000 watts, but significantly less than stations such as KGOne, KNBR and KCBS, which put out a full 50,000 watts.
So, why is KKSF's signal relatively weak, providing spotty coverage in Eastern Contra Costa County, Pleasanton, Livermore, and beyond? The biggest single factor is that the station's signal (again because of FCC license restrictions) is highly directional, with most of the signal being aimed in a westerly direction toward San Francisco, Marin County, and northern San Mateo County. Some of the signal (but less) covers areas to the north and south, but hardly any of the directional signal is directed to areas east of the Richmond transmitter site.
At sundown, KKSF is required by the FCC to greatly reduce its power, from 20,000 watts to 5,000 watts, again with a directional signal that is largely directed to the west. This, coupled with night-time skip interference from stations elsewhere operating on the same or adjacent radio channels, will further reduce its coverage area until full power can be resumed at sunrise.
iHeart only works in USA only ie: http://bit.ly/KKSF910 .Surfmusic.de brings http://bit.ly/KKSF-910 Worldwide via Germany.
Delete910am comes in loud and clear in Monterey, Carmel and Pebble Beach. How can you not get it in Dublin? Get outta here
DeleteAt some risk of being repetitive in commenting about Cummulus:
ReplyDelete- Profitability is achieved when income exceeds costs. KGO, right up through the Citadel years, was still profitable. Having dramatically reduced their costs by cutting talent, and by moving out of 900 Front into existing floorspace, once could reasonably project that at least in the short term, they are still profitable today -- even if their revenue is down by half from one year ago (which is a blind guess, but seems likely).
- However, there is no guarantee that they will remain profitable -- and the current track record suggests that they are still losing listeners and advertisers a lot faster than costs are going down. They're programming to try to catch people meters as people browse the dial, and they don't seem to believe that nurturing a dedicated audience, building a brand, engaging with the community, etc. -- they don't seem to believe these things are important at all, even in a place like SF.
The analogy I used before is of the man burning his own furniture and siding in order to save the cost of firewood: short term, you're cash ahead; long term, you're SOL. When this cycle has played out, expect Cummulus to start shedding stations for cash all across the country, a few at a time. They are probably counting on it, and hoping that the value of the stations will appreciate with time before they do so -- which is unlikely, given the realities of the industry, and what they're doing to their stations. No matter how hard the house of cards falls, you can count on one thing: the Dickey boys have platinum parachutes, and will feel no pain.