Friday, March 29, 2013

Len Tillem Statement on ClearChannel Dismissal

This is the official statement from Len Tillem, who just emailed me:

A few minutes after my program on Thursday I received a call from KKSF management.  They let me go.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe they thought that Gil Gross would bring in more listeners in the 3-4 PM hour.  Maybe they preferred a different direction for the station.  It doesn't really matter.  I am happy to have been on NewsTalk 910 for the last fifteen months.  It was a fun ride.  I wish Gil Gross the best of luck.

So, what's next?

I'm not going away.  My podcast is still available.  You can find me on lentillem.com, iTunes, and spreaker.com.  There are two Len Tillem podcasts on iTunes.  The one put up by Newtalk910 will come down, I'm sure.  The one I put up - the one without commercials, will remain.  You can listen to every program I've done since June 2012.

Listen to the podcast I put up Friday afternoon - I have a discussion with director Jon Favreau, my niece Joya's husband.  We had a good conversation about what I will be doing next.  I will be doing the program every weekday as a podcast.

My elder law newspaper advice column with Rosie McNichol still runs on
lentillem.com and a number of Bay Area newspapers, including once a month in the San Francisco Chronicle's Primelife pages.

75 comments:

  1. This is unbelievable... the only reason I put on 910 was for Len... he will be SO MISSED. What a horrible mistake on the part of 910.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What does that tell u that two radio properties have noe let LT go in less than 15 months?

      Delete
    2. It tells me LT sucks. His shtick gets old real fast and he constantly took days off. I'm not sure how many people will line up to hear his podcasts if 75% of the time he'll play a ”best of”....

      Delete
    3. You must not really listent to his show as much as your comment would seem to imply. The "Best Of" is a 25% occurrence at best.

      And, yeah, practically-bankrupt radio station operators cutting corners in any way possible definitely make good indicators as to which hosts actually have talent and listener interest. Come on now.

      Delete
  2. I like Len and he was entertaining, I don't know how his ratings were, I didn't always listen, because I'm a hardcore news, political, history junkie. I listen to Gil, but not all the times, as I have written before on this blog, he often talk about subjects I don't care about, does too many stories that has no relevance to my interests (like dumb criminal segments). I would be happy to see Gil's show cut by one hour, and the put John Rothman in for 2 hours, if that is their thinking I could see the logic, I hope they are not going to do 4 hours of Gil 5 days a week
    too much, there is only 2 people I could listen to for 4 hours and that would be Gene Burns (who is coming back) and John Rothman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm replying to my own blog, meant to write Gene is NOT coming back, would love to have him back, but he is in his seventies, and has had 2 strokes about 1 year apart, the last one more serious than the first, and he was not ready to come back when he suffered the second setback, so it is very doubtful he will ever recover enough to do a radio show.

      Delete
  3. Yes, I'm surprised he didn't have higher ratings here. Maybe siriusxm will pick him up. I think other markets would probably appreciate him more than this one. Maybe east coast ones especially.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes -- Len -- are you listening? Sirius/XM. Absolutely. But Len is a Califoria-based lawyer, although there was the occasional call from out-of-state. (See how large the audience is?)

      It is a much-needed public service in addition to being entertaining.

      Delete
  4. So they fire Len who gives well informed legal advice but keep Joel Raddell on the air? He has bastardized the great Gene Burns' radio program Dining Around with his excessive "look at me I'm fabulous" routine. I believe he was a producer for Gene while at KGOne. How was he allowed to take over the hosting duties? He doesn't even have the grace to have Gene on the program? It seems Gene was qualified to have a dining program but Joel was a lackey who is out of his element and is trying too hard. If it is indeed health issues which has prevented Gene from coming on the show, shouldn't he inform us? It is the only reason I listen as the dining program is the last link to the great Gene Burns and I hope to hear something about him. Instead I have to subject my ears to how fabulous Joel Raddell is and the fancy places he goes that I cannot and will not afford. As for Mr. Tillem, you will be missed on the radio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so right on with everything you wrote! I agree 100%...

      Delete
    2. Joel would love to be able to have Gene on the radio anytime. Gene is quite ill, perhaps you were unaware. Joel has been wonderful always with Gene. Does that irritate you? really?

      Delete
    3. The radio world is upside down. It is absolute madness that people like Joel Ridell, Tim Montemayor aka Monte di Manure, Chef Ryan ”I'm drunk on air” Scott, Rhoda Gross and Maureen ”Mo”” Landgdsten get air time while the real pros are kicked to the curb.

      Delete
    4. Look at the lineup on "Newstalk 910" on the weekends. What's the common denominator? It's that most of the "programs" are in fact paid infomercials.

      I suspect that Dining Around is also a paid program, another form of infomercial. Gene Burns buys the three hour block of time from KKSF (and KGO before that), programs it himself, and sells enough spots to cover the expenses and make a profit. That's why Joel Ridell was billed as "executive producer"; Ridell was responsible for booking guests and selling the ad time. It's even possible (though this is speculation) that some guests paid to be on the program so they could plug their own businesses or ventures.

      There's nothing wrong with any of this, but it would explain why Dining Around still airs on KKSF, 15 months after Gene's first stroke, and why Joel has gone on to host the program. For all we know, he and Gene could be business partners in the venture that is "Dining Around."

      Delete
    5. Joel Raddell sounds like he is light in the loafers. I just listen to 3 mins of his show and could not take it anymore.
      well he is in the right city to be light in the loafers.

      Delete
    6. Surprisingly Dining Around is NOT a brokered program. I ran ads on the show last fall and met with a Clear Channel salesperson and wrote my check to KKSF. With a certain spending level (not all that much, really) I did get to appear on the show to talk about the event I was advertising.

      Delete
    7. Wow, Anonymous at 1:44 a.m. So, Joel Riddell is gay ("light in the loafers") so you don't listen to his program. Not because you don't like the content or the guests. But because he's gay. Or Jewish. You're the definition of a bigot.

      Delete
    8. It seems these radio station does what the want and don't listen to what the public want, but I guess those of us who like excellent radio hosts might be in the minority now. We are being force feed talentless hosts like Montemayor and Maureen Langdon.
      Tim Montemayor's favorite movie is Top Gun, not only is is his favorite, but he thinks it is the greatest movie every made. That tells me everything about him that I need to know. I love Top Gun, it is a very entertaining movie, good cast, good music, some hunky guys (for us women) but I know enough to know it is not the best movie ever, by a long shot. Sorry, about the rant, but that tell me how superficial he is. Yet he is on 6 hours a week, and gets to fill in for Ronn.

      Delete
  5. Christine is just a lonely woman who likes to attack her audience. (And as a result, fits in with Cumulus quite nicely.) Her continued lack of impulse control demonstrated by how she responds to others' opinions illustrates that she has the maturity of a 12-year old girl, not a 70-year old woman who should have better judgment. Ignore her like the rest of us do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not 70 or in my seventies yet. Hopefully I will be, someday. May you never experience something so dreadful as that, poor dear. You are terribly transparent. To ignore my opinion would mean that you wouldn't feel impelled to fire up the computer and comment upon it. You are just irritated that I am not afraid to openly dislike misogyny and the poisoning of dogs, and to say so, without the veil of anonymity. I don't like hucksters either. I don't see how that indicates either that I am "lonely" or attacking "my audience". Neither assertion is in the least intimidating, or accurate.

      Delete
    2. To back up your point – there was a time when Christine asked her audience"Why don't people get along at Thanksgiving. Why don't they get along and stop arguing at the dinner table!"
      "After all it's Thanksgiving! its supposed to be a holiday when people get along with each other and show thankfulness for the things they have"

      (Her tone was obviously critical of the holiday in the hypocrisy of people who celebrate it.)

      Then she actually invited callers calling with their experience. The first caller called and said he was at a holiday dinner when he began to disagree with one of his relatives about the Middle East. He was a strong supporter of Israel and his relative felt differently. Then he began to explain why he felt that way… He was immediately interrupted by Christine who said "IF I WERE AT THAT DINNER TABLE , AND YOU SAID THAT I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN UP AND WALKED OUT! (Remember Christina? , i know you are reading this)
      In the heat of her anger with the caller, she completely forgot the premise of her question in the first place, which only served to demonstrate her hypocrisy!

      I mean these thin thinking, heavily coated liberals are such Hypocrites.
      If they were even a little sincere about solutions to problems, and not so full of hate, then i could have at least some respect for their opinions.

      Delete
    3. Good point 10:20pm.

      Delete
    4. Great observation about "lack of impulse control." Exactly right!

      Delete
  6. Christine it does not irritate me but let us be honest. Joel is not in the stratosphere of the mighty Gene Burns. He is certainly not intellectual, he comes across as someone who is better than his listeners (something you never felt with Gene) and he knows little of what he speaks of. If it was not for Gene he would not have access to the expensive wines and fancy parties he brags about going to (again, something you never felt from Gene). He is amateurish on the radio, most can tell he has little experience and from what I understand, San Francisco is a major media market. How can someone with such little experience be on the radio here? Not to pile on, but as a member of the Jewish faith I was appalled at the interview he did last week with a Jewish author about Passover. You can tell he did no research on the holy holiday, asked ridicules questions and at one point when she was speaking of bitter herbs he asked her if she was referring to the other herb smoked in Northern California then proceeded to tell a story of being at a Passover dinner where the hosts and guests smoked weed instead of serving bitter herbs. The guest was flabbergasted.i believe it was a taped interview and to not have edited that out shows his bad journalistic judgement.

    I am aware that Gene is in poor health based on some previous posts. But as someone who is supposedly close to Gene, he could explain to us loyal listeners what the status is, especially since it was Gene that was the reason for him getting his big break, although totally undeserved.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To discuss Gene's physical circumstances on a dining show would be dependent on Gene's wishes, I presume. Sounds like you listen to every word of Joel's program.

      Delete
  7. @ 9:54pm you are not correct at all. Gene did not pay for the airtime on KGO nor does he or Joel pay for the time on KKSF. There may have been a revenue sharing deal for any advertisers they brought in, but they did not pay for the time. I worked at KGO for 5 years and knew Gene and Joel well.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As someone who works in this business for one of the major radio groups, I can not understand why Clear Channel let Len go. He didn't make much money from the station and if you look at his hourly ratings (not the posted 6+ that the public sees but the coveted 25-54 that matters) they are not that bad. I think something bigger will happen at that station. I worked with Len for a long time at KGO and can say he was fantastic to work with and made myself and the other Account Managers a ton of money.

    To Christine Craft who posted above, I worked at KGO for a long time and never once in all those years did you ever come into the sales area. You were not known by any of us long timers and were rarely at the station in general. You posted that Joel was always nice to Gene which was true in a sense, but anyone who really knows Joel knew he was riding on Gene's coat tails for all of the perks. I can not even count how many times he cost us money and goodwill from advertisers because of his diva demands, most of the time Gene didn't even know about it because if you crossed Joel, he would not help you out with Gene or invite you to his Holiday party, which everyone wanted to go to. I have to say I didn't see you at many of those parties over the years. I am aware of extra tickets we had to get for Joel's boyfriend, cars that Joel could drive to events and even an extra room for his boyfriend so he could go on cruises. Our Sales managers were constantly dealing with problems relating to Joel.

    Christine you seem to think you know everything about the people who worked at KGO when in reality you are simply a fill in who was never in the loop of anything that went on there. To say good riddance to Len Tillem because of probably one thing he said years ago is pig headed to say the least. Keep trolling and responding to these posts to stay relevant.

    By the way, this is the first time I have posted on this blog. It took Ms. Craft's ignorant post about a true professional and really nice guy for me to do it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for setting the record straight and insights. Many of us are are also fed up with Christine's pigheaded rants.

      Delete
    2. Ouff, a serious Craft-Slap resounds!

      Delete
    3. The reason Christine seems to think she knows everything about the people who worked at KGO is because she think she knows everything ABOUT EVERYTHING.

      She is an obnoxious know-it-all and that tone comes across in everything she says and writes.

      Delete
    4. So why exactly, do you listen or read "everything she says and writes"? Can't you control those urges? BTW, CAPITALIZATION....is not writing.

      Delete
    5. Christine, Thank you for confirming EVERYTHING I just said at 11:10.

      Delete
    6. Don't you think that posting a bunch of gossip as Anonymous is an incredibly spineless thing to do?

      Delete
    7. Why? Many, and most, listeners who call in to talk shows are either anonymous, single first name or just plain liars with made up names. Thank you. What's your point?

      Delete
  9. You are utterly right. I never once came into your sales area. Why on earth would I have done that? I'm a lawyer who happened to do fill-in host work at KGO for many years(20) I have never represented myself as anything more than exactly that. I also live in a different city now. I think you are free to think whatever you wish. I have, however, a profound dislike for misogyny, alcoholism, and using the airwaves(not once, but repeatedly and very recently) to urge people to poison dogs they don't like. That is a criminal act. As a lawyer, I have a professional view of the value of "free" legal services, to which I am entitled, whether you like it or not. That you think those things are "really nice", puts you in similar company.
    It must be so tedious to spend so much time worrying about who goes to which parties and who doesn't. Good day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies


    1. "I never once came into your sales area. Why on earth would I have done that?"

      I think Christine enjoys/thrives on being obnoxious more than having positive exchanges with fellow human beings. To derive more satisfaction over constantly belittling and telling off others is very revealing. Let's not feed the troll.

      Delete
    2. Rock on, Christine! I am a fan of yours from waaaaaaay back and continue to listen whenever I can find you. Sure some of your opinions test my patience....I will never be a pit bull fan....,
      but you are a hell of a good broadcaster. The clods who pile on,
      anonymously I must note, are no match.

      Adella

      Delete
    3. Offend Christine and she explodes! A torrent of vitriol gushes out. What an angry and unpleasant person!

      Delete
  10. Very well said and from someone who obviously has seen things from the inside. Thanks for posting. Do it again when it helps to have 'inside baseball' point of view.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It is very clear that Christine is extremely jealous of Len Tillem. As a lawyer herself, perhaps she wanted to have a show like Mr. Tillem's. Christine, you should really consider not posting here anymore as you can see, not many people have much respect for your opinions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have never wanted or had any interest in mixing my profession with talk radio. I find pimping "free legal advice" abhorrent. You are entitled to use that free legal advice. It suits you.You are trying to censor me and shut me up, because you resent that I have the courage to use my own name and say what I think. You lack the ability to do similarly. If you are so afraid and offended by my opinions, control yourself, don't read them. Can you do that?

      Delete
    2. Christine, don't flatter yourself by presuming your comments are important enough to be censored.

      But please, shut up.

      Delete
    3. Christine,
      Mr. Tillem gave me legal advice that I never could have afforded otherwise. What is "pimping" to you was providing valuable information to others. His office also did some follow up work at no cost, for which I was very grateful. I do not know Mr. Tillem, and I am just sharing my own personal experience. I am not sure why you think that giving free legal is "abhorrent". The free legal advice I got from Mr. Tillem and his office was invaluable at a time I was in a very tough situation.

      Delete
    4. no , thank you.

      Delete
    5. You go, Christine! Why on Earth anonymous posters spend so much time on their keyboard, attacking a very talented and STRONG woman is beyond me.

      I think strong women just get some of you quite irked. 1:38--"Shut up?" Really? Stay classy!

      Delete
    6. Christine was just to opinionated and obnoxious to listen to her for more than a few minutes. Wish Len Tillem was still on the air and Christine was off. (this is anonymous2 posting, not the original)

      Delete
  12. poor, poor gutsy anonymous 12:33. He/she resents that I never came over to kiss his/her posterior. Typically, I worked nights and weekends, filling-in for other people's shows. I never ever even saw any sales types there. Since you've never met me, but have been craning your neck to try to meet me at some party or other, you must be so disappointed. I'd think that you'd appreciate that I wanted nothing from you, that I never harrassed you. You seem so agitated about Gene's producer and assistant who you report made your life so difficult and made your access to Gene so problematic. Pity, that. I thought Gene's talk shows and his dining around shows were extremely well-produced. Apparently, you don't think it was worth the effort.
    Once again, with feeling, as a lawyer(a profession) and as a talk show host, and as an American woman and federal civil rights litigant of some note, I don't enjoy a male lawyer who gets a stiffie when he elicits some demeaning sexual comment about women, or who urges his listeners to commit criminal acts by poisoning their neighbor's dogs, if they don't like them. As the smart and savvy, and oh so connected salesperson you are, use your google. The individual in question has repeatedly urged people to either kill dogs or say how much he would enjoy doing same. No, I don't respect that now or ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my God Christine, calm down. You are so full of rage, it's scary. Although you lost your famous lawsuit, you win the prize for the loudest, most obnoxious, angriest commenter here at 415 Media. Why not simply accept that honor and ride off into the sunset...

      Delete
    2. Amen 1:01pm, Christine Craft comes across as an angry, bitter and frustrated old hag. If anyone says a negative thing about a dumb pit bull she goes into a foaming rage, however when a human being like Bradley Manning is tortured she applauds. I agree with previous posters, she is just jealous of Len Tillem, it its obviously clear.

      Delete
    3. Is that why you don't dare use your own name? because you are afraid of me? really? I wouldn't want to scare wittle you.

      Delete
    4. What is scary is folks like 1:01 who read a lot of rage in Christine's comments! Yikes!

      Please keep posting, Christine. I enjoy your thoughts and your sharing of information and ideas.

      I found Len to be grating after a while, but I realize he has fans. Suggesting that people poison dogs IS something that deserves to be mentioned more than once--and roundly criticized. Many of us might end up with a little jail time for threatening their neighbors like that!

      Delete
    5. Thank you to the poster at 1:01pm.
      You express our view of the angry radio host precisely.

      But we must be carefull or Lieberman will censor these posts.

      Delete
  13. Christine, hmmmm.... Tillem asked a caller if she'd gotten to the point where she was so afraid of the neighbor's pit bull that she was *considering* rat poison to protect her kids and cat. Tillem actually advised the caller NOT to do that but to call the police and use legal action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToCPrfiMF4A .

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was shocked when I tuned in to KKSF friday afternoon. Gil is pretty good but I think the whole reason Gil is on the air there had everything to do with Len landing his spot. KKSF was non-existant in the ratings till Len came on. I've tried to find info on his ratings but I'm pretty sure they were pretty good. While I liked having a crack at len everyday - his old slot (on another station) sunday afternoons was probably the most enjoyable. Not likely to keep listening to KKSF. I hate the ham-handed way they let people go

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have listening to Len since he started on KGO. Lets hope Len gets picked up by another radio station. I stopped listening to 810 when they fired him & now I am done with 910.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I second that emotion 1:01 pm. Liberman, limit Craft's presence please.

    ReplyDelete
  17. If you want to hear someone who is full of it, you can just google the audiotapes of Len Tillem urging a woman to poison her neighbor's pit bull, not because he had threatened her in any way, but because Mr. Tillem thought it was the right thing to do to all pit bull terriers. For the record, you find me scary for pointing out that poisoning a dog is a crime. No lawyer should be telling listeners to commit a crime. That's a clear violation of state bar ethics rules and more. There is also more recent audio, on the station from which Mr. Tillem has just been vanished, telling a man that he(Mr. Tillem) would personally enjoy executing all pit bulls, if he could, licking his lips over the prospect of giving such injections"in the heart"
    I'm not the only person who has noticed this passion for animal torture on the part of this frightful man.His misogyny is also legendary, but maybe that's something you like also. I wouldn't be surprised.I think you and your ilk should shake his hand for his bravery in this regard. You'll drive him nuts though, he hates touching the hands of other humans,it makes him say yeeeeeechhh.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Jon Favreau is part of the Hollywood Republican ratpack. He,Rob Downey "jr" and Vince Vaughn are the new conservatives. And why "Ironman 3" was crap. Besides being just a near exact copy of the first two,it even had Downey as Stark doing a rant about the "Liberal media agenda" in the movie.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I like Christine. I admired her devotion to her elderly father, something you don't see everyday. She had what it took to attend law school relatively late in life. She has endured things most of us haven't. (Has your house burned down lately?) I share her love of animals, and her support of animal rights as well as human rights. She does her homework for her radio shows, even when she is asked to go on the air on short notice. She often surprises me with background news information I had not heard elsewhere (e.g. Bradley Manning is no angel). She is opinionated---people who are not opinionated are afraid to be---somebody might not LIKE them! I am a great fan of Gene Burns and Christine was always a Gene Burns booster. Carry on, Christine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Her house burned down, she's devoted to her father, loves animals, guns, and little else, wonderful. So that's supposed to justify her endless, vitriolic screeds about everything?

      She is an angry, bitter, obnoxious know-it-all.

      Delete
    2. Amen!!!

      We love Ms. Craft's spark and enthusiasm regarding topics and situations which are dear to her. I'll never forget when she took on The Susan B Koman Foundation, years ago, for profiting on breast cancer issues. She's top notch in our book!

      Delete
    3. Whether you are agree with Christine or not, I do think she is a good and talented talk show host, I have written her e-mails, when I had a point to make, and she would often answer me, even read a few on the air. However, when you disagree with her, she is hard to listen to, (same with Bernie when he was on) I wrote something on this blog yesterday and she didn't take it kindly, it was nasty or degrading. Just pointed out she dosen't seem to like that many people in the radio business, I happen to like Len, never heard him tell anyone to poison dogs (but I didn't listen all the time), but she got very upset over what I said. I mentioned she stood up for the 2 talentless hosts on KGO (Maureen and Montemayor) she said she didn't, but I heard her say Maureen was just hitting her stride (really, I don't think so, she is just a terrible hosts), thought she said something similar about Montemayor, I might be wrong, but I didn't say anything outlandish, never the less, Christine replied, obviously upset, and detailed how she NEVER stood up for those 2 hosts. Also had to point out I made a spelling mistake. First of all there is no spell check on this blog (or I don't know how to use it)second it is easy to make a typo, third english is not my first language, it just came across petty from her side. Never the less I will continue to listen to her when she talks about subjects that interest me. As I will with other hosts, as good hosts are becoming more and more rare in this area, I will listen to any host who can hold my attention.
      I don't put my name on my blogs, because whenever I had tried that the computer tells me my format is wrong. So using anonymous is easy and speedy, it is not because I don't stand by what I write.

      Delete
    4. P.S. AS FOR TYPO'S JUST MADE ONE IN ABOVE BLOG, MEANT TO SAY "It was NOT, nasty or degrading, even proofread it, but very easy to make a mistake in this format.

      Delete
    5. That's called showbizz Tommy. And why you listen to her.

      Delete
  20. Len was the only reason for listening. His insights and good natured barbs make radio interesting. I hope someone else picks him up.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Love Len Tillem and Jon Rothman, not a fan of Gill Gross.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I liked Tillem's take no prisoners style.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I would use my real name if I could only if Rich would use the Disqus commenting system of which I am a member.

    I'm not in the radio business and I read Rich's blog because of the radio insider gossip. Last week, sadly, I learned that Lynn Jimenez was leaving KGO before it was announced.

    Today, I learned that Len Tillim is no longer at KKSF. I don't come here every day because I like to read several day's worth of Rich's posts and comments in one-sitting.

    I enjoyed listening to Len at KGO. He always had good shows which were educational, for me. Living in e-CoCo as I do, KKSF's reception doesn't work well for me so I have not heard Len in quite awhile.

    Same with Gil. I liked his show on KGO and learned from him, but I'm not familiar with his show on KKSF at all. I surprised that he has his wife on the show on Friday's however - and surprised not in a good way.

    I was an unusual listener to KGO for their demographics. I started listening to KGO when I was in college in the mid-90s and continued to do so right through the bloodbath of December 2011 - and still do. I still listen to Ronn and Jon and Jennifer during my morning commute.

    I miss all of the old hosts, the 6 o'clock am "good moooooorning" from KGO jetcopter, and Stan Burford.

    The reason why I write today is because of all the piling-on regarding Christine Craft. You people have no shame. Ms. Craft may not be to your liking - I get that - so don't listen to her or read her posts.

    It's sad to see you "enlightened" baby-boomers treating other humans the way that you do.

    That's my rant. Carry on.


    ReplyDelete
  24. Another available preset on my AM radio dial!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Why should Christine Craft or any other talkshow host visit the sales department? Because THEY SELL THE TIME. The only reason commercial talkradio exists is because of those salespeople. She and others should visit them on a regular basis, get to know them, give them helpful hints that might make their sales jobs easier.

    Christine as a lawyer should know all about schmoozing. Especially in a prima donna-driven industry such as broadcasting, it is even MORE necessary to get to know and befriend those who could help them.

    NOT ONLY THAT, but station general managers come up through the sales department, so it behooves any talkshow host to get to know the future managers. DUH!!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. dear chilly, The sales department at the station in question was not selling anything I was doing. Perhaps you are new to the radio industry, but I am a fill-in host, a free agent. There was and is no product of mine that they were or are selling. I happily participated in many KGO Cureathons, but not because I was promoting a show I didn't have.
    As for "any other talk host"?, certainly one who has their own show would have a vested interest in meeting the folks who market it and sell it.
    I have no "helpful hints" for selling something that doesn't exist.
    good day and give my best to prima"donna".

    ReplyDelete
  27. Christine your know it all attitude ruins everything ,GO AWAY

    ReplyDelete
  28. Now that Christine has sicced her pit bulls on Len, let us do the matchmaker thing and compare the two lawyers.

    I've listened to Len long since he was on KGO, and it is true that he requires his audience to have thick skin. Christine is speaking out on behalf of those who don't, and for those who are unable to handle Len's jokes appropriately, and for those who simply think that they are hurtful.

    It behooves Christine to study her surroundings carefully, which includes observing Len's rough edges. When Christine raises topics, she often leaves further arguments unclaimed that are rightfully hers, with the assumption that they will resolve themselves on their own. But, this approach is seldom effective.

    Does Len honestly condone the Michael-Vick school of dog-training? Let's see some examples of Len's misogyny. In the past, has anybody ever warned Len of the potential risks to the public of his sharp-edged frolicking?

    In Christine's background, there is the firm belief in adherence to structure and law and order and finding one's rightful place. Now, it seems that her lot in life has developed into quite a paradox, where she herself is brilliant as she always has been, but as a collective entity, those around her are not brilliant in reference to her, as they don't give her much help in defining boundaries. This accounts for the fact that she is sometimes cloying and defensive. As a result, she outshines colleagues and superiors, which is the only good that would come from schmoozing too much. Through all of this, she still somehow maintains her strong sense of organization and justice. That is what gives her the confidence to be a free agent.

    Because danger is more real to Christine than it is to Len, I am imagining Christine asking us to think of Len as being the "irreverent, reveling cowboy who rides fast and loose in the saddle behind the mic."

    In the past, Len probably had to choose his moments wisely. Now that his life has unfolded as magical and more free, he feels out-from-under, and one of the ways that he celebrates this is by throwing those jokes around. Also, his giving free legal advice to the public is owing to his subscription to giver's-gain. Yes, Christine also believes in giver's-gain, but not of Len's sort.

    Christine thinks that "pimping" free legal advice undermines the legal profession. On the other hand, though, isn't it possible that Len may be actually helping the legal profession by giving referrals and inspiring people to use lawyers' services when needed, when they might not have otherwise? This is a fascinating question which merits further discussion.

    Len constantly praises his associates, and those who are around him. He makes no bones about the fact that the firings, which he has endured within the last year-and-a-half, are no match for the blessings in his life.

    Despite the fact that Christine would rather not be in the same room with Len, and although neither of them is going to change the other, it is nonetheless favorable for us to compare the two here, as this allows us to once again bring out into the open, the give-and-take influence that the media has on the public.

    My many thanks to both Christine and Len, as I have really enjoyed this locking-of-horns between their two sides. It makes for great media. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Len Tillem is a total yenta (busybody) with no conscience. He respects no one's privacy. I'm glad he's gone.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I for one miss Len VERY much. He was not just a source of entertainment, but often educated me about the law an how it applies to us. I like Gil, but he takes few call-ins comparede to when he was on 810, and his banter is more long winded now. Still, he's voice of reason in the afternoon that I cannot find anywhere else. I applaud his ability to get "experts" on air to talk about issues so he does not come across as a "know it all." I wish Jon Rothman would get more air time; he is SO knowledgeable and has such a keen memory for history. I was a loyal KGO listener for many year and miss the old line up. I find it disheartening that good radio talk shows are getting fewer and fewer.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Let's face it: Christine had an impressive crush on Len, but it didn't last.

    ReplyDelete