I've heard from an insider that KSFO Morning Show Co-Hostess, Melanie Morgan, went "ballistic" on Tuesday morning. (She was absent from the airwaves yesterday).
According to my insider, Morgan had it out with partner, Brian Sussman and traffic reporter, Katie Green, complaining that both treat her unfairly.
Beyond that, the insider said that Morgan told the station's sales dept. that she "quit."
Let's wait and see. Often times, the drama of radio supersedes realism. This outburst is not that uncommon in the biz but it's hard to figure out whether or not Morgan actually will leave. We shall see.
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untethered ego running amok .... time for many of the ego driven media personalities to pull back, grow up and be real... now, that being said... there aren't a lot of em... but the ones that indulge only reflect poorly on the biz...
ReplyDeleteMelanie is a very capable, and talented radio professional with charisma and enthusiasm. For my pal, Melanie to behave as described, this must be a matter of when the Tea Kettle Boils Over after simmering for a long, long time.
DeletePerhaps she had even convinced herself that she was satisfied for the time being, and could elegantly keep biting her rubied lips, not saying what she really thought about what was or was not going on. Then something happened that made close-mouthed smiling impossible. That brittle patina of the sanguine was
broken down and heated up by the Vesuvius seen today.
That Katie Green is a potty mouth idiot. I don't care if she has a foul mouth, but this is KSFO remember, right wing religious Christians listen to this BS. Yeah she's a fast talker when giving the traffic and her stupid app of the day but management giving her an open mike is just stupid. I only listen to that show (in spurts) for entertainment because its such a train wreck. A few months ago they were giving Green billing over Morgan, then all of a sudden it went back to Sussman, Morgan, & Green. I love it when Morgan slurs her word which is most of the time, and Green when left to do the show with a guest host just babbles stupid answers to questions asked of her and adds her meaningless opinions to the show. Well actually she does that all the time.
DeleteOfficer Vic (such a stupid name)was also not funny, and his impersonations were lousy to say the least. I'll take the Bill Press Show any day over this show. Sussman doesn't deserve mention, oops I just did.
She seems like a real mature and classy individual.
ReplyDeleteHow could anyone stand that idiot Sussman for more than five minutes?
ReplyDeleteThis is her MO. Not the first time, won't be the last.
ReplyDeleteHow is this her MO? The last time she worked on the station she was tossed against her wishes. There was a great spark between the old team of Lee Rodgers, Melanie and Officer Vic that is very missing with Sussman. I never liked his talk show when he was a nightly solo act and he never filled Rodger's shoes. Melanie has done a lot of great things that meant a lot to tons of people because she's very genuine. She appeals more to the more mature people that care about news and facts rather than stupid stuff like when Sussman has uninformed and moronic leftists spewing their trash on a regular basis.
DeleteCommon behavior for those who just went through menopause. An estrogen low so-to-speak.
ReplyDeletePlease spare us the chauvinistic editorial. Do you know Melanie's age? It is possible to get fed up, loose ones temper and have had it up to here, at any time in a women's life. I notice after a certain age, (mid fifties) I'm more willing to speak my mind and let the chips fall where the may. Also after a certain age I decided there were certain things I would not put up with. You get to a point where you say, I don't have to put up with this shit anymore, and you don't. I would venture that Melanie (although I couldn't stand her politics, I think she is intelligent and a good broadcaster) probably just got fed up with Brian. From the beginning when she was re-hired, I didn't think they were a good match, I notice (although I don't listen a lot to KSFO) she was often absent. I think she decided it was a sinking ship and she was not going to go down with the ship. If Cumulus has any brains the fire Brian (perhaps Katie too) bring in Melanie and find her a decent co host. They must have brought her back because they thought it would help ratings, I don't think she wanted be second banana to Brian and perhaps even Katie, and I don't think she should have to.
DeleteIt should be Melanie and Officer Vic. With much much less Sports and all that canned cheering pasted on.
DeleteThe canned cheering and the "hang up on yourself" is just awful. Was that Sussman's idea? If so, shows how creative and out of touch he is. Who likes all these gimmick? This is not conservative or liberal, it just plain bad programming.
DeleteThat 'hang up on yourself' thing was funny ONCE, for one morning shift. The next time it was a grimace, then a groan. I'd be rolling my eyes as I turn the station, because that new custom became VERY annoying. Sort of like when Saturday Night Live learning how comedy works by taking a three minute skit, then stretching that rubber band way out till you have a thirty-three minute skit ,,with encores!
DeleteSometimes the formulaic way doesn't work. What brings a giggle today at 6.49am is not in anyway guaranteed to bring the exact same measure of mirth tomorrow at 6.49am, maybe it's a one time event, the way a genuine Freudian Slip would be.
KSFO is doing the same thing the RINOs are doing to the Republican party. They're getting rid of the best and keeping the worst. Today I heard of a poll done by a leftist polling group that said that conservatives over whelming want the Republicans to veer sharply to the right and move as far away as possible from the leftist nonsense. The Republicans are catering to the news media and the left so badly. It brings to mind the sick comparison that it's more like Christ doing his thing based on the advice from Satan.
DeleteI didn't like her when she was solo or with a previous partner, and I sure can't stand her now.
ReplyDeleteHer ego as "Mrs. Jack Swanson" and her prima donna "my s++t doesn't stink" attitude and immature personality make, hopefully, her a gonner.
She was horrible doing America's Morning News for TRN and now, she's even worse.
Caveat: I respect her "conservatism", though find it way to the right and, now, off the scope, but even that would be ok if she was at least funny and factual. She is just a mean spirited "hater" now.
I also respect that she has been quite ill, had to come back to SF from Washington and got lucky to pull her mornng gig back as she rejoined KSFO and stll was not well. I mean that.
Memo to Ms. Morgan: Do this and please keep walkin'. The ratings are in the crapper, KSFO is but one-tenth of a point from being beat by KKSF and you, Sussman and Green are not Armstrong & Getty.
Your cume isn't recovering and you languish way out of the buying demos and out of most agency buys.
You and Jack take some time off and get it together. Cumulus is not for you at any low-ball salary just because "you're available."
It may have been a fun ride, but the time has come. The ego is writing checks that the bank won't cash anymore.
Enjoy life for a change, not as the hater and misinformed wench you've turned into.
Sussman - you're next.
If this was a PR stunt, as juvenile as what I heard on Tuesday, you don't deserve to be in morning drive anyway.
All of you.
PS to the memo - George Bush has been gone from office for five years now. A majority of your peers, like it or not, did not like the choices before them and chose differently. That's the way it goes. Pass note to another hater, Karel, who needs to find more time to get a boyfriend. Thank you.
cc: Lew & John Dickey, Ron (PD), market manager, sales manager, and new GM.
Rich,
DeleteWhomever write this hit it out of AT&T Park. Good post!
Cumulus, like usual, must not give a damn, as the rumor mill is that it would like to sell KSFO anyway and be done with it to focus on KGO, KNBR and the FM's. KSFO is just a sore on their asses and bottom-line.Her info is still on the station website, so, I'm thinking "she'll be back after she gets coddled again," and it proves that Cumulus just doesn't get it.
The website was cleared of Gene, John, Ray, Gil, The Loyah immediately before, including the webmaster who was axed, as well.
Let Sussman do it with Katie and they'll both be gone in 90-days.Melanie is probably crying big baby croc tears to weasel her way back Monday. Maybe the new braintrusts can get Karel to debate Sussman every morning live. We'd be having fun there, wouldn't we?
Why do conservatives *always* come across as loonies who can't make a coherent point? I know their IQs are on the left part of the bell curve, but really, I could express myself better in third grade. Is it any wonder basic science and logic continue to elude them?
DeleteI never thought the trio of Sussman, Morgan and Green worked well. Sussman is too much of a religious conservative; Morgan is more of a mainstream conservative and Green sounds like some young chick who should be on LIVE 105 or KFOG, but they just put her on KSFO because they didn't have room for her on the other stations.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, speaking of KFOG, whoever thought putting Greg Gory on KSFO was a good idea? He seems so out of place.
Religious conservative, mainstream conservative, moderate conservative, Tea Party conservative, traditional conservative, social conservative, fiscal conservative, fill-in-the-blank conservative. All of this division, and the right wonders why Obama was re-elected.
DeleteI'm sorry, but you are wrong #8.32pm. We true conservatives no longer wonder why most people think Obama won last November. Three little words explain it: Massive Voter Fraud. Everyone who really paid attention knows it. We live in a new reality now, one based on the acceptance of. powerful LIES!
DeleteOops, I overlooked the "true conservatives."
DeleteI have no doubts that there have been cases of voter fraud throughout history. But even some well-respected conservative pundits admit that lack of unity and the number of factions are BIG problems in their movement. And that is no lie!
Conservatives have problems facing facts, therefore they do what they accuse liberals of always doing, blaming something else. They lost because of voter fraud, people that voted for Obama wants handouts, if you voted for Obama you are not informed, you not intelligent etc. etc. 2:34 is right voter fraud is minimal, and it happens in both parties, so probably cancel each other out. How about this, some people, even intelligent informed people, prefer Obama. Women, blacks, Hispanic's, gay feel alienated by the republicans. On top of this, republicans are fickle, Mark Rubio was the greatest the new hope for the party a few month ago, now because he has a stand on immigration they don't like, he fell out of favor.
DeleteThe problem is not Morgan. It's Sussman.
ReplyDeleteWhen Morgan was paired with Lee Rodgers and John McCaslin, the shows were informative and entertaining. It's Sussman who brought the zoo attitude to the Morning Show, which surprised me because I don't recall him doing that on his evening commute show.
It is obvious KSFO is trying to bring in younger listeners. That is why they brought Katie Green and Greg Gory. It's also why Brian Sussman has resorted to using bathroom humor. I just wish the execs would realize young, sophisticated listeners of talk radio don't care if the personalities are old or tell fart jokes, just that they deliver information in an entertaining way.
DeleteExactly 1:49.
DeleteThe minute Brian Sussman arrived to the morning show he (his personality) took a turn for the worse. His evening show was listenable, but as soon as he entered the morning show he has developed a terrible and nasty disposition. KSFO in the morning could do better without Brian Sussman.
Yes, that is exactly right. Sussman's evening show was waaaay better. It was not silly and he had good guests, stuck to the point.
DeleteThis BS of "the best damn morning show period" is bullshit.
It was the best damn morning show when Lee was at the helm because he kept everyone on a tight leash.
I think Sussman has higher aspirations in broadcasting and is using this as a stepping stone to get to something bigger, but the way the show is now is not a very good resume builder.
Savage and Levin are what is keeping KSFO alive in my opinion, but being national shows they could be heard elsewhere if KSFO were to fold. Too bad, it was once a gem.
I'm sorry there is discord at my former hang out of ksfo, but, darnnit, I wish I could've heard it happen. I have sensed the "two against one" attitude before on that station. Both Brian and Katie could talk about Apps or gadgetry 24-7, Brian has an engineers' mind, and could talk about bathroom plumbing systems at length, should anyone ask him. I seem to recall many a time, where Melanie, or some other good storyteller would be in the middle of a story or theme, and Brian would go off topic, or at times, almost appear to sabotage the emotion-building process the first speaker had begun. It's hard to explain, and I could be mistaken, but that was the impression I got. I think if each host had more of a clear fiefdom of entertainment, it could have worked, may still work, but each host needs some part of the show to call their own, if not five mornings a week, at least 1 or 2 times a week. Perhaps Ms. Katie wished to drive woman number two out of the private club anyway. Ambition is not a sin.
ReplyDeleteI do know that I turned ksfo on one night earlier this week and, guess what? DEAD AIR!!! I could not believe it. I cant recall which night it was, maybe two nights back, I turn on 560am at 10pm, to hear,,,nothing but static. So what choice did I have, but to "get in my proverbial radio-car' and drive down the road to 910am, listen to Noory like I used to each night. Since I discovered Red Eye Radio, I think is the title, I rarely listen to my Mr. George Noory, my friendly Neighborhood Shaman in a three piece suit.
I used to listen to Coast to Coast on KSFO at night and then, inadvertently wake up to a tasteless, mean-spirited, right wing show. What a terrible way to start the day, routinely sickening me as the first thing I heard each morning. When KSFO switched to Red Eye Radio, I left the station. I, too now have switched to 910 AM to listen to Coast to Coast at 10 PM nightly and to KFBK 1530 Sacramento on weekends when 910 AM has Dr. Wattenburg in the night slot, another anti-government right wing who opposes government benefits unless it's for corporations, nuclear scientists, or weapons.
DeleteWhy did KSFO bring her back?
ReplyDeleteI think radio trios work best when it is two guys and one girl, not two girls and one guy. When it was Lee Rodgers, Melanie Morgan and Officer Vic, audiences loved Melanie for being the girl who had to put up with those rowdy boys. Under this new arrangement, she just comes across as Katie's mom chaperoning her and Brian on a date.
ReplyDeleteTwo girls and one guy is great, let me tell you...
DeleteHere is my cure for Brian Sussman.
ReplyDeleteHe should take over KNBR's morning program.
His juvenile delinquent humor would go over marvelously there.
And while he is walking out the door he can take the traffic reporter with him.
I can listen to Rush, Savage, Levin...hell, I'd even take Morton Downey Jr. at his vile worse over Sussman. Sussman comes across as a hateful little prick on air. A pseudo tough guy who'd run the other way in a street fight. His sophomoric bathroom humor is neither clever nor funny. How is it that he is on air baffles the mind.
ReplyDelete> Sussman comes across as a hateful little prick on air.
DeleteRush is.......?
A big hateful prick
DeleteFor those Amy G. haters, here's more bad news: Comcast loves her and doesn't give a whit what Giants TV viewers think. They believe she a 'woman touch' to the broadcast, and are planning on having her around for years to come. Comcast also proudly plays up the fact that she won an Emmy, and they think Kruk and Kuip actually enjoy having their broadcasts interrupted by her for those annoying, breathless little girl puff pieces that she delivers in a voice best suited for first graders.
ReplyDeleteSo, unfortunately, get ready for more Amy G. because she's going to be around for a long time! One thought that after all these many years she's been on the broadcasts that she would at least have learned a little something about baseball. But all you have to do is listen to her pathetic post game interviews with deep questions such as : "So Buster, take us through that at bat in the ninth inning!" No wonder a lot of women in the sports TV business get a bad name!
So "a woman's touch" is the best excuse that they can come up with for retaining that phony. Hosting "Romper Room" would be a more suitable position, but unfortunately baseball fans are stuck with her.
DeleteI strongly disagree with Melanie Morgan politically, but always respected her as a true professional. I have not been able to understand what she is doing in that zoo with Sussman and Green who are just awful.
ReplyDeleteMelanie and Brian were both off today. Don't know the name of the fella who was filling in but he was a hoot!
ReplyDeleteThe fill in host today was San Francisco native, former Gene Burns producer, former KGO movie reviewer.. Sven Silva AKA Spencer Hughes. I noticed right away he kept referring to the "Morning Show" as the " Brian Sussman Program" now it all makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI like listening to the KSFO team during my morning commute because they're so laughably bizarre, but Melanie Morgan seemed to have become the, to pardon the expression, odd man out. Susman dominates the radio show monologue from the moment he gets on the air at 5 a.m., reading pretty much verbatim from conservative blog sites and making it seem as if it's the result of hour-upon-hour of his painstaking personal research into all things anti-Obama. For the most part, Morgan just laughs at Susman's lame comments and occasionally plugs her "support the troops" program. Katie Green is hard to describe, though the term "lame" seems to immediately come to mind. The only saving grace is that they draw so few listeners to their daily rants.
ReplyDeleteBrian just repeats what he heard on Levin the day before, steals lines from O'rielly - "What say you?" and steals Open Line Friday from Rush.
DeleteI'm smelling PR stunt. Morgan taking 3 days of vacation time.
ReplyDeleteIt's doubtful that Melanie will be back.
ReplyDeleteSussman and Green were constantly ganging-up on Mel and it surely seemed to be accelerating.
Wining old Sussman is the worst and Katie Green is like an immature little girl thinking she's the sh-t! Who could blame Mel for wanting to leave such an unprofessional arrangement.
Interestingly, all the Podcasts for that day have been removed.
@2:34 Hi Mel, Don't know why you posted under Anonymous but Yeah you won't be back on KSFO or any station in the SF market andd you won't be missed. As I remember you quit your national radio gig too so maybe the problem is you.
DeleteNow, Now, #12.15pm, Play nice! Your little note is just dripping with sarcasm. Don't forget, you're talking about Marvelous Melanie, and there is a whole bunch of Bay Area people who still do like her a lot. Just think of that old Leslie Gore song "I will follow Him", change it to "I will follow Her".
DeleteIt was actually Peggy March.
DeleteIt would be just like cumulus SF to bring in failed host Spencer Hughes.
ReplyDeleteThe place is run like its a mid market station in St Louis.
I like Spencer Hughs
DeleteEnough Amy G. bashing folks! I admit, the woman has little talent, an annoying voice, and doesn't seem to know much about baseball. Obviously Ted Griggs and the rest of the folks at Comcast want that on their air and they've forced the Giants to go along with it.
ReplyDeleteYou best believe that if it were up to Kruk and Kuip, Amy G. never would have been even considered for Giants baseball telecasts. It's a true embarrassment having her on there, but now let's just leave the poor woman alone. Yes, she stinks, but unfortunately so do many of the other women who do these 'sideline' reporting gigs on TV. They're basically just there to placate women who want to see more women doing these kind of jobs, or guys who like to look at pretty girls.
Given the tight job market, and the qualified and desirable candidates who have the door slammed in their faces, I will not suppress my opinion or take pity on this particular "poor" woman.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how that obnoxious morning show survives. Morgan is a con artist witch on wheels, Sussman is a mental defective and Green is worse than that babbling idiot Officer Vic.
ReplyDeleteAll KSFO content will go to KGO in time.Think About it the "Q" a Right wing company. Why would they sell KSFO and Exit a Major radio market with conservative talk radio? KGO has a strong signal and a half way useful mid road 9-noon show. Let us face it conservative talk radio, is far more of a money maker than Liberal talk radio. You only need to look at Green 960 and Air America to see this. Why does 960 not pull big ratings,in a metro area that Elected Obama two times?
ReplyDeleteSo Rich, you probably know, who's going to be on 560am tomorrow morning? Other than Katie G., that is? Just whisper it in my ear.
ReplyDeleteFrank
DeleteMelanie is not on the show this a.m. I don't think she will be back, her and Brian was never a good match, as far as I could tell.
ReplyDeleteI only listen once in awhile and rarely for long, but it seemed like Katie got more and more prominent as time went on. Melanie never hit her stride, she was never as good or natural as she was with Lee Rodgers. Her laugh sounded too forced and phony most of the time. Although I'm not a fan of Melanie, I do think she has talent, and she probably just got fed up working with 2 hosts of mediocre talent.
Melanie always sounded like a backseat driver and most of the jokes suss and Katie made were over her head. She always sounded threatened by Katie. You could hear it in her retorts and in her voice. Sad really. I've also heard some stories about her off-air tantrums that made her sound like a spoiled princess who lost her Barbie. I say good riddance!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of stories? Inquiring minds want to know!
DeleteOr is this simply an articulate bluff with no huff?
No I don't think the jokes were over her head, I think they were too stupid, lame etc. for her to laugh at them. I have never (althoughI don't listen a lot to KSFO Morning show) heard a joke I found funny, Lee use to tell some funny jokes. Brian is no funny, has a weird sense of humor, Katie sounds like she laugh at anything, except I can't stand her laugh, too shrill to forced. I don't think she was threatened by Katie, I think she was pissed she had to work with such amateurs, perhaps she just got fed uu.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind I'm not a fan of Melanie's don't like her politics, think she can be petty and mean spirited, but she is a better host than Brian and Katie, I won't take that away from her.
Lee Rodgers' departure from SF morning radio is comparable w/ Carson's departure from the Tonight Show... and much for similar reasons; namely, replaced by sophomoric behavior with nowhere near the panache, wit, charm, or wisdom of Lee. I assume Katy G. is the daughter of a Cumulus exec. How else could ANYONE keep her on the air? Perhaps it's a reflection of our cultural dumbing down. Suss's scatological humor (while I'm making my breakfast)and the valley girl cogitations of Katy G. are (to paraphrase Lee) "...enough to make a skunk vomit..." I've switched completely to the classical station on FM and much happier for it...
ReplyDeleteThis is a major problem for my listening habits.I need the stability of a couple of good pros and Melanie offered that, keeping Sussman in check but this threesome certainly was off track and sadly now, so is KSFO. If there must be a threesome, the third string in the fiddle has to be the one with a lesser ego...which is needed for co hosting.
ReplyDeleteAs a moderate conservative, I enjoyed Lee Rodgers, Mel and OV for years. They were balanced and intelligent concerning int'l. and domestic news. They were a real hard working news team who knew what they were talking about. I was sad when Mel left previously and happy when she returned because her input really sparked up the show. But Sussman and Katie? No real professional news person or anchor could tolerate being on a team with these two. Katie needs to grow up and get some news (and history) experience. She is no match for Mel when it comes to knowing world affairs. Mel's been there and done that. She's heads above Sussman, as well, and he knows it. All he apparently knows is sports and he belongs on a sports station. In the morning, I want to know what is going on in the world......not what team won yesterday. Mel, don't come back to KSFO until they provide you with an intelligent, experienced news team. Oh, that horrible childish "hang up on yourself" game of Sussmans. Kills my ears. Delivering donuts is the perfect place for Katie. Besides, she talks too fast. I've found a station in Sacramento to listen to until Mel's back.
ReplyDeleteI am not a particular fan of Melanie Morgan, but unfortunately there was no real chemistry between her and Sussman and Green. It was really painful at times. The immature toilet humor and manic hyperactive antics makes the Morning Show iffy if there are small children up early (mine). As a result, I just don't listen to them anymore. The only adult left is their producer (Shari?), and I don't think she wants the job. Too bad.
ReplyDelete