Forget about the reasons why or why not KNBR's Damon Bruce may be fired in the wake of his now notorious rant about women and sports. It really doesn't matter.THIS does matter: advertisers. So far, no advertiser has left the Knibber cluster nor Bruce's show although I'm told there's been whispers from a few who are concerned about the fallout which has reached a national critical storm. And for good reason. Even for a radio station that has traditionally catered to a mostly male crowd and shuttered the female audience. Then again, it's not good business to alienate a growing legion of women fans who, like their male counterparts, do the tailgating and are avid NFL fans. Even the league has embraced the female demo and has a high-profile campaign dealing with breast-cancer awareness. The NBA and MLB have also targeted women with their own charitable campaigns. More women than ever have entered the sports arena and are a prominent advertising group.
It is that women demo that Bruce may have alienated the most and probably is kicking himself to have gone off on that bizarre tirade just a few days ago.
*I have had my moments with Bruce; I don't think this incident; however egregious and frankly, stupid and embarrassing to both Bruce and KNBR, warrants him losing his job--a two-week suspension without pay would be suitable, but again, the way of the world this day might dictate otherwise. If some advertisers split and there's a heavy backlash from the ladies, (and it's been considerable), then Bruce is gone.
*Ted Ramey will fill in today and Tuesday on Bruce's show from Noon-3 PM. Bruce, for now, has been suspended indefinitely, as reported here, first.
*Tone-deaf society: KNBR and Opps Mgr, Lee Hammer, haven't helped matters with their complete silence on the Bruce tirade. Not a word. Not a peep even. That's not in the handbook of good damage control. I'd expect we will get a statement sometime later Monday.
*Check back here periodically throughout the day as I do believe we might have some news filtering out of the Cumulus SF cluster on the Bruce matter.
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Ted Raimy? Another white male fills in. KNBR/Cumulus just pretends it cares socially..but yes,they are just doing what's the least they can. Its just don't offend the advertisers. You're right.
ReplyDeleteSo far,its just Rod Brooks as a person of color to host a show on KNBR..INCLUDING weekends (Golf,Hockey,Motorsports and the Horses and all the rest specialty shows),and yes--- fill ins. How do they get away with that?
You might not be a racist but you sure sound like one.
DeleteLieberman is the only blog that still publishes comments from Stan who has worn out his welcome everywhere else because of his incessant ranting about Radnich and white, male broadcasters.
DeleteIt's not KNBR's job to hire minorities. If they're not offending them, or if they're championing all people as equals, that should be enough. Besides, KGO does enough with their female 3 in a row female programming on the weekend.
DeleteOne person of color hosts a show on KNBR out of about 20+ over the 24/7 period,and you can even add the business segment men as all white.
DeleteAnd I'm the racist?
Is that how your types think, to avoid the reality?.
I prefer to refer to Rod Brooks as Arsenio myself.
Delete9:54...while you were sleeping, the world changed. Women are not minorities. Most people in US are female.
DeleteCongratulations to Christine, who parsed someone's comment because she couldn't understand the larger picture. I'm assuming the poster was referencing minorities and women, since there are laws, like title 9, which bar discrimination based on gender, race, etc. etc. For once, try not being an idiot just for the sake of it. Not everyone spends their entire day on this site, nitpicking comments. Now try not having the last word.
DeleteI used to think you were ok on the radio, but now that I read your comments here I can understand why you don't have a show.
Guess what, Christine? Women are considered minorities in the political sense. Right or wrong, feminists and women's rights advocates try to equate women with actual "minorities". Let's face it, if you are not a white male, then you are considered a minority by the powers that be. Looks like you were napping, too.
Delete@12:32, better hope there aren't any grammar mistakes in your comment. Christine, the grammar police person, just loves to correct grammar errors.
Deleteit's why people take to her so positively here. i wonder if she's like this in person?
Deletehttp://www.wistv.com/story/22658020/commissioners-begin-search-for-county-manager
DeleteStan its Ramey (Ted) similar to his dad Hal Ramey
DeleteI did not hear the Rant. I have never tuned in to KNBR I'm not a sports guy My question is was he right about women and sports? Is the "Q" KNBR and the rest of the media being "PC"? Where does KTVU stand on the whole thing? One more question why do Radio stations always have fake palm trees?
ReplyDeleteHave a Great Week ALD
Hate to get all "Stan"on you Liebs' but it would be a good time to diversify a little with this DBruce thing popping up. KNBR and The Game have a serious race/gender problem. I wouldn't give a damn if the hosts were actually good but they all are awful on both stations so why not try something new. There are alot of different view points besides white guys in their mid-40's who have never played anything.
ReplyDeleteGary and Larry are not going anywhere. Gary did play through the collegiate level and he's somewhat of an institution in the Bay Area. Some dislike Larry but I enjoy him. He is also very knowledgeable. Noon-3pm is the worst on the station in my opinion and the opinion of others reading comments here. Giggles and Arsenio are instant "change the channel". The Warriors pay Giggles salary (per Rich and other threads) so I don't see them dropping him. The show would be just fine with only Arsenio.
Delete3pm on...Tolbert played and Ray adds good insight and humor.
I like Larry for his NFL takes-but his NBA knowledge is horribly lacking. His constant berating of the Bogut trade continues to show his lack of NBA knowledge. I have to turn him off when he goes on his rants as he continues to show his lack of NBA knowledge.
DeleteFitz and Brooks are very much corporate line people. Fitz can't/won't say anything bad about the Dubs because they pay his bills. Hard to say something negative about your employer in a public forum and keep your job. I don't mind Rod's takes on SEC/LSU because they are usually correct but Bob tends to protect ND to no end and often he comes off as snobbish and demeaning to other programs.
Who played? Tolbert and Byrnes. Who else? I know Townsend played college baseball and Tittle played college football, I can't think of anybody else. Unless you count Romo and guys like that.
Delete@9:31 What's wrong with middle aged caucasians?
DeleteIt's not just KNBR that has a race/gender problem, how many African Americans have a local or national prime time talkshow slot. At least KNBR has one African American host on the air, most places don't have any
DeleteAre you really surprised at the lack of non-white voices on the air. Check out the syndicated lineup at most sports talk stations it's Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, Pat O'Brian, Ferrall and J.T. the Brick, Ferrall replaced Tony Bruno, who was canned for making controversial remarks. As they say, you better watch what you say. If they fire Damon, maybe he Ralph Barbari can hookup on the FM station.
DeleteThe NBA has a race/gender problem, too. Its 78% black males!
DeleteAnd this is a story you (self-proclaimed Bay Area gadfly) said you "May or may not" get to. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the ratings, does 1050 even have advertisers? I'm not in the biz, but I imagine that most spots are just throw-ins for advertising on 680. I also don't think dumping Damon would be a big deal for management. If they really thought he could drive ratings (and $$$) he would be on the big boy station. They run Fitz & Brooks over him for crying out loud!
ReplyDeleteRadnich has not mentioned the biggest story in local sports media. Despite the hinting they want to by Scott and Kreuger.
ReplyDeleteRadnich's glass house is on his mind.
Stan-just a guess here but KNBR is in damage control and has told their on-air personalities to not say a thing on air RE: Bruce.
DeleteGary will make his subtle digs about it but I doubt any of them want this to turn into Giants vs KNBR #2 and see 4 people lose their jobs over what one person says on-air.
Ok,you have a point. Radnich said something about Lee Hammer giving him advice to stick with the handbook.
DeleteBut all I have ever heard about Hammer is that he does have some say,and what he says is- I support management 100%. I will even go as far to say that if Kate Scott had been a known Berkeley Lesbian when she applied,her resume would have gone as far as the round file.
And as far as today,Fred and Ethel said nothing about Mancow,I mean D.Bruce.
Lee Hammer needs to go too. Hammer made Keith Olberman's Worst Person. A national embarrassment. He condones this. He allowed Bob Fitzgerald prior to the Warriors T'Wolves game to disparage women officials. Fitz said the Warriors would have a problem with the officials because one of the three was a woman. Then he backtracked and said it was because she was inexperienced. Hammer has always been a good ole boy. It is time for him to go.
ReplyDeleteLee Hammer says no.
DeleteI would have preferred that Damon stay on air and deal with this in a healthier debate style. We no longer have discourse and discussions, we just can people. Face it, sports talk radio generally sucks anyway. Hosts interview others in sports media, canned speeches by coaches and athletes, etc. It really is the toy department.
ReplyDeleteTed Ramey just started up, no mention. Caught the tail end of Radnich/Kreuger/Scott and Tony Salvatore was there. Expected the company disclaimer distancing themselves from this mess at the start. Nope.
ReplyDeleteWho gives a good rat's ass about Damon Bruce and his sophomoric, childish rant anyway? The guy is a hack, and is lucky to be working in San Francisco. The only reason he was hired was because Cumulus bought KNBR several years back. From what I understand, he was out of a job when they brought him in, and he actually was doing the nightly call in show on KNBR until he pissed off management and the Giants for his regular nightly rants and critiques. You'd think KNBR management might have learned something from the Larry Krueger-gate fiasco a few years earlier, but then-GM Tony Salvadore wasn't the brightest bulb as far as programming. Salvadore was also the guy who replaced the popular Frank and Mike morning show with Steve McPartlin, another loud mouth hack who lasted less than a year at the knibber.
ReplyDeleteI tried theGame today earlier...all I ever got was a commercial break as I changed stations during the Radnich program. I tried again at noon with Papa and Lund. Nothing about the biggest sports story yet in the first half hour and no tease about it even going to be discussed.
ReplyDeleteProtecting their own. And isn't that what got me into my whole internet protests? I was right.
And as I wrote on my blog (reported? please.) Bloomberg news seems to have dropped KNBR.
ReplyDeleteCoincidence?
other way around
DeleteCould be. And if it was,that's due to the painful back and forth between Bloomberg's people and the strange schtick started by Radnich that just created tension month after month. He pushes that 900 pound canary act on all he can.
DeleteRegarding the donate button, I'd like to donate to Mr.Bruce. 8 minutes and 44 seconds of unvarnished truth. This market doesn't deserve him.
ReplyDelete@1:15 PM, Put me down for ten bucks.
DeleteDamon has neither the time nor the talent to demean female sports broadcasters one percent as much as they do themselves with their reliably mediocre, often laughable performances on air. They are, with their over-practiced yet still awkward use of jargon, every bit as big an embarrassment as is that army of African-American ex-jocks who can't effectively communicate in their native tongue. Scholar-athletes my butt.
That Damon, a host I find obnoxious, rightly credited a handful of women with having something to say (Ann Killion is one) ought to get him an award for truth and accuracy in reporting, although I would have a tough time getting my sports crazy, former scholar-athlete wife to admit there's even a handful.
Damon's mistake was in thinking that truth and accuracy have any place in the media. The job, whether in news or sports, is about maintaining illusions and enforcing political correctness. It's old school Pravda with token diversity, loud-mouthed women, and improved bells and whistles.
The guy likes the smell of his own farts and is a know-it-all, and guess what? He's not? he came into the SF area acting as if he personally knew everything that was going on in sports. No credibility, just another young loud mouth with a modicum of
ReplyDeletetalent who happens to make a lot of noise. And he's frustrated because Hammer sentenced him to the Gulag of 1050, a station that no one listens to.
Actually, he may have had a moment of leverage. When the Game was launching they softly went after him which i think got him paid a bit more. If he gets fired he'll be in the game, is my guess. Because they still suck.
Delete