IT'S TIME WE GOT SOMETHING STRAIGHT..one of those periodic updates about what I care about, what I don't care about; the state of all of you here and you're healthy ego, what's important and what is not; some truthiness to steal a word.*Let's begin with the fact that those of you that come here a lot and a lot of you do, be you media people, sales guys, normal people, lunatics, assholes, you know...first off you're lucky I give a damn and give you any satisfaction, let alone bloating your already insufferable egos.
Most of you, if not all are POSERS. You were lucky enough to land a job and you're getting paid peanuts today and are willing to sell what little soul you have, if any, in your quarter brain. You're zombies. You're in bed with the assholes who stomp on you collectively every day and laugh their ass off at your amazingly transparent gullibility. Assholes. Cokeheads. You think I really give a shit about your opinion? Ha ha Ha. Please, spare me the bullshit.
I don't trust any of you. You are primarily the reason why people get hemorrhoids. You inflate your importance. I write about you and am frank about you in the most honest of ways because it's too easy. Stop and gather yourself. Hey you, anchor babe? You ain't shit. You too, radio host with the nasal voice and assholes, especially at 55 Hawthorne. Screw you. Smell the roses too because all the bragging in the world about getting nickels for doing shitty radio doesn't hide your kiss-ass, your brown nose giddy, you piece of crap. You're one bad book away from being shown your ass the door and have to be like Gil Gross.
**About Zwerling: He's an advocate. MY advocate. And he's honest too and he doesn't give a flying fuck about personal shit and believes in me, as do I, so goddamn right I'm going to print his message, at least he's up front and honest unlike you primitive POSERS who don't possess an ounce of ingenuity and originality if your life depended on it.
I asked Zwerling to pen an HONEST assessment about me. I asked that he be as genuine as possible and that I wouldn't edit unless he was crass and/or mean and cruel. I could have done without the vitamin stuff but I left it in because it's a part of his business and has become central in his success. He doesn't run me, control me , what I have to say, not a thing. And I don't mix in his business. I respect the fact that he's up front with me and I don't have to deal with back rumors and innuendo like the rest of 'yous working dickheads who are beholden to cretins and schmuck consultants who only made it because they had to swallow or kiss a lot of ass. That's never been in my M.O. I am who I am, for better or worse and those of you who know me well know that I work hard and I'm sincere and for the most part, too honest. And that's quite all right with me because I don't need the business to define me, make me whole--it's not about that. I can say that and will always say that because I already had my day in the sun and will, one day soon, tell it all like it is for those of you that resonate to and enjoy my work. And even to those of you that don't I'm all good about my place so enough with all your back-biting jabs. You don't hurt me a bit.
You're damn fucking lucky anybody in this town pays attention to you at all. I'm the only schmuck who gives you any such feedback, let alone acknowledgement, so don't flatter yourself.
RADNICH? I write a commentary about him, try to keep it straight and simple based on a few good words on the street and all of a sudden, I'm a Radnich apologist. You damn idiots. Yeah, occasionally I try to keep it objective and I get grief over a goddamned straight piece. I don't care much for Gary anymore but to try to keep this spot credible and relevant, I will try to write without any vindictive agenda. It's tough but I follow forward.
Same thing for OWENS too. I find the man professionally repugnant but even though his career is in the eight inning, I'll still listen every now and then to see if he can still interview. I'm sick of all the mattress ads but that's life. He'll have to live with that black mark on his legacy, whatever's left of it, the rest of his professional life.
ABOUT THIS BLOG and ME: It began as a hobby. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would get the amount of attention that I get writing this --everybody comes here and that's cool. But I'm tired of the constant bitching and moaning. It has to stop or I will stop and don't think for a moment what your life would be like without this real estate in your life.
And another thing: I'm hip to people who know what I'm doing here. They get it. They know what's important and what is not. They CONTRIBUTE too. And without their contributions, I'm all mush and done like where I'm at close to being without readers donation$. Selling ads is tough when you're writing items and trying to check on tips. Like I said, if KQED can have 10 pledge breaks a day, certainly I can ask that those of you that love me, hate me, love and hate me, this site, throw some donor money my way. I'm supposed to work for free? No. Sorry. That was yesterday.
Oh, but Rich, quit being so damn sensitive if you hit like you do you have to take it back, oh really? Only my hits are out there with MY NAME on it. I don't hide and cower like most of you do and you all know who you are. Some of you work behind the camera. Many of you are behind the Cumulus microphones. If I call you out, label you a phony, it's MY name there. So don't give me the being sensitive shit. Really, spare me.
THIS IS A BLOG. I'm proud of what I do. Some days are better than others. Many of you gave me shit about posting pictures of pretty women anchors as if I was being offensive, hey, get a clue! As much as being informative I have to be entertaining too--it's called basic public relations. If anything you should congratulate me and honor me with acknowledging some of the most beautiful people in the Bay Area. You want pictures of Milt Kahn, this is not the site to come to, (obscure reference.)
YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I'm angry. I don't need all this aggravation, really I don't and it will get to the point that 415 Media fades to black and then all of you will get cranky and feel just as crummy as I do.
Because of all this blather my life has been altered. A really gross detour. I need to lose weight and I will because I'm being honed for TV and I'd like to live longer. And beyond that I'm not going to be specific but I'll alert you when it comes to fruition and it will.
Radio? For the past 6 months I've had to take personal abuse about my "alleged radio show." I was never fired--hell, I was barely even hired! Zwerling took to me and offered me a show, albeit on a small station without the slightest bit of 21st century technology, virtually no PR, no app, no website, but I managed to attract listeners, not a lot but enough to gauge further consideration on a larger platform. It's in Zwerling's lap right now and both of us hope to get the new show rolling but it takes time. Either way, I'm happy with where I'm at --again, radio doesn't make me. Health and happiness is first and foremost.
I'm about done for now.
*Follow me on Twitter
Honed for TV? Well if Stanley Roberts can get a gig then I guess anyone can.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping you'd tell us how you really felt ..... Bravo!
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with the glasses on the pictured guy?
ReplyDeleteDo they actually make lenses that thick to correct vision problems or is it just a comical exaggeration for ad images?
Sad that Rich is so unhappy and angry. Unfortunately he seems incapable of taking any responsibility for what got him to this place.
ReplyDeleteHe's blaming everyone else but himself.
Now you're going to be on TV, you mean just like you were going to be on radio? Are you going to be in movies too?
ReplyDeleteI'm not in the biz, Rich. I feed poor kids for a living. I come here for the local media gossip.
Delete"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I'm angry. I don't need all this aggravation, really I don't and it will get to the point that 415 Media fades to black and then all of you will get cranky and feel just as crummy a I do."
ReplyDeleteNot likely!
Rich.
ReplyDeleteYou are obviously suffering from low self esteem.
You need to calm down, take a deep breath and take a step back and let me figure this all out.
As soon as I come back from my lunch and nap.
Thank you.
Y-A-W-N....
ReplyDeleteHoly crap
ReplyDeleteYour being "honed for TV?"
ReplyDeleteIn other words, you are dying to even get your foot in the door of the medium you constantly ridicule as a supposedly objective media critic.
Rich, do you even know what the ethical concept of "conflict of interest" means?
Very good.
DeleteParanoia will destroy ya.
ReplyDeleteIf you are going to take shots at people in a public forum you are kidding yourself if you don't think they will hit back. When you act like this is Page 6 you better be prepared for the consequences.
ReplyDeleteHow long does it take to launch a radio show Rich? I understand "it takes time" but what the hell are you and MZ doing? It is not as if you are building the infrastructure from scratch. Also, if you decide to do a non-live show count me out as a listener. I listened to you on KOMY and prefer live shows. Train wrecks are more fun to watch LIVE!
ReplyDelete*slow clap* Wow, that was pretty epic. I love your blog, and your honesty. For every person anonymously writing you nasty comments, there are at least two more who enjoy what you do. Keep it going, Rich.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your contribution, "Anonymous" at 5:16. Brilliant. Just brilliant. And two readers grow there wings after reading every deserved disagreement letter to what Rich says? The only problem, they either don't write to avoid the fray or do so, like you, "Anonymously". You poser, you. Thanks for playing.
Delete@anonymous 5:56 my message was to Rich. I enjoy his blog, and I assume you do too since you're not only a visitor, but a commenter as well. Yes, I am anonymous and possibly even a "poser," whatever that means. So what! The point of my original comment was to encourage Rich to keep writing. And I'm pretty sure it's grow "their" wings not "there."
Deleteyour so upset I can hear your tin cup rattling...lol
ReplyDeleteLovely rant Rich! You needed to get that off your chest. It sounded almost as if you were on the couch, but this is better, as all of us 415 media addicts can gulp it down in one delicious sitting! Keep up the good work and don't let those jackanapes, especially the ones who work for Cumulus and work for peanuts who are too cowardly to identify themselves, bother you. They would never have gotten jobs in a major market like SF 15 years ago, but we all know how the media has gone into the tank. When people like Dibley, Scott and Amy G have regular jobs, it's not a good sign! But you, my friend, are the 'conscience' of bay area media and we need you on here regularly. So keep fightin' for us Rich! Keep fightin' for us! Okay?
ReplyDeleteHe wasn't named "Dick" for no reason.
ReplyDeleteWhat would this world be without Rich's attempt at a blog?
ReplyDeleteA better place.
Health and happiness define Rich Lieberman. That's good to know. Except, his "advocate" calls him "fat and unhealthy" and it appears for the millionth time that Rich is one unhappy person or, as was printed, "Rude, crude and even my staff at KSCO / KOMY / ZBS can't understand what I see in Rich." Not a good sign. Rich, forget the meaningless blog and go find a job while you can. Can tuna or something.
ReplyDeleteYou're dishonest, Rich. That's your biggest problem.
ReplyDeleteYou have a flair for boiling things down in a succinct manner!
DeleteDear Rich,
ReplyDeleteWhy do you feel like "you" had "to take the personal abuse" for the last six months? You didn't. You censored so many of us and you could have stopped it all very easily. Instead, you launched back at everybody and misrepresented your "knowledge" of what was going on in Bay Area media. If you can't tell it straight and with effort, don't blame everyone else, for your misgivings. No matter the false praise for no money from your former employer, if he really thought you were a "diamond in the rough," he could and should have, paid you for your services. He didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't. What's that say about you, a 51 year old unhealthy bragger with nothing to really say for himself or his actions. It doesn't take long to put a radio show together, Rich. As for being "honed" for TV, what station would hire you in this market? Not even a kiddie show, I'm afraid, Even Spongebob Square Pants at least got a break. You haven't earned on, yet. When is Kate Scott going to KGO-7? I'm still waiting, based on your authority.
So you fancy yourself as the "next Herb Caen?" I guess I must have missed the columns where Herb flipped out and started calling everyone "A - Holes".
ReplyDeleteI'm not in the media and am not much of a tv watcher, but since my kids are grown and I now live alone, I used to enjoy listening to local radio when the host introduced a topic and then took callers to hear their opinions on the topic or their personal experiences that related to the subject. For me conversations with local people were a window into the pulse of everyday life, much more so than just with the so-called experts like what Gil Gross does now. I also enjoyed the talk show programs when there was a guest for an hour. The host did an interview and then the phone lines were opened for questions from listeners. Now kqed forum is the only local program left like that. The syndicated guys (Alan Colmes and Tom Sullivan) I listen to take callers, and even though they're not local I find them more interesting than the local guys who do all the talking themselves (Frosty and Gil).
ReplyDeleteThis blog is the only place I know of to go to to try to find out what happened when suddenly there is a program change on a radio station that I listen to. He may tease some things that never turn out to happen, but much of what he writes is helpful. I don't care about the looks of the tv people, male or female, so I don't pay much attention to those posts. I don't listen to knbr because it has no conversation that interests me. I prefer 95.7 when I want to listen to sports talk. Their ratings aren't very good, but if there is a host that isn't too annoying I'll listen for awhile. Since I don't listen often it is helpful to read here when hosts come and go.
So even if not everything here is relevant to my listening and viewing I still enjoy keeping up with the swinging doors that keep going on in bay area media. Why get on Rich's case? He's only a blogger after all. I mean it's not like his opinion should bother people so much. If you're in the biz and can't take the criticism, perhaps you're in the wrong business. Put yourself out in the public and you're likely to get criticism as well as praise. Your public persona gets you lots of perks I would imagine, so take the good with the bad. It's just too bad that the folks who run the shows don't listen to some of the displeasure listeners and viewers express here. Maybe they would put more stuff on the air that so many people want to listen to that is not available now. It's a pretty big wasteland out there now.
"Molly": Are you the one who met him in the bar? Or are you really Rich?
DeleteNeither. Don't know him. Never met him. Don't personally know any of the media people he writes about. Just follow his blog. And am so disappointed and frustrated that local radio and TV have devolved so much that there's not much worth listening to. I like to read comments from others who are just as upset as I am about all the changes for the worst. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my disgust. I started reading this blog after the KGO firings in December 2011. Never heard of him or this blog before that.
DeleteI agree with Molly. Rich's blog answers many of the questions listeners have about station changes that the station's themselves are too chicken $#iT to discuss. Some years ago, I was "in the business" in SF. Now I live in Nevada where TV news is the worst, and radio not much better. I miss SF radio and have turned to Rich's column to keep up with his news. It saddens me that KGO has been gutted and left to bleed out while the Cloud decides what to destroy next. It's funny. We all thought satellite was going to kill radio, but it seems it's death will come about by a bunch of DICKeys. After all, they've killed one broadcast legend and one iconic station, what's the death of all radio to the Georgia jack@$$e$.
DeleteRich, keep up the good work and telling it like it is. (I'd appreciate LESS broadcasting babe pix and paragraphs, though!) And if you're ever in So NV and really want a laugh, spend a day watching the talking heads in my media waste land It's SO Bakersfield with a LOT of neon! ;D
The girly pix led to only occasional visits from me. After unbookmarking the site, I forget about it. Glad you get more hot sweaty clicks but it really is disgusting and makes it hard to take you seriously. The rants make it even harder to take you seriously since you control which comments do/do not get posted. This has the potential to be a good professional site for regional media but the bi-polar quality of your topics really gets in the way. So I'm an occasional visitor instead of a couple times a day.
ReplyDeleteGod I wish I were your therapist...
ReplyDeleteI'd be living in Atherton and driving a Bentley right now.
Cue the violin. Enough already. It's your blog. You can write whatever you want. But just like you can spew your opinion, others can spew theirs. It is what it is. Some folks will like what you have to say and others will not. What do you expect? Not to be given shit? Puh-lease. Shit-givers are everywhere and they will continue to be everywhere. Either get over it or disable the comments section already.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting to know your med cycle. Time to call Express Scripts, Rich.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you need some Xanax or Lithium.
ReplyDeleteRich, take a chill pill my friend and listen to Kate Scott do traffic and sports updates on KNBR, or turn to 'the bay area's new sound for sports,' and listen to 'Dibs' with his take on the sports scene. Man, we've got some great choices for information and entertainment these days don't we? :(
ReplyDeleteHiya Rich.
ReplyDeleteI have no qualms about displaying my name. I have been reading your blog for a couple of years, and I really get a kick out of it. I feel that I do know where you're coming from; that you're giving credit where credit is due, even if it's not positive. You just keep on doing what you're doing, and I'll keep reading.
Full speed ahead!
Damn are there any asses left? Talk about putting people on blast!!! Good Job Rich keep it coming with both barrels blazing!!!
ReplyDelete