Thursday Stream of Consciousness...Let us begin with the following item involving the KCBS Morning News and this bizarre diddy: Susan Leigh-Taylor threw it over to traffic anchor, Kim Wonderley this morning: "We have 4 of the worst words, "Motorcyle down, Bay Bridge"--Wonderley then proceeds to tell listeners about an accident on the bridge, which backed up the commute, etc.--meanwhile I'm thinking, 'what about the cyclist? 'Is he OK? Is there an ambulance on scene, on the way?' Not even a mention--how stupid, how insensitive? Eight minutes later, update from traffic guy in commuter car--still a lot of chatter without mentioning anything about the condition of the motorcyclist --I know first duty is traffic --but Jesus Christ, be human! ...Would it have killed any of these tonsils to say "hope the guy is OK.?"...The KNBR producer for the Radnich Show has more power over the host, and likes to bring lots of brown toilet paper to his desk in fear of his boss, Opps Mgr, Lee Hammer. The producer in question consistently interrupts the show with traffic sounders; cuts off Radnich in mid-sentence and even SILENCES microphones!--this is NOT a gimmick-- the producer has been given extraordinarily sensitive, inter-office notes to CENSOR anything, anyone remotely critical of KNBR, the Giants--the producer routinely has meetings with The Hammer after shows to make sure these bizarre practices are enforced. Yes, this in-house shill has MORE power than the host himself, last heard being beaten to a pulp by Chronicle Giants beat scribbler, Henry Schulman ...CONSPICUOUS: Go to the CSNBA website and notice not a word about the Drew Remenda dismissal. Coincidence? Perhaps, YOU be the judge...THINK FOR A MOMENT: A big story involving a big shot covers the entire Bay Area sports domain and there are several factors still to be uncovered, yes, I'm deliberating not naming names and you'll know why soon and I'll explain...The Sports Bleeder is now running virtually HALF of some of its programs with commercial spots. HALF!, including "updates" that run Giants highlights from 24 hours earlier--the irony: Knibber getting greedy might actually benefit 95.7 'The Game' with impatient listeners saying "Fuck you, KNBR--I'm switching over to hear content!"...The big shot woman high-priestess herself on KNBR who is all GA-GA over the World Cup might be alone. For all its international popularity, soccer is still a non-entity here in the States. The World Cup banter merely allows phony yuppie "sports" fans to yell and scream and drink beer. By and large, Americans don't give a shit about futbol unless it has "NFL" on it. The rest of the World is World Cuppish --so please, KNBR high priestess and the rest: spare us your World Cup dreams and get lost!...NEW WORLD RECORD: KTVU had 7, SEVEN! Weather teases on its 10 O'clock News last night. Only good news: The weather chick was filling in for Martin...I've never seen an area of Local TV News INFATUATED with The Weather like this Bay Area. God, you guys are idiots!...YES, Fox wants to buy KRON and YES it would have to overcome a Pacific Coast-sized set of objections and legal/financial entanglements but the BIG SUITS! come to town next week. Anything could happen, just stay tuned...Big powwow scheduled at KQED in the coming weeks. The mangers are nervous...Hey, Greg Papa? OJ jokes? That was yesterday, like 20 years yesterday. Oh, by the way, your partner, Lund? Does he get paid by the giggle?
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Does Lieberman have anything else to say other than how much he disapproves of the local media industry?
ReplyDeleteRich, you can throw all the tantrums you like, it's changed and it's not going back. You can either adjust to change or not, your choice. Ranting may make you feel better but it's kind of childish and not particularly productive, also kind of self-glorifying.
Thanks for your opinion, Kate.
DeleteOh yeah well Scooby Doo will doo-doo on you so f--- you Karel.
ReplyDeleteIf Fox buys KRON, they'll inject money immediately and you'll see big changes to their look. There is a ton of potential there given the present distressed state of their competitors.
ReplyDeleteWell there is Darya "Daisy Dukes" Folsom who shilled for Nascar the other day. Rich did not mention but he did not need to. Gave all the Darya watchers over at Superior Pics something to get ecstatic about.
ReplyDeleteDo tell I must have missed it.
DeleteYou can view Darya "Daisy Dukes" Folsom" video on youtube here:
Deletehttp://youtu.be/Sk3F-v5VuxQor
You can also watch the full Sonoma Raceway special this Friday at 9:00pm and get a full dose of Darya! You didn't miss anything yet!
I can't stand Greg Papa. He's a smarmy and smug East Coast type. I stopped watching Giants pre and postgame show because of him.
ReplyDeleteTolbert had Remenda on his show yesterday and he addressed it, directly, from his mouth to your ears if you'd been listening. You could tell he wasn't happy about being let go (duh!) but decided to take the high road. What else needs to be said?
ReplyDeleteI thought Tolbert was pretty dogged to find out who in the Sharks organization fired Remenda. Remenda finally admitted that the COO said it was his decision. I'm not a hockey fan by any means, but Drew Remenda's weekly conversations with Tolbert kept me mildly interested in the Sharks' fate and with hockey on a small scale. He was a good local ambassador for the team.
DeleteAgreed, Lieberman always trying to drag these things out and turn them into something more. Lieberman still hasn't gotten over KTVU Asiana story.
DeleteI have to agree with you on Kate Scott and World Cup. Unfortunately, she gets bolstered by Brian Murphy, who like to appear worldly and cosmopolitan. I'm mildly interested but enough with the updates. The only good thing is it gets Murphy to stop yakking about the Giants every second. But it's a poor substitution.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing worse than having to watch soccer is having to listen to Kate Scott talk (condescend) about it.
DeleteI listen to KNBR on the way to work and taking my son to school/now summer camp. Kate Scott got on the other day and he asked me, "Do they make her do traffic because she's not very good?" "Pretty much," I said.
DeleteCould it be that I might be the only person out there who doesn't give a fuck about the World Cup.
DeleteThey can blather on & on until they puke about Futbol 14 as long as they don't blast those insipid Giant music bits. Jeez Louise, they are totally immune to how much they suck and how many people dive for the mute button.
DeleteYou might want to check those TV ratings before you rip off another "no one cares about soccer riff" WC matches, even those on during work hours, have been doing big numbers on ESPN, and the bigger matches have been on par with the NBA and NHL finals, and dwarfed the US Open on the same day. I know it's hard to pass up a chance to take a cheap shot at "The Knibber", but a little research before you start foaming at the mouth never hurt anyone.
ReplyDeleteI think it's easier to get good ratings when it's on both ESPN and ESPN2 for much of the day. Yes, I know there's a reason they're showing it on both. Maybe their research dept knows something I don't, which is entirely possible. Personally, I'd rather go back to the days of Australian Rules Football.
DeleteRich, I am going to have to disagree with a couple of points in today's notes and comments:
ReplyDelete1. I also had KCBS on this morning and heard the sequence you refer to. I found nothing wrong with the report. It is not the traffic reporter's responsibility to mention the condition of the motorcyclist which in fact, she probably doesn't know. I doubt that the reporters get that information unless it is a fatality. I'm also sure that the listeners can figure out for themselves that "an ambulance is on the way" if the situation calls for it.
2. I believe there is more genuine interest in the World Cup than you are giving people credit for. Yes, futbol is still not as popular in the US as it is in the rest of the world but it is growing. Also, you have a large percentage of people now living in the US who originally grew up in countries where futbol was the major sport.
Translation....with the influx of illegal immigrants you're seeing a surge in popularity of soccer here in the bay area. Drive by any city park in the San Jose area on a weekend and you'll see 100 or so grown Latino men playing soccer. They have team jerseys and even have food trucks and carts at the game. Unfortunately trash and the stench of urine are left behind if there is no bathroom at the park.
DeleteListen to ANY traffic report...they never mention the condition of anyone unless it's a known fatality. Could you imagine a traffic report if they did? "101 Southbound an accident in the two right lanes, one woman injured, two men have cuts and bruises but they'll be okay. Accident I80 Emeryville a man has been taken to the hospital with broken ribs, a woman was treated at the scene and released, a stray dog that wondered onto the road no longer has a tail..." Seriously, Rich, when do traffic reports EVER do this?
DeleteHere is a scoop.
ReplyDeleteFox will announce on Monday August 4, 2014 they are purchasing KRON-TV.
To 11:36
DeleteWhy August 4th? Please respond.
I heard the same censoring of Radnich's show as well.
ReplyDeleteA week or two ago, Gary mentioned Chris Townsend's name in a polite manner during one segment, and lo and behold, the air went silent.
No reason was given,
Only phony yuppies watch soccer??
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should go to area's were there are lots of foreign born people. Most of those are not yuppies and do like soccer,
NFL football is a stupid sport although not as boring as baseball. Both sports are popular with media because they can fit so many commercials during the game. Soccer is non-stop; they cannot fit commercials during play time
So Pig Vomit is now in charge at KGO! This should be fun!
ReplyDeleteI also heard that report and it sounded like the crash broke while she was on the air. You should be giving props for the news being reported so quickly rather than bitching about a detail that couldn't have yet been known.
ReplyDeleteYeah. The cyclist might have been crushed to death under all those cars and trucks and EMS crews may not have arrived - and probably didn't - that quickly. What were people to do, sweep the body and the bike off to t he side to keep traffic rolling? The important thing was what was affected, the traffic? It was. The reporter was correct in what she did.
DeleteI'm often critical of Rich, but he was dead on with all his points on this particular post -
ReplyDeletepersonally, I'd like to see Gary & Larry defect to 95.7 - sans Kate Scott, of course.
I believe that in Rich's continuing and, now, spot-on editorials and blog / reporting blog strategy here, that he step up to the next level.
DeleteI think he should incorporate the words "Whack-A-Mole" into this timely reports, as President Obama and others do. "Whack-A-Mole" says it nicely and is so hip, edgy and up-to-date.
Thank you.
680 KNBR - The Sports Bleeder
I love when soccer fans get mad. I bet they wanna ram their VWs and Volvos into my Ford.
ReplyDeleteRich, I have to say I agree with 11:31 and 1:13. The traffic reporters are working off of the info on the CHP traffic info page. Sometimes you can tell by the way the incident is coded as to whether or not there is an ambulance enroute but oftentimes you have to scroll through the incident log to find out details. With as many incidents as are coming across the site, that traffic reporter is going to have enough to sift through and is going to be figuring out what incidents take priority in their on-air report. On top of that, they're also taking calls on the traffic tip line. It's a lot to juggle. I agree, it would be nice if they could focus on the human element a little bit more, but given all they have to do, it's not always practical.
ReplyDeleteRich, thanks for the many scoops. You're quite busy!
ReplyDeleteEven if Rich is only 30% accurate he is more entertaining than the humans in question.
ReplyDelete"The World Cup banter merely allows phony yuppie "sports" fans to yell and scream and drink beer. "
ReplyDeleteOtherwise known as American bandwagoners. Once the U.S. is out of the tournament, these drunken "fans" will turn their attention to the vacuous NFL, replete with wheezing, fat athletes who can barely string two sentences together.