KGO-TV (ABC7) General Assignment reporter, Laura Marquez died late last week. Marquez succumbed to cancer, a battle she fought for over sixteen years.
Marquez also spent time at ABC News as their political reporter. Funeral Services are pending.
*Longtime KCBS Sports Director, Hal Ramey was fired on Friday, according to a 415 Media source. Ramey had been at KCBS for 28 years. (His bio was removed from the station's website) Former KGO Sports anchor, Kevin (The Rat) Radich recently joined KCBS and figures to become the permanent replacement for Ramey.
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Hal deserved better than this. Kevin is a gimmicky sportscaster with no real talent. And R.I.P. Laura Marquez
ReplyDeleteThey should have at least let Hal "retire"/say goodbye...NO Class, Jack.
DeleteThe station is still running a painting commercial that Hal voiced. The slogan: "because painting is personal!" So is getting fired I guess.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened on KGO for several weeks after "The Changes" at KGO. Eventually they got rid of them all...then maybe 8 or 10 months later the fired voices began returning.
DeleteWonder if Kim Wonderly had anything to do with getting her no-talent husband hired at KCBS. Anyone who has to live off a nickname must not have much on the ball. It doesn't take much to rip and read sports. Even Dan Dibley would be an improvement over Kevin the Rodent.
ReplyDeleteDisagree on all points. "Living off a nickname"? If the guy had such a talent deficit, he wouldn't have been employed for as long as he has. They keep hiring him and if you had EARS you would know why rather than just cracking wise about his nickname. I've also never heard him rip and read anything. Again, if you listened. you'd know this. While I feel for Hal, I think Kevin is a great addition. Your first sentence though is the laugh out loud part. I'm sure the traffic gal is really pulling the strings behind the scenes at KCBS!
DeleteHey 711: YOU DON'T HAVE EARS. His reports have ZERO SUBSTANCE. You obviously aren't paying attention and are probably playing on your smart phone while you're listening to the radio. Go get your ADD problem fixed and then pop off.
DeleteNo, YOU don't have ears. Okay now it's your turn. Jesus, what a stupid fight. Define substance. So you think Hal had it and Kevin doesn't? You just sound like a guy with a grudge. Lame.
DeleteRest In Peace, Laura, we will miss you!
ReplyDeleteJack Swanson, former KGO Operations guy is now in charge of KCBS. He's going to bring all the people in he has worked with over the years. Kevin the Rat being the first one.
ReplyDeleteSo does that mean the hosts who actually did talk shows and not all the pay to play financial shows KGO has now will start showing up and doing talk shows on KCBS?
DeleteThat is so messed up that KCBS fired Hal Ramey & replaced him with that Incompetent Asshole Kevin Radich. Radich has no business whatsoever being on radio, let alone KCBS. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that Kevin Radich is married to KCBS traffic reporter Kim Wonderley. Well, as Jean McCubbin once said, "Shut your goddam mouth!! Where's my vodka?"
ReplyDeleteYOU are messed up for slinging sh*t about something you know nothing about. Kevin has worked in this market since the 80's I believe. While you may not appreciate his talent, he actually does possess some. I'm also pretty sure they didn't make Kim Wonderly the News Director when Ed Cavanero left.
DeleteTalent? Yeah, like walking and chewing gum at the same time. As for behind the microphone, that's another matter.
DeleteKevin is a very talented broadcaster. The only surprise here is KCBS firing someone to make room.Hal seemed to be a good guy with fading skills.
ReplyDelete1108 must be the guy's agent...
ReplyDeleteYou all crack me up. When Kevin got fired from KGO you all cried about how good Kevin was and how shitty KGO was. Now that Hal gets canned you all call Kevin shit for taking his job.
ReplyDeleteRIP Laura
Humans. What a species.
DeleteI've known Laura since her days at St. Anne School in San Francisco. A real
Deletesweetheart. Very sad.
Kevin is great. Anyone who knows him knows it.
ReplyDeleteHe's creative and unique on the air.
Yes, that style will fit in real well at KCBS. Not.
DeleteTo whom it may concern:
ReplyDeleteKevin is a nice boy.
He is nice to others, and has not committed any felonies.
Dad
Kevin isn't creative. He's a gimmick. All bells and whistles with no substance.
ReplyDeleteSo wrong. Bells whistles and depth when it's called for. I have no trouble seeing why he keeps getting jobs.
DeleteMy condolences to family and friends of Ms Marquez.
ReplyDelete"Rats" situation for Hal ends up being auspicious for "The Rat."
ReplyDeleteNot going to miss Hal's yelling his reports. He seemed to shout everything. I asked a radio old timer why that was. I was told Hal was from the early days of broadcasting, before they had electronic transmitters. Announcers back then would climb to the top of a pole and yell their reports to the crowd below.
ReplyDeleteYes,
DeleteThe towers were much shorter in those days.
So Hal does a good job and has been at it a long time and why the canned him, who know maybe $$$$. But the fact is KCBS has no sports so you are talking about 3-5 minutes per hour of sports. A sports fan is not listening to KCBS for sports so anyone could do it.
ReplyDeleteWow, 28 years! I hope, Rich, that you can explain what led to the fallout. I'm aware that lots of 3-decade broadcasters are let go suddenly, but with KCBS, this is unusual just the same. The Rat being there wasn't the cause of Ramey's firing. Somebody up in the CBS chain must have been suddenly rubbed the wrong way. BTW, how did Swanson win over the CBS suits? It's a different personality mesh, and we'll see how long this will last.
ReplyDeleteWhen you keep changing the way the soup is made, sooner or later it will not taste good. That is what happen at KGO and the same could happen at KCBS.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to whether the changes at KCBS have anything to do with other CBS Radio changes I've seen during the past few weeks, which appear to be tightening at a number of stations in Baltimore, San Diego, Dallas, and Phoenix and some others. Also, Dan Mason quit as President of the group.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for Kevin who is a very solid, hard working guy, but he's also been very fortunate in his career. He's moved around a fair amount, but always lands on his feet because he's got talent and works hard. But you also have to have a little luck, and Kevin has had very few bad breaks in his career of some 30 plus years in broadcasting. But he's a specialist, and does those updates very nicely, using his sound in a creative fashion and having fun while doing it. I've worked with the guy and he's always been easy going and passionate about sports. Good luck to him at KCBS. Sorry about Hal, but he had a good long run, with 28 years at that station, and he can't complain. I'm sure they took care of him with a nice compensation package.
ReplyDeleteDoing sports updates like Kevin does not constitute hard work. He's been very lucky and knows the right people.
ReplyDeleteWhy fire Hal? Why not that douche Bitker?
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this. Ramey did a good job on CBS for decades.
ReplyDeleteHis replacement: An adult that calls himself "The Rat"? What a tool. Hope he drops that idiotic signature with CBS.
For what it's worth, I did NOT hear them refer to him as "the Rat" yesterday so perhaps it has been dropped. Go back to bitching about his content, work ethic, delivery, choice of breakfast cereal etc. I'm a long time KNBR listener who always thought he sounded great and while he's not as outrageous as he used to be, still fits fine on KCBS.
Delete"For what it's worth, I did NOT hear them refer to him as "the Rat" yesterday so perhaps it has been dropped."
DeleteGet a clue. CBS caters to serious news listeners. Of course nobody on CBS is gonna call him The Rat.
We will have to wait until he gets on the air to see if rat boy has grown up.
Don't hold your breath though... Swanson should have kept Ramey instead of hiring his old no-talent friends from KGO.
In letting a real pro and Hall of Famer Hal Ramey go KCBS has showed that it is no longer interested in REAL sports journalism. Big name Bay Area sports personalities like Madden, Bochy, Melvin, Curry, Posey and others would open up to Hal because they knew he is fair and honest. Apparently the "suits" at KCBS felt those qualities were no longer needed, and they should no class by not allowing Ramey, who had given 28 years of honorable service to the station, to go out on his own terms. Shame! SAhame! Shame!
ReplyDeleteKOST fired Don Bleu but they gave him a chance to say goodbye. After 28 years of service, KCBS owed him that. I like "The Rat", they are calling him that now; he adds some personality and gives his personal comments on sports. RIP Laura.
ReplyDelete