More Larry Baer Items; Jack Davis Makes Baer Pivot; Warriors Too; Condolences to Gary Radnich on Mother Passing; Quan/Leigh Taylor Silliness on KCBS Guerneville -Russian River Coverage; Somerville Doldrums at KTVU; Heather Holmes Fashion Update; Rendon and Rasmus Need More Airtime; Willard on KNBR: Blah, Blah, Blah; Ashley About to Break The Bank at KGO; Ronnn Had ZERO To Do With Thompson Hiring; Friday 415 Media Coffee

FRIDAY COFFEE

To get their waterfront arena, the Warriors had to kiss Larry Baer's ass, and by extension, Jack Davis, the well-known, powerful political lobbyist in the city that gets things done, or not.

Davis has the juice that navigates City Hall, Sacramento, and local alliances that could play havoc with one's caviar dreams, or in certain cases, baseball parks and basketball arenas.

So yes, Larry Baer is/was the man, but Jack Davis still is DA MAN.

*Back a few years ago, Baer toyed with and essentially screwed with a high-top KNBR management person. The individual, who I won't name because he told me not to out of respect to Baer, was negotiating radio rights about a certain football team. A price had been agreed to and papers were ready to be signed until Baer cancelled at the last minute and wanted more dough. That's not business, that's extortion. And it's also something you'll never see in the Chronicle.

*All KNBR personnel that are tied to Giants' programming, be it on-air or off-air has to have the blessing of Baer who listens intently to pretty much all things Giants. At least up to a week ago. If you don't know the kind of influence Baer possessed, just ask Larry Krueger. 

*Condolences to Gary Radnich on the death of his mother.

*On a personal level, I'm very happy for John Rothmann and Pat Thurston, who for the most part, are good-listening hosts on the air at KGO. At the very least, when news of politics and/or breaking local news takes place, Rothmann and Thurston are capable of captaining the ship. I would say KCBS too, but KCBS has issues lately. Overly giddy news anchors who ask stupid questions can be a real pain to listen to.

*Another unintentionally funny morning the other day on the all-news 740 AM station as Holly Quan was broadcasting live from flood-ravaged Guerneville near the Russian River. I know it was Guernville because Quan and co-anchor, Susan Leigh Taylor mentioned it 600,000 times. Taylor kept saying, "We are broadcasting live from Guerneville" when in fact she (Taylor) was in San Francisco. Quan, for all we know, could have been anchoring from the bathroom; it wasn't anything special. Look, I'm not ripping KCBS for their programming idea but when there's nothing to report other then plugging the town's Chamber of Commerce lady on the spring getaway 20,000 times, the broadcast sounds contrived and uninteresting. Quan, who I regard as the ultimate lightweight was perfect for this assignment as melba toast obliterated the broadcast.

*Alex Trebec: damn.

*Frank Somerville is going through a lot of personal problems at KTVU which might explain his erratic behavior of late, (on and off air); some of his issues are his own doing. I'll leave it at that.

*Thank you, NewsBlues.

*KPIX may have more news but their content continues to be bland and uninspiring. The new 7 PM newscast does absolutely nothing for me and pimping it every five minutes will not make it work. What does work is having interesting anchors and reporters who broadcast quality work and not superfluous stories that are not really news. If KPIX had an ounce of respect for its dwindling viewers then they may get more eyes and ears. You and I get it, they still don't. An aside: always nice to watch the sports anchor do his report devoid of a few beers, c'mon DOD.

*I tried to listen to the new KNBR nighttime sports host, Mark Willard and all I heard was the same, lame, bizarre, out of place shtick that never works, you would think they know by now. The idea of being yourself, I guess, hasn't permeated Willard's brain because it seems he has a decent-enough personality. Gimmicks like sound effects, fake calls, fake laughter is not a good omen. Willard caught my ear years ago as the sidekick to Tony Bruno. He seems cool and compelling. Too bad he sounds neither on the air.

*Things could be worse for Willard: he could be the guy from 10-Midnight who thinks uttering "what's up, dude?" is cool and hip. Stick to the Uber gig, dude.

*Larry Baer lovings: women that are not his wife; young female interns; Amy G; selfies with powerful and rich people; Kruk and Kuip lunches at the ballpark press lounge; Henry Schulman's computer.

*About five years ago, Baer fired a guy whose wife was six months pregnant and the couple had just purchased a house. Why? The guy didn't have a file on Baer's desk at the requested time. I doubt Amy G will highlight this dilly during one of her important cut-ins during tonight's spring-training game telecast from Arizona.

*When his own co-workers thinks KTVU weather guesser, Bill Martin is losing it, you know there's a problem.

Heather Holmes

*Heather Holmes fashion update: it's good, HH, that you no longer shop at Ross but I find it utterly disturbing that you've opened a Marshall's account.

*Holmes in my book is eternal wonder bread. If KTVU had any mental fortitude they would find more air time for Allie Rasmus and Cristina Rendon. Both are lovely to observe and both are intelligent anchors who can inject charm and show deference when necessary, something Holmes is clearly incapable of. It may sound harsh but it's true. Holmes comes off as disingenuous, phony and fake. If she showed any true emotion she would be much more effective, that's my take and why you come here even if you disagree.

*Oh, the new Rich Lieberman edict: never again lampoon nor make fun of housewives from Concord. Got it.

*Why am I supposed to feel guilty about marveling, mentioning some women TV anchors? Is it because in addition to being really good on air and having style and presence, I'm attacked for acknowledging their beauty? Then sue me. Sorry, but women like Cecilia Vega and Jessica Aguirre are fabulous to watch. If that's a crime to say, then I guess I should be indicted.

*I thought Raj Mathai had substance: I was wrong.

*Speaking of Aguirre , no, you're wrong, I'm right: she's on the air working without a contract. At least not the contract she thinks she's worthy of and I agree but NBC Bay Area doesn't.

*Janelle Wang: another uninspiring anchor who doesn't move the needle nor elicits any degree of emotion. To like an anchor you have to trust an anchor. Wang is a raw, frozen orange wedge that needs to be removed from the freezer.

*Julie Haener in my mind is the most overrated anchor in town. She comes across as cold and emotionless --by the way, I'm not the only one who feels this way. Ask the newsroom.

*Yeah, Ronnnnnnnn and Mark Thompson are pals but Ronnnnnnnnn  had ZERO to do with Thompson's hiring.

*About to break the bank at KGO-TV: Dan Ashley.

*This is why, among other things, Ronn has checked out in Bay Area social/media circles: having lunches with fake chef, Ryan Scott. Ronn curried favor with those he deemed important and who can help him. It's at best, dishonest, especially when he takes pictures and posts them on social media which is what he did with a guy named Randall Bloomquist, a Cumulus schmuck who vanished from the scene a long time ago.

*Had Jack Swanson remained the PD at KGO, Len Tillem would have a show on; timing is everything and DA LOYAH knows all too well.

*I'd love to see Melanie Morgan kick Brian Sussman in the ass. Immediately.

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