Medoro on KGO in the Morning Gets Worse; Burkhart The Boring Drone; Election Night Brings Rothmann and Thurston Hope; KCBS-KQED Yawner

Wednesday I listened to a good part of Nicki Medoro's Morning Show on KGO and in three short days, it has regressed. Badly. The show this morning was so slow, at many points I had to switch the dial and turn off, turn away.

Medoro is the centerpiece of the show but it's newstalk, I thought, that drives the program and not that horrific lifestyle format that killed KGO's talk a few years ago. It doesn't work in the morning, drive time, afternoon? Maybe, but even then, it's forced and contrived.

When Mike Bloomberg announced he was getting out of the presidential primary at 7: 30, Medoro didn't even mention it, nor did her constant-interrupting yutz, alleged newsman, sidekick, Bret Burkhart. It took up to the 8 AM news broadcast for Burkhart to announce --Medoro repeatedly talked about her kids being annoyed she woke them up to go to work in the early morning.

Really? This is the KGO, 2020 I'm not liking. In a news cycle, let alone a day after Super Tuesday, I want some conversation; I want day-after interviews and analysis; Medoro instead pivoted to talking about her kids and spilling coffee on her outfit and, unbelievably, joking about Coronavirus ("if I'm stuck on a cruise ship, can I get a drone to deliver me wine?") Not only not funny, Nik, but tremendously insensitive to the growing pandemic of cases across the globe, and here in US and Bay Area, states of emergency--including SF and now, this morning, LA.

From left: Bret Burkhart, Nikki Medoro and Heather Hamann

Medoro has a good voice. But it can get annoying when it's repetitive and starts to drone on and on. She needs good guests and a much better supporting cast. She can interview OK, I've heard her but she has ZERO help from an incompetent producer and reliance on Burkhart who adds NOTHING but his terrible voice and massive talk bludgeoning --why KGO keeps this broadcast Velveeta is beyond me other than Burkhart must have compromising pictures; what an abomination.

I'll give more rope to Medoro in the morning but so far, it's a total catastrophe.

*ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE was meh central on the Bay Area airwaves.

KGO went from 6-Midnight with John Rothmann and Pat Thurston, who were fun to listen to even if short on specifics but large on entertaining political discussion. Newsman KGO vet, Jon Bristow, was brought in to deliver updates but Bristow sounded tired and unenthusiastic, like as if he was awoken from a deep sleep, what the hell happened here? Maybe he thought he was back on KCBS.

While I appreciated Rothmann and Thurston taking calls from listeners, it would have been nice to hear more interviews on what was taking place on a big night for Joe Biden. Like, for example, what caused Biden to win in a such a forceful manner in a Bernie Sanders stronghold like Texas? It's a legitimate query and it could have been dealt with strong questions from the two but instead we were greeted with tiresome folks from Livermore telling us who they voted for. I don't ant to rip Rothmann and Thurston too much, but I think they could have used better time here going over actual voting trends than voter choices in a state (CA) that will vote for the Dem in the general election no mater what. Texas? I wanted more.

*KCBS had a wildly uneventful election night, much like KQED, in BORING us with the usual banal voices better suited for a Modesto funeral than Bay Area radio audience.

Why is Doug Sovern treated with such importance and dignity? He's so tepid and predictable. Sovern doesn't say anything new or original. He's about as interesting as a Stockton 7-11 only you can buy good, cheap, wine at the 7-11.

A total ABOMINATION? Yes, and then some.