415 Media Extra Monday; KNBR/Cumulus Asks Hosts to take 15-20 Percent Pay Cuts; Murphy/Mac Neutralized; Tolbert Miffed; Baer/Giants Tension; PD Crowe Mighty Target; Stress Level is High at The 'Sports Leader'

KNBR HOSTS MAKING THE BIG BUCKS: The Brian Murphys; the Paulie Macs; the Tom Tolberts and John Lunds; all of whom make more than $200K (and even more) have been asked by Cumulus, which owns KNBR, to take 15 percent salary cuts. For a guy like Murphy, who was pulling in around $300K a year, that's significant. Tom Tolbert too, (who is the highest paid Knibber host at nearly $400K a year)

The salary cuts mandate are just part of the story here; as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic affecting all radio, TV and newspaper budgets, advertising at KNBR is down a whopping 60to 70 % and with no viable end in sight, the usual fluid revenue stream at KNBR has left the station in financial purgatory. Furloughs are on the horizon too with most of KNBR's hosts working mandatory shifts --like three weeks and then suddenly disappearing off the air because of economic reality --there's simply NO MORE MONEY on the docket.

The quagmire has left both KNBR and Cumulus in a very difficult dilemma with its main cash cow, the SF Giants --no baseball on the horizon and no baseball to promote unless you consider pie-in-sky trial balloons, is a difficult challenge for all parties involved.

It's all about the money, of course it is. KNBR can't lick its main client's boot straps all the time. It has to improvise because for the time being, there's literally nothing on the docket to promote nor highlight. It could all crash soon too because so many dollars, so many egos, so many gigantic personal and business matters are at stake too. Ego and finances make for unflattering encounters, like I discovered recently.

Murphy and Mac, who are so ingrained and integrated in the Giants' hierarchy, had to cancel a Giants' PR event (for season ticket holders) for an on-line chat about the upcoming season (if there is one); seems the duo thought their PR pedigree would make the event a sellout even if baseball was in such a precarious situation. Guess what? Nobody was interested. ZERO. There was no event. Everyone was stymied but that's the state of business now; more importantly, the morning show got first-hand evidence of their current worth.

Same goes in the midday and afternoon time slot where Giants-related news and activity has been altered --much to the chagrin of all involved--simply because there is NO viable news to talk about or even comprehend. Team CEO and front man, Larry Baer, is in an unenviable position: who can I not crush? Truth is, the normally mass influential Baer is powerless here because his main PR engine, KNBR, is floating in the wind. Baer can only manage the tentacles so much but the octopus is on life support.

KNBR PD, Jerimiah Crowe, even in good times, is supposed to be a "major pain in the ass" to deal with; several of KNBR's air and non-air talents have privately told me dealing with Crowe is a  tough road. "He has no people skills", said one person in particular who asked me not to name his/her ID.

Crowe himself will take a pay cut, because, well, he has to. His relationship with other major Cumulus suits is neutral at best. One big exec who has a major, local influence at the SF cluster, has TOTAL DISDAIN for Crowe, so much so that there's a massive friction when the two see face to face.

Meanwhile, the usually rosy atmosphere at the broadcast center is zombie-like now. The hosts are at home broadcasting from a distance due to virus-related caution. That's probably good for the major reason --it allows them not to have to look at Crowe and vice-versa and given the pay-cut and mandatory furloughs, tension is high for everyone involved.

Murphy's total, "KISS ASS" rep (to management)is a continued talking point among rank and file. In spite of the fractured atmosphere, 'Murph tries his best to curry favor with Baer and other higher-ups within the Giants and Cumulus organization. I guess living in Marin is an expensive proposition, you have to pay the bills.

We're entering a significant period now as the "Sports Leader" will be tested with all the current state-of-affairs; the virus isn't going away anytime soon; the normally potent Giants-KNBR alliance, even if the team is lousy, plays such a vital force together--when there's this much commotion and fracture within, and boy is there ever, it'll be quite a show to see who emerges as the victor. Right now, that's a difficult proposition to decipher.

*415 MEDIA EXCLUSIVE