Which is the perfect metaphor these days for KGO. Maybe it was intentional. KGO long ago dipped into albatross status; a former cultural beacon of Bay Area media culture, not just a mere radio station by any means. A powerful presencre in the #4 market which was the favorite along all lines political, social and cultural. A voice for everyone in the community. Didn't matter conservative, liberal, independent, or social status.
Now KGO has become certifiable Cumulusized. A no-ratings bread crumb with zero vitality with un-interesting, boring, shrill house tonsils willing to take part in the charade.
*KCBS can't get any worse but wait, it can!
Everyone is leaving/retiring/splitting in droves (a mini KGO); the overnight has become a joke-radio territory and is soon, about to lose another veteran anchor, John Evans. Jeff Bell will be leaving soon in PM drive and Patti Reising has one foot out the door.
The Bay Area suffers.
Senior was pissed off by Fox2 suits for snubbing him, not just at 10 PM but in the morning too. KTVU has placed an ad in the trades looking for an AM anchor and that pretty much killed the deal for Senior. I kike Andre but he doesn't have screen presence and he lacks a big name. Certainly, I like him better than Mike Mibach but that's a whole other story.
*Speaking of PIX, senior staff in th morning and midday are planning on leaving and have expressed complete dissatisfaction with the mew regime.
MYSTERY DEPT: Phil Matier has been away from the KCBS/KGO-TV domain for a good three weeks now and he's not on vacation or assignment. Some people are worried.
*I've complimented Liz Cook for vastly improving her news anchoring duties but she's simply hasn't moved the needle. Viewers don't care for Cook. In fact, her own co-workers don't care for her. Probably a large part due to Cook's own resume. She has benefited from her father's work in broadcasting and she clearly got help from his inluence in the biz. Cook needs to prove herself. Still.
*If you really believe Allen Martin simply just retired out of the blue, (he's only 65) then you're a very naive person.
Martin saw the tea leaves and knew he was on borrowed time and basically split the premises. I'm fairly certain.
In regards to Liz, the people around her paid their dues to get to where they are at. When your dad has an influence in your career, those around you don't respect that. It's true in any job.
ReplyDeleteWho exactly is Liz Cooks father connection?
DeleteHow old is that photo of Andre Senior?! Good God Man! He hasn’t looked that slim, trim, and young in years! Although he is still trying to wear the same size suits. A button is going to pop off and put some one’s eye out at any second. Highlights at eleven.
ReplyDeleteAs for him trying to go to KPIX in the morning, that might end up being more of downward move instead of lateral one (we all know it's not a move up). Amanda S is really bad. I mean, really, **really** bad. It’s like she’s constantly having a brain freeze midway through her sentences. Or she’ll start out okay reading the teleprompter/story and then get puzzled by a word – usually a very simple word – towards the end. Odd. Across the desk from her is the new weather person who is constantly talking in a whisper as if the forecast is a secrete. And apparently she can’t talk and count at the same time because she can’t seem to finish her whispering before they cut to commercial or back to CBS This Morning. I'm pretty the director or the control room is giving her a countdown but she's not able to handle it. KPIX in the morning is a hot mess next to a dumpster fire. If Andre is feeling it’s his only/best option, wow. That is sad.
Europa
When Senior finds out what KPIX is paying he might not be too interested.
DeleteLt Burch seems to think LT's are seen not heard. She shoudl get Court marshalled back to Redding. Amanda, i have been wondering is the sudden stopping the prompter or just her. I imagine she would have gotten Prompter practice at her last gig in Indiana
Sad to hear John Evans is leaving. Perfect anchor for the early morning commute from the valley. He’s the last one I listen to on KCBS. Hopefully they don’t replace him with “Giggles”. Guess it’s music on the ride in.
ReplyDeleteIf Andre Senior leaves KTVU, and/or the bay area, he'll be forgotten within a week. A featherweight, no gravitas, I can't think of one moment he's distinguished himself on any broadcast. His potential loss barely reaches the level of concern at management level, I'd guess...
ReplyDeleteIt’s very uncomfortable to watch Andre Senior anchor. First of all, his ill fitting suits and lately he’s sounds very angry reporting the news. He needs to change his attitude or leave because he’s acting very unprofessional in his role as an actor.
ReplyDeleteThe last generation of anchors at KCBS can clearly see what's going on. More and more commercials, which have even muscled their way into the traffic reports, a refusal to hire any full-time replacements leaving no cohesion in the schedule, and a bare-bones sports staff with no live sports reports on the weekends. Even when they do have a live report, it can't be more than 60-90 seconds, which is barely enough to get the scores out. Business reports used to be much longer too, and now they're 45-60 seconds, tops.
ReplyDeleteWhen the pandemic started it certainly did a number on Audacy's fortunes. That's when they laid off pretty much all of the sports people except Steve Bitker and Kevin Radnich. Steve retired, and now that sports are back, they've decided they're happy with the status quo. I know it's getting harder and harder to make money on commercial radio, but destroying the product like Audacy has done is painful to watch/listen to.
It's not just KCBS either... I tried listening to KNX online, and you have to wait through seven(!) commercials before you get to any news.
Andre Senior's closed mouth smile is odd. And he needs to understand that taking steroids to pump you up can lead to irrational behavior.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that John Evans is leaving KCBS. What a huge loss for the Bay Area, especially for those of us who work and commute in the early morning. His is the only live voice left on Bay Area radio before dawn. Everything else is canned crapolla.
ReplyDelete