When news of the top-secret documents from the FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-lago home was revealed, it could have been a banner day for the news-talk outlet--even on a Friday, a chance to dominate the terrain and talk what headlined the news and could be a red-meat topic staple.
Not.
Instead, KGO was --(insert laugh track)--was broadcasting a 49ers pre-game show--sports-talk at 2PM for a practice game that wouldn't even begin until 5: 30 no less!
As a reader said here, it wasn't KGO's fault. Cumulus has a contract that when there's a SF Giants conflict (as there was Friday evening on KNBR) the game (49ers) will be covered on KGO. The only exception is if an earthquake occurs or if there's some breaking news/local emergency to cover, KGO can butt in but the Trump/DOJ/Mar-a-Lago news didn't qualify.
The result --KGO was blind-sided and made to look foolish. No fault of its own but embarrassment across the board. And a few talk-show hosts in particular --one, named Rothmann (John) probably screaming in his house for hours.
*Some "retirement": quietly, Mark Ibanez was working behind the scenes to get a gig at KPIX in the immediate weeks after KTVU and Fox told him to hang it up.
*He respected her, did Kevin O'Brien of falllen news anchor, Leslie Griffith, but she still HATED HIS GUTS. Griffith wasn't alone there --virtually all female KTVU staffers couldn't stand KOB and there were several reasons, use your imagination.
*O'Brien was KTVU GM--a powerful cog in the news dominance at Jack London Square but it was more legendary ND, the late, great Fred Zehnder, that made KTVU's news dominance--O'Brien was smart enough to stay away from news and concentrate on programming.
*Let's send Megan Goldsby to Levi's stadium for some 49ers fluff and let's play her report --REPEAT and REPEAT--her report, TEN TIMES! In a period less than a couple of hours, did KCBS Friday and into Saturday. It didn't stop there; KCBS ran a story about SF's native flower --another TEN TIMES!--don't tell me about TSL and the reality of pleasing people who only listen a fraction of the time. This is/was a JOKE!
*Let's send Megan Goldsby to Levi's stadium for some 49ers fluff and let's play her report --REPEAT and REPEAT--her report, TEN TIMES! In a period less than a couple of hours, did KCBS Friday and into Saturday. It didn't stop there; KCBS ran a story about SF's native flower --another TEN TIMES!--don't tell me about TSL and the reality of pleasing people who only listen a fraction of the time. This is/was a JOKE!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right Rich. What a JOKE!!! KCBS even played some Vin Scully repeats this week. OMG WTF!
Megan Goldsby, the Jessica Kleinschmidt of Kay See Bee Ess.
DeleteO'Brien was a sexist, there's no doubt about it. I remember when the Monica Lewinsky affair broke, his biggest problem was that she was "so fat."
ReplyDeleteWe need more men like Kevin O’Brien running SF Bay Area Media. Kicking old ham back to Sacramento and having morning anchors hold his lantern, Kevin is the best.
DeleteWait a minute .....
ReplyDeleteIt gets better.
They repeat the same shit 9 hours later.
Before I go to work ...then after I drive home.
Hello....are they really that STUPID.
Giants on KNBR is a sleep-induced guarantee. Such a dull team.
ReplyDeleteZzzzz....Gabe Kapler, Farhan, and playing analytics/statistical baseball will do that. Such an uninspired brand of baseball compared to last season.
DeleteWhat was the deal with the ugly replay beginning on the 49ers game on KPIX yesterday? Each time they did a replay they added some stupid tearing effect made to look like a VCR went into reverse. It was so annoying I turned the game off. What's next, using sepia coloring so we know it's in the past?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that, too. Really annoying.
DeleteYeah…That was pretty embarrassing for KGO on Friday. BREAKING NEWS that’s right up Pat Thurston and John Rothman’s alley and at 2 pm we get a gutter ball of 3 hour pre-season 49ers hype on a news talk radio station. Yawn. That’s what happens when a few corporations own all the major stations. Nothing against the 9ers. Huge fan. But this was pre -season fluff till 5:30 and belonged on SPORTS talk radio Giants conflict or not. They don’t play till 7. KNBR should’ve adjusted accordingly. Would’ve been more interesting than Tom Tolbert and whoever they’ve paired him with these days.
ReplyDeleteThe sadist in me kinda enjoys tuning in to Rothman every once in a while. And listening to his right wing callers bend themselves into pretzels trying to defend the former Orange Dude in office with talking points they got from Fox News and Breitbart. Both Rothman and Thurston handle them all with aplomb. Friday afternoon would have been fire for sure. But yeah, Cumulous Media definitely initiated a fumble here.
The sadist in me enjoys tuning into right wing radio to hear the complete morons call in to represent "the left". There should be a minimum intelligence level prior to being allowed to vote. See: California and New York and the politicians they end up with.
Delete100% concur. KGO's complete disregard for the interests of their supposed primary audience, news-talk listeners, shameful. Shameful, shameful, shameful.
ReplyDeleteHow many fans on the road had to search for the 49ers game on the radio? Oh, wait, their on 810AM--not on my presets.
ReplyDeleteWhatzamaddaU? Please don’t tell me you expect a Bay Area news station to address breaking news. That’d be like expecting KNBR to talk about Sports. Not gonna happen. Brian Murphy will expound on his days as a cub reporter - apparently he thinks himself a journalist. He’s just noise between Kars4Kids commercials.
ReplyDeleteInterested in the comment about Rothman’s right wing callers. I’ve been in the car (the only time I listen to the radio) during Rothman’s show several days lately and yeah-the right wing kooks call him. Is this a thing that happens-is it encouraged or is it just by chance?
ReplyDeleteBeen wondering about that.
Calls are screened to make the opposing party look worse than they are. Turn on right wing radio and you'll hear left wing callers that sound even worse. As one person stated on here previously, Rothmann asked a "narrow question" and can't handle the dissention.
DeleteI listen in the car as well. I think his screener and Rothman himself kinda know the usual suspects who call in and defend the former POTUS at all cost. It can be annoying at times because some of them are really out there on a limb for Orange Man. Having grown up listening to Tom Leykis on KFI in LA as a kid I can tell you that Leykis would be a lot less kind to such rampant bias and stupidity from callers like the ones Rothman gets. And it would make for great radio when Leykis would mop the floor them.
DeleteRothman is a lot kinder but doesn’t like b.s. as well. Sad to listen to how some people are set in their opinions in such a liberal state as California. They just sound so miserable . But ain’t that America. Makes the drive time fun, or increases the migraine while stuck in traffic I guess.
"Don from Salinas" has been calling into Rothmann for years and years to argue with him..he's the typical extreme conservative caller that he gets
DeleteMaybe it’s not just me but cumulus suits also find Thurston and Rothmann boring. Come on, if that many people in the Bay Area found these two worth listening to, KGO wouldn’t be dangling off the bottom of the ratings chart.
ReplyDeleteThey’re the only ones I can stomach on that station. Though it was better when Chip Franklin was sandwiched in between them. He had a understanding of pop culture and what listeners stuck in their cars might wanna hear during prime time. The rest of that schlock is unlistenable and indeed boring. And in most cases NOT local. The guy that comes at seven after Rothman…Talk about snoozeville. I’d rather listen to the guy at midnight who talks about UFO’s and Marilyn Monroe repeatedly.
DeleteNews talk radio as a whole is going the way of the dodo bird. It’s always been a bastion for people like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to spread right wing talking points all across the country. KGO am used to be a nice alternative with its somewhat liberal slant. But all talk radio can be considered mediocre these days as far as I’m concerned. And a great advertisement for satellite radio that for just 12 dollars a month has a better balance of stations and is free from 1800 Kars 4 Kids commercials. You get what you pay for I suppose. And KGO is free. Draw your own conclusions from there.
Gene Burns and Pete Wilson were quality radio, the best local hosts anywhere in the country. Nobody on today’s pipsqueak KGO comes near those giants.
DeleteUs "Super Elites" don't have AM radios in our Tesla conveyances. We can only listen to Radio Pacifica , and the low and caring voices of NPR.
ReplyDeleteHere’s a drinking game to play: How many times does Bruce Jenkins cough during a segment with Marty Lurie or unleash his creepy old man laugh?
ReplyDeleteWill Dennis o Donell ever make it back on the air? Since his name is mentioned on Sunday Nighr show? Anything new?
ReplyDeleteMet Kevin O’Brien and KGO’s Mickey Luckoff a few times each and they were both brash, almost larger than life figures. Tony Salvador had some similarities, although he was far less polished and sometimes a lot more profane. Broadcasting GMs remind me a bit of CEOs and sports team owners. A little full of themselves and usually loud and sometimes very annoying as they attempt to impress ir frighten. The good ones usually don’t need to do that, but many feel the job somehow requires it. It is challenging working with it for people such as this because they communicate in a different fashion that many find uncomfortable. I’m glad I’ve never had to spend much time around such people.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it was terrible. Fortunately, we knew ahead of time that KGO's regular programming was being pre-empted for the 49er game. I already planned to turn my radio off at 1:30 pm that day because I'm not a sports fan, and that's not what I listen to KGO for. But I didn't realize they were going to do all that pre-game stuff ahead of the actual game. How awful. I also hate it when KGO broadcasts those Cal games during basketball season. I wish they would just stick to newstalk all the time like in the old days.
ReplyDelete