And believe me, it is tense.
An Insider says it all:
"Nexstar lawyers are fighting the union to the ground over things like 2% annual raises."
Nexstar is used to small markets where the cost of living is bupkiss and more importantly, markets where there are enforceable non compete clauses. Neither of which apply to SF.
Our rank and file can and have walked straight across the street to get better pay and raises. Last week, Nexstar even had the nerve to take back one of the concessions they agreed to the week before."
Negotiations continue today but if things don't ramp up, there's trouble ahead, big time.
*KCBS had another BAD day on Sunday. What else is new?
Seems they literally couldn't get another anchor on duty for an early Sunday shift and so they called on, desperately, the ultimate awful, Lisa Chan, the real estate saleswoman posing as a news anchor and the results were predictable.
Chan's 6 AM-11 AM newcasts were littered with continuous DEAD AIR gaps, long, awkward silences after tosses to traffic, and complete tech glitches that screwed up phone interviews. Chan doesn't know how to ad-lib so the matters were even worse.
Why does this ALWAYS happen when Chan anchors on Sunday? Because KCBS doesn't give a damn and its so BAD now nobody wants to work a shift.
*A PROMINENT sales guy with a history of making scenes inside the SF Cumulus cluster on Battery and Broadway had another HEATED exchange with a Cloud Boss who, I'm told, tried to stiff the guy out of an out-of-pocket expense. The sales guy took a client to lunch at the nearby sandwich shop--at Cumulus's request--and when the guy turned in his lunch tab? Sorry, that's on you.
The sales guy had a fit and were he not so juicy, he'd have quit. He was later taken care of.
Must be a fun time at the office --can't wait to hear how the Christmas party was.
KRON should ask for concessions, revenue is down.
ReplyDeleteYou can't negotiate from an adversarial position. Your "prominent '' sales guy sounds like a legend in his own mind. I've gone out of pocket for one some of my REPS and always considered it an investment. Without equity in the relationship, you are in no position to demand anything.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! Isn’t this the jolliest time of the year? I thought everyone is singing jingles and getting lacquered up - “can’t we all just get along?”
ReplyDeleteWhomever decided to negotiate a contract at the end of year should be tarred n feathered. Everyone knows you negotiate in the heat of summer, when passions run hot and there is no need to worry about keeping the home warm.
Give everyone a gift certificate to Bev’Mo to kick-start the negotiations going in the right direction. Hic !
So - c'mon! KCBS is the only 24-hour all-news radio channel in a wide geographic area. During the holidays, employees may get ill, or travel, etc. - so, it can be challenging to manage their staffing, and certainly - it's not always perfect. Could any of us do things any better?? (Well - I agree that it would be better to leave Lisa Chan out of the picture all together...)
ReplyDeleteA Christmas party at Cumulus? KNBR stopped holding Christmas parties years ago when Cumykus took over. And Cumulus’ idea of a Christmas gift for employees this year? “ Hey, here’s a $20 gift certificate to the Subway sandwich ship nearby on Broadway!”
ReplyDeleteLabor negotiations are always tense, in every sector. Being a realtor and having a part time job on the radio is not sinister. What is your problem with realtors?
ReplyDelete10:56 AM, realtors, who brought that up?
ReplyDeleteread original post
DeleteDid you read what Rich wrote?!?
DeleteI see it now...makes sense, Rich only likes the sistas
DeleteThomas still sounds so surprised and befuddled to find himself in front of the microphone.
ReplyDeleteattention KRON employees there is no money, please prepare for a KY experience
ReplyDeleteI prefer Astroglide
DeleteDefinitely Astroglide...
DeleteThe negotiations are bound to be deep, with lots of in and out action
DeleteKRON should give them their last, best and final offer and if they don't take it, fire them all. Hire Chan to do real estate infomercials and, hire Jan Wahl to do yenta duty.
ReplyDeleteKCBSChristmas party was JSeelig bringing in cupcakes.
ReplyDeleteYeah and she got those at Costco. The ingredient/price tag was still on the packaging.
DeleteIt always amazes me how cheap the suits are with trivial expenses. I remember at KTVU, 20+ years ago, a long-time figure was leaving and the staff bought in a cake on his last day. Nothing fancy--it was from Safeway--but the then news director, Andrew Finlayson, asked pointedly, "We [the station] didn't pay for this, did we?" His concern seemed genuine, as though we'd given him a Bentley as a going away present. But these same schmucks will have their offices redecorated every few years, no expense spared.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Finlayson was hero, keep the troops in line! Make them show their "stinking badges"
DeleteThe CW affiliate in New York City, WPIX, is off the air for the Xfinity/Comcast systems there. We’ll see who blinks first.
ReplyDeleteFunny and embarrassing on Sunday evening 11:00 KNTV/NBC news. They had an alarm going off for at least the first ten minutes of the broadcast. Someone mentioned once that they had an alarm going off but other than that nothing, except alarm noise.
ReplyDeleteThat was the fake news alarm...I hear it often on all the local stations. The network news uses an Ah-ohh-ga type alarm.
DeleteContract issues barely happens with the station vs Xfinity/Comcast, always between Direct, Dish and other streaming provider removing the station temporary or forever during contact issues. Removing KRON is not an issue, removing the first major station, it is a serious problem with World Cup, NFL.
ReplyDeleteKRON is cheap. When it comes to local stations, Nextstar is cheap. Shoot, knowing I could hire somebody out of some small market to jump at the chance to work in the Bay Area for change, then get some bozo from say, Palm Springs or Chico to read a teleprompter cheap, why not. Sorry y'all, local television ain't what it used to be. And ya get what ya pay for. Just look at KRON.
ReplyDeleteJ.R. Stone did that! Walked downstairs from KRON to KGO ABC7!
ReplyDeletePete
Danville
After 9 or 10 years at kron
DeleteCumulus…. Bunch of cheap, squeaky Rats.
ReplyDeleteKCBS has Phil Matier. His all-too- brief segments on local and state politics are so good that they make up for the mediocrity and mistakes that fill much of the rest of the station’s airtime.
ReplyDeleteNexstar is an atrocious company and the very definition of cheap. Since they're based in Texas they think they can just ignore unions, but for those who love to read court cases they're getting their ass handed to them routinely by the NLRB and losing when they go to the 9th circuit. The "we don't have any money" thing is old a tiresome. Maybe Perry Sook ought to cut his own salary and give us some to the people who made him rich. Nah. He's a greedy fucker.
ReplyDelete9:23 PM...lets make that deal the CEO takes his base salary to minimum wage (lowest allowed by law ) and then divides it amongst all union employees. 5 or 6 cents a piece will that get it done? Of course not. Stop the class warfare. The market sets salaries, in nay job if one doesn't like it they should leave and find another role.
ReplyDeletecrickets
ReplyDeleteThe NLRB has no authority to set salaries, they can be a pain in an employers butt, but at the end of the day and employers only needs to pay what they need to and not $ 1 more. As 11:26 said, just find a new gig
ReplyDeleteKRon/Nexstar does not come in ota in San Jose area.
ReplyDelete