Phil Matier on KCBS said the mayor deserved props for admitting the city was in despair. Gees, Phil, how thoughtful of you.
The few TV people that covered the speech were basically there for sound bites and nothing else. It's a sad state, here.
*Paging Rollin Post. Darn, miss you.
*Where was Jackie Speier on Circle7? Never mind.
*Speaking of which, the early Sweeps numbers are NOT GOOD for CBS News Bay Area, (PIX)--11 PM remains viewer-less and the mass experiment is a DUD. I'll commend PIX for trying something new but it's too goofy and gimmicky. You can make marks by, again, having good people at the start. You can do new things without radical stunts like stupid, weird, out-of-place music--that's supposed to get a younger demo? Oh please.
*IS AM RADIO DEAD? It is in SF.
There's been every article pubbed recently about its demise and you can't argue with the summation. It's all lousy. The only decent station here is a few minutes of Bloomberg 960 and a 49ers game in the fall on KNBR, (which is still putrid, by the way.)
The Bay Area used to be a hotbed of great radio and news/talk and music, entertainment. No more. Even FM has transformed into a quagmire of minutiae and boring audio content--there's a few exceptions but that'about it.
Yes, a total ABOMINATION!
The state of Bay Area AM radio is horrendous! Down here in Santa Cruz KSCO fired all its talk show hosts and what did the hosts do? They are doing their shows online LIVE now. Why can’t John Rothman get off his butt and do the same?
ReplyDeleteI too am OUTRAGED that Rothmann hasn’t started an online show. Well, not really. Let him enjoy his retirement without outrage to spike his blood pressure. Even Harold Stassen eventually stepped back from day to day politics.
DeletePod Casts & Setting Up A Show on Youtube will not pay your bills, unless you can draw millions of viewers! Most advertisers want to see minimum show numbers in the upper 100ks per week! As Rich can attest with this Blog most viewers do not want to pay shit for your hard work, so advertisers are a must!
DeleteI am a Sara Donchey fan. She is good, reads the teleprompter clearly, and interacts with others well. I don’t give a rat’s ass on how she dresses.
Deleteso , I see a picture you posted of Ms.Donchey wearing a turtleneck and pants...Why is that evil?
ReplyDeleteI think Donchey is awesome.
DeleteThe 11pm with Sara Donchey is not good. Some of the news stories are ridiculous at that hour. Why not just stick to the Evening Edition at 11PM on weekdays just like they do on weekends (much better)? Even weekends at 11PM has some more decent news.
ReplyDeleteIf anything just put Sara back to field reporting and bring someone else at 11PM. Why not bring in Devin Fehely? He is working on weekend mornings only & field reporting 3 days a week and is underutilized as an anchor. Generally he does a great job of anchoring and I like his style and generally looks to be personable. Or why not bring in Hackney during the week? He doesnt need to be stuck on the weekend.
As far as Reed, I haven’t seen any issues with his anchoring. The thing I don’t like about him is the way he messes around with the meteorologists sometimes; sometimes Heggen & Peck couldn’t take his nonsense and got a little angry, and other times the transition was great & seamless. Hackney went along with the flow or just ignored it. Reed has a solid but stern delivery as an anchor. I also like that he injects some humor at certain points and the other anchors and sports anchors do find it good. There is a reasonably good balance here.
When Jules fills in at 11PM its better and more decent news is there, same with Reed.
I agree with your perception about Devin Fehely. To me, the guy has ANCHOR material written all over his face. The guy's delivery of the news is perfect, and he just exudes confidence and believe ability in what he is saying. He is WAY above anyone else at KPIX right now, and I personally think he should fire his agent, because clearly his agent is not doing his job! This guy should be the face or KPIX!
Delete💯💯👏 Exactly. And I have seen him fill in on some weekday morning shows and he does relatively well with everyone, even the Morning Mix, he really enjoyed.
DeleteHe really also asks good and sometimes tough/curveball questions to everyone in and out of the studio and does a wonderful job at it. Everyone gets along well with him despite that.
At one point we thought he would be the replacement of Ken Bastida back in 2022 and be the face of the station. If anything if I was his boss, I would promote him to 11PM.
Devin had the same personality back in high school at Bellarmine in San Jose.
DeleteEven some of the reporters like Da Lin, Kiet Do, Max Darrow, and Wilson Walker are great, too. They should also get a chance at the anchor chair even more besides just being Devin’s fill-in sometimes. They also all deliver solid reports. Especially Wilson Walker.
DeleteKPIX should consider Devin Fehely for the weeknight gig and maybe do an experiment with the field reporters. The field reporters can get a chance at the weekend anchor chair and see who can work there. Max Darrow & Wilson Walker are great candidates for example; always deliver solid reports.
That KCBS Reporter at the SF house explosion was a train wreck!
ReplyDeleteYou mean to tell me London Baby was giving her SOTC message yesterday? sfchronicle.com failed to give it any attention. Well, they're too busy having their music critic show his journalism chops by repeating what he saw on his Twitter feed about Covid-19. And London Babe was stating the obvious. Shocked to see that Matier has become a cheerleader for the City That Doesn't Know How Anymore. What a waste.
ReplyDeleteYour last item is stating the obvious: traditional radio in San Francisco is dead. It has been dead for many years, by the way. Thank goodness for SiriusXM. Sadly, no matter what you do to call attention to its shortcomings, it's only going to get worse.
ReplyDeleteSan Francisco sucks. Now they're extending meter hours because they can't figure out what a budget is. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/s-f-to-extend-parking-meter-hours-17772921.php
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I watch Donchey at 11 IS to see what she’s wearing. Good or bad, always gets my attention
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I only watch the Stupor Bowl for the commercials. Content is inconsequential…
DeleteI guess Breed's mafia tactics to get employers to force employees back into the city failed.
ReplyDeleteI dont blame KPIX for trying something different. Why they are trying to attract a younger audience that will never watch a traditional 11pm news cast is beyond me. I also dont understand why walking around the studio is all the sudden the hot new thing that will bring up viewership.
ReplyDeleteYou do realize this walk in studio thing happens on weekdays except on the noon news, 3pm news (sometimes) and 5pm news & not at all on weekends. It would be good if it did not happen at all. Not a fan of the style.
DeleteAt least other stations we havent seen this happen (yet)
NBC has done some of the walking around. Especially at 430 with Asistio. I wonder why?
DeleteI like the walk around, that way I get to see Heather's amazing legs. That is why I TIVO channel 2 at 4 and 5. If she is on, I watch, if not instant erase.
DeleteWalking is just another stupid gimmick with no use at all except to waste time and titillate the men. I worked on air for 40 years. I’ve seen it all. Gumics work in the short run but in the end people see them for what they are. I still believe that the answer to ratings is to have important news. Trust the reporters to go as long as they need. Stop with the fake urgency and just tell the news like ktvu you did before social media shot everyone to hell. Dennis was great at that. Frank was caught on the middle as stations tried to remake themselves. I’ll give Frank this: It drove him crazy to see what was happening. I heard him say this over and over getting off the set: I so frustrated by every everything. I just want to drive my car at a high rate of speed into a brick wall.
DeleteThese idiots still think it's possible to pick up a turd by the "clean end". Form over function. Breed will continue to kick the can down the road and nothing will be done. Yes, Rich. A.M. radio is dead. The 'news' has turned into TMZ. Satellite radio is indeed the way to go. A good book, some soothing late night jazz is a preferred alternative over subjecting oneself to the late night banality of network news
ReplyDeleteSara Donchey, to be a somewhat younger person, has no idea of fashion at all. The other night she wore a camouflage outfit. Most of her outfits either don't seem to fit properly, or are just too weird to look at. last night, [Thursday night], she was wearing some shoes that, well, i wondered how far she had to run to chase the guy down that she tackled and stole them off of!
ReplyDeleteThe other afternoon, Donchey & Goodrich were talking about their dogs -- Donchey said that hers are Dobermans, which somehow didn't surprise me.
DeleteBay Area AM radio dead? Hardly...
ReplyDeleteObviously you aren't a fan of Live Abundant Radio (with Douglas Andrew).
Doug Andrew's incisive analysis and wisdom can be heard over 18 hours a week on KSFO, KGO and 860AM-The Answer.
Just the facts, absent the fluff.
And like most of the other commercial/paid program providers you can also stream his program from likely most of the podcast providers. That's helpful if you want to catch-up on a missed episode or repeat one that was particularly invigorating.
DeleteRight!! LMAO!!!
DeleteI like the intro to the Late News, a play on the Late Show. I wish it was a bit longer, as I like seeing Sara Donchey strutting so sexily. I watch just to see the opening and seeing her walk onto the set.
ReplyDeleteRonn
Sausalito
Sara Donchey has definite sex appeal.
DeleteRich: Lived in SF for all of my 68 years, only bums I see when I was a kid are the drunks on 6th St drinking Thunderbird wines out of the brown bags; I don't dare go back home (on Geary Blvd) to the Sunset after medical visits on 450 Sutter, good heavens, never thought this city could fall to the decrepitated level as it is now; don't see any end in sight....sad.......
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%. Downtown SF is a Shi-Show. Somehow the alcoholics, kooks, drug addicts, and “housing-challenged” have more rights and benefits than a property tax paying homeowner.
DeleteI am all for helping the needy, but a shi-show is a shi-show is a shi-show. If folks want to scream at the wind, or pee on a business, or hustle deadly drugs openly on the street, send them one-way to Texas or Florida. There, they will likely get elected to higher office.
Like you Rich, I really like Bloomberg 960 from 8 AM to 2 PM. Smart anchors, plenty of interesting financial information with local weather, traffic and sports. The signal is terrible but I can also listen online too. After 2 PM it is pretty lame with foreign financial focus taking over so I go back to KCBS. Nothing else anywhere on the dial, KCBS is not interesting but it is the best of a horrible bunch. Just barely best.
ReplyDeleteThe Donkey is wearing grey slacks and an orange turtleneck in the photo you shared accompanying your complains about her 'bizarre' outfits.
ReplyDeleteThe audacity! How dare she!
"Mayor Breed gave her "State-of-SF" address and the ensuing reaction from the alleged press corps was more like adulation from fans of a rock star."
ReplyDeleteAnd this surprises who? If there was any surprise here it was that she wasn't carried out on the shoulders of an adoring/apologetic/enabling media, after they all paid obeisance to her first...
Stopped listening to a.m. radio after they went to the betting format over at KGO. Yes, it is officially dead. Satellite radio and YouTube TV have been my go to in the car in the aftermath. Pity I would love to have heard Pat Thurston and John Rothman discuss the state of the city and many other hot topics in the news that affect the Bay Area. But no one seems to care about community anymore. Everyone is just expected to pay blind obeisance to the urban blight that has overtaken SF which began when the city was sold to the highest bidder decades ago. Starting with Willie Brown and progressing to Ed Lee (RIP) and the total sell-out to the tech industry has backfired big time. These tech 'geniuses' are now all headed to their home offices and cheaper real-estate in states like Texas. But what made these city leaders think these tech giants would care about anything other than turning a profit and leaving the city with nothing?
ReplyDeleteSo what now? Check the empty store fronts and office buildings that sit barren for years. Graffiti and tagged buildings on every street corner. And as soon as the city cleans them up they are spray painted on again. The park-letts (while cute but not quite fitting for a cold city like SF) make it almost impossible to find parking. On top of that now they want to raise the remaining meter hours till ten p.m. and add Sundays as well. Jeez!! The left hand doesn't know or care what the right is doing. Just how can we raise more revenue off the backs of people already struggling. The issues are major. And that doesn't even include the homeless crisis, smash and grab robberies and drug dealing and using which are about as common as a free Muni ride through the back door. Car 54 where are u? (Certainly not at The Palace Of Fine arts or any one of our many parks plagued with the glass diamonds from broken car windows.)
Add all that up and put it on a postcard. Lived here all my life except for college and I can honestly say 'The City' has lost it soul. (The curse of removing Laughing Sally and Playland At The Beach back in the 70's, I guess. lol) I don't lay this all at the hands of London Breed either. Been a collaborative effort for awhile now. Can we get the city back? I used to be an optimist till my car got broken into while stepping over tents and a crazy man screaming at the top of his lungs on my way to a musical last year. And overpriced bistros charging 15 dollars for avocado toast.
So....Good luck building that better Bay Area like KGO claims to be doing. It's gonna take a whole lot more than slogans.
While I agree with a lot of your frustration, let's be honest. The tech giants aren't the reason San Francisco has a problem with vagrants, junkies and the mentally ill living and defecating on public streets. City Hall, and therefore the people who continually elect City Hall, want this problem. That is why they PAY drug addicts a monthly stipend. That is why they tolerate crime, vandalism and open drug use and sales. SF is a destination for these activities. It enables them. Because, in City Hall's distorted ideology, this promotes SF as "progressive" and therefore more virtuous. In their minds, to have clean safe streets and an effective police force is hateful and mean. The criminals are the victims, capice?
DeleteKNBR and KCBS are not really AM operations. They are just simulcasts of their FM signals because they are not ready turn the licenses back to the FCC yet, but that is coming as a cost savings move in the near future. Those 50KW plants are very expensive to operate.
ReplyDelete"KSFO is a muddled/syndicated, right-wing radio mess."
ReplyDeleteKGO was a muddled left-wing radio mess. RIP.
Totally agree. KGO was totally a left-wing arm of the party.
DeleteRich you wrote:
ReplyDeleteEven FM has transformed into a quagmire of minutiae and boring audio content--there's a few exceptions but that'about it.
Just curious what are the exceptions? I'm looking for some AM FM station music, news that is somewhat listenable. Thanks
This is off topic but this afternoon I saw Pam Moore in person buying fresh fish at the Market Hall in Oakland. She’s gorgeous in person without much make up and unlike some other anchors whom others drool over Ms Moore certainly packs “more” when it comes to what we in the hood call: BOOTEY! Sure made my Friday 👍🏾🍷
ReplyDeleteI met Pam Moore years ago at Union Square. We walked and talked for 2 blocks. A classy person that I could tell was genuinely nice.
Deletelike german beer purity law,there should be a radio purity ''law''. you must play ALL for instance, rock music'' from ALL periods and and not just same songs,those barroom asnthems they always play.you know, ''angel is the centerfold'' stuff. nothing against j. geils, but play infinite variety or you give radio license to someone else.
ReplyDeleteThat's a terrible idea. It would stifle creative programming or the ability of the station to respond to the tastes of its audience. More regulation is rarely a solution to a problem. The problem here is that the Radio format has gone the way of the buggy whip. It's lost its market because there are too many other preferable options. If you got rid of all the other options then it might come back to relevance.
DeleteSmug Reed Cowan is awful, and absolutely unwatchable when paired up with loud, husky voiced Anne Makovic. Liz continues to be the best thing goin at KPIX and pairs up well with twitchy Ryan Yamamoto, who is beginning to grow on me.
ReplyDeleteJules is the best CBS5 anchor. Andrea Nakano is a close second.
Delete"Mayor Breed gave her "State-of-SF" address and the ensuing reaction from the alleged press corps was more like adulation from fans of a rock star."
ReplyDeleteWhy I don't pay attention to the media anymore. They ceased being journalists and became unpaid PR hacks a while back. Besides, how can you say anything not nice to SF's first black mayor on Black History Month?!?
"Phil Matier on KCBS said the mayor deserved props for admitting the city was in despair. Gees, Phil, how thoughtful of you."
ReplyDeleteThat Phil sets such a high bar. Wonder if he'd say that about Trump. —Wait! No I don't.
Radio went into the loo when the FCC deregulated it and the stations were getting swallowed up by the big boys. It is so bland now.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Rich is going all Blackwell over Sarah Donchey’s clothes. I like Sara Donchey and no problems with her wardrobe.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone wants an antidote to Fox, give KPFA a listen. While it has its share of conspiracy theorists, it is in all likelihood much more truthful and informative than the FOX will ever be.
ReplyDeleteI was watching Check Please Bay Area this morning. All the guests were 30ish. I know they’re probably not watching the KPIX 11 pm news but that’s the demographic Sara Donchey relates to. I think Rich is harkening back to the days of Joe Friday on Dragnet when every newscaster dressed in the IBM white shirt and black tie. Time marches on and so do women’s styles.
ReplyDelete