Butler gave his final report on Monday.
It's no surprise, Butler, in his late 60's, bid farewell. After four decades retirement is a normal deal, quite logical.
But Butler's exit follows a regular, not-so-rosy trend at the all-news outlet. A staffer at KCBS was more blunt.
"Anybody that could is running the hell out of here. Nobody that has to wants to work here. It's that bad."
Not that long ago, people way past their 60's continued working at KCBS. Good people. Anchors/reporters alike. Editors too. They scanned the news sites and Bay City to watch for breaking news--they weren't on Instagram checking out their boyfriend's vacation pictures. They worked.
KCBS continues to lose people; some are good, others merely adequate but steady nonetheless.
Stan Bunger, Susan Leigh Taylor, Larry Charoni, Dean Danos, Rebecca Corral, Steve Bitker, Bob Melrose, now Bob Butler. Most of 'em couldn't wait to split.
A KCBS source told me, "he loved his job and loved reporting but the way things are going here now, he's so happy to get out.".
Yeah, free at last, free at last.
Larry Charoni = talent? No way! An overnight bore whom I’m guessing just wanted to avoid his wife!
ReplyDelete“Best guess he’s wanting to avoid his wife.” You ugly piece of shit. Keep your guesses to yourself. I know Larry. He’s a pro with a lovely family. You, like so many who comment here, sound like a bitter wannabe who couldn’t got a radio job to save your soul.
DeleteThere is usually an inflection point where company or union pension plans coupled with Social Security come out to roughly what you bring home when working. Makes sense to retire. No reason to die at the microphone.
ReplyDeleteThe theme song for KCBS: Slip Sliding Away... We can't even rely on the Comical to give us news. Their quality has gone down the tubes too.
ReplyDeleteKCBS owner Audacy closed Wednesday at 4 cents (not a typo), a 52-week low, trading on the pink sheets following NYSE delisting. A sad state of affairs not only for KCBS but all of the once proud stations—including WCBS, WINS, KYW, KNX, WWJ and others—which the Field family brought to ruin.
ReplyDeleteMr. Butler was solid and consistent. Enjoy retirement
ReplyDeletePeople work hard for decades and then they retire.. They are usually happy to be able to do so.
ReplyDeleteHis last interview on air with Eric and the other woman, he was teary,sounded like he didnt want to go.
ReplyDeleteMr Butler is 70 years old. He was already working part time, and he was not just a union rep, but also a mentor to minorities trying to enter the business. The guy has many accolades for his work.
ReplyDeleteI hope he will enjoy a long, happy, healthy, retirement. He earned it. Good luck Mr Butler.
For some odd reason KCBS management wants to make their station sound like KQED, with lots of tributes to woke nonprofits, an avoidance of controversial or breaking news, and a noticeable lack of energy. If you doubt me, listen to KNX 1070 for 10 minutes and compare that to KCBS.
ReplyDeleteI've given up on KCBS, skeletal shell of finer days, It's SXM Radio for us now
DeleteAt least we still have Lisa Chan!!
ReplyDeleteEric
Bayview
All the best to Bob, but I hope the trend of not replacing the retired employee doesn't continue. KCBS is stretched very thin, and to see this last remaining news station disappear will be very sad.
ReplyDeleteWill the last staffer at KCBS please turn out the lights?
ReplyDeleteYou'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would say a bad thing about Bob Butler. So if he leaves when he really wanted to stay, you know something is not right.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Jim Gabbert is willing to purchase KCBS; have news from 4:00-9:00 am, 11:00 am-1:00 pm, 4:00-8:00 pm then have talk shows from 9:00-11:00 am, 1:00-4:00 pm and 8:00 pm-4:00 am. I think a hybrid model could work. KGO and KCBS can’t be saved as it is programmed. KGO once had programming like this in the 1960’s.
ReplyDeleteI hope Jim Gabbert reads this. He could have a " '50s Dance Party" at 8 p.m. I have no doubt just an audio version of that swingin' program would work perfectly. Maybe the famous Sid and Barbara from Hayward , they danced up a storm, could be persuaded to get in on the new version.
DeleteYou constantly complained about Bunger.
ReplyDeleteThe only KCBS personality I don't miss is Mitch Thompson and his annoying, grating high-pitched voice.
ReplyDelete