49ers/Harbaugh Divorce KNBR Dilemma; KTVU; KRON/KGO Parking Garage Matters; Little People From Sarah And Vinnie Want More Cash; Separated At Birth: Seth Rogen And Damon Bruce; Friday Roundup

 FRIDAY ROUNDUP --

*From a KNBR standpoint, the 49ers/Jim Harbaugh divorce was the absolute worst time to take place--the week between Christmas and New Years--and also the same time Knibber's star shows, "Gary and Larry" and "Mr. T" were on vacation. Ouch.

Don't think for a moment that didn't cause an unseemly amount of friction between The Hammer and his worker bees.

A meaty ten-minute phone call requesting one of the teamers went for naught. Serious business. Which only further illustrates how much Hammer Time thinks of the know-nothing/say-nothing/be-nothing update chick with the fake name and breathless voice. Yes!

*Even as KTVU enjoys a solid early winter ratings surge, the predominant word on the street is that a BIG round of layoffs are coming now that FOX has settled into the 2 Jack London Square studios. The layoffs would include ALL departments and that's everyone in the building from Sales to the newsroom.

*I don't mean to pick on Katie Marzullo of KGO-TV; there's just something artificial and uncomfortable about her. One of the things that drives me nuts about consultants is their inability to tell people, "Be Yourself!" "Loosen Up." Marzullo seems as if she's deliberately trying to remain calm and collected, devoid of personality and that looks bad and uncomfortable. Maybe it's just me.

*The weekend weather guy on KRON, Brian Van Aken,  has told management he'd prefer not to have to work with Gary Radnich if the situation arises which it has from time to time. Yes, another air talent that can't stand the Gary man.

*For a guy that elicits such an avalanche of negative e-mail and perception, those people in the know at KTVU tell me that Dave Clark is a "very nice guy." Too bad that doesn't translate on TV.

*The next big move for the radio albatross, KGO Radio, assuming anyone cares: a woman talk-host at night, probably the 8-11 PM time slot. Think Angie Coiro down the road. Just a hunch.

*The problem with the "Newstalk 910" station is that the Clearchannel/IHeart dweebs don't really care about their Bay Area outlet. I mean, seriously, when you have a $19 Billion debt payment looming, it's priorities, priorities, people.

*There's already a little mini-drama over the parking garage at 900 Front where KGO and KRON call home. The people involved are not air-talent but you can bet your tainted candy apple this ain't going to end well.

*KQED managers, all of 'em, make well over $200K --that's some part of the bad blood inside KQED, radio and TV. No wonder they're upping those pledge breaks.

*The Sarah and Vinnie underlings are bitching privately, (so far), that they all want more money. Watch soon for a catfight.

*Sorry Vinnie, your wife has bigger balls than you, metaphorically speaking. But that's not so difficult. Keep noshing on the egg-salad sandwiches.

*The Ben Fong-Torres story: How I started on the SF penthouse and ended up on the coffee table in Bakersfield.

*BFT: The human radio press-release rewrite.

*Some fill-in guy on KGO Radio Friday morning from 9-Noon: It was refreshing for three minutes or so that we didn't have to hear about mattresses and gadgets. On the other hand, his pronunciation of San Rafael as "San-Ra-Fy-El" was cringe-worthy.

*KGO Radio News anchor, Sherry Brown: Big girls don't cry.

Seth Rogen/Actor

Damon Bruce/95.7 FM The Game

*Follow me on Twitter

NOTE: You can now SUBSCRBE  to 415 Media! For $8.99/one-year --you'll get 415 Media in your e-mail box every morning plus exclusive extra dose of Bay Area Radio/TV --just click on the Pay Pal icon on the right of the blog and get your membership today--Help support independent media. All subscriptions are confidential as is the Pay Pal transaction. You also do not have to have a Pay Pal account to subscribe.

Sussman The Mad Scientist on KSFO; Rise Guys on The Game; Post-Ronn on KGO; Friday 415 Media Notes

I don't know Brian Sussman very well. I presume once he's off his KSFO Morning Show duties, he goes home and sips less Red Bull and acts like the rest of us. Even us "libs" as the SussMAN likes to refer to the loyal opposition.

I'm going to go out on a limb and hope that the Susser's shtick is merely a show. Not his bizarro politics nor his mad scientist act. We all know he can't stand Obama and that quite all right, it's a free country. I mean, morning radio guy hates the Prez? You're kidding! I'm just plain shocked.

OK, so for those of who who ride me because "how can you 'defend Melanie, (Morgan, Suss' co-host), and ride Brian?"

The simple answer is that while Morgan and I have vastly different visions of the world and think Melanie's politics are crazy, there's at least a certain professional protocol that Morgan understands. Sussman is all whack, 24/7. Perhaps it's the reason that while Sussman goes gooey-gaga over all his un-great libs, Morgan occasionally does Bill Maher's show and understands the biz. Whereas, Suss is over-extreme even by his conservative friends, Morgan seems poised to make her point on the air, then when the mike's off, she goes home and laughs a little.

That's not to suggest that Melanie Morgan is putting on a show. Quite the contrary, it is show biz on the radio after all. That's why she got the gig and returned to KSFO after a four-year hiatus. But once the light's off, her persona is intact and she's off the stage.

Sussman, by all accounts, a decent guy with, albeit strange maneuverings, takes his missive home. The "guns", the bizarre personal stories, the ravings against the Prez, the mad scientist act that still befuddle his ex-colleagues at KPIX where he once did the weather.

It's a far cry from Brian Sussman, circa 2012.


**One of the reasons why I don't listen much to the FM sports-radio show is that once they suck you in with a decent, cogent ten minutes or so of intelligent radio, they make you leave when it's time to utilize the moron card.

On Friday morning, I inadvertently caught the "Rise Guys", (Mark Kreidler, Whitey Gleason and Dan Dibley on 95.7 FM) They were discussing, civilly, and without the use of that annoying, idiotically dumb sound-effect machine, the situation involving Stan Van Gundy and the mess, (with Dwight Howard), in Orlando.

What sounded like an interesting, invigorating and girthy segment that, god forbid, reeked with simple intelligent conversation ended with the usual dumb, inane, over-the-top shouting from the likes of Dibley and Gleason.

See, guys, you're preaching to us that you're NOT like the other guys you consistently make fun of on 680 and we want to believe you, we do. But just at the moment you seem to have us fixated with your game plan, you make a left turn against the light and come out looking and sounding no better than the frat boys on Knibber.

**Ronn Owens is quietly scouting other venues as his tenure at KGO nears completion, (Jan, 2013). At this early stage, nobody has a clue what his next move will be. His seven-figure deal is merely months away from conclusion. Owens will be 66 at the end of the deal. Conceivably, he could look to satellite radio, but I doubt that his local act would play well nationally. It didn't work in Los Angeles at it probably wouldn't work elsewhere unless of course, he garnered a mattress sponsor.

**Follow me on Twitter

Kristen Sze is just fine; '7Live' wins Emmy, (Groundbreaking) and Friday fish

Kristen Sze has been mysteriously absent from the KGO-TV morning news team the past couple of weeks, (she co-anchors with Eric Thomas) but not to worry: the popular Sze has been merely on an extended vacation.

Some of my readers were concerned when Sze's colleagues failed to say, on-air, that the anchor was away. From a KGO insider, "that's the news directors 'Joe Friday-handbook'. Oh, sure, just the facts.

*Speaking of Channel 7, that truly groundbreaking, historic and God's gift to the world afternoon sensation, '7Live', hosted by the "Not a Genuine Talk-show host", received a local Emmy for "Best Interaction." The world will never be the same.

*It's reached a point of no return with that news exec who likes to show the ladies his wares. He simply continues his increasingly dangerous behavior, which is so well-known in the market, its become a joke. The fact that his bosses know it makes it even worse.

*And the local TV reporter with a loudmouth is continuing his North Beach prowls with enough gusto and "you know who I am?" that a few bartenders have given him a warning.

*Christine Craft on KGO Radio: Pat Thurston with substance.

*ESPN Deportes began broadcasting on the old KTRB, (860 AM) frequency this morning. Your local SF news media didn't think that was news, (except 415 Media) even though a host of other industry on-line sites, (like, AllAccess) thought so.

*That KNBR loud-mouth host who thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread apparently was given the "we're not interested" signal from the new FM sports station. Like Cumulus, Entercom doesn't pay all that well, and that's in good times.

*Jumped the shark with authority: Stephanie Miller.

*Nice programming move by the doofus' at Talk910, KNEW, by moving Phil Hendrie into the wee hours with 2 clowns nobody has ever heard of. Keep up the great work, idiots.

*Copeland subbing for Ronn Owens the past week: Always wanted to hear Steve Erkel on KGO.

*If Merv Griffin were alive, he'd have taken out the million or so needed to keep KCSM-TV off the "for sale" block which it should be. Here's hoping that the radio station is not messed with either. Sonny Buxton is too cool.

*Follow me on Twitter