415 Media Source: KGO Radio Is For Sale But Is Anybody Interested

I WANDERED through a maze of tables into the back corner and began munching on a club sandwich --lunch was on the guest who wanted to talk shop and overall schmooze --we do this a lot --I wasn't expecting a whole lot and really concentrated on the delicious bacon and turkey I devoured and accompanying fries, and then came a shocker from the lunchmate, an industry veteran:

"KGO is for sale." "What?, I gasped. "KGO Radio?" For Sale? That can't be right, I thought.

Then again, the news of Cumulus selling a big-market radio station is proof positive, enter WABC in the Big Apple.

It can happen and then some.

Here's the skinny:

Cumulus is selling its big top stations so it can liquidate some of its more lucrative assets to keep in line its BK status and raise some much-needed cash to stay alive, not just now but for the future. Which is why selling KGO in the Bay Area makes sense and getting Top 10 market money for it.

Cumulus propped up KGO in March with a revamped weekday line-up of talk hosts and went back to its original news-talk roots; so far, it hasn't set the Bay Area on fire with only modest buzz and barely a ripple. The upcoming election is always a ratings boon and there's tremendous interest in a race featuring the unpredictable and zany current Prez, Donald Trump. That said, KGO is still largely underperforming. Does KGO Radio even make money anymore? Ask 12 people and you'll get 12 different answers.

In its heyday, KGO used to bill more than $50 million dollars yearly but it's not 2000 anymore. KGO has a supreme dial position but hardly anybody listens to AM radio anymore except me and the commuter crowd interested in traffic on the approach to the Bay Bridge which is largely why KCBS exists.

What could KGO fetch and who would buy it? In a perfect world, a guy like Jim Gabbert, who used to love the originality of the old KGO and its top-flight format but Gabbert isn't interested in such a venture preferring to live out his remaining years flying airplanes in Mexico.

If a WABC could fetch only $12M; a legacy station with historic call letters could KGO Radio be a steal? My contact told me the magic number to Cumulus was north of 8 million bucks.

Let the negotiations begin.

Word On The Street: ABC Looking To Buy KRON; Disney Big Suits Coming To SF To 'Assess The Market'; Monday First Start

No one is talking on the record because they won't or can't but the big rumor is that ABC is actively interested in buying KRON. In fact, one of my sources told me that an offer was already on the table for around $200 million--I would assume that would include the mound of corporate debt too --in any event, the offer, supposedly, was turned down

But the idea makes too much sense. Which doesn't necessarily mean it will happen because of the load of issues ahead. But KRON is already inside the ABC Broadcast Center at 900 Front and has a SSA (shared-services agreement) with KGO-TV. One day soon you're going to see both station's air talent on each others screen. Privately, I'm told that ABC is sending a few of it major industry execs to SF to "assess the market." I doubt they're coming here just to eat at a few restaurants and walk the Embarcadero.

Yes, of course the unions are nervous.

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Nervous Galore at KGO Radio as Cumulus Buys CNN News Content for Radio; KOIT's Jack Kulp on 415 Media Radio; Friday First Take

You might understand why, (again), there's a lot of nervous people at the KGO Radio offices at 55 Hawthorne.

Here's the reason.


As KGO morphs into a news and talk format sometime in September, (based on this station), the station will mix talk shows with traditional news blocks like AM and PM drive. Expect staff cutbacks in the news divisions and frankly, we aren't surprised.


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**Today on my radio show from 2-2: 20 PM PT, legendary KOIT morning personality, Jack Kulp joins me as we talk shop, current events and culture. Simply click on the radio link on the upper right hand icon at the top of the blog.

Nervous Galore at 900 Front; Johnson Leaving; Ex-Political Reporter Matthews Fired by TW Headed to NBC Bay Area; 20% Pay Cut Might Be Prelude for KGO Sale by Disney

  There's a lot of nervous folks at 900 Front, the ABC Broadcast Center on the Embarcadero that houses KGO-TV and for good reason.


From broadcast sources, some of whom have direct access to sensitive information: the very possible blueprint to a possible SALE of the station!


It's a behind-the-scenes missive by Disney to begin massive financial trimming of its O and O's to maximize a potential sale and KGO wouldn't necessarily be the only station involved. Think LA here too. "Leaner and Meaner" comes into play. Nothing is imminent mind you but weeks ago the first target was KGO when all air talent and newsroom personnel, (with the exception of cameramen), were told there would be a 20% across-the-board pay cut. (Ouch!)


Carolyn Johnson, one of the station's higher-profile anchors and a stalwart of the operation would have nothing of that and began looking at other options--she found a higher-paying gig with significant perks in a bigger market, Los Angeles no less, and is leaving. The station is unknown, but I'd bet it would be KNBC. (Don't believe the bullshit memo that Johnson was leaving amicably --she left 100% due to the pay cut announcement). Only the sheep press bought that spin.


KGO News Director, Tracey Watkowski, has been given the directive to begin the process of slashing and mashing and, from a source, "she's the perfect person to do it--has 'ice in her veins--she knows a lot of people don't like her but she doesn't care." Until afterward when Watkowski becomes the scapegoat and she herself gets the Disney axe.


*TRANSACTION: Here's an interesting one. Mark Mathews, who is a veteran political reporter and was unceremoniously dumped by Watkowski a few months back, has been hired by NBC Bay Area and begins his new position on Monday. Odd coincidence.
Here's another: Leigh Glaser, the KGO veteran meteorologist that retired abruptly last week. Glaser leaving wasn't that shocking but the timing, in lieu of the pay-cut directive and Johnson's splitting sheds new light on why she took off so suddenly.




Here's a laundry list from another source of what management is thinking of various personnel. It's not the gospel and far from being enacted but good enough to show what's on the horizon:


In Sports: Shu is out too old and expensive. ( Nice guy ) They looked at Scott, (Kate), but it's not worth the effort. Freelance is the best option

*Keep Biel only because he does news & sports

*Retire Eric Thomas, he's too old.

*Keep Kristen, (Z morning Amma evenings)

*Management will hang on for at least a year because they've been tapped for dirty work. Hire a "nice guy" team after the damage is done and the station is sold

*Huge photographer cuts, (going freelance)


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The Enigma that is Alex Jones; KSFO is for Sale; Morning Show Hijinks; Saturday Media Notes

Alex Jones is big and bad; the thinking man's Glenn Beck. Whether or not you think Jones is a goof, one thing's for sure: he has an immense following, real guru status and that catches my eye which is cause enough for an appearance on my KSCO radio show. Tentatively, Jones is scheduled to appear this Wednesday on the Lieberman Live Extravaganza from 2-3 PM for an interview you won't want to miss. It'll be fair, honest and explosive. The interview you'd never hear on conventional radio.

**KSFO erased some hours from its Morning Show with Brian Sussman and Melanie Morgan. We highlighted here the brouhaha with Morgan supposedly leaving the show in disgust over treatment from the SussMAN and traffic gal with the chalkboard voice. Truth is, the bigger story is that, according to my insider, KSFO is up for sale and Cumulus is trying hard to dump it.

As for the Morning Show, it's never registered a blip on my radar screen since the late Lee Rodgers and Officer Vic, (Tom Benner), left the show. The problem mostly centers around misplacement. Sussman is simply out of place. Katie Green is too awful to even bother to contemplate. Morgan is talented enough to have her own show, (or a better co-host to play off of); Sussman's mix of ultra-right wing politics and bizarre morning-zooish persona has never registered with local listeners outside the mad scientist crowd.

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Thursday Bullet Point: KRON Sold; Update: Confirmed: Media General Merger Deal with KRON

KRON sold? Yes.

UPDATE 10: 33 PT: The deal has been confirmed. KRON has been sold. Really, a merger. (See below).

Thursday item making the 415 Media lounge.

KRON has been bought by Media General. The staff has been invited to attend meetings for a presentation about what is being called a merger. It is.



**Developing...

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