KGO confusion

[Patty Winter]

I was out of town for the past several days. I saw some postings
about the changes at the SF Cumulus stations but wasn't able to
hear what was going on on them.

Last night KGO was playing excerpts from speeches (such as Steve
Jobs' Stanford graduation speech) and talking about "the next
generation of KGO" to debut on Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m. I
wondered why it was happening Tuesday instead of today; is it
because they're still trying to figure out what they're doing?

I read about Ronn moving to KSFO, but I just heard him doing a
promo on KGO. There was also one from Armstrong and Getty, and
a third from someone named Ethan Beerman. (Okay, I just googled
him; it's "Bearman.")

So are things still in flux?


Patty

[Lynn Kelly]

On 4/4/16 @9:43:56 AM UTC-7, Patty Winter wrote:

>...I read about Ronn moving to KSFO, but I just heard him doing a

>promo on KGO. There was also one from Armstrong and Getty, and
>a third from someone named Ethan Beerman. (Okay, I just googled
>him; it's "Bearman.")
>
>So are things still in flux?

Apparently, Cumulus reversed its decision made last week to move
Owens to KSFO. Cumulus listened to "listener outcry" and decided
to keep him at KGO for the 10 to noon slot.

Sadly, Cumulus didn't reverse the decision to dismiss about 30 newsroom
employees.

http://www.mercurynews.com/tv/ci_29723216/radio-host-ronn-owens-staying-at-kgo-after

--
Lynn K.

[David Kaye]

"Lynn Kelly" <lyn...@gmail.com> wrote

> Sadly, Cumulus didn't reverse the decision to dismiss about 30 newsroom
> employees.
>
> http://www.mercurynews.com/tv/ci_29723216/radio-host-ronn-owens-staying-at-kgo-after

What's odd is that with all this hoopla, there are really very few changes
according to the Merc story. Brian, Chip, Drex.

[David Kaye]

"Patty Winter" <pat...@sonic.net> wrote

> I was out of town for the past several days. I saw some postings
> about the changes at the SF Cumulus stations but wasn't able to
> hear what was going on on them.

No Internet available? KGO has been streaming its audio all along.

[Neil]

Here's how screwed up this company is: this was supposed to be, in large
part, a cost saving measure. But because of the Ronn contract fiasco --
"My listeners stopped this move!" Yeah, sure, -- they now have three
hosts pulling two hour shifts, plus the two hosts pulling three hour
shifts. Five salaries for 12 hours of airtime. Plus whatever A&G will be
receiving. (Reportedly $800K per year on a 4-year deal.)

When Ronn was going to move down the hall (and the dial), Bearman and
Copie were going to each pull three hour shifts. And all the syndicated
wingnut dreck continues on KSFO. Other than all the news people who got
their walking papers (and let's see how long it takes manglement to
figure out they need some of them back), where is the savings on talent?

[David Kaye]

"Neil" <weis...@noonehere.sonic.net> wrote

> their walking papers (and let's see how long it takes manglement to figure
> out they need some of them back), where is the savings on talent?
>

I dunno, KABC didn't have a news department during its heyday. When KGO
needed news from LA they want to KFWB. So KGO could work just fine without
a news department.

[Neil]

I wrote something up in response to another thread ("Ronn moving to
KSFO"), but it hasn't cleared through Usenet yet. The short answer is
yes, they are royally screwed up. Ronn's contract apparently prohibits
Cumulus from moving him to another of their stations, and Ronn's agent
pointed that fact out to Cumulus. Apparently no one thought to read the
contract (and that includes Ronn) before announcing the move.

(Lieberman's been all over this story; if he learned basic grammar and
suppressed his urge to diss everyone who hasn't bought him lunch, maybe
he'd grow into a decent journalist.)

When you scratch the surface at "The New Generation of KGO", it looks an
awful lot like the old generation of KGO. Not the real old generation,
when they had actual talent, but last week's generation. Bearman and
Copeland are weekenders, Owens, Franklin and Drex are continuing in
slightly different time slots, and A&G are just moving down the dial a
hundred kilohertz. Probably the same dreck in the overnights too.

The stunting was interesting for the first eight minutes.

[Patty Winter]

In article <nduefc$miq$1...@dont-email.me>,

I never said that Internet wasn't available. Some of us think there are
better things to do in Yosemite than sit around your room listening to
a computer. I was in my car a few times driving hither and yon, but KGO
isn't receivable in that region.

[Patty Winter]

In article <5702d112$0$44933$742e...@news.sonic.net>,

Neil <weis...@noonehere.sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>Here's how screwed up this company is: this was supposed to be, in large
>part, a cost saving measure. But because of the Ronn contract fiasco --
>"My listeners stopped this move!" Yeah, sure, -- they now have three
>hosts pulling two hour shifts, plus the two hosts pulling three hour
>shifts. Five salaries for 12 hours of airtime. Plus whatever A&G will be
>receiving. (Reportedly $800K per year on a 4-year deal.)

How many hours will A&G be on? And John Batchelor's show will still be
about six hours? That still doesn't add up to 24, if there's really no
more news.


Patty

[Patty Winter]

In article <5702cba2$0$45010$742e...@news.sonic.net>,

Neil <weis...@noonehere.sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>I wrote something up in response to another thread ("Ronn moving to
>KSFO"), but it hasn't cleared through Usenet yet. The short answer is
>yes, they are royally screwed up. Ronn's contract apparently prohibits
>Cumulus from moving him to another of their stations, and Ronn's agent
>pointed that fact out to Cumulus. Apparently no one thought to read the
>contract (and that includes Ronn) before announcing the move.

Ouch! So they were probably going to put A&G in Ronn's slot, but that
has changed?

>When you scratch the surface at "The New Generation of KGO", it looks an
>awful lot like the old generation of KGO. Not the real old generation,
>when they had actual talent, but last week's generation. Bearman and
>Copeland are weekenders, Owens, Franklin and Drex are continuing in
>slightly different time slots, and A&G are just moving down the dial a
>hundred kilohertz. Probably the same dreck in the overnights too.

With Ronn staying, does that mean that one person who was going to get
a slot has now lost out? Maybe even a woman? There don't seem to be any
on the new schedule... :-(

Thanks for the info, Neil!


Patty

[Lynn Kelly]

On 4/4/16 @12:22:48 PM UTC-7, David Kaye wrote:

>Lynn Kelly wrote:
>
>>http://www.mercurynews.com/tv/ci_29723216/radio-host-ronn-owens-staying-at-kgo-after
>
>What's odd is that with all this hoopla, there are really very few changes
>according to the Merc story. Brian, Chip, Drex.

While I haven't heard Chip and Drex's shows yet, I listened to copie's show on
Sunday afternoons though not recently.

I went to KGO Radio's website and discovered copie's new time slot is from
2 to 4pm, which was occupied by Jim Eason before he moved to KSFO.
Apparently, the new format starts tomorrow so all I heard was an endless
loop of hosts talking about the Next Generation accompanied by annoying
music. Copie seems to be the only one with the most enthusiasm, IMO.

Thanks to ba.broadcast and ba.broadcast.moderated, I now know this practice
is called stunting. :)


--
Lynn K.

[David Kaye]

"Lynn Kelly" <lyn...@gmail.com> wrote

> I went to KGO Radio's website and discovered copie's new time slot is from
> 2 to 4pm, which was occupied by Jim Eason before he moved to KSFO.
> Apparently, the new format starts tomorrow so all I heard was an endless
> loop of hosts talking about the Next Generation accompanied by annoying
> music. Copie seems to be the only one with the most enthusiasm, IMO.

The original stunting on March 31 was excellent. The subsequent stuff, not
so good.

> Thanks to ba.broadcast and ba.broadcast.moderated, I now know this
> practice
> is called stunting. :)

Yeah. Two of the most famous stunts were done here in the Bay Area. KROW
was bought by Gordon McLendon, and for about 3 days had its regular
announcers sound very serious and then they'd launch into a playing of
McLendon's novelty hit, "Gila Monster". Note on the aircheck that during
this stunting they used the slogans of nearly all the stations (carefree
radio, happy and gay radio, etc), and lots of tongue in cheek references
("We'll have the news as soon as we find our echo chamber...") Thankfully
the Bay Area Radio Museum has an aircheck of that stunting, along with an
explanation by the co-conspirator who put it all together.
http://bayarearadio.org/audio/kabl/krow-becomes-kabl_may-1959.shtml

The other stunting was from KLX, which consisted of a reading of the names
of everybody who helped the station over the years, or maybe it was just a
reading of the phone book.
http://bayarearadio.org/audio/kewb/index.shtml#listen

[Neil]

IIRC, A&G were going to do 5-9, and then there's a "clip/highlights"
aftershow hour from 9-10 that airs on KSTE, but didn't on KKSF, hosted
by their producer. Bearman was going to do 10 am-1 pm, Copie 1-4, then
Franklin 4-7. So now Ronn loses an hour and keeps 10-Noon, Bearman 12-2,
Copie 2-4, then Franklin 4-7 and Drex 7-10. I imagine Batchelor is still
on in the late nights, and for all I know they'll continue running the
Best Of somebody's show. So where's the New Generation in there? (Unless
they all do their programs under the influence of Pepsi-Cola. Maybe
they'll come alive and think young too.)

[Patty Winter]

In article <57034d29$0$45017$742e...@news.sonic.net>,

Neil <weis...@noonehere.sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>IIRC, A&G were going to do 5-9, and then there's a "clip/highlights"
>aftershow hour from 9-10 that airs on KSTE, but didn't on KKSF, hosted
>by their producer. Bearman was going to do 10 am-1 pm, Copie 1-4, then
>Franklin 4-7. So now Ronn loses an hour and keeps 10-Noon, Bearman 12-2,
>Copie 2-4, then Franklin 4-7 and Drex 7-10. I imagine Batchelor is still
>on in the late nights, and for all I know they'll continue running the
>Best Of somebody's show.

Oh, that's right, they'd be doing a "Best of Ronn Owens" hour or two
between Batchelor and the morning news, right? Guess they'll do something
like that. Let's see whether their website has caught up yet...Okay, no
sign of a schedule, but I do notice that Pat Thurston, Michael Finney,
and Maureen Langan are still listed under "Shows," so apparently their
weekend gigs are still intact.

(Hah, I just noticed that the "On Air" banner at the top of the KGO
website says, "Now playing: KGO Morning News." Time to send an updated
schedule to the webmaster...)

BTW, although A&G were already on a San Francisco station in addition
to Sacto, are they swinging their topics more towards the Bay Area now
that they're on a bigger station here? I just heard them mention BART
and San Jose. Were they doing a lot of Bay Area references on KKSF, too?


Patty

[nooz...@sbcglobal.net]

This reminds me of what happened to the movie studios. The old moguls had a showmen sense that the corporate types don't. The latter often try doing thing by the theory they learned at Harvard. You need to be more innovative than that.

There probably is a way to keep things going on the broadcast radio waves but probably blowtorches which are too expensive to run are dinosaurs. I could see a room for small city locally owned stations (like their used to be) where if I hear sirens going down the the street I can tune in and hear what's up at least on their news. There are some of those around here but they mostly play music all day. If I want to hear music I'll go play my piano. ;-)

[Mark Howell]

On 4/5/2016 2:28 PM, nooz...@sbcglobal.net wrote:

>
> This reminds me of what happened to the movie studios. The old moguls had a showmen sense that the corporate types don't. The latter often try doing thing by the theory they learned at Harvard. You need to be more innovative than that.
>
> There probably is a way to keep things going on the broadcast radio waves but probably blowtorches which are too expensive to run are dinosaurs. I could see a room for small city locally owned stations (like their used to be) where if I hear sirens going down the the street I can tune in and hear what's up at least on their news. There are some of those around here but they mostly play music all day. If I want to hear music I'll go play my piano. ;-)
>

I believe it is only the big-signal blowtorches that can survive,
especially on the AM band where the noise floor is so high.

Small signals require tiny budgets which mean little or no actual public
service. The economics are such that they have to be automated
jukeboxes most of the time, unless they're run by volunteers. And
that's a whole different problem.

Mark Howell

[David Kaye]

<nooz...@sbcglobal.net> wrote

> This reminds me of what happened to the movie studios. The old moguls had
> a
> showmen sense that the corporate types don't. The latter often try doing
> thing by the theory they learned at Harvard. You need to be more
> innovative than that.

It's what I call the 3-generation limit. First generation are innovators
who usually start things at low cost. The next generation try to keep the
cash flow going. The third generation is often left with the pieces from
the second generation. Some companies get past that, such as General
Electric, but generally a company's timeline is about the life of the
founder and the next generation.

Example, Pat Henry started KJAZ on a shoestring, in a smelly old walkup in
Alameda, oftentimes signing off at midnight because they money wasn't there.
Over time it grew. Then due to a stupid stupid license challenge, he sold
KJAZ to another jazz enthusiast, office park developer, Ron Cowan. Cowan
had the interest, but he didn't have that first generation entrepreneur's
spark. He spiffed up the image by moving KJAZ into his Alameda office park.
He thought that he could throw a lot of promo money behind KJAZ with
festival tie-ins and billboards, but the place was losing money. He sold
KJAZ and gave the record library to KCSM.

> I could see a room for small city locally owned stations (like their used
> to be)
> where if I hear sirens going down the the street I can tune in and hear
> what's up

There's an app for that... no, seriously. I have one on my Android tablet.

[David Kaye]

"Mark Howell" <howell...@gmail.com> wrote

> Small signals require tiny budgets which mean little or no actual public
> service. The economics are such that they have to be automated jukeboxes
> most of the time, unless they're run by volunteers. And that's a whole
> different problem.

I do wonder how Bob Kieve has managed to run KLIV all these years, and how
much KRTY money has been used to prop up KLIV. KLIV is 5kw ND, with a
4-tower mess at night, largely talking to the gophers in the Santa Cruz
mountains.

[David Kaye]

"Patty Winter" <pat...@wintertime.com> wrote

> BTW, although A&G were already on a San Francisco station in addition
> to Sacto, are they swinging their topics more towards the Bay Area now
> that they're on a bigger station here? I just heard them mention BART
> and San Jose. Were they doing a lot of Bay Area references on KKSF, too?

The probably won't keep that up for long, given that they air in Hawaii,
Portland, etc. As to Bay Area references on KKSF I never listened long
enough to find out.

[David Kaye]

"Neil" <weis...@noonehere.sonic.net> wrote

> So where's the New Generation in there?

Maybe "New Generation" refers to a new program director?

[Patty Winter]

Ronn said this morning that his contract did allow Cumulus to move
him to certain timeslots on KSFO, but the GM changed his mind after
the outcry from KGO listeners. Not having access to the contract, I
don't know which story is true. At least the situation seems to have
been sorted out.

Oh, what did this do to the KSFO schedule? Is the previous lineup
remaining intact, or had Cumulus already dropped some afternoon show
in anticipation of Ronn's move and had to scramble to fill the gap?
I looked at their website, but since I don't know what their lineup
was last week, I don't know whether it's changed. I only know that
Ronn said he would be following Michael Savage.


Patty

[Travis James]

They like to refer to themselves as "the voice of the west." In other
words, they've been working out their radio presence on the west coast.
They're gone in Hawaii. That station went sports. The build out has
roughly been: Sac, SF, San Diego, Monterey, San Diego, Phoenix
(barely), and recently LA and Portland. They mentioned the desire for
Fresno and Bakersfield too, but that hasn't happened yet.

Subject matter does include SF and Sac but only in the context of being
of general interest. And Sac really is state politics such as Jerry
Brown, pension deficit, high speed rail. It's been the Trump-o-Rama
though the past year.

[Travis James]

On 2016-04-05 13:53:53 +0000, Patty Winter said:

> In article <57034d29$0$45017$742e...@news.sonic.net>,
> Neil <weis...@noonehere.sonic.net> wrote:
>>>
>> IIRC, A&G were going to do 5-9, and then there's a "clip/highlights"
>> aftershow hour from 9-10 that airs on KSTE, but didn't on KKSF, hosted
>> by their producer. Bearman was going to do 10 am-1 pm, Copie 1-4, then
>> Franklin 4-7. So now Ronn loses an hour and keeps 10-Noon, Bearman 12-2,
>> Copie 2-4, then Franklin 4-7 and Drex 7-10. I imagine Batchelor is still
>> on in the late nights, and for all I know they'll continue running the
>> Best Of somebody's show.

Today they did an SF only inaugural show. All other stations were best
of. They'll be 6-10a. Ronn was on during the 9a hour discussing his
angle of what happened including how he ended up where he is now.

[nooz...@sbcglobal.net]

Yes, I have one too BUT the local police department has blocked it's broadcasts on it. Locally I can only get CHP, Sheriff and Fire. Other city police departments have not blocked.

[David Kaye]

"Travis James" <travis...@gmail.com> wrote

> They like to refer to themselves as "the voice of the west." In other
> words, they've been working out their radio presence on the west coast.
> They're gone in Hawaii. That station went sports. The build out has
> roughly been: Sac, SF, San Diego, Monterey, San Diego, Phoenix (barely),
> and recently LA and Portland. They mentioned the desire for Fresno and
> Bakersfield too, but that hasn't happened yet.

They've been on in Modesto but no mention on their website about it.
They're no longer on there.