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A Change Coming to KGO

XEQK was also called “La Hora Exacta”.
That was not a name, just a statement of "The exact time". It was followed by credit to the National Observatory which synchronized with them.
It was well known to shortwave listeners as the 1350 signal in Mexico City was simulcast on 9555 kHz. I recall the SW signal came in all day long in Texas, and it was interesting to hear the various product and business jingles. The SW transmitter was shut down sometime in the 1990s IIRC.
 
Under the leadership of Jim Dunbar and Mickey Luckoff KGO lead the ratings for decades and set the gold standard for Talk Radio
But Mickey became arrogant and complacent. It became so extreme that at local ad agencies they did not like getting KGO visits. Ask any other manager or sales manager from San Francisco from the early 2000's about how much that attitude helped competitors make sales!
 
He probably saw the station PD holding his pink slip backed by security waiting outside in the hall and figured it out.

I wonder if there has ever been a situation in radio where the escorting someone out of the building would be accompanied by putting handcuffs on the terminated employee, with the handcuffs being removed once the terminated employee left the building.
 
I wonder if there has ever been a situation in radio where the escorting someone out of the building would be accompanied by putting handcuffs on the terminated employee, with the handcuffs being removed once the terminated employee left the building.
That’s not the type of organization you want to work for, that’s for sure. If other employees saw that, they should immediately start looking at job listings online.
 
I agree, I’m just trying to point out that if I have two stations in a market like San Francisco, both AM (with one being far better), I would not consider sports betting to be the optimal choice for my best asset.
Yeah, but if you can't get better ratings than KGO has had in the last 11 years, is it really your best asset?

Look at it from a revenue perspective instead: Would moving ESPN from 1050 to 810 necessarily guarantee that it generates more revenue on the stronger signal? Probably not. But if you leave it in place, cut the costs of 810 and put in a format that doesn't rely on ratings for spot sales, your cluster bottom line improves.
 
I wonder if there has ever been a situation in radio where the escorting someone out of the building would be accompanied by putting handcuffs on the terminated employee, with the handcuffs being removed once the terminated employee left the building.
That would be unlawful restraint. The management could be charged with a crime and the terminated employee could and should file a civil suit for significant punitive damages.

The only exception to that would be if the employee were being arrested in addition to fired---and then the handcuffs would be put on by law enforcement officers.
 
That would be unlawful restraint. The management could be charged with a crime and the terminated employee could and should file a civil suit for significant punitive damages.
I witnessed a case where an employee quit to go to another station in LA and the owner blocked her car and tried to have it towed and impounded for trespassing. A quick call to the police by the former employee got the car released.
 
Question: Where are all the “80 years” references coming from if KGO has been on the air since 1924? Or don’t they recognize the pre-NARBA operation on 790?
 
I witnessed a case where an employee quit to go to another station in LA and the owner blocked her car and tried to have it towed and impounded for trespassing. A quick call to the police by the former employee got the car released.
If the owner had resisted that, the employee would have had grounds for charges. And frankly, she should have sued.
 
KGO was old time news talk? That makes me feel old.

I remember listening to Al Collins in his Purple Grotto on overnights. I remember hearing Ray Taliaferro play Count Basie's April in Paris right at midnight. I can remember driving over the Bay Bridge listing to Jim Dunbar give us the news. Driving past the transmitter site on the Dunbarton Bridge with those three huge towers.

Now it will be nothing but a high powered shill for sports betting operations. What a grand waste of 50,000 watts of clear channel public airwaves.

The future is here. And it sucks.
 
KGO was old time news talk? That makes me feel old.

I remember listening to Al Collins in his Purple Grotto on overnights. I remember hearing Ray Taliaferro play Count Basie's April in Paris right at midnight. I can remember driving over the Bay Bridge listing to Jim Dunbar give us the news. Driving past the transmitter site on the Dunbarton Bridge with those three huge towers.

Now it will be nothing but a high powered shill for sports betting operations. What a grand waste of 50,000 watts of clear channel public airwaves.

The future is here. And it sucks.
Once the sacred sales demo forgets you exist, you're done. RIP, AM.
 
Even in the case of CBS-Entercom, the 20 year part of the deal was for WCBS & KCBS stations. The rest of the stations were in perpetuity, like the ABC-Citadel deal.
That still means that in 15 years, Audacy (the former Entercom) will have to change the call letters on four of its radio stations---including KCBS, San Francisco (which is a really great argument for keeping the KFRC calls on 106.9).
 
Once the sacred sales demo forgets you exist, you're done. RIP, AM.
This really reminds me of the actor who hasn't made a movie in 40 years who dies at 100. Everybody's saying "He'll be missed!" Really? What have you been seeing that the rest of us haven't since 1982?

KGO was in trouble for the last 15 years at least---and really, if you consider the demos, 20 or 25.
 
Once the sacred sales demo forgets you exist, you're done. RIP,
How many 20 year olds are begging for a sports betting station?

Come to think of it, how many 20 year olds get off their phone long enough to listen to the radio? This isn't going attract a younger demographic. Go back to the drawing board.
 

That's really what this boils down to. Compounded by the fact that it's Cumulus which has possibly laid waste to more great stations than any other operator.

The company spent several years setting up KGO for failure with its constant cost cutting and lack of investment. And honestly, the kind of gutter replacement programming they're going with comes as no surprise from this group.
 
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