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KCBS Eric Thomas Retires

I wish Eric the best, but it's always been something of a mismatch. He did TV news on KGO ("ABC7") for many years, in the field and anchoring the weekend 6pm and 11pm casts. But KCBS's format seemed it was too fast-paced for him, and he always sounded like he struggled to juggle all the format elements as well as comboing. That might be okay for someone (like Peter Finch) who's on in evenings and overnights, but Eric co-anchored AM Drive and never stopped sounding just a bit out of his depth. Still, he's earned his retirement, best wishes to him.
 
Weiserguy said:
I wish Eric the best, but it's always been something of a mismatch. He did TV news on KGO ("ABC7") for many years, in the field and anchoring the weekend 6pm and 11pm casts. But KCBS's format seemed it was too fast-paced for him, and he always sounded like he struggled to juggle all the format elements as well as comboing. That might be okay for someone (like Peter Finch) who's on in evenings and overnights, but Eric co-anchored AM Drive and never stopped sounding just a bit out of his depth. Still, he's earned his retirement, best wishes to him.
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Stan Bunger was a tough act to follow, which may be why Jennifer Seelig never officially named a replacement. Eric sort of settled into the timeslot as others who were rotating in and out of it (including Dan Mitchinson) left or were laid off.

KCBS found a strong replacement for Jeff Bell in Steve Scott. It'll be interesting to see how they fill this new vacancy long-term.
 
Weiserguy said:
I wish Eric the best, but it's always been something of a mismatch. He did TV news on KGO ("ABC7") for many years, in the field and anchoring the weekend 6pm and 11pm casts. But KCBS's format seemed it was too fast-paced for him, and he always sounded like he struggled to juggle all the format elements as well as comboing. That might be okay for someone (like Peter Finch) who's on in evenings and overnights, but Eric co-anchored AM Drive and never stopped sounding just a bit out of his depth. Still, he's earned his retirement, best wishes to him.
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michael hagerty said:
Stan Bunger was a tough act to follow, which may be why Jennifer Seelig never officially named a replacement. Eric sort of settled into the timeslot as others who were rotating in and out of it (including Dan Mitchinson) left or were laid off.

KCBS found a strong replacement for Jeff Bell in Steve Scott. It'll be interesting to see how they fill this new vacancy long-term.
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Stan Bunger was a strong successor to Al Hart, who was a difficult act to follow, for, in many ways, Hart personified the station. Both Bunger and Hart had a friendly, upbeat style of presentation without being frivolous. I agree that Thomas seemed to have challenges with the demands of the format, especially in the morning. That said, I believe Audacy started placing more demands on the anchors as a consequence of staff cutbacks; Thomas may simply have had to do more and keep track of more than his predecessors. His manner of delivery was also more laid-back and might have come across better later in the day.

If I recall correctly, the Angry Guy With A Video Blog didn’t like him, which is a positive recommendation in my book. His KMOX experience also counts for something, at least with me. But, knowing how KMOX works, I doubt Thomas was a permanent anchor there, being more of a street reporter.

Mike mentioned Dan Mitchinson. I believe Mitchinson had always been used on a per-diem fill-in basis. It seemed as though he pulled just about every shift there was on KCBS. I found it hard to believe that Audacy would have laid him off, but the fickle finger of fate of layoffs can be arbitrary. I think he would be a good candidate to return. I agree that Steve Scott has been a good addition, one of the best in a long time.
 
radiofan2023 said:
Before I stopped reading Angry Don Rickles lookalike, I remember he would constantly go after him, but he also didn't like KCBS in general either.
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Couple of things.

More important, listening online this morning, I hear Steve Scott anchoring morning drive solo.

The other thing…I subjected myself to Lieberman’s video from last week where he talks about Thomas’ departure. His competitive analysis is defective. He claims that KCBS “has no competition” and that, in any other market, it would. In the broader sense, KCBS, as a news-oriented station, has competition from lots of sources, accessible online. Broadcasting isn’t the only game in town. More narrowly, focusing only on radio, very few markets actually have an all-news station, and none have them in head-to-head competition. In morning drive, there is adjacent competition from NPR and some “news/talk” stations. In many markets, that’s all there is…there’s no all-news station. Whatever Lieberman perceives as KCBS’s deficiencies, I doubt that competitive factors are involved. I don’t think he understands the broadcasting business very well.
 
michael hagerty said:
Stan Bunger was a tough act to follow, which may be why Jennifer Seelig never officially named a replacement. Eric sort of settled into the timeslot as others who were rotating in and out of it (including Dan Mitchinson) left or were laid off.

KCBS found a strong replacement for Jeff Bell in Steve Scott. It'll be interesting to see how they fill this new vacancy long-term.
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Steve Scott I remember him when he was on the former WCBS 880 currently WHSQ 880.

He was part of that team when Audacy shut down WCBS 880 due to Audacy having the data that showed that more people listen to 1010 WINS on average in New York than the one that shut down. I remember some of the former WCBS team got reassigned or rehired by Audacy to 1010 WINS like Wayne Cabot or to other Audacy stations around the country like in this case Steve Scott at KCBS.
 
Does anyone know what became of Brett Burkhart? First he was co-anchoring PM Drive (with Patti Reising?), then Steve Scott came over from WCBS and they replaced her with Steve (after he got acclimated by anchoring every shift, around the clock, over the holidays), then Burkhart disappeared and Steve was solo, now (apparently) Steve's moved into AM Drive solo. Wonder who will replace him in Audacy's revolving door of anchors?

Totally serious...one of the nice aspects of CBS Radio's approach to their all-news formats was the longevity of the anchor and reporter staffs. Mark mentioned Al Hart and Stan Bunger. There were a bunch that had been there for decades. WCBS in NYC was the same, names I can still dredge up in 2025 though I last lived in Manhattan in 1989. Audacy's approach is more of a revolving door, bring them in, kick them out. I think it shows a transactional approach to their product and a fundamental disrespect for their people. And in the not-so-long-run, I suspect that's going to sink them faster than the advertising market difficulties.
 
Mark Roberts said:
Stan Bunger was a strong successor to Al Hart, who was a difficult act to follow, for, in many ways, Hart personified the station. Both Bunger and Hart had a friendly, upbeat style of presentation without being frivolous.
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Thanks to @BossRadioDJ and the California Historical Radio Society, I've gotten to know and work with Stan the last few months. What he had going for him was the thing you either have or you don't. He's just himself. There is no "on" Stan vs. "off" Stan. In fact, I heard Stan 47-ish years ago when I was working in Reno and he was in Tahoe---he had it then. The guy's just a natural.
 


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