A Change Coming to KGO

[asugeorge1]

I haven’t worked in radio since the 80s, but I have worked for Fortune 500 companies and I have worked with public relations people before. The point of good public relations is to make it look like you aren’t being a dick, even if you are being a dick and in some cases you are actually forced to be a dick.

What would it have cost Cumulus to give Thompson 15 minutes to say goodbye and then have him read a statement explaining, that they value their listeners but they couldn’t afford to keep the format going, and here are the other Cumulus stations and podcasts you can listen to if you are interested. Sure, you will still have negative people who will whine and moan about how awful corporate radio is, but anybody who works for a living or has to make his or her own business go will understand. That is not just good public relations. That is good salesmanship.

They also mentioned on Thompson’s podcast that the sales department wasn’t informed of the flip and that advertisers were calling in confused as to when and on what shows there ads would run on. I’m a not sure if this is true or not. If it is, it would have been a good idea to put them in the loop and offer them alternatives on other stations or discounted spots on the new format. Not communicating with your customers is not a good thing.

I have heard the same thing too about the advertisers calling in confused as to what was going on the day of the flip. They had no idea, even after the flip had occurred.

As others have mentioned on here, Cumulus owns the station and can do whatever and however they want with it, but that still doesn’t make it right or good business sense to ruin your relationship with advertisers.

 

[TheBigA]

Cumulus owns the station and can do whatever and however they want with it, but that still doesn’t make it right or good business sense to ruin your relationship with advertisers.

If the station is changing formats, the new format will have new advertisers. Ones who will fit with the new format.

Keep in mind Cumulus-owned KNBR is one of the top-billing stations in San Fransisco. I doubt any change at KGO will affect that.

 

[cc333]

I won't argue about the finer points of how ratings work and why they matter; there are people much more knowledgeable than myself who can do that.

What I will say is that I feel that Cumulus could've tried a little harder to do something? Create a robust live internet stream did KGO ever have one?), better PR on Twitter and such, and, perhaps, not having tried the all new format from 2011-2016. It was a miserable flop and abject failure, and in so doing, they squandered what little was left of KGO's former audience (myself included).

Oh, well, what's done is done. Gotta move on.

*goes to listen to old KYA 1260 airchecks *

c

 

[semoochie]

Everybody is not everywhere. That’s why good public relations people use multiple forms of media. More KGO listeners were on KGO than on Twitter.

It seems to me that you have a better chance of reaching more people on Twitter than the ones who just happened to listen to KGO on a given day at 10:15AM!

 

[Old Grey Coyote]

It seems to me that you have a better chance of reaching more people on Twitter than the ones who just happened to listen to KGO on a given day at 10:15AM!

But is reaching a bunch of random people outside of San Francisco or even outside of the United States what you really want, not to mention all the trolls and bots?

 

[Old Grey Coyote]

If the station is changing formats, the new format will have new advertisers. Ones who will fit with the new format.

Keep in mind Cumulus-owned KNBR is one of the top-billing stations in San Fransisco. I doubt any change at KGO will affect that.

And some of those advertisers might also be advertising on KNBR and other Cumulus stations. In fact, I understand that some advertisers would actually get bonus spots on KGO for buying time on their other stations.

 

[TheBigA]

And some of those advertisers might also be advertising on KNBR and other Cumulus stations. In fact, I understand that some advertisers would actually get bonus spots on KGO for buying time on their other stations.

I question the comment that advertisers didn't know. It's a broad comment based on very limited information.

The format changes I've been involved with have been done in consultation with advertisers.

 

[Old Grey Coyote]

I question the comment that advertisers didn't know. It's a broad comment based on very limited information.

The format changes I've been involved with have been done in consultation with advertisers.

As I said before, I don't know if that is true. Thompson said this. Not me.

 

[michael hagerty]

But is reaching a bunch of random people outside of San Francisco or even outside of the United States what you really want, not to mention all the trolls and bots?

Generally, you only see who you choose to follow on Twitter---plus if someone whom you follow likes or interacts with a tweet. Odds are very few who aren't in the area will see much from any radio station in the Bay Area.

 

[mofocat]

Everybody is not on Twitter.

I for one, have absolutely no use for twits.

 

[Old Grey Coyote]

Generally, you only see who you choose to follow on Twitter---plus if someone whom you follow likes or interacts with a tweet. Odds are very few who aren't in the area will see much from any radio station in the Bay Area.

That's not my experience. KGO is mentioned in political tweets all over the country as the last stand of "left wing" talk stations. It's kind of a big thing outside of the Bay Area. The new format is also getting a lot of attention from Casino accounts and gamblers.

 

[semoochie]

But is reaching a bunch of random people outside of San Francisco or even outside of the United States what you really want, not to mention all the trolls and bots?

I'm assuming that local centric websites would appeal almost entirely to people in that locality. The rest is "bonus coverage".

 

[cc333]

Last night I saw an article on CBS News.com that suggested that part of the reason for this devolution of radio (AM talk, in particular) into what has now become primarily conservative talk, sports/betting, and Christian/religious programming can be traced back to the 1987 repeal of the FCC's fairness doctrine.

Source: Talk radio: Widening the airwaves' great divide

c

 

[landtuna]

When a radio station has to fire an on-air personality and can expect widespread listener dissatisfaction why don't they make a going away tape to be aired appropriately featuring the departing person? That would satisfy the listening public (at least partially) and give the departing employee a chance to say goodbye as well as ensure he/she would keep their comments at least somewhat positive and prevent verbal damage to the station.

Giving the boot to someone and pretending it didn't happen is the worse way to handle this type of situation.

When KEWB went from Top-40 to all-news in the summer of 1966 they not only let the on-air staff say goodbye on-air, they broadcast those comments all day long during their normal shifts. I don't know if they were recorded or live but as an avid KEWB listener at the time I really appreciated it.

 

[davideduardo]

That's not my experience. KGO is mentioned in political tweets all over the country as the last stand of "left wing" talk stations. It's kind of a big thing outside of the Bay Area.

That is the first that I ever heard that. KGO to me was never a "left wing" station; it was a San Francisco centrist format with a talent array that included some a bit to the left of center and some that were pretty solid centrists. And several of the best knew how to present all perspectives to make things more interesting.

Of course, in the last 8 to 10 years nearly nobody was listening to KGO, so there was very little commentary even in the market about its programming.

 

[davideduardo]

When KEWB went from Top-40 to all-news in the summer of 1966 they not only let the on-air staff say goodbye on-air, they broadcast those comments all day long during their normal shifts. I don't know if they were recorded or live but as an avid KEWB listener at the time I really appreciated it.

Metromedia did not make KEWB all news. It was topical talk from those beautiful studios on Jack London Square in Oakland. But the format only lasted 3 years, going to standards, IIRC, in 1969.

 

[Old Grey Coyote]

That is the first that I ever heard that. KGO to me was never a "left wing" station; it was a San Francisco centrist format with a talent array that included some a bit to the left of center and some that were pretty solid centrists. And several of the best knew how to present all perspectives to make things more interesting.

Of course, in the last 8 to 10 years nearly nobody was listening to KGO, so there was very little commentary even in the market about its programming.

Many of the tweets I have seen claiming they have shut down a 'left wing' station are from people who never listened to the station. It seems to be a political thing on social media now. They also call Cumulus a conservative, right wing company.

 

[TheBigA]

can be traced back to the 1987 repeal of the FCC's fairness doctrine.

That theory has been debunked by a lot of people. The 87 repeal was part of a massive deregulation move made by the Reagan Administration, so some attribute the rise of conservative talk to Reagan. But all he wanted to do is eliminate FCC rules to cut the size of government. At the time there was a wide variety of talk hosts covering the full spectrum. What made conservative talk so big was Rush Limbaugh and others like him who simply killed the other more traditional hosts in the ratings. It wasn't about their politics as much as their presentation. Larry King moved to the daytime to bring other points of view to daytime talk, and he got killed. Same with KABC's Michael Jackson. Rush was a former rock DJ and his presentation was edgier and more aggressive than older hosts. One of the few local hosts who could compete was Tom Leykis.

 

[michael hagerty]

That's not my experience. KGO is mentioned in political tweets all over the country as the last stand of "left wing" talk stations. It's kind of a big thing outside of the Bay Area. The new format is also getting a lot of attention from Casino accounts and gamblers.

It is? First, it wasn't nearly as progressive as it was in the glory days.

Second, when I do a #KGO search on Twitter, there's a boatload from October 6 (the day of the switch) for about a week (it's already tapering off, other than people tweeting the odd straggler stories about it and where they can find Thompson and Nikki Medoro).

Before that? One tweet each on September 11, September 8, September 3, September 1----looks like fewer than 2 dozen all August...fewer than one dozen in all of July....

 

[boombox4]

It seems to me that you have a better chance of reaching more people on Twitter than the ones who just happened to listen to KGO on a given day at 10:15AM!

Twitter is a maze of all sorts of intertwining threads that really needs upgrading. Maybe you can reach a particular group of people -- but they have to find you, first. And that's not easy just using Twitter, which is why Twitter influencers are reduced to spamming people's emails.

I just spent half an hour going from thread to thread, trying to make sense of the continuity (on the Ukraine War), but it's hard to follow one single thread for commenting or reacting. It's like a high tech Mousetrap game, or digital Rube Goldberg system.

So yeah, maybe the KGO listeners were still listening, all estimated 201K of them. They didn't have to spend time looking for that particular media. That's one of broadcast radio's strengths -- even their streams are usually easy to find. Just go to their website.