KGO

[alok]

It seems that since KGO's major changes the talkshow host now are always starting new topics while they still have a topic going ,I don't recall it being this way before ?
Is this an indication less people are listening and they are trying to find the proper topic to get callers or are they being told my mangement to do this ?

Also the people ( with the exception of Ronn Owens ) that do talk now on KGO seem to have a direct ,harsh,in your face delivery.
I never noted this in the KGO talk show host that were let go.

Al

 

[DavidKaye]

Is this an indication less people are listening and they are trying to find the proper topic to get callers or are they being told my mangement to do this ?

I'd imagine that the hosts are being told to keep the topics moving. Used to be that they'd use an hour for a particular topic, but of course, some topics aren't worthy of an hour's worth of coverage.

Also the people ( with the exception of Ronn Owens ) that do talk now on KGO seem to have a direct ,harsh,in your face delivery.
I never noted this in the KGO talk show host that were let go.

Yeah, that's probably also a management directive as well. There's a school of thought that in order to capture younger people the program elements have to move faster, so maybe they choose hosts who talk faster and more intensely or they ask the hosts to do so.

I'm not so sure that younger people get bored with longer topics or with laid-back hosts. Witness KQED Radio, which does nicely in younger folks, but does both long topics and has laid-back hosts. What's more, the various talkshows on KQED Radio (88.5) don't deal with that many pop culture topics, either.

So, KQED Radio violates all the paradigms of successful radio and yet it's still successful. Fancy that...

 

[JEREMIAH]

When I did fill in talk at KGO in the 80's & 90's we used to churn....bring up several topics at the top of the show..and hope one of them would hit. When a topic ran it's course someone would usually change the subject.
Management never micromanaged our shows. If you were hired to do the job, they assumed you could.
It used to amaze me that we had callers even after 5am on sunday morning.


Jerry Gordon Jack B. Show Salem Radio Network

 

[DavidKaye]

Management never micromanaged our shows. If you were hired to do the job, they assumed you could.
It used to amaze me that we had callers even after 5am on sunday morning.

But yet, during that era, Michael Krasny was given a copy of Madonna's book, "Sex" and it was "suggested" by management that he talk about the book on his program. He's mentioned this many times over the years. It was not long after that he was replaced.

Now, some hosts such as Gene Burns used to say that management never interfered with his show, but others have said that they did. I guess it was a matter of who was doing the show.

 

[MC]

Back in the 60's, people like IRA Blue, etc. took open line calls and did not have topics. Later people like Jim Dunbar did topics. I don't think more than one topic running has been that unusual. Savage/Weiner seemed to run more than one topic from early on in his career.

Some hosts would throw out a bunch of topics at see what stuck, as "Jeremiah" states. Of course, earthquake coverage would take precedence over on going topics.

 

[JEREMIAH]

RE: Krasny

John Mcconnell the pd at the time thought Krasny was too "High Brow" for KGO. That is probably why he wanted Krasny to talk about the Madonna book.

Earthquakes..yes, I went on after a couple of them. In that case the phones go nuts....the show does itself.
One time Krasny said, "lucky you, you don't have to do much tonight.


Jerry Gordon

 

[DavidKaye]

John Mcconnell the pd at the time thought Krasny was too "High Brow" for KGO. That is probably why he wanted Krasny to talk about the Madonna book.

Joke's on McConnell I guess. Michael Krasny continues to pull audiences at KQED that other stations can only dream about. Given that the Bay Area has many of the brightest (and most-moneyed) people on earth it seems that KGO should have been courting them, not trying to drive them away.

In my listening I've noticed that the ABC/Citadel/Cumulus network, whatever it is now, has 2 entertainment reporters so that all network newscasts now have at least one celebrity story. Likewise, KGO makes use of those reporters as well. I'm not sure where ABC News stops and Cumulus begins, so I'm not sure who the culprit is here.

 

[LKellerIII]

John Mcconnell the pd at the time thought Krasny was too "High Brow" for KGO. That is probably why he wanted Krasny to talk about the Madonna book.

Joke's on McConnell I guess. Michael Krasny continues to pull audiences at KQED that other stations can only dream about. Given that the Bay Area has many of the brightest (and most-moneyed) people on earth it seems that KGO should have been courting them, not trying to drive them away.

Amen to that. I love Forum on KQED. I think I'm inteliigent and well educated, but not particularly "high-brow." But Krasny is brilliant as a host. Dave Iverson (who fills in frequently for Michael) is no slouch either.

Interestingly enough - I've talked to Michael in person a number of times - he used to frequent a business I owned, and I also ran into him a few times at SFSU where he is a professor. In person he comes off as a bit snarky, and a bit sarcastic - not in a rude way, particularly, but a significantly different from the considerate and courtly host he plays on KQED.

 

[recto101]

The All news division has more features than KCBS.

 

[nitnitr]

Sometimes the idea is to shoot multiple rounds to see what hits, then once the hit is found, shoot at it with a double round or large caliber.

Just using the gun metaphor for thought. More stations need to try this technique, IMHO, whether it be talk, news, music or otherwise.

 

[DavidKaye]

Sometimes the idea is to shoot multiple rounds to see what hits, then once the hit is found, shoot at it with a double round or large caliber.

Just using the gun metaphor for thought. More stations need to try this technique, IMHO, whether it be talk, news, music or otherwise.

My only argument with KGO was the rude and crude way they fired their staff instead of honoring them for their years of service and treating them in a humane fashion.

As to the programming itself I don't have much argument with what they're trying, though I have very different ideas. First, I wouldn't pack the station with "entertainment news". It is really a false assumption that younger listeners prefer fluff to substance. A look at KQED Radio's and KCBS's demographics shows that younger listeners are very committed to hard-core news.

But the idea of mixing it up with talkshows and news, well I see nothing wrong with it.

 

[HCochet]

On Tuesday night around 10:30, I was trying to find 9.10 on my bedroom radio. Sometimes I cant find it. Car radio no problem, home radio, it's difficult. Anyway, I ended up getting redeye radio at approx 9.10 (on the dial) and couldn't find the real 9.10 (unless I was on it already. I didn't hear then identify that station). I don't care for brown eye radio, but I listened anyway because KGO news sucks. My reception was terrible but I listened anyway. I kept falling in and out if sleep.
So I wake up around 12:20 and the reception is so terrible, I change to KGO and they are playing the same thing I heard two hours ago! One of the hosts was talking about how terrible cigars taste. KGO's Brown Eye is two hours behind what I heard on 9.10. I know that's common knowledge (here). I don't know why KGO can't play it live. Before the Cumulus takeover, wasn't it their policy to never have a guest on the air if someone else had the same person first? Now they do old stuff every day.

 

[recto101]

Sometimes the idea is to shoot multiple rounds to see what hits, then once the hit is found, shoot at it with a double round or large caliber.

Just using the gun metaphor for thought. More stations need to try this technique, IMHO, whether it be talk, news, music or otherwise.

My only argument with KGO was the rude and crude way they fired their staff instead of honoring them for their years of service and treating them in a humane fashion.

As to the programming itself I don't have much argument with what they're trying, though I have very different ideas. First, I wouldn't pack the station with "entertainment news". It is really a false assumption that younger listeners prefer fluff to substance. A look at KQED Radio's and KCBS's demographics shows that younger listeners are very committed to hard-core news.

But the idea of mixing it up with talkshows and news, well I see nothing wrong with it.

I know KGO tends to do fluff in the final 15 minutes of each hour and serious news for the first 10 minutes of each hour. Isn't Washington DC demographics like San Francisco in terms that younger listeners like hard news from WTOP (CBS all-News affiliate) and (NPR Station) WAMU. I seen the DC books and its like the San Francisco Market. a CBS all news station and an NPR station always have the top 3 spots in the ratings books.

 

[DavidKaye]

So I wake up around 12:20 and the reception is so terrible, I change to KGO and they are playing the same thing I heard two hours ago!

Red Eye Radio, aka the Midnight Truckers Network, is the default overnight format that Cumulus is putting on its AM stations. You most certainly were NOT getting KKSF 910. Now I have no idea where you live, but if you're in the Pittsburg/Antioch area, KKSF 910 is not going to come in after sunset due to pattern and power change. Daytime it'll be fine.

Overnight radio is a throwaway for the most part. Stations stay on the air overnight because it saves wear and tear on the transmitter (turning a powerful transmitter on and off can extract a toll on a transmitter, especially older models), and also stations want to keep listeners, so they figure if there is *something* on the air, the listener is more likely to keep the station tuned in than if they sign off. And the morning listening is what makes or breaks a station.

 

[HCochet]

So I wake up around 12:20 and the reception is so terrible, I change to KGO and they are playing the same thing I heard two hours ago!

Red Eye Radio, aka the Midnight Truckers Network, is the default overnight format that Cumulus is putting on its AM stations. You most certainly were NOT getting KKSF 910. Now I have no idea where you live, but if you're in the Pittsburg/Antioch area, KKSF 910 is not going to come in after sunset due to pattern and power change. Daytime it'll be fine.

Overnight radio is a throwaway for the most part. Stations stay on the air overnight because it saves wear and tear on the transmitter (turning a powerful transmitter on and off can extract a toll on a transmitter, especially older models), and also stations want to keep listeners, so they figure if there is *something* on the air, the listener is more likely to keep the station tuned in than if they sign off. And the morning listening is what makes or breaks a station.

I live in San Jose. That's where I get 9.10 on the car radio, but it's difficult to get it on my cheap home radios/alarm clocks.
I thought lots of people listened to radio at night while they lay in bed before going to sleep. I do when I sleep alone, which is most of the time, but not always However, I listen less now that Cumulas killed radio.
I would think a decent percentage of cars on the road at night have a radio turned on. No?

 

[DavidKaye]

I would think a decent percentage of cars on the road at night have a radio turned on. No?

The 2 to 3am hour has less than 10% of the listeners as the 7 to 8am hour on your average station. It's THAT different. 7 to 8am gets a typical 25 AQH rating (percentage of the population) and 2 to 3am is lucky to clear a 1.8 to a 2 AQH.

 

[recto101]

Sometimes the idea is to shoot multiple rounds to see what hits, then once the hit is found, shoot at it with a double round or large caliber.

Just using the gun metaphor for thought. More stations need to try this technique, IMHO, whether it be talk, news, music or otherwise.

My only argument with KGO was the rude and crude way they fired their staff instead of honoring them for their years of service and treating them in a humane fashion.

As to the programming itself I don't have much argument with what they're trying, though I have very different ideas. First, I wouldn't pack the station with "entertainment news". It is really a false assumption that younger listeners prefer fluff to substance. A look at KQED Radio's and KCBS's demographics shows that younger listeners are very committed to hard-core news.

But the idea of mixing it up with talkshows and news, well I see nothing wrong with it.

Well I know KOMO in Seattle is a Cumulus/ABC Affiliate (Fisher Owned) But they managed to put their newscasts well done.

 

[davideduardo]

The 2 to 3am hour has less than 10% of the listeners as the 7 to 8am hour on your average station. It's THAT different. 7 to 8am gets a typical 25 AQH rating (percentage of the population) and 2 to 3am is lucky to clear a 1.8 to a 2 AQH.

In PPM, the cross-market radio rating is about a 10 in mornings, and an 11 in PM drive and 12 in mid-days. Nights are around 6 to 7, and overnights around a 1.

 

[DavidKaye]

In PPM, the cross-market radio rating is about a 10 in mornings, and an 11 in PM drive and 12 in mid-days. Nights are around 6 to 7, and overnights around a 1.

Okay, I was going by an Arbitron white paper, but this may have been pre-PPM. Regardless, it's still a 10 to 1 ratio morning drive to overnights.

 

[HCochet]

So I wake up around 12:20 and the reception is so terrible, I change to KGO and they are playing the same thing I heard two hours ago!

.........................

Overnight radio is a throwaway for the most part. Stations stay on the air overnight because it saves wear and tear on the transmitter (turning a powerful transmitter on and off can extract a toll on a transmitter, especially older models), .........................

Who says they would have to turn it off? Why not just have dead air?