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No More Razor At The Sports Leader...

BossRadioDJ said:
Longtime KNBR personality Ralph Barbieri has been let go, station manager Lee Hammer told Chronicle Sports Editor Al Saracevic on Wednesday.

Hammer would only say Barbieri “is no longer with the station. It was a management decision.”

http://blog.sfgate.com/sportsevents/2012/04/11/ralph-barbieri-let-go-by-knbr/
Click to expand...

Maybe his Parkinson Disease has been accelerating. I think Ralph would be there otherwise.

On another note, Tom needs somebody to bounce off of, in my opinion. Not sure he can take the show on as a solo host for the long run, but love the guy. He is funny and informative.
 
nitnitr said:
Maybe his Parkinson Disease has been accelerating. I think Ralph would be there otherwise.
Click to expand...

My feeling is that it's another age discrimination situation. Cumulus gives me the impression that their tactic is to get rid of everybody over age 55, and replace them with younger people, whether they're any good or not. I think the only ones safe are those with contracts such as Gary Radnich. I believe Jon Miller works for the Giants rather than KNBR, but I don't remember. Whatever the case, if Jon were fired he'd jump elsewhere and bring his fan base with him. I don't think anybody doubts that. But Ralph Barbieri, loved though he is, is not in the same league of lovable treasure as Jon.
 
DavidKaye said:
nitnitr said:
Maybe his Parkinson Disease has been accelerating. I think Ralph would be there otherwise.
Click to expand...

My feeling is that it's another age discrimination situation. Cumulus gives me the impression that their tactic is to get rid of everybody over age 55, and replace them with younger people, whether they're any good or not. I think the only ones safe are those with contracts such as Gary Radnich. I believe Jon Miller works for the Giants rather than KNBR, but I don't remember. Whatever the case, if Jon were fired he'd jump elsewhere and bring his fan base with him. I don't think anybody doubts that. But Ralph Barbieri, loved though he is, is not in the same league of lovable treasure as Jon.
Click to expand...

Miller, Dave Flemming and KrukandKuip work for the Giants, not KNBR. Think back about 25 years ago, when, at least according to his book, Hank Greenwald left for the Yankees over some issues he had with Bill Dwyre, KNBR's GM at the time. Giants took broadcasts in-house shortly afterward and one of their first moves, if not the first, was to re-sign Greenwald. Barberri, Radnich and the late Pete Franklin helped define the station when it morphed into "The Sports Leader," and I'm still wondering how Radnich keeps it going.

As for Barberri, it could be the Parkinson's, it could be contract talks broke down, or maybe it's what I'm starting to believe, Cumulus doesn't know what the hell to do with KNBR, outside of play-by-play, and would rather fire up the hard drive and put ESPN Radio on 24/7, which I don't think would work in the Bay area. I find SportsCenter unwatchable ever since they decided the only teams that matter are in Boston, New York, Chicago and LA, and it's just as bad on radio.
 
1069_KIFR said:
Maybe 95.7 The Game will pick up The Razor!!
Click to expand...
That would be a good move for 95.7 The Game. The GM was Ralph's boss for many years and The Game's ratings are so pathetic (they lose to KTCT 1050 and get slaughtered by KNBR) so there is nothing to lose. Except they would have to fire somebody to make room for Ralph. And they could sell Amici's a lot of commercials. They could stage a signing party with him scratching out KNBR on pizza boxes :D
 
SCV_Ears said:
[....] what I'm starting to believe, Cumulus doesn't know what the hell to do with KNBR, outside of play-by-play, and would rather fire up the hard drive and put ESPN Radio on 24/7, [....]
Click to expand...

Their actions both at KNBR and KGO show that they do indeed want to do live and local, and in fact they like to do teams on both KNBR and KGO. So it doesn't seem as much a matter of money as kicking out the old guys.

Now I realize that stations like to get younger demographics than who typically listen to AM radio, but age of the broadcaster does not necessarily determine age of the listener. Alex Bennett, Howard Stern, Alex Bennett's mother (Ruth Bennett), Ralph Barbieri, all were significantly older than their audience by at least a generation, and yet they held good ratings.

Apparently Barbieri's ratings in 25 to 49 were just fine. No, I think KNBR/KGO management just wants to get rid of older people. I think it'd be really cool if one or more of their fired hosts sues for age discrimination.
 
The Game's ratings are so pathetic (they lose to KTCT 1050 and get slaughtered by KNBR)

That statement is not entirely accurate.

Though not privy to the numbers beyond 6+...KGMZ is beating KTCT (albeit it is a battle of midgets .7 to a .5) though the Games cume has increased, and is more than the Tickets as well.

So the Game has at least surpassed the the "overflow" station of KNBR.

As to whether they can beat the "Sports Leader"...that task will take more time, and more patience...interesting to see if Entercom has that patience, and the pockets, to stick it out for the long haul and have a long term vision for the Game.
 
If ratings were good, there has to be something more to it than age or the Parkinson's. I'm thinking some sort of internal squabble vs. management drove the decision. This doesn't feel like some thought out strategy, but rather a knee-jerk reaction to something. It will be interesting to see what KNBR does next.
 
It is money...Cumulus, like most all the big ownership groups look to do "more with less" to somewhat paraphrase the Clear Channel mantra for the past decade.

Likely they decided they can have the same success with less overhead...

Not sure they are right, but that is what is comes down to...most all decisions in radio come down to "rate of return"...if they can attain close to or the same revenue and ratings (in their view) with less payroll AND paying benefits on top of it, they will do it, regardless of how good, well liked, popular a host/talent is.

Now the timing may appear bad with Ralph having Parkinson's, but he will have to prove (if that is the angle he is taking) that that is the reason for his firing, otherwise most employees are "at will"..and I do not know if KNBR or any of Cumulus is AFTRA/SAG.

Did he deserve a better exit? I would say yes. But I do not feel too sorry for him if he was earning what some say he was, assuming he put money away for a day just like this. I feel for him having Parkinson's though, and appreciate his honesty about it....especially in a realm where sports is macho and toughness, to admit to being vulnerable and sick, I think is to be commended.
 
KCPR_Sound of SLO said:
If ratings were good, there has to be something more to it than age or the Parkinson's. I'm thinking some sort of internal squabble vs. management drove the decision. This doesn't feel like some thought out strategy, but rather a knee-jerk reaction to something. It will be interesting to see what KNBR does next.
Click to expand...

No, this is not the case at all. Cumulus' KGO got rid of Len Tillem, who brought in the biggest audience of all at KGO. KNBR and KGO have the same management now, and what they're doing to KNBR they did to KGO in December. They simply do not want people over 50 or 55 on their stations REGARDLESS of their ability to bring in listeners.

Remember, though, that I evaluate stations based on what they're doing, not on any particular like or dislike for the companies. I have good and bad things to say for both Cumulus and Clear Channel. But I will say that Clear Channel is beginning to look like the good guys these days.
 
Interloper said:
Did he deserve a better exit? I would say yes. But I do not feel too sorry for him if he was earning what some say he was, assuming he put money away for a day just like this. I feel for him having Parkinson's though, and appreciate his honesty about it....especially in a realm where sports is macho and toughness, to admit to being vulnerable and sick, I think is to be commended.
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Unfortunately, Ralph Barbieri made a bad decision on coming out about his Parkinson's. At the time he said it because he wanted to give a heads-up to management, whom he respected. He respected them and then they turned on him. Shows what snakes the Cumulus people are.

But believe me about this business: it will come back to bite them in the ass as the Cumulus management people get older and are themselves thrown out. Then they'll have to go begging for jobs and it's likely they'll be passed over because they've poisoned their relationships with their colleagues. People remember this stuff.
 
I'd bet it had not one iota to do with his disease. They are cost cutters to the max...it was all about cutting a big salary, period. No different really than what they did over at KGO.
 
Interloper said:
The Game's ratings are so pathetic (they lose to KTCT 1050 and get slaughtered by KNBR)

That statement is not entirely accurate.

Though not privy to the numbers beyond 6+...KGMZ is beating KTCT (albeit it is a battle of midgets .7 to a .5) though the Games cume has increased, and is more than the Tickets as well.

So the Game has at least surpassed the the "overflow" station of KNBR.

As to whether they can beat the "Sports Leader"...that task will take more time, and more patience...interesting to see if Entercom has that patience, and the pockets, to stick it out for the long haul and have a long term vision for the Game.
Click to expand...
I'm sure that The Game is definately beating 1050 25-54 or 18-49, anyone have those numbers?
 
I think that other issues other than age are at play here.If they is getting rid of older on air talent then how do you explain a recent hire of their in the Dallas-Forth Worth market.62 year old radio veteran Dave Williams was just hired to do morning news on KLIF 570 AM.
 
DavidKaye said:
I have good and bad things to say for both Cumulus and Clear Channel. But I will say that Clear Channel is beginning to look like the good guys these days.
Click to expand...

The good guys? Compared to who? The Devil? Cumulus and Clear Channel have destroyed radio thanks to Bill Clinton. They are both horrible leaches sucking all the life out of radio. There is nothing positive to say about these scum suckers, that is of course unless you work for them.
 
"Be nice to those you meet on the way up because you will meet them on the way down."
 
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