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SFGate: Salvadore fired by Cumulus

Eknirb

Eknirb

Longtime KNBR GM, Tony Salvadore, has been fired by Cumulus, KNBR's corporate parent.
Salvadore has been at KNBR for over 20 years. The firing of Salvadore appears to be a cost-cutting move, as Cumulus and other big broadcasting companies have been shedding high-salary personnel. No word on a replacement yet.Developing Story...
 
Jeez, Vinny. Print the whole blog and include a link!

Lee Hammer is the interim GM, (formerly Program director), although a source familiar with the station says Cumulus' recent hire-- a broadcast exec named Peter Schwartz, could eventually run KNBR and three other affiliated Cumulus outlets in SF, including KFOG-FM, 107.7, (The Bone) and KNBR 1050 AM.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/lieberman/detail?blogid=70&entry_id=43264
 
Pity. He was SO respected and loved by all who worked for him. The epitomy of compassion and taste. Always a pleasure to be around...especially after he'd had a couple cocktails. And...what ethics! A more honest and straight-shooting guy'd never graced the field of broad-casting. And speaking of broads....

Alas....I digress.

So very sad he was robbed of a retirement party. Fare-Thee-Well, Mr. S.
 
Oh boo-hoo...there goes a real humanitarian. Too bad his last act was to dismiss a 30 year employee with absolutely NO CAUSE a couple of weeks ago. (it was not a cost saving measure by all accounts either) Here's a guy who deferred to few (Gary Radnich a notable exception) but would absolutely spit on just about any one else who couldn't go toe to toe with his tremendous ego. I'm sure the few employees left at 55 Hawthorne are saying "long time coming".
 
ampmod said:
Oh boo-hoo...there goes a real humanitarian. Too bad his last act was to dismiss a 30 year employee with absolutely NO CAUSE a couple of weeks ago. (it was not a cost saving measure by all accounts either) Here's a guy who deferred to few (Gary Radnich a notable exception) but would absolutely spit on just about any one else who couldn't go toe to toe with his tremendous ego. I'm sure the few employees left at 55 Hawthorne are saying "long time coming".
Click to expand...

Yes. And just in case y'all didn't catch on - My post was intended to be sarcastic. Let there be no misunderstanding. Ask anyone who worked for (not to be mistaken for "with") him.
 
mort guffman said:
Pity. He was SO respected and loved by all who worked for him. The epitomy of compassion and taste. Always a pleasure to be around...especially after he'd had a couple cocktails. And...what ethics! A more honest and straight-shooting guy'd never graced the field of broad-casting. And speaking of broads....

Alas....I digress.

So very sad he was robbed of a retirement party. Fare-Thee-Well, Mr. S.
Click to expand...

I remember when Tony was hired at KFOG as the General Sales Manager. I won't comment on Tony's social skills but I will say back then his nickname was "The Snake" 'nough said...

Dung
 
Salvadore ran one of the most successful radio groups in this market for over 20 years. He was ready to retire when Cumulus bought Susquehanna and he stayed on to see the process through. He protected as many folks as he could and he let go a lot folks that he didn't want to. That's the job. And he can, at times, be abrasive and clueless and not very subtle. An a-hole.

But no one who manages in as volatile a business as major market radio gets through with everyone loving them. (Maybe Dung can guess what his nick name was in the halls of Susquehanna during some of his less than shining moments.) Salvadore was also a mentor and a friend to a lot of folks who are still in this market or who have moved on. And most of them got their share of Salvadore's rough side too.

And anyone who thinks that the firings and changes at Cumulus San Francisco in the past 3 years were Salvadore's decision is so far out of the game that they shouldn't be posting here at all. It's all been coming out of Atlanta and now there's no one left in San Francisco to slow the process down. Don't cry for Tony Salvadore. He's laughing his ass off right now and getting ready to go play some golf.
 
Talking Furniture said:
Salvadore ran one of the most successful radio groups in this market for over 20 years.  He was ready to retire when Cumulus bought Susquehanna and he stayed on to see the process through.  He protected as many folks as he could and he let go a lot folks that he didn't want to.  That's the job.  And he can, at times, be abrasive and clueless and not very subtle.  An a-hole. 

But no one who manages in as volatile a business as major market radio gets through with everyone loving them.  (Maybe Dung can guess what his nick name was in the halls of Susquehanna during some of his less than shining moments.)  Salvadore was also a mentor and a friend to a lot of folks who are still in this market or who have moved on.  And most of them got their share of Salvadore's rough side too. 

And anyone who thinks that the firings and changes at Cumulus San Francisco in the past 3 years were Salvadore's decision is so far out of the game that they shouldn't be posting here at all.  It's all been coming out of Atlanta and now there's no one left in San Francisco to slow the process down.  Don't cry for Tony Salvadore.  He's laughing his ass off right now and getting ready to go play some golf.
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I don't have a beef with Tony. His personal issues aside, I respected the fact he was an old-school radio guy who understood how it all worked.
 
What perfect timing! Watch Tony pick up the San Francisco properties for pennies on the dollar when Cumulus comes crashing to the ground. You won't be waiting long. This outfit has more chickens coming home to roost
than Colonel Sanders. I've been around Radio for 50 years and Tony's always been one of the very best in the business with more talent than all the Dickeys combined from way back when they swung by their tails from other monkeys' trees.

Peter Cavanaugh
Oakhurst, CA
WildWednesday.com
 
petercavanaugh said:
What perfect timing! Watch Tony pick up the San Francisco properties for pennies on the dollar when Cumulus comes crashing to the ground. You won't be waiting long.
Click to expand...

Cumulus should start talking to the Giants (and perhaps the 49ers) about obtaining ownership equity in KNBR. What better investment for the team could there be than to either own the station or LMA it and have control of a prime promotional and marketing vehicle for the "brand"? Now's the time to buy.
 
petercavanaugh said:
What perfect timing! Watch Tony pick up the San Francisco properties for pennies on the dollar when Cumulus comes crashing to the ground. You won't be waiting long. This outfit has more chickens coming home to roost
than Colonel Sanders. I've been around Radio for 50 years and Tony's always been one of the very best in the business with more talent than all the Dickeys combined from way back when they swung by their tails from other monkeys' trees.

Peter Cavanaugh
Oakhurst, CA
WildWednesday.com
Click to expand...

"Pennies on the dollar" seems likely if what I'm hearing on these boards is true: that Clear Channel, Cumulus, and Citadel are all about to come crashing to the ground. To make an obvious analogy to the mortgage meltdown - I would think that having so many "properties" suddenly on the market would seriously devalue the worth of stations owned by the healthier companies like CBS.
 
There are a number of real radio guys who cashed out with a ton of money just waiting for the fall, so they can pick up stations at a reasonable price and jump back in.
 
SFStatic said:
There are a number of real radio guys who cashed out with a ton of money just waiting for the fall, so they can pick up stations at a reasonable price and jump back in.
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Quantify that "number." Name some names. I've heard this same scenario over and over and over again, and yet I don't recall seeing it happen. "The fall" is now, isn't it?

Is it that "real radio guys" don't see "real radio" surviving, or don't see it as a way to make money in the long term any more? (One of my favorite sayings: you know how to make a small fortune in business? Start with a large fortune.)

The other thing to keep in mind is that the people with the money aren't the (former) employees. The people with the money are the ones signing the checks. (Another old adage: Shaquille O'Neal is rich. Because the people who pay him are WEALTHY. There's a difference.)

You don't buy radio stations in metropolitan areas with the buy-out you received from the company that owns the station ... and got rid of you.
 
BossRadioDJ said:
Quantify that "number." Name some names. I've heard this same scenario over and over and over again, and yet I don't recall seeing it happen. "The fall" is now, isn't it?
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Not quite yet. We're waiting for debt holders to declare default and force the "three c's" (Clear Channel, Citadel and Cumulus) into bankruptcy. It will happen over time. If enough credit default swaps have been sold against them, they are worth more dead than alive (see also Gannett). CC has already sold off about 400 stations -- and yes, some of them went to their former owners.

The liquidations are coming. It will be ugly. Cash will be king.
 
Would you believe? (think Maxwell Smart) that Citadel's stock (yeah, the KGO owners),,,,today is trading for less than ONE CENT!

What can the future hold?


Jerry Gordon KNUU Las Vegas ...an unhappy Citadel stock holder.
 
DavidKaye said:
BossRadioDJ said:
What better investment for the team could there be than to either own the station or LMA it [....]
Click to expand...

Uh, buying an FM instead?
Click to expand...

Maybe not. In the Bay Area and Northern California, KNBR has the power and the reach that a team wants. FM doesn't (although having an FM simulcast wouldn't hurt). Being on KNBR gives the Giants an "affiliate" in many towns throughout the region without having to be on any other station.

How far can you drive down 5 at night listening to a Giants game on KNBR? How far if you're listening to any Bay Area FM?

Cumulus/KNBR is an investor-owner in the Giants; the stake isn't massive, but it's a stake nonetheless. If Cumulus is so broke, perhaps a scenario might emerge where the Giants reverse the situation and take an ownership stake in the station.
 
There's a well circulated story about Mr. Salvadore helping himself to a chocolate chip cookie out of a bag in the studio during a mid-eighties early evening shift. Later, when he thought he was having a heart attack at a local restaurant he had to be rushed to the emergency room. He had been warned by the person on duty NOT to eat the cookie. There was more than chocolate chips in that cookie. That's as far as I'm going with the story.
 
Menlo Bill said:
He had been warned by the person on duty NOT to eat the cookie. There was more than chocolate chips in that cookie. That's as far as I'm going with the story.
Click to expand...

Walnuts? Oatmeal? A pinch of cinnamon, perhaps?
 
Menlo Bill said:
There's a well circulated story about Mr. Salvadore helping himself to a chocolate chip cookie out of a bag in the studio during a mid-eighties early evening shift.  Later, when he thought he was having a heart attack at a local restaurant he had to be rushed to the emergency room.  He had been warned by the person on duty NOT to eat the cookie.  There was more than chocolate chips in that cookie.  That's as far as I'm going with the story.
Click to expand...

LOL! One of the great radio stories! That person would be me.( I was there doing production and Amir was on the air doing his show, I did tell Tony not to eat the cookies ) Amir Monsbacker ( the orignial host of the Psychedelic Psupper ) was fired over the incident. Tony wasn't the only one dosed, he and the sales manager were on there way to a client dinner...you would not believe how hard the s_h_i_t  hit the fan the next day! Tony called Dave Logan from the hospital asking what to do...Logan told him to relax, put on some headphones and listen to Hendrix! LOL
 
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