On Saturday, December 10, KSCO Radio presented a two-hour program on the KGO radio format change. KGO's schedule went from mostly talk and some news to mostly news with some talk.
Click here for an update. Gene Burns and Len Tillem have signed on to appear on another San Francisco-based station.
Last week, KGO fired longtime hosts Gene Burns, John Rothmann, Ray Taliaferro, Gil Gross, Bill Wattenburg, Joanie Greggains, and Len Tillem.
“It was the greatest present they could have ever given our station,” said Michael Zwerling, the owner of the Santa Cruz-based station that can be heard half way up the Peninsula. The station is also available to listen online at KSCO.com.
During the first hour, Zwerling interviewed Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers Magazine. Harrison called the changes at KGO a “giant earthquake.”
Harrison and Zwerling noted that the radio media is changing because more and more people are listening online through iPhones and other media.
Harrison said that if Zwerling could attract former hosts like Gene Burns, it could prove to very successful A caller from Susanville said he was a big Gene Burns and asked if the former KGO personalities were able to host a show on KSCO from the Bay Area. Zwerling and Harrison noted that technology allows personalitiies to host a radio show from almost anywhere.
Harrison said that if the KGO hosts wanted to host a program on another station like KSCO, they should be prepared to take a pay cut. Harrison said that finances likely played a major role in Cumulous Media’s decision to cut KGO’s talk format Harrison said he took issue with how Cumulous handled the change. He said that the company could have done in a more friendly way, by giving more notice and giving the hosts opportunity to continue to work with a pay cut. Harrison said he disagreed with stations not telling hosts ahead of time when they will do thier last show, as was the case with KGO. None of the hosts were allowed to return to the air after they were told they were being let go.
Ronn Owens was the only weekday host who was kept on KGO radio. Zwerling said that Owens was kept on because he probably had an “iron clad” contract that would force the station to pay him a large sum of money if they fired him.
A caller touted a former KGO listeners Facebook page. Zwerling and the caller noted that there are two Occupy KGO events scheduled for December 15 and 30.
Zwerling said he would like to acquire as many former KGO hosts on his station as possible. The station owner also noted that Bill Wattenburg has already been enlisted to host the 6-9 a.m. drive-time slot next week. Zwerling said he would at least like to talk to each of the hosts but the station owner noted that some of those hosts may be reluctant to talk to him out of fear or muddying the waters over something else they may be trying to work out.
Another caller asked about Mark Silverman who has been hosting a show on KSCO. Zwerling noted that up until about a year ago, Silverman had been Ronn Owens’ producer. He said that Silverman had asked to fill in at KGO but he was told to try to get on to KSCO because “they would put anyone on.”
Zwerling said he was looking into boosting his signal in the Bay Area as well as looking into make a deal with a “starving” existing radio station in the Bay Area.
In response to a caller, Zwerling explained the new rating systems PPM, that hit some talk stations hard. Zwerling noted that unlike the old diary system, PPM requires participants to carry a device about the size of an iPhone that listens to what they are listening to.
A caller suggested that KSCO drop the Rush Limbaugh show and air former KGO radio hosts in his place. The caller specifically mentioned attorney Len Tillem who had hosted a daily hour show on KGO radio at 1 p.m. as well as a weekend show. Zwerling said he talked with Tillem who said that KSCO would be the “last place” he would consider working. Zwerling said Tillem was an excellent radio personality and he couldn't figure out why he would so flatly turn down an opportunity to return to the radio.
Radio blogger Rich Liberman who first broke the story about the format change, called in during the second hour of the KSCO show and said that KGO radio "miscalculated" the backlash on the format change. Liberman noted that some advertisers have pulled out from KGO including Newpane and Just Remnants. Liberman called the KGO format change a "PR disaster."
In response to a caller who asked about whether the KGO hosts had contracts, Liberman said that Owens was the only host who had a personal services contact that would have required the station to shell out a huge payout if they let him go.
If you missed the KSCO show, it will be re-broadcast Saturday evening 10 p.m. to midnight.
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