On 12/15, protesters demonstrated outside the studios of Cumulus’ KGO-AM San Francisco for dropping their News/Talk format 12/5 for all-News. Listeners at the “Occupy KGO Rally” say they can get news from other sources, but they can’t replace the talk shows they’ve listened to for years.
“People want diversity on the airwaves,” said Jacquie Heffner, a KGO Radio listener told Disney’s KGO-TV.
“I think they want local talkback where people can intelligently discuss the issues,” said Gil Gross, a former KGO talker present at the rally–as was John Rothmann, who was also let go.
KGO Radio responded by issuing a statement: “KGO listeners are passionate about their station. We appreciate their input and feedback as we evolve from a news talk format to more news and information.”
The transition included the dismissal of eight staffers, also including PD/Ops manager Jack Swanson and talkers Gene Burns and Ray Taliaferro. Ronn Owens kept his 9AM-Noon show and Brian Copeland kept his weekend show.
The rally was also attended by several readers of the facebook group “Former Listeners of KGO Radio“
See the video of the rally here:
RBR-TVBR observation: The live and local talkers KGO had behind the mic kept it at a #7 in the market, according the Nov. PPMs. Talker KSFO-AM, its sister station, meanwhile, was 17th. Bottom line, though, the salareis of those local talk hosts may have made the station unprofitable. Hence, the switch.
