...but sometimes I just have to weigh in, having spent time working there.
Nikki Medoro and Bret Burkhart are news anchors with KGO 810 Radio in San Francisco. I like both these people a lot, and think they do a good job.
Since we're friendly, I follow them on Twitter. Both of them just alerted me to "tune in to the @GOPTownHall" live on KGO.
I asked @NikkiMedoro if someone was pointing a loaded gun at her, essentially forcing her to "tweet out" this information. Because in truth, who the hell really gives a crap that the debate will be broadcast on KGO? But even more to the point, why in the world would KGO be broadcasting the debate in the first place?
For all I know KGO broadcasts all of the debates, and why wouldn't they, right? They're a "news station", right?
Well, that's where rubber meets road.
KGO certainly fashions themselves as that (when it suits them), but recently decided to slice all of their weekend news coverage in lieu of "Health and Wellness" canned programming, vitamins, I'm assuming auto, finance, Michael Finney (good show), cooking, etc. I guess I could check the website (checking now - apparently they're giving away tickets for Rascal Flatts - we'll return to this) to find out what's going on.
Bottom line, there's a really good chance that had Justice Scalia died in 2-3 weeks, this "news station" would have had no one to report his death.
News station.
But tonight they're broadcasting the debate, so again, I ask, to what end? What is the point?
If the debate lasts more than an hour it will cut into a show called "Drex." This show was put into place by now deceased program director Kevin Metheny, who desired a show that covered topics only a person named "Drex" would actually cover. "News" probably wasn't one of those topics. Yet the debate runs through the "The KGO Afternoon News", which mostly covers local news, with a sprinkling of national (if memory serves), and into "Drex."
What person is listening to KGO radio news who doesn't have another way to hear/watch tonight's debate, if they're so interested? Which of these people isn't watching the debate on television, if they actually even care?
There's a conservative station inside the same building (KSFO), run by the same people, whose audience probably actually does give a shit about tonight's debate on CNN. They're generally an older white male audience. But KGO's audience (assuming they have an audience)? Do they care? And what is their audience? Right now they have 3 talk shows from 9 AM to 10 PM with a news show in the middle. Those shows are seemingly liberal leaning, or if "Drex" is an indication, non-political.
So again, why is the debate on KGO radio? What is the actual purpose? What audience is the station trying to capture? Who is the audience?
Oh, wait, it just occurred to me. How I forget. Seriously, I just remembered this...Before KGO's parent company was taken over by new management, the previous managers moved their national news service away from ABC Radio over to CNN. As a listener you wouldn't know this because they allow local stations to brand the news as their own, but it's from Atlanta and Texas, not the Bay Area. Maybe there's a deal with CNN which forces them to carry a debate like this? And maybe in turn their news anchors have to "tweet out?"
I have no idea.
But for the life of me I cannot imagine why a station runs a conservative debate on their "moderate to liberal" station in the most progressive market in America when in fact the shows it currently airs try their best to be apolitical.
I guess I could have summed it all up with just that.
As for Rascal Flatts? Pretty good indication of what type of audience KGO has.
And to think, AM radio is dying? No shit.
Incredible programming decisions on KGO. A real sense of direction...down.
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*It's not a "debate" - it's a "Town Hall"
**I'm now watching on CNN. Thanks, KGO!
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