For over 30 years KGO was the highest rated, most listened to radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a hybrid station, with a 4 hour block of all news from 5-9AM, an hour at noon, & another 3 hour block from 4-7PM. The rest of the time it was a talk station.
This was not talk ala the right wing screamers who don't allow alternate positions. No bashing the President, calling him names & lying about his positions or his politics. Since it was a news station, it had to be accurate. The talkers were moderate, & allowed differing opinions.
But Friday it was announced that all but one talk show would be cancelled. All hosts were fired, & it will now be solid news from 2PM-Midnight. The ratings have gone down, with only listeners over 60 staying with the station.
It would be speculation, but one has to assume the younger listeners, now used to the vitriol now on most talk stations have decided that the more moderate tone employed by KGO is not for them.
Plus the web is out there. Meaning those that would participate have an easier chance to do that on computer message boards, whether the boards accept both sides of an argument, or rather the more aggressive stance that wouldn't be acceptable by this venerable station.
People want to vent nowadays. As for news, a second all news station will probably not work. If LA can't support 2, why would the smaller SF market be able to? It is also assumed that satellite radio has had an effect, with a wider range of views & hosts to choose from. KGO was a rarity in that the talk shows were local, not syndicated shows from LA or NY. This is what will most be lost. The news web sites are national or international, meaning what is being lost is local interest. This is not a good thing.
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