"Where on Earth Is Michael Savage?"

Chron Watch ^ | 6/4/03 | Ira Simmons

[finnman69]

There appears to be some interesting happening concerning hot-button talk show host and Marin resident Michael Savage. . On Monday, KSFO, the station Savage has been on since it went to the Hot Talk format in 1995, had no ''Savage Nation.'' Instead, all three hours (4-7pm) had a tape of the Sean Hannity Show, which meant that Sean was on KSFO for five hours on Monday! During the traffic breaks, there was no familiar mention of "Savage Nation" traffic or "Air Savage" by reporter Mike Stait as per usual. I tuned to Michael on his Sacramento affiliate KSTE, 650 am, easily heard in the East Bay and all he said was that there were "technical difficulties" in the Bay Area. But reading between the lines, I could detect that something else was happening. Today, during his final half hour Savage got a call from the Bay Area and told the caller that he would again be on a station in San Francisco "soon."

After his Monday show, I checked the KSFO web site and Savage's name was nowhere to be found. Sean Hannity was instead listed in the 4-7pm time slot. With his contract with KSFO set to expire on June 30, it is my guess that Talk Radio Networks, Michael's syndicator, has signed with KNEW, 910 AM, the new talk station that is owned by Clear Channel. The KNEW program director did not return my call seeking comment. Not surprisingly, there was no mention of this significant radio development in the liberal Bay Area newspapers or their web sites.

Although these type of station-jumping deals seem to happen frequently in talk radio (and I hinted that this Savage jump was a possibility in the first piece I wrote for ChronWatch as a response to another article in March) it is still shocking that KSFO would let Michael Savage get away. After a brief weekend overnight stint at KGO in 1994, Savage basically began his career at KSFO and within a few years, became Number 1 in the ratings in afternoon drive time. And Savage took KSFO along for the ride; the station was basically invisible in the ratings book in January 1995 when it switched from a liberal "radio with attitude" to the "hot talk" format. In the latest ratings book, KSFO was tied for Number 2 in San Francisco and a solid second in the San Jose rating book, trailing only KGO in both surveys. Both stations are owned by ABC/Disney.

So what will KSFO do, if indeed, Michael Savage has moved up the dial? They could keep a tape-delayed Sean Hannity Program in the 4-7 pm slot; perhaps KSFO could steal the Bill O'Reilly Radio Factor show presently heard on the misfit sports station KNBR - 1050 and fill two of the Savage hours with everybody's favorite humble correspondent. Another possibility is obtaining Larry Elder (syndicated by ABC) from KNEW in what would be a even-up trade for Savage.

Whatever happens, one thing is certain, the landscape of Bay Area talk radio is apparently being changed forever. And for the liberals in the audience--the Monday vote by the FCC to relax radio and television ownership rules which you whined about--had nothing to do with it!

[finnman69]

FYI- Savage is also currently suing some leftist propaganda sites as he promised he would do.

http://www.savagestupidity.com/nastygram/lawsuit/SavageNationSuit.pdf

[finnman69]

Perhaps Savage dropped KSFO for a better deal..

[freekitty]

If I remember, a short while back, Michael Savage said on his program there were going to be some changes; but he could not or would not say what they were. I hate for him to leave San Franciso air. He fits so nicely there.

[kattracks]

Savage off KSFO in San Fran

Radio host Michael Savage continues to make waves nationally.

But locally, at his home station, KSFO in San Francisco, he may have been – at least temporarily – capsized by some of those waves.

On Monday, we hear that powerhouse conservative talk station KSFO dropped Mike Savage’s program.

Savage had risen to fame at the ABC-owned station and was still the No. 1 afternoon drive-time talk show host – right up until Monday.

Apparently, Disney-owned ABC got wind that Savage was negotiating with radio behemoth Clear Channel and its Premiere Network to move himself and his nationally syndicated show "The Savage Nation” to Clear Channel’s AM station in the Bay Area, KNEW.

Industry insiders say that Disney feared a meltdown at KSFO with Savage’s departure and acted pre-emptively. ABC execs also fear that the Rush Limbaugh show, also owned by Clear Channel’s Premiere, may move from KSFO to KNEW.

A well-placed source tells NewsMax, "So ABC, which owns market-leading talker KGO as well as KSFO, is pissed!”

The Bay Area will be at a loss without "The Savage Nation." But KSFO will continue to rock with its highly rated Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan morning program, as well as Brian Wilson in the evenings - not to mention syndicated talk from mega-hosts Sean Hannity, Dr. Laura and Matt Drudge.

Of course, "The Savage Nation" continues to air nationally, but without a San Francisco affiliate - at least for the moment.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Thomas V. Leavitt, Defendant.

[cubreporter]

ABC execs also fear that the Rush Limbaugh show, also owned by Clear Channel’s Premiere, may move from KSFO to KNEW.


I'm not up on all of these stations, etc. So, would that be bad if Rush moved from KSFO to KNEW? I don't really care what station/s he is on as long as he is on! :)

[Carry_Okie]

Poing

[w1andsodidwe]

KGO is an extremely liberal talk station and KSFO is the Conservative side. Both are owned by ABC.

KGO is the market leader in SF as you would expect. KSFO is a breath of fresh air. Don't know anything about the new station coming in.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Good for him! He can play the liberals game with them.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

According to the lawsuit, the leftists involved in running the anti-Savage sites were able to convince Culligan (water) to drop sponsorship on the Michael Savage show. Freep is in order?

[martin_fierro]

I like listening to Lee Rodgers, and Officer Vic is fine, but Mrs. Jack Swanson (Melanie Morgan) makes me want to run screaming from the room. U G G H H !

[OXENinFLA]

I just found out that starting 6-9-03 WOKV here in JAX will be moving Savage from his 8-10 slot and playing his full 3hrs. from 9-12. I don't know if I like this change because they are putting Clark Howard on from 6-9.

This just makes no sense.

[gaspar]

When Rush Limbaugh moved from a sports station to KSFO it began to catch up with KGO, the old radio leader. Savage has his listeners, but Limbaugh is king in the Bay Area.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

KNEW 910 has Neal Boortz in the early afternoon. Neal rocks! Quite a nice alternative to Dr. Laura on KSFO.

Savage won't be missed. He can be occasionally entertaining but mostly he's boorish, overbearing, rude, repetitious, vain and unfunny. He's also a poor excuswe for a "conservative"... not only is he a poster-child of right-wing nastiness for the Left, but he's come out for things like income caps (back during the dot-com insanity) and other crowd-pleasing but essentially statist crap. Hannity--even on tape--is a great improvement. I hope KNEW passes on him too.

[steve8714]

don't be confused...Savage is not a "conservative, especially in the country club Republican sense of the word. He is a dyed-in-the-wool radical, more like Buchanan than Limbaugh. He is also eminently listenable.

[OnTheDress]

Nah! RightOnTheLeftCoast has it right. Savage is a self important poop head. ~~(8^o

[ohioman]

Savage rocks and is a great alternative to the Country Club wussies who call themselves conservative. He tells it like it is and gives liberals hell in as many forms as he can dish out at once.

[.38sw]

I stopped listening to Savage awhile ago for many of the reasons you stated. He was really getting on my nerves. I switched to KNEW in the afternoon, listening to Boortz and Larry Elder. I'm not all that fond of Hannity, but prefer him to Savage. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out, and who ends up where.

[skeeter]

I like listening to Lee Rodgers, and Officer Vic is fine, but Mrs. Jack Swanson (Melanie Morgan) makes me want to run screaming from the room. U G G H H !

Not me. I never tire of her relating her experiences reporting from Lebanon back in the 80's. /sarcasm

Her husband & she really have a great scam going on - she does almost all the personal endorsements for that station.

[finnman69]

This is all public info:


http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois

Julie Sigwart, Defendant

Geeks @ EditThisPage.Com

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My home website is at http://www.happychaos.com, and the bulk of my cartoons are at http://www.happychaos.com/geeks.


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[finnman69]

This is the leftist who runs http://www.takebackthemedia.com who is hiding behind his wife.

Mike Stinson
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Domain Name: SYMBOLMAN.COM

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Micheal Stinson: think@SYMBOLMAN.COM
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and here is pic of the wacko: http://www.mrnice.com/images/mikey.jpg

[daguberment]

I like listening to Lee Rodgers, and Officer Vic is fine, but Mrs. Jack Swanson (Melanie Morgan) makes me want to run screaming from the room. U G G H H !

I agree with you 110%. Melanie makes me crazy. She can't seem to put three sentences together. I'd think that would be pretty much a prerequisite for someone on the radio. I think Savage has gotten increasingly difficult to listen to as his popularity has risen. Who knows, maybe Jack Swanson has got some fascinating plan to turn the station into 24 hours a day of Sean Hannity. That would be wildly popular. Or maybe Sean and Dr. Laura 24 7. There’s a winner.

[martin_fierro]

Her brassy, neurotic on-air style just SCREAMS to me, "I'm the boss' wife -- and there's nothing you can do about it!"

(but I CAN do something about it, genius -- I switch off KSFO when you're on-air)

A few years ago she marketed herself via cheesecake photos in which she posed with a Corvette. Some here on FR defended her ("How can you criticize this BABE?!?!") on that basis. All I could think was, "If she's such a babe, what's she doing working in radio?"

[Houmatt]

No, he has it wrong, and so do you.

Michael Savage is the only syndicated radio host who:

Advocates the closing of the borders.

Believes people like that woman who actually sued to wear a mask in her driver's license photo should be thrown out of this country.

Has referred to the ACLU for what they are: Red Diapered Doper Babies.

Has sued people trying to stifle his right to free speech by attributing to him things he never said (which is what they did to Dr. Laura).

And, by the way, the only reason GLAAD is involved in that campaign is because Savage said he draws the line in the homosexual agenda when there are children involved.

Borders. Language. Culture. You can't have a country without them.

May God bless Michael Savage and the Savage Nation.

[Tijeras_Slim]

cheesecake photos in which she posed with a Corvette.

They couldn't use an F350, 'cause it might be hard to tell them apart.

[aristeides]

Savage said on his show last night that he is off the air in SF temporarily because of a contract dispute. He also said that he will soon be on the air again in SF.

[martin_fierro]

Please see my #23 above.

I overheard snippets of a restaurant conversation last week where a guy was talking about KNEW as a KSFO alternative. I'll have to check it out.

KSFO's reception is generally poor in the San Jose area, especially early in the morning. They do something to boost the signal weekdays around 7:15 a.m.

[martin_fierro]

They couldn't use an F350, 'cause it might be hard to tell them apart.

Meeeee-OWWWW grrlfriend! <|:)~

[MarkL]

as well as Brian Wilson in the evenings

Does KSFO have a streaming Internet feed? I really miss listening to Brian Wilson. He was the morning guy in KC for about a year before they dropped him.

Mark

[skeeter]

I had to chuckle when she moved up from the traffic desk to share the mike with Rodgers. He likes to come across a fiercely independent host who refuses to compromise but its clear the boss made him move over for Melanie.

[skeeter]

KSFO's reception is generally poor in the San Jose area, especially early in the morning. They do something to boost the signal weekdays around 7:15 a.m.

The problem is KNEW isn't streaming yet.

[martin_fierro]

He likes to come across a fiercely independent host who refuses to compromise but its clear the boss made him move over for Melanie.

Yeah, Lee ("with a 'd'") Rodgers is not without his faults, but I'd still much rather listen to him and O.V. than to the Harpy and the "Suss-Man" (strikes me as a lightweight).

Seems to me that Lee does some good pre-show prep, while Mrs. Swanson and Sussman just wing it.

[Petronski]

Hmm, I wonder if a Savage move to Clear Channel would mean he might show up on XMRadio. Provocative.

[martin_fierro]

...and you're right: It IS clear that ol' Lee has been saddled with Mrs. Swanson. Maybe he'll make a move to KNEW.

[martin_fierro]

KSFO DOES have an internet stream (click here), and the last I heard, Brian Wilson was doing an evening show there via ISDN from Washington D.C. Maybe he's on some talk show station there as well.

[bedolido]

I didn't know there were any "Kings" in the bay area (sorry, bad joke... couldn't resist)

[Robert Drobot]

Disney/ABC is a sinking ship and the passengers don't have a clue.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

I didn't realize he'd been on so long. I guess that means I've been listening to him since 1994.

I finally stopped listening to him a few weeks ago. I just couldn't stand him anymore. He's all of the rotten things you said he is, and more. He's incapable of having an actual discussion with anyone. The last straw was when he said Maurice Chevalier was a pervert for singing "thank heaven for little girls". That comment sickened me. After he repeated it the next day, I had had enough. Never listened to him again.

[wasp69]

Got the pictures?

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this. Now I have an alternative to Dr Laura's hours of whiners calling in.

KNEW 910

It will be nice to hear Larry Elder.

[jetson]

KSFO is doomed. I have the feeling Lee Rodgers is getting tired of it all too. He is absent alot plus is always taking shots at the station. This could have been in the works for awhile. Too bad. ABC should have dropped KGO a long time ago. Trying to apeal to both sides may be the end of a giant station.

[jetson]

Your just weak...thats all.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Weak because I can't stomach Michael Savage's sour attitude? I don't think so. If you enjoy Savage, then you must have a sour attitude like he does.

[BRO68]

Good riddance!

[mike_9958]

You got it right Savage is a "poop head"....

What did it for me is when he compare those against abortion, to those against guns in the cockpit.

What a dumb thing to say.

Ever since then he just got more whiny, like the liberals he talks about.

[.38sw]

It is wonderful to have an alternative to Dr. Laura's unbelievably disfunctional whiney callers. It gets old very fast. I'm glad I stumbled onto KNEW.

[Grampa Dave]

If Dr Laura ran a conservative talk show and the callers were conservative, I would listen. The whiners/losers that call her up now, drive me right up the wall.

Thanks, I will plug 910 into my vehicle radios and home radios.

One hour of Sean is about right.

[martin_fierro]

Naah, can't find 'em anymore.

Trust me, they weren't all that great.

[muleskinner]

Ditto to your assessment of the morning show.

OV ought to so more impersonations...he is getting better.

I think Mel used to be a reporter for KGO. Back in the 80's? She would stumble over her words so much I turned off the radio when she came on.

[GSWarrior]

I think you're being a little hard on Melanie. Would you still dislike her if she was married to a card-carrying Republican?