For those of you that care to know more about the Ralph Barbieri bombshell, I sort of knew this was coming down the road.
I take no pleasure in seeing one's professional demise, but then again, you guys don't know Cumulus.
Ralph did.
And for that, he got this. No big surprise here. And it's gonna get ugly, as a sage close observer who knows the ins and outs of the business told me after there appeared to be a local detente between Ralph, Cumulus and Knibber. Ah, but the story moves on and potentially more uglier roads.
Where? Where things like this tend to always go to when an irresistible force meets an immovable object: to court. Can you say L.I.T.I.G.A.T.I.O.N.?
Let's start with some basic salvos.
This whole shebang was destined to this path. Saner minds, if you can even think about the word "sane" in this story, would have suggested that the Cumulus big boys negotiate a deal with the local Italian radio superstar who was beginning to see and live the twilight of his professional career come to an end.
That sounds reasonably good on paper, but when you involve massive egos, narcissistic templates and big-time company relations, rarely, if ever, do things come to a logical, "amiable" conclusion. Not here. Not now. Not yesterday and certainly not today.
Barbieri, despite almost 28 years of service at Knibber saw the handwriting on the wall and despite what he said, was ready for a new set of contentious negotiations. He turned out to be right. Even at that, I don't believe he was ready to meet the Cumulus executioner. By all accounts, even with a paltry deal that had a November 2012 expiration date, the Razor felt bullet-proof. As he should have, but there's a new cold hard world out there in radio land these days and Ralpheroo met it head on. Which brings us back to the lawyers and boy, do the lawyers always seem to be front and center in big burning man events like the Ralperroo-Cumulus showdown coming soon.
And I do believe it's coming down to the legal arena. How do I know? Just read this.
Without taking any sides, I do believe this has the grounds to be salaciously, agonizingly, ludicrously and for the media outlets, the Internet, the gee-look-at-me websites, absolutely delicious. Of course I could be wrong, but I tend to doubt it.
Reasons aplenty. Take a three-decade guy with a ton of local juice who comes out of the closet to disclose he's got early-stages Parkinson's disease and go fire that! That's what Barbieri was thinking. Beyond that, Ralph was thinking one last contract until he could retire at age 70. One last payday. Only the Bungeroth boys wanted no more of the Razor and that was evident last fall when they wanted to fire the feisty Italian, but held off for temporary pr purposes, underline temporary.
The big bean counters in Atlanta and locally at 55 Hawthorne began noticing the numerous off days, the relentless vacation times, the mounting sick days that that began to accumulate, or maybe, "Cuuumulate", if you like choice words here.
Barbieri had to figure he'd survive the dogfight. Again, just one last contract. Two-Four years would be fine and maybe we split the difference if we come down that road. YOU DON'T KNOW CUMULUS. Trust me, you don't. Cumulus likes underlings. Cumulus likes the little people to do the little things. One more dime is one less dime in the Atlanta kitty bank. That's how these bastards think and to hell with guys who think they have us over the barrel, even those who make decent coin in the 4th-largest radio market. Screw you!, pal, and well, you know where I'm going...
I don't know the specifics of Barbieri's contract or, more importantly, the "language" of the contract. I got to believe there's some significant clauses in there having to do with days off, vacation, sick days, those kind of legal entities that contract lawyers study and provide for certain clients.
Was Barbieri fired with cause? Huge question. If so, and I do believe he was, then we have issues to be resolved and those issues can only be resolved in the legal dept. A source speculated that Cumulus "probably paid him off after they 'terminated him, gave him a little more severance and told him not to talk or he'd lose his last golden parachute." And knowing Ralph, he probably told them to stuff it on his way out the door before getting on the phone to his lawyer, Bob Moore.
What we're about to see and hear played out is a good old-fashioned legal dogfight. The angry Italian radio guy in SF versus the mean-ass corporate radio raiders in Atlanta. And there is NO settlement here, folks, you can bet the house on that one. This will be the mother of all lawsuits with age, PR, and every other banana thrown in--I gotta believe the Cumulus lawyers know this too and thought long and hard before handing down the gauntlet, but throw down they did.
Can hardly wait for round one.
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Not sure of his legal grounds but he will be missed. Ralph was the antithesis of modern sports hosts - everything that people found annoying in him is exactly why he was so successful. There will never be another like him in this area.
ReplyDeleteOf course, same story with Cumulis CEO Lewis Dicky earning 20 mil a year at the expense of his workers.
This is where Ralph screwed himself...after he played the illness card,that forced the hand of Cumulus execs..they most likely TOLD him to make sure he' there on time,and basically toe the company line. Ralph,figuring he took a cut in pay,would now take his time getting to the show. He fell into their trap.
ReplyDeleteBUT,now that he's played the illness card...would anybody hire him? See,thats the biggest way to self screw yourself in this world-admit you have an illness to an employer in a overcrowded world full of young cheaper help or talents.
Some corps are understanding with talent...Cumulus is not. And I doubt THEGAME's corp is any different.
We get it, he's an Italian-American. You mentioned it 3 times in your post.
ReplyDeleteYou going to call Ronn Owens Jewish, Rod Brooks African-American or Bob Fitzgerald Irish-American when they get canned?
Unless race was an issue, leave it out Rich.
Entercom is no different than Cumulus. They're already slicing up the on-air staffs at KOIT and KUFX. Hiring younger & cheaper "talent." The hosts at The Game have been there less than a year. But heads will roll eventually. But hire a 66 year old with Parkinson's? No way in hell.
ReplyDeleteNever listened to Barbieri. Just could not stand him.
ReplyDeleteFunny, he couldn't stand a lot of people and said so.
Cumulus couldn't stand Barbieri and said: Good Riddance!
I agree.
Next man up: Radnich.
If you "never listened to Barbieri," how could you say you "could not stand him?"
DeleteThen, you claim "he couldn't stand a lot of people and said so." How do you know this if you, again, "never listened to Barbieri?"
Good post at 12:05pm!
DeleteSo could Fitz be next? I cant imagine his loss diminishing any ratings that the Fitz and Brooks show has. Paying 1 person vs 2 seems to be the Cumulus way of doing things.
ReplyDeleteFitz is not on the cumulus payroll. His radio gig is bank rolled by the Warriors. But don't be surprised if he does get the boot from broadcast booth which of course would mean the end of his radio duties as well.
DeleteI have often wondered if the new Warriors ownership might change announcers to further distance themselves from their loser past. It makes a lot of sense to me regardless of your personal view of the current broadcast crew.
DeleteNew voices with a "New" team might be refreshing after so many years of losing and the accompanying excuses.
This is Radio, and you live and die by the ratings, and frankly Ralph has sucked for a very long time. Maybe he and Fatnich can share a slot together.
ReplyDeleteoh, what a shocker, lol. ralphie boy can't cut the mustard any more so he gets canned, then ITS TIME TO SUE SUE SUE!
ReplyDeleteRich, this post is remarkable devoid of any real content.
ReplyDeleteYou claim litigation is coming based on a vague comment Barbieri made to the chronicle.
There are no details about the terms of the termination of Ralph's employment. His contract may have been paid off entirely for that matter.
You speculate that he was fired with cause and imagine that it's because he was absent from work too often but there is absolutely no indication that was an issue.
Perhaps Cumulus is claiming he breached his contract in some manner and that gives them the right to stop paying BUT we don't know that and it is quite possible they wanted to get rid of him because he was so lousy on the air they were willing to pay off the contract to get rid of him.
We'll have to see but in the mean time, why don't you stick to facts and by the way, please explain what grounds Barbieri would have for suing them?
Observer, Where have you been?? Dont you know that Rich has INSIDE INFORMATION??? He is privy to the inner workings of all bay area media. You might say that his is the King of all Bay media!!!!
DeleteObserver,
DeleteWhile I agree with your comments re: Rich's lack of detail on why he thinks this will be litigated, I can tell you that this ain't the south and Cumulus is going to find that out. State law is much stronger in terms of employee rights and terminations, especially when you're dealing with a 66 year old person who has Parkinson's. I'd be shocked if they didn't find a way to do this that will be on shaky legal ground. The difference is that Ralph is a bulldog and principled about these types of things. He'll fight 'em. Cumulus will try to spend him into the ground rather than settle and in the end, the lawyers will make alot of money and Ralph is gets what he's owed but only after a few years of additional grief courtesy of Cumulus' Legal Team. Don't you just love America?
Ron,
DeleteWhether this is the south or not is irrelevant. Also your assumption about Ralph's rights are misplaced if you believe he is protected by employment law.
He was working under a contract which has terms we aren't privy too but most likely take this out of the realm of employer/employee law and instead is controlled by contract law.
Your assumption that he could never be fired because he has Parkinson's is erroneous. Let's say Rush Limbaug had throat cancer and couldn't work on the radio (oh wouldn't that be sad), do you suppose he couldn't be terminated.
As for Ralph being a bulldog, yeah right....
Rush cannot be terminated by anyone: he OWNS the company, which is built around HIM. If all the advertisers left and all the stations dropped him, then the EIB Radio Network might fail as a going concern... but in Rush's case, there's no Lew Dickey with his hand on The Switch. He cannot simply be pink-slipped.
Deleteall this speculation and talk is very interesting, but it needs to be re-emphasized what Rich and many others who post here have been saying in recent years. Broadcasting, particularly radio...has gone to the dogs.
ReplyDeleteWhen these 'genius' programmers, (most of whom are former sales guys or marketing whizes who look at trends and graphs) talk about catering to the 'younger demographic,' are they kidding? There is no 'young demographic' out there because most people under 30 don't listen to the radio anymore.
They are so plugged into their i-pods, smart phones, and whatever else they like to use to communicate with that they have no time to listen to radio .So stations are going after an audience that has basically left the building. Sure, there are stations which get a good bump from younger listeners, but they are in the minority and are mostly the music and entertainment outlets. Sportstalk does still draw a bit of a younger audience too, but the majority of people who listen are not in the18-30 age group. By catering your programming to a
audience that doesn't exist, you're basically alienating your core audience and killing your business.
It's no surprise then, that with listenership and advertising down, that stations are going younger and cheaper. Unfortunately, that's not just the business model for radio, but for many other businesses in this country as well. We don't value experience, credibility or loyalty anymore....those are arcane qualities that are considered unnecessary luxurious by today's cold-blooded executives.
But leave it to the nit wits and dysfunctional blowhards with out of control egos who think they have all the answers here. It's quite obvious that they don't have a clue.
In a society that emphasizes laws, rules and order. One has to know the laws and the rules (and have the political-economic-social vantage) in order to gain an advantage in this game of political-legal order.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate about the Parkinson's. But, he disclosed it for his benefit at the last contract negotiations. Ralph seems to forget the company stood by him after his four dui's and covered up his predatory behavior on the 'sales girls'. He was way past his prime, I stopped listening, and it's about time he got whacked. Next up: Shitzgerald.
ReplyDeleteHey Ralphie,
DeleteLooks like your playing the race card, oh I mean the Parkinson card, your way past your time, a dry drunk, a blowhole who does not follow sports anymore, your ratings sucked Ralph, Tolbert knows more about sports then you ever will, all of those DUI's and chasing the lady sales reps. Your going to be embarrassed in public court and Amechi's pizza sucks, you ever eat that crap they serve at the Sharks game, eating cardboard.
Ralph go ask your buddy Scott Osler at the Chronicle to write another sympathy story.
ReplyDeleteAfter all Osler has been doing this for the Giants management.
And lets not leave out Ralph--they say- was a Democrat. That couldnt be what the Dickey bros,who seem to be Rupert wannnabe's could stand much longer. It sure didnt help.
ReplyDeleteI hope they let Radnich go soon as well.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, though he was 66 & had Parkinson's I think something went down. Some kind of argument, something like being late too often.
And suing? It takes years to sue with the age discrimination and/or illness discrimination court cases. A friend of mine just went through it, and it was a pittance after the scumbag attorney took a huge chunk.
He should negotiate that they will pay him to the end of the contract and take it.
And one thing about the Dems that are sports fans - there are not a lot of them. Sure they're in the journalism/radio/print line but in general, sports fans lean to the RIGHT not the LEFT and that is a turn off for most sports fans when someone starts spouting off the leftwing stuff.
are you calling the lawyer a "scumbag" because he or she didn't disclose the fee agreement ahead of time? I bet you think these cases are just simple and that lawyers do no work. YOu'd be very, very wrong.
DeleteChristine is correct, in general attorneys take up these cases on a contingency basis of 30% to 35% of the recovery, the attorneys take the risk and cover all the upfront costs which can be substantial (in my labor law case the depositions alone were close to $15,000 which my attorneys paid for before we saw any money from the eventual settlement). I think labor law attorneys are a blessing and any idiot who calls them "scumbags" is clueless.
DeleteWhat an idiot you are 6:14. There is no evidence at all that sports fans are mostly all conservative republicans. On the contrary, especially in the Bay Area where democrats outnumber republicans, it is likely there are more sports fans who identify as democrat than repub. I can't believe all you fools who got your panties twisted up your butts due to Ralph's supposedly egregious-pinko ways. Get a life. Then get some knowledge.
DeleteYou really think he's ready to throw his retirement nest egg away on lawyers? In radio, they almost always have an out by just saying "we're going in a different direction" "he was underperforming" or whatever. You don't have the usual kind of job securities when you're in a performance based enterprise. That said, it still seems peculiar he was let go with some months left on his existing contract. Not very Cumulus-y to have to pay someone off when he could have worked out the contract. Seems like a part of the story is still missing.
ReplyDeleteWe must give credit where credit due.
ReplyDeleteYou did speculated this would happen.
So hats off to Rich Lieberman and Media 415.
Never mind his talent (or lack thereof over the last few years). Never mind his personality. Never mind his character. The fact of the matter is this: Ralph Barbieri is a human being who deserved to be treated better than this. He put in a long time at the sports bleaker. Back in the day, people who stayed at a job for a long time were respected and honored. Now, you're a liability on the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. People make a business go...you can't put a price tag on experience. It's all about the mighty dollar these days. Thank you high tech for putting that in the forefront of our lives. You may have made our lives easier, but the big casualty is people. At this rate, people won't be able to afford those iPads, iPhones and fancy gadgets. This country sucks. What has happened to America? It doesn't matter who's in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Someone will take el Presidente, spin his head and push him in the direction corporate America wants to go. Damn the public. It's a shame. A real shame.
ReplyDeleteThis is SAN FRANCISCO and there are PLENTY of "leftwing" sports fans. Read the friggin room, Moron. Sorry to see Ralph go but these guys are more into saving money then providing quality content. Whoever will work for the smaller paycheck....they will go for. Makes no difference which way you lean....Just ask Dr. Watenwhatshisname......
ReplyDeleteexactly.
DeleteThere are PLENTY of lefties who are sports fans. Hell, most righties don't listen to games on the radio...or Sports Talk.
ReplyDeleteThey're all listening to Rush/Hannity/Savage..and then watching Fox News.
CUMULUS and KNBR = DICKCHEESE. Ralph deserved WAY better.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like another relative oldie bites the Cumulus dust. Going out fighting or not, only the lawyers will win on this while listeners move on line to listen to their favorite host anyway so let the fight begin.
ReplyDeleteIf indeed Ralph chooses to pursue litigation, rest assured he will not spend any money out of pocket. A good labor law attorney who thinks The Razor has a good case will take it on a contingency. As someone who fought corporate bastards and settled for close to $1 million I know how employee vs employer cases work. Based on the information we know, we have a situation in which the employee is 66 years old and has Parkinson's and was suddenly fired. Those are two points in his favor right off the bat. Does anyone think the evil doing Dickie's will want to go to a trial by jury? Get out of here....they are as likeable as Chuck Manson at a parole hearing...a jury would throw the book at them and award the Razor millioooons
ReplyDeleteYou ignorant conservatives are hilarious. It's so obvious you can't stand Ralph because of his politics... but you seem to think the constant lies that come from Fox "News" is just fine. It's shocking to you to hear Ralph because you usually don't hear the truth. If you don't like Ralph, that's completely fine. Make your case... and make sure it's not based on YOUR ignorant political beliefs. What a bunch of tools.
ReplyDeleteHating Ralph is nonpartisan. I'm a hardcore liberal and can't stand him. This post is off base for 2 reasons:
Delete1) It assumes that Ralph is a credible advocate for the liberal movement. He isn't, he's just a pretentious windbag.
2) It assumes if you dislike Ralph it must be for political reasons because. That's ridiculous, there's way too much to dislike about Ralph that has noting to do with politics.
Never was a Barbieri fan and I expect the courtroom showdown to be ugly, probably even individually futile.
ReplyDeleteBut if Barbieri can send a message about the over-corporation of radio and how it has diminished the profession as a whole, then he can expose the warts of Cumulus et al enough that listeners will start boycotting their respective stations and telling them to handle dismissals with at least a little more respect.
Nah. This has been going on since dirt. But good luck to Ralph.
Showing up late to work and sounding disinterested constitutes enough reason for his firing. Gene Burns had health/age issues and also an excellent work record and sounded totally engaged on the air. If anyone had a case, he does.
ReplyDeletePerfect. Ralph had it made. But he needed to show up for work. I worked at one job for 16 years. Never called in sick for all those years. Then I was told they were eliminating my position ( as well as 47 other people) due to low profits. Long story short. All of upper management were promoted and given new positions. Welcome to the real world Raplh.
DeleteSirius NFL is the only way to go for NFL coverage.
ReplyDeleteAnd, those smug, arrogant and talentless KNBR fools on from noon-3? Get rid of them, or do they earn so little, Dickless Dickies, that you will keep them because they appeal to some demographic that never listens?
Good luck, KNBR. I haven't listened for years, except to tune in and reinforce the reasons why I don't listen.
Juvenile. Thoughtless. They don't do their homework.
Sirius NFL has more breaking 49ers news than KNBR, including interviews with team officials and players.
That should tell you something.
Radnich, the scum who replaced a great guy on KRON in the 1980s, is such a juvenile punk, but I'm sure he appeals to the wanna be backward hat-wearing crowd that cannot afford an iPhone. You know, the scum who go to strip clubs, etc. Grow up, Gary. Grow up.
Excellent!
DeleteListen folks...I understand that Ralph was not so popular with some people, He was an acquired taste. personally, I wasn't a big fan of his style either, but at least he had the guts and the intelligence to tackle some sticky issues. Those kind of broadcasters are sorely lacking tody, with the cookie-cutter screamers, know-it-alls and baffoons who are heard daily on the radio these days.
ReplyDeleteAs far as taking shots at ralph because of his politics, well, I can understand that too. We are such a polarized country these days that the extreme left and right wings spend their days shouting slogans, screaming, and playing the blame game like a couple of card board cut outs. It's sad, but that kind of behavior has become a part of radio that we should abhor. Instead of intelligent, informed and thoughtful opinion, people get emotional and yell and show little restraint or courtesy because the media (especially talk radio) has encouraged that.
The dumbing down of America will not slow down anytime soon, if these corporate fat-cats continue to have their way. They have no interest in democracy, fairness, and display some of the the most un-american qualities. They would all love it if we reverted back to the good old days of what Mark Twain called: 'The Gilded Age,' when robber barons ran this country.
What a waste of time this all is. Barbieri served "at will"; Cumumlus could let him go any time they wanted for whatever reason (assuming here that he's being paid the remainder of his contracted salary). Nobody's suggested he's not getting paid, have they?
ReplyDeleteHe'll have a hard time proving it was any sort of discrimination based on his illness or age; all the Cumulus lawyers have to do is introduce some airchecks as evidence of his declining performance (even his small coterie of fans have to admit that he's been on a downhill slide for years).
In short, somebody finally pulled the plug on a fading performer. Doesn't make them good guys, but it doesn't make him a hero for staying too long and then making a graceless exit, either.
Tolbert is awful without the razor. Kruger should take that slot.
ReplyDeleteHah! Barbieri has been carried by Tolbert for the last 8 years. Ralph should have taken his feeble pseudo-intellectual (....and in contradistinction...."Two things can be equally true"....Ooooh a regular Kirkegard aren't you) ass into retirement!
DeleteActually it would be great to get rid of KNBR totally and turn it into 24/7 Comedy Radio.
ReplyDeleteTo answer another guy's question - the ratings aren't there with Sports Talk Radio anymore and most Sports fans, yes even in the Bay Area lean RIGHT not left.
9:55 AM. What is your expertise in employment law?
ReplyDeleteWaiting..
Waiting..
Figured, you know nothing. As someone who has successfully sued my former employer for over six figures,I can tell you that his odds are quite good at winning a judgement. Air-Checks? What some failed disc jockey is providing legal commentary?. I never liked Ralphs's act either, but that has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. Air Checks? Have you inspected the agreement he had with Cumulus?. Moron, go play mobile DJ somewhere, leave this discussion for adults1
Here's the hard data, yes sports fans are Repubs for the most part.
ReplyDeletehttp://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/03/sports_viewers.php
My guess is that management didn't like the way he went off on how justified it was to boo Joe Lacob. The way he called in the next morning and rant on the justification was unprofessional. It was really embarrassing to listen to... Then, later he tries to justified it with each guest caller on his show. He even used the excuse that Mullin didn't have any issues. Get real, Mullin has class and said the right thing. Ralph just didn't get it and used it to rationalize his position.
ReplyDeleteTom had it right, the booing was justified to an extent.
Not sad to see him go.
Why do you call it East Coast Pizza when its made on the West Coast?
ReplyDeleteWhat's all this nonsense about sports fans being more right leaning politically? Where in the world are people coming up with these imbecilic claims? The truth is, people of all political stripes and people who could care less about politics and never even vote are sports fans.
ReplyDeleteThats way sports is still one of the few great things left in this push button n society of ours. For a few hours at least, it brings people back together. But I forgot that this is a forum where people like to take shots at each other and make inane, brainless statements such as ...what political stripe most sports talk listeners are wearing. Let's keep the political talk out of the sports arena, shall we?
Yes, Ralph sometimes went over the line with his political rants and even though I agreed with much of his philosophy, I didn't think that it was an appropriate topic for sportstalk radio.
But the next time some ill-informed, hare-brained idiot wants to make a blanket statement about the political make up of sports talk listeners, why don't you back it up with some hard facts gleaned from your own marketing research. Then at least you'll have a leg to stand on!
Fish and 9:55 said it beautifully; 10:57 is an idiot.
ReplyDeleteFuck Ralph!, He sucked, I won't miss those lame ass horrible Amici commercials and his whinny voice. The guy was a crook, he was getting paid $300k/year and was never at work, Cumulus should sue his ass!
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Does 6:26 pm have some anger management problems?
ReplyDeleteSounds like you need to lighten up, take some deep breaths and walk around the block my friend!
5:47 - it was backed up with hard data.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link again. Sports fans are righties not lefties.
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/03/sports_viewers.php
So I would suggest any lefty that wants to do sports - you need to shut it or wind up like Barbieri.
The game has changed.
to 2:25pm ..You can spin things anyway you want, but the facts remain that people from every walk of life loves sports. To say that you have to have some sort of political affiliation to enjoy sports is the epitome of absurdity, and your 'link' is about as credible as the claim of a stoned teenager.
ReplyDeleteSo please stop politicizing and labeling things to satisfy your need to simplify and dumb down arguments. It might also do you some good to take a course in common courtesy, as it sounds as if you've acquired a Masters' degree in rudeness.