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If KGO's decision comes down to representation, the station has no regular women presenters. If it's about politics — Ward was billed as "the lion of the left" — all the candidates lean to the left in varying degrees, with Karel the most vociferous.
"They don't have a woman talk-show host," Karel said in a phone interview. "I'm as close as they get. All the candidates are talented. It will come down to politics. Do they need to diversify?"
KGO's ardent fans, who have made it the top station in the market for almost three decades, have been handicapping and speculating on the decision in calls to the station and in online discussion groups and online chat rooms. Rumors are circulating that operations manager Jack Swanson, who gave the world the colorful blight of Michael Savage, favors Karel's outlandishness. Executive programmer Trish Robbins allegedly favors Craft, while station manager Michael "Mickey" Luckoff supposedly likes Lazarus.
"I won't dignify those rumors with a response," Swanson says. "I've employed all of them and I like them all."
Speculation is fueled by the fact that Swanson has taken so much longer to make this decision than he did when afternoon host Pete Wilson died in July. Newsman Gil Gross was named to the slot five weeks later. "I wasn't expecting two major holes in a year," Swanson says. "Remember, Gil had been filling in for us for years."
And, he adds, maybe there is a benefit to not naming a host and letting all the candidates work the shift, which will bring added diversity and make them work harder to compete. "Eventually, will we put in a permanent person? I guess. Maybe," Swanson says. "Maybe it's better how it is."
Brad Kava is a longtime Bay Area music critic and journalist. Check out his blog at: http://kavasradiosoup.blogspot.com/