XM MLB Chat: Mickey Luckoff signs off from KGO and financial genius at Citadel

10/31,"I wouldn't give KGO's problems to a monkey on a rock, as Dave Letterman would put it.

Oct. 4: Mickey Luckoff, president and GM of KGO and sister KSFO, resigned, lashing out at the stations' owner, Citadel Broadcasting, and its chairman/CEO, Farid Suleman.

Oct. 5: A debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman, on the Ronn Owens show on KGO, is canceled by both camps. Producer Mark Silverman takes the fall, leaving the Owens show after seven years (he remains at KGO). Luckoff is booked to appear on Owens' show, but the visit, as Owens has to announce on the air, has been

"canceled by management." Luckoff is locked out of the office. And a new GM is quickly named: Diedra Lieberman, the stations' director of sales.

But the top story is Luckoff, 74, who joined KGO as a sales manager in 1972 and became president/GM in 1975. KGO was doing OK, ranked fifth in the market. Within three years, it was Number One, and stayed there until this year.

In 1994, owner Capital Cities/ABC purchased KSFO, and Luckoff oversaw both stations. In 1999, with KGO having been top-rated for 21 years, he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame - the first local radio manager to be enshrined. In recent years, despite intense competition and an aging core audience, KGO remained profitable. ...

Things changed with the purchase of KGO and KSFO by Citadel Broadcasting in 2007. Citadel, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last year, began slashing the payroll. Soon, familiar voices began disappearing from both stations, including Greg Jarrett, Rosie Allen, Greg Edmonds, Melanie Morgan and Lee Rodgers. Finally, he added himself to the list. He had been prepared for this moment, he told me, since late last year....

(Mickey)...gave two weeks notice, but that it was rejected,