Owen's old contract, which is up on Dec. 31, made him one of the highest-paid media figures in the Bay Area. He will be receiving considerably less money than he's getting under the old deal, (signed in 2006 when KGO was owned by Citadel and whose GM was Mickey Luckoff).
There has been speculation that Owens, who's been battling a myriad of health issues, was set to retire from the broadcasting business, but apparently wants one more reign in the city where's been at the KGO mic since 1975. In fact, it was Owens who told a former colleague not too long ago that "I'm probably going to retire."
KGO's ratings have taken a dramatic downward spiral since Cumulus abruptly fired its talk hosts in December of last year. Owens was the only talk host who was retained. His personal-services contract was a major reason why he stayed on.
