KSFO To 810

[michael hagerty]

But 560 and 810 can't both be simultaneously KSFO. One of them needs to be something else. Either 810 remains KGO, or the KSFO calls actually move to 810 and then 560 needs other calls. I guess those other calls could be KGO, and then Cumulus might be able to use up their supply of stationery.

The question is how long the simulcast will run. Whenever that ends, the call letters will move. In the meantime, someone just needs to re-cut the legal ID to (I got this backwards last week) "KGO-KSFO San Francisco." Or whisper the KGO part or whatever.

The main website logo is now 810 KSFO, but the KSFO Podcast window is still "listen to 560 KSFO".

 

[michael hagerty]

Legal I.D. fixed as of 7:00 a.m. Pacific. KSFO, KSAN HD-2 and KGO, San Francisco.

 

[Time Traveler]

The figure-8 null is there to protect WGY. This also made a fulltime AM possible in Kansas City in 1947. That one’s not called KCMO any more, either, much less KWKC.

I am actually based in the Albany-Schenectady area...And out of curiosity ....Why is KGO directional full time? I would think that being directional only at night would certainly protect WGY. And on that topic...Does WGY ever appear under KGO at night in some of its various nulls?

 

[Frequency1]

There is no filing yet at the FCC to change call letters.

 

[michael hagerty]

There is no filing yet at the FCC to change call letters.

It'll be a while. They need KSFO on 560 to tell listeners to move to 810. Expect that (in some form---simulcast, endless loop, whatever) to be weeks. Maybe a month or more.

 

[TheBigA]

In a way, it's good to finally put KGO out of its misery.

The heritage to KGO wasn't the call letters. It was the programming. Almost all of the heritage hosts have passed away. The letters mean nothing.

 

[mightynine]

Extremely nitpicky thing that no one's probably going to notice other than me - but no one had Gill Sans on their computer to match 810 to KSFO?

 

[lanceventa]

It'll be a while. They need KSFO on 560 to tell listeners to move to 810. Expect that (in some form---simulcast, endless loop, whatever) to be weeks. Maybe a month or more.

They do? If/when they switch to a redirect loop, the calls will be buried once an hour.

And until we know Cumulus' plans for 560, is there even a reason to rush?

 

[Mark Roberts]

Extremely nitpicky thing that no one's probably going to notice other than me - but no one had Gill Sans on their computer to match 810 to KSFO?

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Possibly the "1" in Gill Sans looks too much like an uppercase "I".

Fraktur might have been more appropriate considering the retrograde nature of its programming.

Yeah, I would have noticed it, too.

 

[Mark Roberts]

The flip happened on 810 at exactly midnight,

This tells me a contract expired.

560 and 810 are simulcasting.

As widely expected....

 

[michael hagerty]

They do? If/when they switch to a redirect loop, the calls will be buried once an hour.

You're right. You could change the call letters if/when they start the loop.

And until we know Cumulus' plans for 560, is there even a reason to rush?

I don't think there is a reason to rush---that's why I'm suggesting it could be a month or more.

I wouldn't expect Cumulus to announce plans for 560 until it has an end date in mind for using it to drive audience to 810. And it can take an audience a long time to internalize information like a frequency change.

My guess---and I've been wrong before---is that Cumulus will tell us what 560's next chapter is (new Cumulus format/lease of signal to a third party/sale of station) very close to the end of its simulcast/loop phase, and that's when the KSFO calls move to 810 and the 560 calls change to something else.

 

[michael hagerty]

This tells me a contract expired.

A Friday announcement of a Monday change. My guess is BetLQ was grinding them on a renewal price (considerably lower) for KGO with the contract expiring at midnight last night/this morning. Cumulus would have preferred to just keep taking their money for 810, but not if it didn't make sense. They couldn't get there, so plan B was move KSFO to 810 and we'll find out if they had a plan B for 560 eventually.

 

[Mark Roberts]

KGO was already destroyed when Cumulus bought it. It had been on a decline in earlier years of the new Millennium

This is a point frequently missed by the KGO nostalgists. I wouldn't have been as, well, mechanical in my description as you were; I think the station's programming simply failed to appeal to a large number of people in my age group and younger. And I have been in that "might as well be Soylent Green as far as advertisers are concerned" age group for at least a decade now. So you see the problem.

Quite simply, Mickey Luckoff and his crew could not make the station adapt to the aging of talk listeners and the move away from AM. While some traditional talk stations like KOA and WLW have managed to survive and thrive,

KOA does OK but I wouldn't say it thrives. What keeps it going is sports, particularly play-by-play sports (baseball and football). KOA certainly isn't kept going by Ross Kaminsky's painful-to-listen-to monologues or Mandy Connell's unpleasant, raspy voice. Between 9 am and 3 pm weekdays, the station is ho-hum at best.

 

[TheBigA]

My guess is BetLQ was grinding them on a renewal price (considerably lower) for KGO

See below:

"The BetQL Network (known on air as The Bet) is a radio network owned and operated by Audacy, Inc."

 

[lanceventa]

This tells me a contract expired.


As widely expected....

Nope. BetQL is distributed in syndication by Cumulus' Westwood One. Barter deal within its own company.

You're right. You could change the call letters if/when they start the loop.

Again why? What common listener will know the difference or even notice between "KSFO San Francisco, KGO San Francisco" and "K___ San Francisco, KSFO San Francisco". And its buried at the TOH. The could keep 810 as KGO forever and brand it as "810 KSFO"

 

[TheBigA]

Nope. BetQL is distributed in syndication by Cumulus' Westwood One.

Only because BetQL's owner, Audacy doesn't own a syndication company. Regardless of distribution, there still is an affiliation contract.

Similar arrangement with Infinity Sports Network. Owned by Audacy, distributed by Westwood One.

 

[michael hagerty]

Again why?

I dunno, Lance. You suggested it. I thought I was agreeing with you.

My guess was that they'd wait until they had something new on 560 to make the switch.

What common listener will know the difference or even notice between "KSFO San Francisco, KGO San Francisco" and "K___ San Francisco, KSFO San Francisco". And its buried at the TOH. The could keep 810 as KGO forever and brand it as "810 KSFO"

Okay. So, then, Cumulus would be trying to preserve the branding of KSFO and the call letters of KGO.

To what end?

 

[radiofan2023]

Mandy Connell's unpleasant, raspy voice.

Is she worse than Nina Blackwood?

 

[alok]

I am actually based in the Albany-Schenectady area...And out of curiosity ....Why is KGO directional full time? I would think that being directional only at night would certainly protect WGY. And on that topic...Does WGY ever appear under KGO at night in some of its various nulls?

I used to think the same about KGO, why not non-DA daytime?

When we lived near Yosemite KGO's null was noticeable, you could still hear them, but they were not real strong.

I'm going to guess they figured, just one mode, cheaper installation???
I recall when I stopped at KGO's xmtr site on my way to work in SF one day I pointed out to the engineer that gave me a tour, that the array pointed "right at Oakland". You could see the Oakland skyline in the distance over the bay and the towers pointed right at it, and the engineer said the station was originally licensed for Oakland and that was the reason.

I liked KGO until Cumulus purchased them, they were fun to listen to up until the Cumulus purchase and they started messing with the station.

Might have already been said but any chance of bringing back the old KGO talk format, with some new and some old on-air people and new calls on 560? Would that format work today?

 

[michael hagerty]

Might have already been said but any chance of bringing back the old KGO talk format, with new on air people and new calls on 560? Would that format work today?

It didn't work on 810. Why would it work on a weaker signal? If you were going to do that, wouldn't it make more sense to re-invent KGO on KGO and leave KSFO where it was?