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560

My controversial thought of the day:

Yes, I think it’s the end of the run for 560. It’s not a horrible signal, but a lot of the AM has probably reached the end of its lifespan.

With that being said, I still see a lot of life left in big signals like 810. Based on the commentary here, I don’t think many others agree. I’m somewhere between a millennial and Gen Z, and see no issue whatsoever with news, talk, and information content on the AM dial. When I’m in the bay area I listen to KCBS on 740 all of the time and don’t think twice about it. Sure, KCBS is also on 106.9, but I find 740 to be more listenable across the market. The audio quality isn’t CD stereo, but 50kw on a good frequency gives you clear reception. No big deal to me.

There’s no doubt that FM is technically better. And as much as I have nostalgia for listening to music on AM, we all know that those days are over. But there’s only so many FMs in a market to go around. I see nothing wrong with keeping the major 50kw stations running, since everyone in the market can hear it if there’s something there that they want to hear. Even if 80% of AM stations shut down tomorrow, I’d hope the major 50kw stations would get to stick around since I don’t really see that much of a difference between what they can/can’t do, and what FM does.
 
michael hagerty said:
The conservative audience for KSFO (such as it is) considers KGO to have been a "liberal" station. As for why they didn't just bury the KGO ID during the simulcast period and move the calls the day of taking 560 silent, who knows?
Click to expand...
After two years of "The Spread", not related to a food product, I doubt KGO retained much of an identity. KSFO had a least a little bit of a brand identity remaining.

They might not have wanted the KGO brand to reappear on 560 on the outside chance that they found a buyer for it. The calls couldn't be parked somewhere else out of market (viz. KFOG).
 
Just curious. Recently on March 1, 2026 KBLU 560 AM in Yuma, Arizona went silent because of the sale to K-Love from El Dorado Broadcasting LLC for their FM stations. Not really sure if they did or didn't turn in their license...
 
MartyG said:
Just curious. Recently on March 1, 2026 KBLU 560 AM in Yuma, Arizona went silent because of the sale to K-Love from El Dorado Broadcasting LLC for their FM stations. Not really sure if they did or didn't turn in their license...
Click to expand...
KBLU applied for a silent STA. The very brief narrative in the request says "the licensee if [sic] evaluating future options". (As contrasted to past options?). The license is still valid for up to a year after the date the station went silent as long as the STA renewal (STAs typically are granted for 180 days and can be renewed once) is timely filed.
 
Mark Roberts said:
After two years of "The Spread", not related to a food product, I doubt KGO retained much of an identity. KSFO had a least a little bit of a brand identity remaining.

They might not have wanted the KGO brand to reappear on 560 on the outside chance that they found a buyer for it. The calls couldn't be parked somewhere else out of market (viz. KFOG).
Click to expand...

Good points (especially about protecting the KSFO calls---as Audacy does with the KFRC calls), but---

Conservative KSFO listeners didn't track the decline and fall of KGO. Most people (including folks on this site) didn't think "The Spread" was KGO. It was something different from “KGO”, and airing on the same frequency, but Cumulus chose not to change the call letters.
 
Last edited:
fordranger797 said:
My controversial thought of the day:

Yes, I think it’s the end of the run for 560. It’s not a horrible signal, but a lot of the AM has probably reached the end of its lifespan.

With that being said, I still see a lot of life left in big signals like 810. Based on the commentary here, I don’t think many others agree. I’m somewhere between a millennial and Gen Z, and see no issue whatsoever with news, talk, and information content on the AM dial. When I’m in the bay area I listen to KCBS on 740 all of the time and don’t think twice about it. Sure, KCBS is also on 106.9, but I find 740 to be more listenable across the market. The audio quality isn’t CD stereo, but 50kw on a good frequency gives you clear reception. No big deal to me.

There’s no doubt that FM is technically better. And as much as I have nostalgia for listening to music on AM, we all know that those days are over. But there’s only so many FMs in a market to go around. I see nothing wrong with keeping the major 50kw stations running, since everyone in the market can hear it if there’s something there that they want to hear. Even if 80% of AM stations shut down tomorrow, I’d hope the major 50kw stations would get to stick around since I don’t really see that much of a difference between what they can/can’t do, and what FM does.
Click to expand...

What you don't address here is how you drag an audience that has left the band back to it. It cannot survive on people who "don't mind" AM when there's an FM alternative. And while people could hear "if there's something there that they want to hear", they don't bother and haven't for years.
 
TheBigA said:
The KGO calls were used under license from Disney. Just like the KABC calls in LA and WABC calls in NY. Might be related to that.
Click to expand...

I know there is an agreement similar to the one between CBS and Audacy, but there must be something different here ... the reason WCBS/880 had to change calls to WHSQ in New York was because there was a format change involved. If there had been a similar clause between ABC and Cumulus in their agreement, the KGO calls would have had to be removed from 810 when they went all-sports betting.

I bet @fybush knows ...
 
michael hagerty said:
What you don't address here is how you drag an audience that has left the band back to it. It cannot survive on people who "don't mind" AM when there's an FM alternative. And while people could hear "if there's something there that they want to hear", they don't bother and haven't for years.
Click to expand...
I have a question about the “FM alternative” you referenced. Yes, FM exists, and yes, it’s absolutely the place I’d want to go to hear most music content. But there are only so many FM stations to go around. I think many AM stations have outlived their realistic expiration, but there still needs to be a place that people go for other content that doesn’t have a home on FM. Realistically, streaming can do a lot of the heavy lifting here, but I see a good use case for the major AM stations that can cover a market and do it well (without interference). That doesn’t solve the problem of getting people to go listen to them, but it’s an option.

If we shut down most of the band, but kept the major 50kw stations, would we be better off (and give those stations a little extra life)?
 
fordranger797 said:
If we shut down most of the band, but kept the major 50kw stations, would we be better off (and give those stations a little extra life)?
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that every station is a business, so having the government shutting down stations is having them shutting down business. Not a popular thing to do for politicians. How does the government reimburse them for their loss? Or is it just eminent domain?

That's the unique problem in the public/private partnership that is the US broadcasting system.

But sure, the most efficient thing would be to shut down all the low powered AM stations that overloaded the spectrum many years ago. By doing so, they might be able to return the bandwidth to where it once was in the 1940s.
 
TheBigA said:
Keep in mind that every station is a business, so having the government shutting down stations is having them shutting down business. Not a popular thing to do for politicians. How does the government reimburse them for their loss? Or is it just eminent domain?

That's the unique problem in the public/private partnership that is the US broadcasting system.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of it more from the angle of radio station shutting down on their own free will (as opposed to it being something mandated). A lot of the smaller AM stations have started to disappear in the past few years. From my perspective, that isn't a bad thing per se. It gives a little breathing room to the other AMs that could benefit from the band thinning out a bit.
 
TheBigA said:
Sure, and you'd probably see 2000 AMs shut themselves down immediately if the FCC allowed them to originate programming from their FM translators. But that issue was discussed at length here and in other places.
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That is indeed true. It seems like many of those AMs with an FM translator are class C or D. The AMs that are class A or B are in a better position.
 
michael hagerty said:
Good points (especially about protecting the KSFO calls---as Audacy does with the KFRC calls), but---

Conservative KSFO listeners didn't track the decline and fall of KGO. Most people (including folks on this site) didn't think "The Spread" was KGO. It was something different from “KGO”, and airing on the same frequency, but Cumulus chose not to change the call letters.
Click to expand...
Very fair point. (The way they lurched into it didn't help perceptions.) I wonder if any listeners held out hope that the old KGO would come back in some form. Maybe the move of the KSFO call letters was intended, at least in part, to make it clear that the old KGO was not coming back even if 810 returned to a talk format. I'm making a big assumption that Cumulus cared about public reaction. That's probably too big of an assumption.
 
If 560 does resume operations for a few days to keep it alive ...what will they air? A simulcast of KSFO would confuse some listeners, thinking the 560 frequency is back on the air. I think the previous redirect loop would be best.

Or how about an AM simulcast of 'The Bone'. I don't think those listeners would stumble upon it... being that it's on AM.
 
KilowattKat said:
If 560 does resume operations for a few days to keep it alive ...what will they air? A simulcast of KSFO would confuse some listeners, thinking the 560 frequency is back on the air. I think the previous redirect loop would be best.

Or how about an AM simulcast of 'The Bone'. I don't think those listeners would stumble upon it... being that it's on AM.
Click to expand...
Isn’t the station enough of a dog?
 
KilowattKat said:
If 560 does resume operations for a few days to keep it alive ...what will they air? A simulcast of KSFO would confuse some listeners, thinking the 560 frequency is back on the air. I think the previous redirect loop would be best.
Click to expand...

They're long gone now and would never even notice.
 


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