Any A's update?

[radioguy39nj]

It's four years, according to the Oakland A's official press release.

The complete A's network, including KBWF (but not KFRC/1550 or KTRB/860), will include Auburn (KAHI, 950 AM), Eureka (KATA, 1340 AM), Red Bluff (KBLF, 1490 AM), Mt. Shasta (KCWH, 102.3 FM), Modesto (KESP, 970 AM), Redding (KNRO, 1670 AM), Crescent City (KPOD, 1240 AM), King City (KRKC, 1490 AM), Sacramento (KSAC, 105.5 FM), Napa (KVON, 1440 AM), Winnemucca, Nev. (KWNA, 1400 AM) and Lakeport (KXBX, 1270 AM).

The press release mentions the other MLB teams that have FM flags, Pirates, Rangers, Nationals and Braves. On the other hand, the Orioles returned to WBAL (1090 AM) from CBS sports talker WJZ-FM (105.7 The Fan). The Cardinals turned down an offer from Bonneville FM sports talker 101 ESPN to return to their long-time home, CBS' KMOX (1120 AM). WBAL and KMOX are 50 kW blowtorches.

 

[LKellerIII]

I guess this blows a big hole in the immediate viability of "105.3 The Fan," huh?

 

[kover]

Perhaps they'll move over to 102.1/98.5 K-Fox this Summer, once the Sharks complete their quest for the Stanley Cup...

Or perhaps the Sharks slide over from 102.1/98.5 to 95.7 and you now have a perfect station to be 24/7 sports outlet with 2 professional sports teams. Sports stations have a higher power ratio and it will very likely get better ratings than the current country format.

 

[Truthiness4DaBray]

Perhaps they'll move over to 102.1/98.5 K-Fox this Summer, once the Sharks complete their quest for the Stanley Cup...

Or perhaps the Sharks slide over from 102.1/98.5 to 95.7 and you now have a perfect station to be 24/7 sports outlet with 2 professional sports teams. Sports stations have a higher power ratio and it will very likely get better ratings than the current country format.

Sure, and which team gets pre-empted for scheduling conflicts?

 

[Madmansam]

I guess this blows a big hole in the immediate viability of "105.3 The Fan," huh?

How about "95.7 The Fan"?

 

[create]

Perhaps they'll move over to 102.1/98.5 K-Fox this Summer, once the Sharks complete their quest for the Stanley Cup...

Or perhaps the Sharks slide over from 102.1/98.5 to 95.7 and you now have a perfect station to be 24/7 sports outlet with 2 professional sports teams. Sports stations have a higher power ratio and it will very likely get better ratings than the current country format.

It would be very surprising if the Sharks considered leaving 98.5's excellent South Bay signal for 95.7, which doesn't cover San Jose very well. The team and station both seem pretty happy with the current arrangement. With the Giants and Warriors now being the only major sports teams in the market that are not on FM, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for those teams to make a move in that direction.

 

[sfradio]

how about 95.7 the elephant instead of the wolf?

 

[SCV_Ears]

It's four years, according to the Oakland A's official press release.
,
The complete A's network, including KBWF (but not KFRC/1550 or KTRB/860), will include Auburn (KAHI, 950 AM), Eureka (KATA, 1340 AM), Red Bluff (KBLF, 1490 AM), Mt. Shasta (KCWH, 102.3 FM), Modesto (KESP, 970 AM), Redding (KNRO, 1670 AM), Crescent City (KPOD, 1240 AM), King City (KRKC, 1490 AM), Sacramento (KSAC, 105.5 FM), Napa (KVON, 1440 AM), Winnemucca, Nev. (KWNA, 1400 AM) and Lakeport (KXBX, 1270 AM).

KYOS in Merced dropped off the network? Surprise ... but there were a few years in the mid-90s where they left because management didn't want to hire a board op after hours/weekends, and KESP is not an option when it goes directional at night. Always found it strange they couldn't find a station in Fresno, either, or they may be crowded out with Giants, Dodgers and Grizzlies broadcasts on the air already.

 

[radioguy39nj]

It would be very surprising if the Sharks considered leaving 98.5's excellent South Bay signal for 95.7, which doesn't cover San Jose very well. The team and station both seem pretty happy with the current arrangement. With the Giants and Warriors now being the only major sports teams in the market that are not on FM, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for those teams to make a move in that direction.

Entercom could flip 95.7 to sports and simulcast the Sharks' games on that frequency, which would raise the profile of the team to San Francisco and Oakland. The Sharks should stay on the 98.5 frequency since it covers their core market in the South Bay.

As for the Giants and Warriors having FM envy, can anyone say KNBR-FM?

 

[DaveBayArea]

Now we have to lobby for KBWF to shut down their HD during games. I remember when the A's were on Free-FM it was always a PITA to listen to the game at the ballpark. Something great would happen at the game and you'd hear it on the radio 15 seconds later. That time seems like an eternity when the crowd is going crazy.

 

[travisl5678]

Is it just me, or has the A's radio network gotten smaller in Recent years?

I could see 95.7 as Sports, Entercom owns a few FM sports outlets

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Susan Slusser has a terrific article about the A's and their radio situation in this morning's Kronickel, which includes this interesting tidbit:

According to Ken Pries, the team's vice president of broadcasting, the A's signed a letter of intent to buy [KTRB] at an agreed-upon price more than a month ago. Multiple sources said that the offer was more than double KTRB's likely worth, based on the team's due diligence. It's believed that the A's bid in the range of $7 million. In addition, the team was preparing to spend an additional $2 million to upgrade the nighttime transmitter.


Complete article at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/31/SP511INLGS.DTL

 

[Madmansam]

how about 95.7 the elephant instead of the wolf?

No. That moniker would work better with an All Conservative Talk Format like KSFO-560! LOL!

 

[sfradio]

how about 95.7 the elephant instead of the wolf?

No. That moniker would work better with an All Conservative Talk Format like KSFO-560! LOL!

probably only republicans's listen to country music, so I think it would be a fitting choice

 

[travisl5678]

Listening to the broadcast tonight, it seems Entercom plans to keep 95.7 country for now, wonder how much longer it will last for

 

[radioguy39nj]

Listening to the broadcast tonight, it seems Entercom plans to keep 95.7 country for now, wonder how much longer it will last for

Baseball on any music format can only mean a flip is in the works. When the Yankees moved their games to WABC in 1981, it was the first move towards the top 40 icon flipping to talk nearly a year later. If past history matters, 95.7 flipping to sports is a strong possibility.

 

[DavidKaye]

Baseball on any music format can only mean a flip is in the works. When the Yankees moved their games to WABC in 1981, it was the first move towards the top 40 icon flipping to talk nearly a year later. If past history matters, 95.7 flipping to sports is a strong possibility.

Why? It depends on the demo the station is going after. If 95.7 is going after men I see no conflict with putting baseball on the station. KNBR had Giants baseball for years while they had a music format. It didn't hurt them.

 

[LKellerIII]

Baseball on any music format can only mean a flip is in the works. When the Yankees moved their games to WABC in 1981, it was the first move towards the top 40 icon flipping to talk nearly a year later. If past history matters, 95.7 flipping to sports is a strong possibility.

Why? It depends on the demo the station is going after. If 95.7 is going after men I see no conflict with putting baseball on the station. KNBR had Giants baseball for years while they had a music format. It didn't hurt them.

Comparing KNBR with a modern music-intensive FM station is a bit of a stretch, though. KNBR was a full service MOR station, with lots of DJ chatter, news, sports, and commercials. Their demo wasn't expecting to hear more than a few songs per hour, and the teams carried by the station were a more integral part of the format. The DJs talked about the games, talked on air to the team managers and coaches, etc.

It was said that As baseball was one of 106.9/KFRC's problems. Listeners would tune in expecting to hear Classic Hits, hear baseball instead, and tune right out again. If you do that enough times during baseball season, you probably stop tuning in all together...unless you're an As fan, of course. And if you are a fan, you'll tune in whatever station is carrying the game, whether you listen to their regular programming or not.

Having said that, you may be right that Country music listeners would be more accepting.

 

[radioguy39nj]

It was said that As baseball was one of 106.9/KFRC's problems. Listeners would tune in expecting to hear Classic Hits, hear baseball instead, and tune right out again. If you do that enough times during baseball season, you probably stop tuning in all together...unless you're an As fan, of course. And if you are a fan, you'll tune in whatever station is carrying the game, whether you listen to their regular programming or not.

Having said that, you may be right that Country music listeners would be more accepting.

Fair points, but are there any other music-intensive FMs that are MLB flagships?

Comparing MLB to NFL teams on music-intensive FMs isn't fair because baseball is played every day, football is played once a week. Right there in SF, a 49ers' fan might not like the music played on KSAN, but that fan will tune in 107.7 FM on game day. The only NFL teams without an FM flagship are the two NY teams, Chicago and Denver.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Thoughts on listening to the A's on 95.7 The Wolf during Saturday evening's game: terrible audio ... unless they were trying hard to replicate bad AM radio sound, in which case they succeeded perfectly well. Listening all the way from Emeryville onto 580 through Oakland over to Pleasanton, the sound was just plain bad: thin, tinny, and the "sssizzle" on the letter "S" in every commercial was so hissy that it got downright annoying.

I've heard better audio on 32 kbps Internet feeds of baseball. If this was a last-minute, scraped-together audio feed, then that's fine; it will probably be fixed. I expected rich, full "FM" sound, and got something significantly worse.

The claim that 95.7 covers all the way to Stockton? Not even close -- not even close to close. The station faded out when I hit the Altamont Pass, and was gone for good by the time I reached West Nowhere.