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Bloomberg 960 ending October 1

Weiserguy said:
As I've said before, that's only going to work for so long if it's not showing results for the sponsors after some reasonable tryout. The A's are a very unpopular organization around these parts nowadays, especially so with their "P1" fans. John Fisher has done everything short of watering the infield with Chevron Supreme and lighting a match. (In fact, if he tried that but promised to personally light the match from the pitcher's mound he'd probably get a full house cheering him on.) Today's the final home game, and the attendees, the Oakland faithful, are mourning their memories, not the current organization. The prevailing attitude on the Mr. Fisher and his current-day Athletics is akin to "Good riddance to bad rubbish."
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And that changes the entire context. The audience shares, miniscule as they are, may be at an elevated level simply because it's the final season in Oakland and that very charming stadium (been there).

This article from the Washington Post is of interest for multiple reasons, including who wrote it. It's more even-handed than most articles about the A's but it's notable which owner's name was left out of the shout-outs toward the end of the article.


(Edit: Apologies in advance. An email address is required to read it. I didn't know until now that the WaPo was pulling that kind of stunt.)
TheBigA said:
They seemed to be satisfied with the .3 they got from 960 for the past few years. What makes you think that would change?
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That's this year, when they've still been in Oakland. Next year, in Sacramento, it's probably going to be different. The temporary Sacramento domicile is a big fat middle finger sent Oakland's way.

Moreover, one has to account for the lack of alternatives for the broadcasts. For whatever reason, KGMZ (the original FM sports talker) did not pick them up. Presumably that's because KGMZ thought they could do better, i.e. make more money, with other programming.

On FM, there are practically no choices for placing the broadcast. On AM, I'm of the opinion that it would be unlikely that the broadcasts could be placed anywhere else. Maybe KTRB, even though that station seems like an afterthought to Salem. Still, I don't think Salem typically goes for play-by-play sports and the team's management is now more interested in Las Vegas than in Oakland. Coverage on a third-tier AM station in the Bay Area market isn't going to help them in Las Vegas. The A's are unlikely to want to spend much if any money to secure such coverage.

Still, I did not see a sports format coming if that is indeed what's going to happen and it's not a head fake. But iHeart may just use it for clearances with minimal effort put into it. The Bay Area is not sports-mad, unlike, say, Denver, so there's only so much audience to share.
Weiserguy said:
(regarding KGO)

(I wonder what Cumulus's "Plan C" is if/when this collapses? Which isn't out-of-the-question since online sports betting remains illegal in the state of California, after those propositions went down to defeat a couple of years ago.)
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If there is a plan, which is giving Cumulus a lot of unearned credit, I suspect it would be to go back to the talk identity, this time entirely with syndicated hosts. Or if one of the South Asian broadcasters comes up with enough money to buy it, a format for one of those communities.
 
Mark Roberts said:
That's this year, when they've still been in Oakland. Next year, in Sacramento, it's probably going to be different. The temporary Sacramento domicile is a big fat middle finger sent Oakland's way.
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They already have a deal with a Sacramento station:

KHTK-AM 1140 in Sacramento also provides coverage, along with 11 additional radio network affiliates throughout Northern California on the A’s Radio Network.

It's owned by Bonneville. But as I said, if the A's want to stay on 960, I expect iHeart will continue regardless of format.
 
TheBigA said:
They already have a deal with a Sacramento station:

KHTK-AM 1140 in Sacramento also provides coverage, along with 11 additional radio network affiliates throughout Northern California on the A’s Radio Network.
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Which is quite audible in the East Bay, by the way.

TheBigA said:
It's owned by Bonneville. But as I said, if the A's want to stay on 960, I expect iHeart will continue regardless of format.
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Obviously, it's up to the team first and foremost. The public won't know for sure until early next year.
 
Mark Roberts said:
If there is a plan, which is giving Cumulus a lot of unearned credit, I suspect it would be to go back to the talk identity, this time entirely with syndicated hosts.
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Cumulus already has a station that does that in the market: KSFO. The company that doesn't is iHeart.
 
TheBigA said:
That appears to be fake
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The reason I don't believe it's a fake, is already. the Bloomberg 960 format has been replaced by a Sports & talk format that clearly identifies itself as KNEW 960 IHeart Sports and more on the former HD-2 simulcast on KOSF 103.7 FM. This has been on 103.7 since at least Tuesday morning.
 
jpoii said:
The reason I don't believe it's a fake, is already. the Bloomberg 960 format has been replaced by a Sports & talk format that clearly identifies itself as KNEW 960 IHeart Sports and more on the former HD-2 simucast on KOSF 103.7 FM. This has been on 103.7 since at least Tuesday morning.
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I'm not doubting the format. I'm doubting the Facebook page. iHeart doesn't seem like the kind of company that launches an incomplete and unprofessional Facebook page a week before a format change.

As I've been saying, 960 has been airing Oakland A's games with the HD2 simulcast.

BLOOMBERG 960 AM and 103.7 HD-2 are home for A’s games in the Bay Area. Coverage includes the A’s Total Access pregame show and A’s Clubhouse, the A’s post-game show.
 
TheBigA said:
It was launched on the 24th. There is no station website yet, although they may have registered a domain. Lance would know that.
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960knew.com directs to an iHeart 404 page. That registration dates from 2011, however.
 
TheBigA said:
I'm not doubting the format. I'm doubting the Facebook page. iHeart doesn't seem like the kind of company that launches an incomplete and unprofessional Facebook page a week before a format change.

As I've been saying, 960 has been airing Oakland A's games with the HD2 simulcast.

BLOOMBERG 960 AM and 103.7 HD-2 are home for A’s games in the Bay Area. Coverage includes the A’s Total Access pregame show and A’s Clubhouse, the A’s post-game show.
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Well whether or not the fb page is a fake, what I'm saying is since Tuesday morning Bloomberg is no longer on KOSF HD-2 103.7 and the format of that signal matched this fb page as well as is running an ID as if it's already on KNEW Oakland 960.
 
jpoii said:
Well whether or not the fb page is a fake, what I'm saying is since Tuesday morning Bloomberg is no longer on KOSF HD-2 103.7 and the format of that signal matched this fb page as well as is running an ID as if it's already on KNEW Oakland 960.
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So if you want to preview the new format listen on an HD-Radio 103.7 HD-2 despite 960 iding KOSF it is no longer simulcasting Bloomberg 960 but is identifying as KNEW 960 with a Sports format but also has a conservative talk show before 6 AM.
 
radiofan2023 said:
The fact that it’s on Facebook with no station website link or posts should scream “FAKE” to everyone.
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As I stated in the post even if it screams fake fb page as you say, as of Tuesday, my routine of listening to Bloomberg on 103.7 HD-2 ended as that station switched to IHeart Sports and More and IDs as if it's the AM 960 signal KNEW Oakland 960.
 
TheBigA said:
No it's fake. iHeart doesn't name it's stations using the iHeart name.
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Again 103.7 HD-2 is airing a format identified as IHeart Sports and More, until Monday they simulcast Bloomberg 960. However the HD-2 channel rather than IDing as KOSF - hd-2, it identifies as IHeart Sports and more 960 - KNEW Oakland. It also avertises a lot available IHeart Podcasts.
 
TheBigA said:
Notice I didn't say "never." But when they brand sports stations, it's either as Fox Sports Net or as Sports Radio, as with KJR.
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Well I guess either you don't have an HD-Radio or don't live in the area served by KOSF as they discontinued the simulcast of Bloomberg 960 KNEW early this week and the format is clearly identified on that signal as IHeart Sports and More 960 KNEW.
 
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