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New Call Letters for AM 560 Are KZAC. A Question:

D

Daryl Lynn L.A.

So it's permanent ! Saw this posted by Jim Hiliker on Facebook. KGO has been in existence since 1924, but no longer. It will now be KSFO 810. And KSFO in turn will now be KZAC 560. ( Do I have this right? Sure hope so. I know we have a thread below on this topic of switching frequencies, but this is now confirmed).

My question is: They will probably stop simulcasting now. So, will they hire new talent or have a new format? ( If this is redundant, I understand if it gets pulled down. - D.)

www.insideradio.com

So Long KGO: Historic Call Letters To Vanish From Bay Area Radio Dial.

A set of historic call letters will vanish from the radio dial on New Year’s Day. Come Jan. 1, KGO San Francisco (810) will adopt the KSFO calls long associated
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com
 
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Daryl Lynn L.A. said:
So it's permanent ! Saw this posted by Jim Hiliker on Facebook. KGO has been in existence since 1924, but no longer. It will now be KSFO 810. And KSFO in turn will now be KZAC 560. ( Do I have this right? Sure hope so. I know we have a thread below on this topic of switching frequencies, but this is now confirmed).

My question is: They will probably stop simulcasting now. So, will they hire new talent or have a new format? ( If this is redundant, I understand if it gets pulled down. - D.)

www.insideradio.com

So Long KGO: Historic Call Letters To Vanish From Bay Area Radio Dial.

A set of historic call letters will vanish from the radio dial on New Year’s Day. Come Jan. 1, KGO San Francisco (810) will adopt the KSFO calls long associated
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com
Click to expand...

We won't know until tomorrow, Daryl Lynn.

Cumulus is being uncharacteristically quiet about what goes on KZAC. There have been no leaks from within, much less official news releases.
 
In a way this had to happen given that KGO is less associated with radio than it did in the past. Also whenever we talk about the top news/talk station in San Francisco it’s associated with NPR affiliate KQED-FM. We mentioned in past threads on how KQED-FM killed off KGO(AM) due to money and demos. Also we mentioned how KCBS added a simulcast on 106.9 FM KFRC as the other factor here. It does not surprise me that Cumulus had to remove the KGO Call letters to protect KSFO. Cumulus has to remove the KGO calls due to those call letters being more associated with the Disney owned ABC affiliate than the radio station.

It will be interesting to see if Cumulus will remove KABC(AM) and WLS calls at some point in the same way that they are facing in San Francisco. Also with Red Apple we went in a circle over John Catsimatidis over him thinking about getting another station in the New York area but it became about his contract with Salem and the issues surrounding how long he keeps the WABC calls until his team is required to change the call letters.
 
KZAC call letters at one time belong to a station in Esparto, California which serves the Sacramento area which is now KLMG from 1995-1998 and it was a Spanish language station...
 
Daryl Lynn L.A. said:
So, will they hire new talent or have a new format?
Click to expand...

This is mainly a formalization of what they did a month ago of rebranding 810 as KSFO. They could continue with the simulcast, they could LMA the AM to another group, they could carry a Westwood One 24/7 format, or they could revive the sports betting format on 560. Consider that right now they have three stations (One FM and two AMs) that are all branded KNBR. So format originality is not their strong suit.

The one thing I would not expect would be hiring new talent.
 
TheBigA said:
The one thing I would not expect would be hiring new talent.
Click to expand...
I visited KGO about 16 years ago. At that time, outside of AM Drive, KSFO was virtually a light-out operation, running unattended (except for "emergencies") all day and night. Since then they've eliminated the morning show and gone 24-7 syndicated/automated. Now that they've moved that operation to the bigger, more robust 810 signal, why would they have any motivation to build a new brand and hire additional staff?

If I had to guess, I'd venture that they plan to move the secondary sports programming and audience (what little of it there is) from 1050 to 560, continue to brand it "KNBR" (except "KNBR-560" instead of "KNBR-1050"), and sell off 1050 for whatever it will fetch.

You really have to wonder about any management that still owns four AM signals in the same major market on the eve of 2025. (The only other one that comes to mind is Multicultural, and their business model is night-and-day different.)
 
Daryl Lynn L.A. said:
So it's permanent ! Saw this posted by Jim Hiliker on Facebook. KGO has been in existence since 1924, but no longer. It will now be KSFO 810. And KSFO in turn will now be KZAC 560. ( Do I have this right? Sure hope so. I know we have a thread below on this topic of switching frequencies, but this is now confirmed).

My question is: They will probably stop simulcasting now. So, will they hire new talent or have a new format? ( If this is redundant, I understand if it gets pulled down. - D.)
Click to expand...

michael hagerty said:
We won't know until tomorrow, Daryl Lynn.

Cumulus is being uncharacteristically quiet about what goes on KZAC. There have been no leaks from within, much less official news releases.
Click to expand...
As Mike said, we won't know until we know. Perhaps there has been nothing leaked or announced because there's nothing to leak or announce. In other words, 560 goes silent for a while, to save a little money during the winter doldrums and to give some time to shop the station around to a buyer or lessee. All it takes is a filing so the one-year clock starts in Washington.

Expect the unexpected, as they say (whoever "they" are).
Weiserguy said:
I visited KGO about 16 years ago. At that time, outside of AM Drive, KSFO was virtually a light-out operation, running unattended (except for "emergencies") all day and night. Since then they've eliminated the morning show and gone 24-7 syndicated/automated. Now that they've moved that operation to the bigger, more robust 810 signal, why would they have any motivation to build a new brand and hire additional staff?
Click to expand...
Or the financial ability, for that matter.

Weiserguy said:
If I had to guess, I'd venture that they plan to move the secondary sports programming and audience (what little of it there is) from 1050 to 560, continue to brand it "KNBR" (except "KNBR-560" instead of "KNBR-1050"), and sell off 1050 for whatever it will fetch.
Click to expand...
Certainly within the realm of probability.
Weiserguy said:
You really have to wonder about any management that still owns four AM signals in the same major market on the eve of 2025. (The only other one that comes to mind is Multicultural, and their business model is night-and-day different.)
Click to expand...
You can blame ABC and Citadel for that. The FMs all came from Susquehanna, which was a lot smarter about these sorts of things. Susquehanna also got out of the business at just the right time.
 
With that call (KZAC) it'll maybe be A/C (American Contemporary music) - THE ALL NEW 560 ZEEEE AC!!!!

yes music on AM !!!!

by the way - just kidding.
 
Weiserguy said:
You really have to wonder about any management that still owns four AM signals in the same major market
Click to expand...

What would you like them to do? The job of management is to manage. That's what they're doing. Some would say it's re-arranging deck chairs, but that's what management does. They weren't responsible for creating this cluster. That happened a long time ago.
 
TheBigA said:
What would you like them to do? The job of management is to manage. That's what they're doing. Some would say it's re-arranging deck chairs, but that's what management does. They weren't responsible for creating this cluster. That happened a long time ago.
Click to expand...
Well, I gave you one suggestion up above:
Weiserguy said:
If I had to guess, I'd venture that they plan to move the secondary sports programming and audience (what little of it there is) from 1050 to 560, continue to brand it "KNBR" (except "KNBR-560" instead of "KNBR-1050"), and sell off 1050 for whatever it will fetch.
Click to expand...
The fact is, my friend, they've had 15 years to do something about this situation. To sell/spin-off/liquidate/asphyxiate the weak sister of this cluster, and yet it's about to be 2025 and these geniuses are still so invested in the AM band.

You're right: they weren't responsible for creating this cluster. But they are responsible for allowing it to devolve into a world class clusterf**k.
 
Weiserguy said:
The fact is, my friend, they've had 15 years to do something about this situation. To sell/spin-off/liquidate/asphyxiate the weak sister of this cluster, and yet it's about to be 2025 and these geniuses are still so invested in the AM band.
Click to expand...

Have you ever worked for a big company? Nothing happens fast at a big company.

They seem to be getting closer now because the KNBR cash cow is running out of money.
 
alok said:
With that call (KZAC) it'll maybe be A/C (American Contemporary music) - THE ALL NEW 560 ZEEEE AC!!!!

yes music on AM !!!!

by the way - just kidding.
Click to expand...
It is going to be 560 Zach AM, playing what we want. It is going to be MOR, what Hank always wanted. Just like you I am kidding as well.
 
Y2kTheNewOldies said:
We mentioned in past threads on how KQED-FM killed off KGO(AM) due to money and demos.
Click to expand...
KGO was not killed by KQED. It died on its own en by not updating in the early Y2K years and allowing its audience to dissipate.

But the tw o shared few listeners, even in KGO’s stronger years .
 
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