SF's All-Sports FM, The Game", (95.7), has not penetrated my radio fancy.
In spite of bold intentions and a whole lot of talk, their content hasn't measured up to the verbal splash.
Even the latest big announcement of acquiring a huge load of big-sports audio content doesn't make for a game changer. You want to advance bold programming? Then hire people that have an edge and not largely, out-of-town NY loudmouths that don't know the Bay Area market and its nuances and shout a lot. It's not effective and it only insults the listeners that actually would love an alternative to the crass society on AM that largely ignores the audience The Game seems to want to attract.
To be fair, The Game has a lousy signal, (there's rumors circulating that Entercom's recent purchase of KBLX might be a move to switch the all-sports outlet to more signal-friendly, 102. 9...stay tuned); plus, The Game is saddled as being the flagship station for the A's. Until recently, that distinction has bogged down a good portion of The Game's content. Perhaps the baseball team's recent transactions might portend for a brighter partnership and bring about more listeners. So far, the results are in, there are very little listeners.
Another big irritant about The Game: The over-the-top and frankly, stupid and insipid, repetitive ads mocking KNBR. I'm hardly a fan of Knibber as most people know, but before you unleash an onslaught of spots making fun of your adversary, show some of your own plate presence. It's one thing to knock if you have some "Game", but get out of the batter's box before bragging about how much of a 300-hitter you are.
That's a real game changer.
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I disagree on our take about The Game. They have a steady mix of outside people and local people that complement each other.
ReplyDeleteThey also work harder. They have fun segments that take thought and planning. Last night, they had ex-Raider Thomas Howard on for an interview to talk about his time in Oakland playing with Randy Moss. They actually score interviews and asked questions designed to get an interesting response as opposed to the ones on KNBR that are designed to show people how smart they are.
Another thing ... I challenge you to grab a stop watch and listen to The Game and KNBR and time how much content there is per hour. Fuck, every time I turn on KNBR, it's some commercial. Their act is old and tired. And yeah, maybe The Game goes to far in ripping KNBR, but some of the ads are kind of funny. Give The Game a chance.
Add the Raiders,the Warriors.KBLX and get some people who have something "There" and KNBR is taken down. Tweak those insipid hosts..Urban and Lund are dull. They only have Fitz and Brooks to top?..THAT should be easy pickings for THEGAME.
ReplyDeleteI notice too..why does stupidity rule both stations mornings? You cant get any more cute than both stations from 6-10. I think ALL those guys-Raddy too- drive cars with stuffed bunnys and Monkeys on their cars rear windows deck. Raddy's Bentley must have 'em from pillar to pillar..
Rich says Krueger uses brown toilet paper on Raddys show..I say that fake smile of tuff guy Kreuger says he's now lining his Honda window with pink soft bunnys. Sold his soul..
DeleteThe Bay Area is not a rabid "sports market" like Detroit, St Louis, or Chicago. This is one of the reasons The Game will fail. Unfortunately the "hit" teams are the Giants and 49er's, & KNBR has the rights locked up. The Raiders, The Game is locked out of a flagship affiliation for at least one more season. The Oakland A's have a small market following, unless they make a run for the pennant, they will not be the magic bullet for the station's success. KNBR has been living off their signal, The Giants, & 49ers for years. They could open the mic and fart during the spring for 4 hours and still have huge ratings.
ReplyDelete"every time I turn on KNBR, it's some commercial."
ReplyDeleteYou're not hearing many commercials on The Game because no one's listening. Take a close listen to their "spot breaks" and you'll hear mostly PSA's and promos. Entercom just hired the Director of Sales from Cumulus-SF. Doubt she'll be able to do much with those ratings.
"out-of-town NY loudmouths that don't know the Bay Area market"
ReplyDeleteExactly. Why do these guys have to yell and talk so fast. Its a false energy. Yelling is for used car commercials. And enough of the pairings.
Eric Davis is a bright, enthusiastic, and insightful voice on the 49ers. Brandon Tierney is beyond irritating with his over-exaggerated NYC accent at 78 rpm at obnoxious decibel levels. He's as bad as Barbieri only less informed, if that's possible.
When it comes to intelligent conversation on the 49ers, the only guy even close is Steve Young and his appearances on the AM side are infrequent and constantly interrupted by the obsequious hosts.
People keep saying the Raiders to FM, but I don't see it. I think the Raiders are headed to KGO, it seems a better fit and a really strong signal on AM with maybe KFOG playing the games on FM. Adding the Raiders to KGO with Cal football games I think they could fit pretty nicely together. Plus, KGO has nothing on weekends anyway and you add in a weekly Raiders show sometime during the week and I think it'd be a fit.
ReplyDelete?..The Raiders are already on live 105 FM.
DeleteI agree enough of the KNBR bashing already, and getting a stronger signal will go far in gaining listeners. But I do hear more content re: A's, Raiders, Sharks than I ever got on 680/1050. And this is the inaugural line up of hosts so I do believe some will be cut loose after a fair performance evaluation.
ReplyDeleteBut-I do agree with the many posters over the months who have said the competiton has raised the bar somewhat. You always did say Raddy was a better interviewer Rich,and now KNBR lines up some tough eastern writers..and Raddy has to put aside the baby talk and get into real sports. No more beating his desk like a loon and overwrought laughter over every Tony Bruno joke about people only them two know about.
ReplyDeletehmm,Add Bruno to the list of co hosts Raddy burned through..
The Game has a hell of lot of work to do, especially with hosts, but they are pulling in better guests throughout all day-parts. KNBR has been extremely lazy with bookings these last few years.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side? In no way can Cumulus shareholders know what a huge impact and dominance KNBR SHOULD have on local radio. They SHOULD be no.1 and with a large gap between them and no.2 If shareholders only knew of Fitz and Brooks and Byrnes and Paulie..just like welfare money for them and loss of profits for the company,Lew Dickey would be ousted as CEO.
ReplyDeleteImagine 50,000 watts...the 49ers and Giants..with the Warriors.and on free radio? and your only no. 5 or 6???..only Hammer and Dickey with Bunghole can lie like crazy to keep shareholders from revolting.
At least two radio stations who play near elevator music are above KNBR. The shareholders have no idea what they settle for in Dickey and KNBR.
DeleteThe Game will never go anywhere until they abandon the FM dial.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of "Sports Talk" or sports play by play, I think of a strong and clear radio signal that reaches all parts of the western US. As a result KNBR will always be king.
When I think of FM radio I think of DJs who speak in hush tones and a signal that will not go beyond Burlingame. The Game has no chance. Good luck.
That's always been my feeling about FM in general, but then most of the posters on this site and others say that a station is irrelevant if it's not on FM. They say that's why KCBS has become even higher in the ratings because they have an FM outlet and they attribute KGO's fall in the ratings to the fact that they don't have an FM presence.
DeleteFM stations have very limited range and often get interference from other stations close to them on the dial. So where the radio folks come up with this notion that FM is where it's at is a mystery to me.
The problem with 'The Game' is that they are owned by Entercom, which like Cumulus, is a notoriously cheap company that won't pay talent and tries to do things at a cut-rate level.
ReplyDeleteHaving a team that virtually no one in the area even follows anymore (the A's) on your station for half a year doesn't help either. The Game would probably be better off if they didn't carry the A's at all.
The game is what it is,lund and the ,957959569595!!!#,what the,and urban duhhhh,the stupid knbr ads,,one day i added it up and in 3 min they said 95.7 12 times i know what station i am listening too,tierney with the i dont knows ,tell me if im wrongs ny crap,listen soon as regular giants games start knbr is where its at,
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with Rich. I think The Game 95.7 is listenable (but not John Lund or Mychael Urban). I can't say that about KNBR.
ReplyDeleteA lot has to do with The Game's listener base - it skews much younger than their competitor. Rich is too old to be in their base. Their shows are geared towards a younger audience. If you look at their Facebook page you will see a bunch of babies following them.
Even when you listen to 95.7's commercials one can tell they are geared towards young men (e.g., energy drinks, the new Penthouse Club in SF, etc.) If 95.7 is in it for the long-haul, they can be competitive with KNBR. KNBR's core listener base will die off - literally, grave by grave. If anything this new contract which allows 95.7 to broadcast NFL prime-time games, the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl just shows me that 95.7 The Game is in it for the long-haul and won't be going away anytime soon.
Hey 2:29 You make a few points, but fall dead in the most important area. The reason KNBR is successful (besides longevity and signal) is that they are the flagship stations for the Bay Areas two most popular teams. Period. It's great that The Game "targets" a younger audience, so far they don't have squat in terms of ratings. They don't have the luxury of any team which will carry them during the MBL and NFL seasons. I don't care how young you skew you had better win Men 25-54, or forget it.
DeleteRadnich he of the Bently parked in the alley with some transvestite in the back seat with him - TODAY - tried embarasssing Kevin Lynch by (supposedley kiddingly) asking if he knew anything else other than football.
ReplyDeleteLynch is full of class. Radnich is a punk. The incarcerated translation.
It was a Jag. Get your facts straight!
DeleteRadnich is so self conscious about his lack of sports knowledge, when he is actually faced with a legitimate sports topic question he either a) changes the subject, b) mocks the caller for having nothing better to do than talk sports (oh the irony) c) berates the caller and questions his manhood or d) dodges the question altogether and cuts off the call. Its classic bullying. I have no idea what the man is like in person, but on his radio show he comes across only as a bloated, loudmouthed egotist bully who is scared that people will actually realizes he doesn't know anything about sports and doesn't care, either. I don't find it compelling, so I stopped listening.
DeleteOne addition that 95.7 FM needs is for the moronic, idiotic Patrick Connor to join his buddy Dibbly. Connors lives in the Tenderloin wearing his wife beater shirts while lying on his one piece of furniture - his couch while farting, burping and smoking.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most Uncouth KNBR employees. Loves his saloon show during College football, married to Auburn football, the illegal activities of Cam Newton and his father. Loves calling people jag offs or jerk offs. How ironic that he is the biggest of them all.
Much prefer the Game for my sport's fix; the Rise Guys and Lund, Poppa, and Urban, are entertaining and don't take themselves too seriously. Tierney is humourless, about as appealing as listening to a chainsaw. Davis deserves better. Infinitely better than the creeps on KNBR.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tuned in to 680 since 95.7 came along. They're far more entertaining than their AM rivals and give all of the Bay Area teams equal airtime, something that always bothered me about KNBR.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if a lot of their problem is simply the public, so used to AM sports being the only "game in town", not even knowing that the FM alternative exists.
I found their antagonistic, mocking ads of 680 to be funny and attention-getting when they first rolled out their revised format, but they should probably switch to something else now or it will come across as petty. Being beaten with the same schtick all of the time can get old after a while.
I agree about their signal. Despite their proclamation of "crystal clear FM", I find myself constantly turning my radio at work trying to get a strong feed from them. More broadcast power would definitely help them spread their message.
All-in-all, I'm still a fan, and I won't turn the dial off of Game as long as they stay on the air.
Not a surprise a 50ish guy that blogs about AM radio would pass on The Game. I'm really more curious to learn who is on the supposedly long list untapped of "local" sports talk talent The Game should have hired instead of out of towners?
ReplyDeleteKNBR is barely hanging in there these days, but the Giants and 9ers keep them afloat, while 95.7 has poor taste in KNBR bashing commercials and Dibbs continues to complain about his former employer. It's like a boys soap opera for crying out loud. Guess he has a hard time to move on and move up.
ReplyDeleteSirius Channel 88. NFL Channel. Once you listen to it, you'll NEVER listen to KNBR again, even when the game is on because it's simulcast on Sirius. As for the FM station: poor signal. Online, I'm sick of Kaiser ads. Sorry, back to Sirius.
ReplyDelete