The Raiders have left the Death Valley of Radio and signed on with 'The Game', (95.7 FM), Entercom's All-Sports FM outlet. That's good news, although ironically the station, (which is also the flagship outlet of the A's), also has a poor signal that is hard to hear in many parts of the Bay Area.
Nevertheless, it's good that the Raiders have at least signed onto a station that has a sports brand; more importantly, local talk shows that can be utilized to talk pro football and the Raiders, in particular.
Greg Papa and Tom Flores will continue on as the broadcast team--Papa returning to do the play-by-play and Flores providing analysis.
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Does this mean they're going forward with sports and that the PD will be canned?
ReplyDeleteNow this is an improvement. Who in their right mind was listening to a radio station that was faint.
ReplyDeleteA station that would fade in and out.
But if the truth must be known or at least this opinion given, nothing beats sports with a strong AM signal.
Look no further than the Giants and the 49ers.
I throughly enjoy listening to Greg Pappa... definitely NOT a Silver& Black shill. He calls em' as he see's em'. And a former coach as your color commentator; Tom Flores. Great broadcast team.
DeleteJim,
DeleteAre you serious? I will agree Papa is good, but he will bleed silver and black. Rarely does he say a bad thing about them. Flores.....I am sorry but he doesn't do a thing for me on the broadcast. Great coach who belongs in the HOF but not great on the radio. Would much rather see someone like Rod Woodson in that spot now.
Have to remember all broadcast teams are employees of the teams....they won't talk bad about them and rarely will say a bad thing about a player until they are gone.
I've listened to Pappa for years and one of my favorite things I heard him say that I repeated to Raiders fans over the years was from a game in the late 90's when during the game he lamented "The Raiders suck, the Raiders suck, the Raiders suck." with almost as much showbiz passion as he bellows "Touchdown Raiders"
DeleteThe Game has yet to do anything right so I'm sure they will screw this up. It's not as if 16 broadcasts a year will do anything to help their dismal ratings. As long as that embarrassment of a PD remains, this station will continue to languish far below KNBR. When will the adults at Entercomm realize there are nothing but juveniles working things at 95.7?
ReplyDeleteIt's not just new sports stations Entercom can't figure out. They've also taken a heritage sports station in Boston and run it into the ground. 2 hosts recently resigned on the air. As for being the Raiders "flagship station," that's a joke. Just like they're supposedly the A's "flagship station."
DeleteJust to add to this comment.
DeleteVisit the link below & watch one of the former on air hosts at Boston Radio Entercom station explain why he left, WEEI.
Sounds Familiar
http://www.bostonsportsmedia.com/2013/04/globe-hires-ben-volin-locals-crushed
"THE GAME 95.7" | KGMZ-FM | SIGNAL STRENGTH & COVERAGE
ReplyDeleteFM radio and TV signals provide coverage that is generally limited (with a few exceptions) to line-of-sight (LOS) between receiver and transmitter. In the Bay Area, where much of the terrain is hilly or mountainous, FM and TV reception can be problematic. Ideally, Bay Area FM/TV stations want to locate their transmitter on top of a mountain (e.g., Mt. Sutro in San Francisco) -- as high above the surrounding terrain as possible -- in order to maximize coverage.
"95.7 The Game," KGMZ-FM, 95.7 mhz, is licensed by the FCC to transmit with a non-directional antenna and an effective radiated power of 6,900 watts from a transmitter located on "Radio Peak" atop San Bruno Mountain at 1,476 feet above sea level (1,289 feet above average terrain and 256 feet above ground level). If you can see the top of San Bruno Mountain from your location, you should be able to receive "The Game" on your radio clearly.
A dozen or so other FM stations licensed to San Francisco also broadcast from the same location as 95.7: San Bruno Mountain. Therefore, in that respect, it is not at a comparative disadvantage.
Several FM stations on San Bruno Mountain, however, have been grandfathered by the FCC to broadcast with very powerful signals that do give them an advantage over "The Game" and others despite them sharing a common designation as "full service" stations.
These include: KQED-FM, 88.5 mhz, at 110,000 watts; KIOI-FM, 101.3 mhz, at 46,500 watts; and KMEL 106.1 mhz, at 69,000 watts. By comparison, 95.7, at 6,900 watts, has 1/16th the power of KQED and 1/10th the power of KMEL. In that respect, "The Game," with its much weaker signal, will encounter greater difficulty in overcoming terrain obstacles and reaching fringe areas.
KGMZ has a second transmitter with an ERP of 186 watts on Mt. Diablo, with a directional (westerly) signal, providing coverage to central Contra Costa County, including Concord, Walnut Creek, and San Ramon as well as Benicia and Pleasanton.
Several TV transmitters are also on San Bruno Mountain, including KTSF, KKPX and NBC Bay Area's KNTV, Channel 11.
Transmitter locations on Google Maps:
*KGMZ-FM - San Francisco (San Bruno Mt.)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=37.689722,+-122.436667+(KGMZ-FM)&om=1
*KGMZ-FM1 - Walnut Creek (Mt. Diablo)
http://maps.google.com/?q=http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/contourplot.kml?gmap=2%26appid=600158%26call=KGMZ-FM1%26freq=95.7%26contour=60%26city=WALNUT_CREEK%26state=CA.kml
A few questions come to mind, who gets bumped on Sundays in the fall...A's or Raiders? One of them will end up on the other FM station that carries the Sharks and can only really be heard in the South Bay. 95.7 is a bit better but still out here in parts of CoCo county many times we can't really pull it in.
ReplyDeleteThe other question would be/is did the Raiders tell them to get rid of so much 49ers talk? I am sure the 49ers don't want to hear the Balke show, "49ers Insider" etc, they want all Raiders all the time. We have already heard the rumblings they A's aren't that happy with all the Giants talk on the "A's station."
1. Entercom says in the event of a conflict with Oakland A’s baseball, the Raiders games will move over to classic rock sister “K-Fox” KUZX, San Francisco (102.1) and KUFX, San Jose (98.5)
Delete2. Not a word on the second question but I'm sure they'll try to figure it out.
Rich,
DeleteThanks for the quick answer and I just re-read what I wrote. I meant the RAIDERS cannot want to hear tons of 49ers talk on "their" station. Some talk is fine but I gotta imagine they want Raider's shows first and foremost.
Anon - if the Raiders bring in more listeners and better advertisers the station will have to listen. Unfortunately, they need some of the 9ers shows to get ad rev and listeners.
DeleteKNBR can do whatever it wants because it's core listeners are Giants and 49er fans, they don't care about other teams. the problem with Barrett is he will never realize that these same fans have no idea another station exists. When he's working in another market he will get it.
I'm not a Raider's fan but I am happy that they are beginning to resemble a modern era sports franchise. I'm rooting for Reggie McKenzie and Mark Davis to get it right.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I used to feel the same way about "The Game". Unfortunately their inability to improve their signal along with some questionable lineups (morning show?) really turn me off. And how bad is it that 95.7 is where you have to go to listen to nationwide sport broadcast but the signal is shitty? Just weird. Good luck Raiders. I hope it works out.
The station also announced yesterday that its 49er Monday (which I always thought should be Tuesday)is being replaced with Raider Monday. The Raiders used to have Raider Friday. They didn't say that the 49ers would now have 49er Friday. I guess this is a partial answer to the question of 49er coverage.
ReplyDeleteI've been saying the Raiders should go to thegame for months- years now now. As far as signal? Thegame isnt the best...but not the worst either. 103.7(oldies) fades bad in Sunol while thegame is still listenable. Although,strangely even when the signal is clear..I've never gotten thegame in stereo. Hi-Fi mono only.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of 103.7 I could do a long post..why the weekends programing has much better listening then the weekday,why Don Blue is rerunning blooper calls for the fourth time around and editing out the K101 part so as to sound "new"? Or,why the morning drive oldies are the same damn songs over and over? "Welcome to Margaritaville and to Landslide" etc.....
On the weekend you can hear Bread(the band).
Driving around the Southbay and listening to "The Game" is problematic. It's "fuzzy" and distorted. At my home it is not even that.
ReplyDeleteThe Game will never, ever match KNBR. It's just not possible. I hate KNBR and its shills. Don't like the Giants or 49ers, either ... am a big Kaepernick fan, though. I am a Raiders and A's fan, but do know that long after I'm gone, the 49ers/Giants will still own the market. Those two franchises have done things right. Beautiful stadiums, solid management = great corporate support. And, a 50,000-watt PR firm. Unbeatable. ... I am happy that the Raiders are on the Game and not floating around. I live out of the area, so it doesn't really matter that they;re on that station. I'll grab the games elsewhere. ... As for The Game? At least they;re trying and offer an alternative to the commerical-heavy, host-poor Knibber. ... As for Flores? He's awful. Raiders should try to improve there.
ReplyDeleteThe 'Game has done a few things right; bringing in Papa, the morning guys, Kreider and Whitey Gleason are much better than KNBR's morning yuckfest. I like hering Ratto and Steinmetz on the air from time to time, but bringing in Comcast TV guys (Henry Woffard, Brodie Brazil and Scott Reiss) and having them host weekend shows just sounds weird. They're not radio guys, never will be, but I guess the Gane must have some kind of a deal with Comcast to share talent (Steinmetz, Rick Bucher, Maiocca, etc).
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the 'Game' isn't so much content however. They have ZERO chance of ever to beating KNBR in terms of listenership because KNBR covers the entire western US, and 'the Game' can barely be heard in parts of the Bay Area. Plus KNBR has been all sports for 24 years. The Game is only in its third year, and people's listening habits for sports radio are geared toward tuning in KNBR, even if they don't like the teams or hosts who are on there.
Both stations are owned by companies (like most broadcast companies these days) that are incredibly penny-wise and pound-foolish. They both also feel that they have to pander to the 'younger demographic' (which isn't really a factor anymore, although don't tell potential advertisers that!), with a lot of noise, cross-cultural BS, and quick hits for an increasingly attention deficit oriented world that we live in.
I'm glad I'm not a young person today. I think America, sports radio and the world in general is being 'dumbed down' by all of this new technology, because people are constantly distracted, and can't take the time to have even a 3 minute face to face conversation anymore. They're constantly whipping out their mobile devices and frantically e mailing, texting, taking pictures, or going on the internet. It's almost like a disease and it feeds the attention deficit culture we now embrace. Sure there is convenience to it, but if you ignore you're surrounding and live in this hyper high tech world all the time, where's there any time to have a conversation or exchange views on anything? LOL AND HAHAHAHA...that's what's it's all about!
And the 'consultants' and Programmers who run radio are a big part of the problem. So too are these mega-companies that are only interested in ratings and making money. Content is secondary. But hat's the story of America in the 21st century and one of the reasons our culture is on the decline.
New technology is good, but too much reliance on it creates 'clones' brainless twits, and nincompoops. We are much too addicted to it. Just look at this screed I've written as partial evidence!
Actually, the Game is only in it's second year.
DeleteI think the Game could help listenership if they were more visible at sporting events. Yeah, they do the A's and Warriors from time to time, but why not more? And why not be at a lot of Sharks and Earthquakes games? What about Cal? I also see next to no signage for the station either, be it billboards or otherwise.
The A's and Raiders could win championships this season, but as long as Barrett is PD and continually scripting every little thing, that station will never average higher than a 1.0.
They've had a digital billboard on 80 for a while.
DeleteI think it's hard to have advertising when you aren't the station of a team.
And as AJ will soon point out, you have to talk about the Sharks or Quakes or Cal to actually go to the games.
Good points at 1:53PM.
DeleteSo long as TheGame has that weak and ill sounding (fuzzy and fading in/out) signal, they will never match or even come close to KNBR.
Signal strenght, signal strenght and more.
Show me a radio station with a poor signal and I will show you a radio station nobody listens to.
End of disucussion.
I have Linked 415 to our site. Thanks for the Reporting Rich
ReplyDeleteRaiders hope to move too?
ReplyDeleteIs that why they are on a station that few can listen to ala the A's?
Raider/A's fan here...I don't necessarily like everything about 95.7, but I am happy they will now do Raider broadcasts.
ReplyDeleteI stopped listening to the Giants PR firm (otherwise known as KNBR) a few years ago...I simply couldn't take the non-stop Giants (and 49er) ass-kissing all day long.
KNBR is UN-listenable all day and night now. I do a lot of driving for a living, and cannot stand any of their line-up. The Game isnt much better for that matter. I have to get my sports at :15 and :45 to avoid those schmucks on KNBR.
ReplyDeleteAnd whose brilliant idea was it to bring back Ferrel on The Bench? You would have thought after all these years his throat would have fried by now...(I was hoping). CBS Sports Radio isnt much better - John Feinstein utterly puts me to sleep and his lackey is nothing more than a lap-dog, yes-man. I give TBD maybe 2 more months - then they're history...
This is big for the Raiders and for The Game, and it made sense, since Greg Papa works for The Game. You kind of had to figure this was going to happen at some point. We'll see if it helps The Game in the ratings.
ReplyDeleteThe only concern is, and as people on The Game's Facebook page were saying is, what happens when Raiders and A's games are played at the same time, or one game overlaps the other? I think I saw that the Raider game would be moved to another station (I forgot which one), but otherwise, this really could be big for The Game.