Baby steps, everyone. Baby steps.
It's officially Day 1 of the A's life on an all-sports radio station. The move to KTRB-860 had the promise of additional sports-related programming, and that promise is starting to be fulfilled. For the time being, all of the non-A's programming is syndicated and not from Bay Area-specific. That makes it difficult to compete with very SF-centric KNBR-680, but it's a ton better than the awkward marriage that was A's and "hot talk." Interestingly, the new brand image is XTRA SPORTS 860.
Programming is cobbled together from various networks. I can't comment on the "Todd N Tyler Radio Empire" as I tend to stay away from morning shows. "2 Live Stews" is the popular ATL-based show with brothers Ryan and Doug Stewart, who also do a weekly stint of ESPN2's "First Take" TV show opposite one-time Merc columnist Skip Bayless.
The afternoon stints are populated by Fox Sports Radio shows. "Myers & Hartman" (featuring Vic the Brick) is the more nationally-oriented show, and as you might expect, Chris Myers makes it a snoozefest. That's followed by PMS or the "Petros and Money Show." PMS has often been more LA-focused, though that may have had more to do with the show's home being longtime Lakers flagship KLAC. I'm afraid that it only works for fans of the Lakers, Dodgers, or USC football.
Rob Barr hosts Sports Byline at 7 on non-game weeknights. It's a throwback to an era that wasn't dominated by yelling. The late night spot goes to KNBR castaway Chris Townsend.
The afternoon slots are ripe for local programming, especially to challenge KNBR's drive time duo of Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert. I still like the show but it's getting stale. It's been awhile since KNBR launched The Ticket 1050 as an alternative to 680 with an East Bay bent, including Raiders games. That experiment failed within a couple years, it'll be interesting to see how KTRB tries to re-establish the alternative.
This is also an open thread for those who want to talk about ballpark stuff.
18 May 2009
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