Day:
Night:
See any difference there? I don't. That's a good thing for both the A's and A's fans.
KTRB's programming is a mishmash of talk, with high profile slots taken by syndicated conservative hosts such as Glenn Beck and Neal Boortz. Bay Area veteran Ron Barr has his sportstalk show in the 7-10 slot, which would be pre-empted by most of the A's weeknight games and related pregame and postgame shows. Ironically, the partnership with KTRB is the first time in years that the A's will be on a station with compatible sports programming.
Readers, I'd much appreciate if you could at some point during the day flip on your AM radios and tune to 860. Then drop a comment and let me know how the signal comes in, specifying your location. Thanks.
25 comments:
Lots of static on the channel here in San Leandro (west of 880), probably because AM 810 (KGO) is so strong.
Clear as a bell on my radio at my desk in an office building in Dublin.
While the move to KTRB is good news, the bad news is the retention of Cotroneo and Buan. Cotroneo is so slow in calling the game that I listen for the crowd reaction first to determine whether something positive or negative has happened to the A's.
As for Robert Buan, it's difficult to understand why the A's keep hiring him. He's now been doing the postgame show for ten years and is the most amatuerish broadcaster of sports in any capacity I've ever (attempted) to listen to.
Hopefully, the A's will find an alternative to Glen Kuiper for television. He is utterly horrific and I find myself taping the games so I can fastforward past his commentary. Kuiper has even brought Fosse down to his inane level...
I can get the station here in Novato, though there's a little static. It'll do.
As for whether or not to keep Robert Buan, I think they should keep him. He's amateurish but I'll bet he works cheap, just like the rest of the A's. He fits right in.
Excellent signal at 9:25 PM in San Ramon. I hope this becomes a long term relationship.
This is what I've been waiting for. As for Controneo, totally disagree reztips, totally. I like him. I think you might want to give him one more season. Also, I have no doubt that the post game show could be better, but the A's are going to need more listeners before that happens. I think ideal for me would be a round table type baseball show like Mary Luries show that would include Buan because I do like him.
I agree, Jesse, that Marty Lurie is wonderful. It would be good to have him as both the pre and post game host. Buan is reminiscent of a high schooler whose daddy somehow gave him the keys to an MLB postgame show. He is downright dumb and incapable of genuine give and take with fans.
Again, my biggest problem is on the TV side, with the excreble Glen Kuiper holding forth. Kuiper knows little about the game and even less of how to articulate what is happening on the field. If you are a fan of what signs fans are holding or what they are eating, Kuiper is the perfect broadcaster. But those interested in baseball find him impossible.
Unfortunately, if you have a satellite service like I do, the time lapse makes it impossible to shut the sound off on the TV to enable one to listen to the peerless Korach and to eliminate the pathetic Kuiper.
In sum, much as I hate to admit it, the Gnats have it all over the A's when it comes to sportscasters-Korach excepted.
Seems clear as a bell from Pleasanton to Sunnyvale.
And abstaining from the "this sucks" debate... I can't wait to hear Ken Korach again!!!!!
50,000 watts? Only a faint daytime signal in Sacramento. Nothing at night. Too bad. KTRB came in clear as a bell when the station was in Modesto.
signal is weak at best in Stockton during the day
I dislike Cotroneo, I hate Buan (though Buancasts during Spring Training are amusing, just because of how bad he is), and I do not like Kuiper. I also dislike Fosse, to be honest, especially as his interview style sucks balls.
The A's need a whole new broadcasting team, keeping pretty much just Ken Korach. Bring in Roxie Bernstien, now free of the Florida Marlins, and then hunt around for some better TV talent. (I hear Joe Morgan is looking for a TV Baseball Broadcasting Job... oh the irony... and the puke).
Just PLEASE improve your image to the fans, A's. PLEASE!
860 AM loud and clear from Gilroy, Morgan Hill and South San Jose! A little static near power lines and loss of signal under freeway viaducts, but I guess nothing in life is perfect. From a South Bay perspective, a lot better signal that what the A's had last year (IMO).
TV Deal Update
http://www.contracostatimes.com/sports/ci_11382258?nclick_check=1
The A's are still negotiating to switch their television rights from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area to Sacramento-based Comcast SportsNet California (formerly CSN West).
Pries said a deal could be reached by the end of the month, and that there's a strong chance it would be exclusive with CSN California. That would eliminate the possibility of a station such as KICU picking up some telecasts as it has for the past several seasons.
----------------------
This is the issue I want to hear more about. Will it be on Xtended Basic? (Hell, will the MLB Channel ever make its way to Extened Basic? Still can't get it on my Slingbox!)
also of note from the article;
KTRB will air all 162 regular-season games as well as 17 spring training games.
wonder if this is broadcasted on satelitte radio?
wish I had this down in socal
DaveinSM, I just cancelled my XM subscription, but I can tell you every A's game all season long is on XM.
Thanks Jeffrey.
I try to watch or listen to the games on mlb.tv at work or home. It's the only way I can catch the A's game down here.
It will be good when the A's go on their socal roadtrip in June (LA and SD)
We live in SOUTH DAKOTA but are San Jose natives and life long A's fans. My husband was even drafted by the A's in high school but did not sign.
ANYWAY, glad to find this blog! Ee just checked the A's website, seeing that they announced the contract. KTRB broadcasts over the internet, you can listen live.
"KTRB . . . will broadcast all 162 regular season games, plus 17 Spring Training games. The station's first broadcast is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 28, when Oakland hosts the Cleveland Indians in a 1 p.m. (noon PST) exhibition game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium."
Whether or not all of these games will be accessible over the Internet remains to be seen but we can listen to live streaming from KTRB 24/7 right now . . .
Nice and clear in West San Jose at night.
BTW Look for news about SJ A's Ballpark in Mercury News by end of week. Pat Dando at SJ Chamber of Commerce is leading effort to make SJ A's happen.
Also, Santa Clara County now has 3 San Jose based supervisors (Cortese, Yeager, Shirakawa) who are all in favor of SJ A's and 2 are A's season ticket holders (Cortese & Yeager). Look for these gents to help facilitate Wolff and crew past Alameda County border.
The games will continue to be broadcast on MLB.com and will require a subscription. I don't expect KTRB to attempt to get around that.
San Leandro/Castro Valley border off of highway 580 up in the hills is crystal clear!!
Comes in fine here in San Rafael.
860 AM South Bay update: At night, still rather clear from South San Jose (Bernal Road/Santa Teresa Blvd. area), but signal weakens significantly in Morgan Hill/Gilroy. Big difference from day signal. Any idea how many watts 740 AM KCBS is? It's always loud and clear, regardless of hour of day, location (South Bay) or atmospherics.
The stations signal in Sacramento is
irrelevant to the Bay Area.
However that issue would be solved by the A's placing their games on an affiliate in that market. Keep in mind that KCBS-AM is one of the strongest signals in the U.S. Most AM stations (even 50kw) have holes in their coverage. Overall KTRB will be a huge improvement in terms of reach.
G Marconi
San Jose
so where the heck was the news about the san jose stadium?
KTRB comes in great here in Pismo Beach during the evening, and with a CCrane antenna daytime listening is very listenable.
In the Marina district of San Francisco, the station does not come in while KCBS and KNBR come in soundly. Of course, when I drive my car around the city, in some areas I get coverage.
What is very strange,I wrote KTRB to ask them about the spotty coverage in the city, and here is their response:
Also, if you live in the Richmond, Berkeley and Emeryville area, and some parts of Oakland, you may find it more difficult to get good reception due to the limitations that we had to place on our signal to protect out of market stations. Please be assured that we are exploring creative ways to improve both our daytime and nighttime reception. We want every listener everywhere to hear us clearly. These solutions will take time to implement due to complex engineering and regulatory issues, but we are pressing forward and making progress.
In the meantime, please try locating your radio near a window and, if you do not have an exterior AM antenna, turning it in different directions and placing the radio at different elevations. If you do have an external AM antenna, you can turn and move the antenna without having to move the radio itself. Please note that the telescopic antenna on your radio is for FM only, not AM.
Another radio might also help, both CCrane Radio and Radio Shack sell radios with enhanced AM reception.
We have the Radio Shack model in our studio, which is located in the interior of a building in the city where our signal is not optimum. We have found a "sweet spot" where the reception is clear. If we move the radio up or down, or left or right, even slightly, we lose the station, but it is clear in that one spot. You might also find this kind of solution.
Post a Comment