Cumulus Media will bring Sports 680 KNBR San Francisco to FM on Friday, September 6 as the company will flip Alternative 104.5 KFOG to KNBR-FM.
Timed with the start of the NFL season, the move places KNBR on the FM dial where Entercom’s competing “95.7 The Game” KGMZ has started making in-roads as the flagship of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. The move brings the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and MLB’s San Francisco Giants play-by-play to FM.
KFOG has undergone multiple revamps over the past few years, most recently shifting from its longtime AAA format to Alternative with the addition of the syndicated Woody Show last year to compete directly with Entercom’s “Alt 105.3” KITS. The station lost its South Bay simulcast when Cumulus sold 97.7 KFFG Los Gatos/San Jose to Educational Media Foundation earlier this year.
In the July 2019 Nielsen Audio ratings, KFOG had a 1.1 share in the San Francisco market and 1.6 in San Jose. KITS was at a 2.1 and 2.3 respectively. KNBR regained its lead over KGMZ following the end of the NBA season holding a 4.1 in San Francisco and 4.2 in San Jose to 1.9 and 1.6. The two stations were tied in San Francisco with a 3.3 as recently as May.
Cumulus Media Inc. today announced that San Francisco alternative rock radio station 104.5/KFOG-FM will flip to a simulcast of KNBR-AM sports radio on Friday, September 6, 2019. With the launch of KNBR-FM, sports fans will have another place to tune into KNBR’s high-profile personalities and in-depth coverage of the Bay Area’s favorite teams. The expansion of KNBR will offer listeners a stronger signal and provide a broader broadcast range for the station’s leading sports programming.
“We are excited to bring KNBR, The Sports Leader and official home of the Giants and 49ers, to a wider audience of sports listeners in the Bay Area,” said Doug Harvill, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus San Francisco. “It’s never easy to say goodbye to a station, and we want to thank the staff, listeners, and advertisers who together made KFOG the legendary and beloved station that so many of us in San Francisco had the opportunity to enjoy.”
