Even though neither California sports wagering initiative is expected to pass in November, longtime San Francisco-based news and talk radio station KGO (810 AM) has chosen to change its format to focus on sports betting. Cumulus Media’s 50,000-watt station had been a Bay Area mainstay for providing news and talk programming for 80 years.
The official announcement of the format change and the station's name change to 810 The Spread took place on Monday. Cumulus officials understood the format change probably would be met with some criticism from loyal listeners.
“This is a bittersweet day for us, as it's hard to say goodbye to the legendary KGO, which has been a part of listeners' lives for so many years,” Cumulus Vice President/Market Manager Larry Blumhagen said in an official announcement, as reported by Radioworld.com. “We want to thank all the people who have been a part of KGO's historic run these many years — and the listeners who loyally tuned in to the station. Times change, and we must change with them.”
Transitioning into sports betting talk
The shift in focus to sports wagering talk isn't the first of its kind for Cumulus, as WPRV-AM in Providence, Rhode Island, was the company’s first station to switch to a sports betting format earlier this year.
It's not unusual for a radio station that's doing poorly in terms of market share to make a format change. KGO fit that bill, ranking 20th in the Bay Area in the September Nielsen Audio ratings with a 1.7 share, Radio Insight reported. The move to a sports betting format makes sense during a time when 30-plus states have already legalized some form of sports wagering and sports betting is presently a political talking point in California.
This was a GREAT radio station. I had joined many of their excellent hosts for more than 30 years of real talk about serious subjects
A sad loss to our fading public discourse
“KGO host talks about Bay Area radio station's abrupt signoff” https://t.co/egB9XBKJ8J via @SFGate