Entercom Slays Country 'Wolf' For Sports In SF

We probably should have seen this coming. A little over two weeks ago Entercom did a deal with the Oakland A's to become the local MLB outlet.  Today the other shoe dropped, as the country format was booted on 95.7 FM KBWF for SportsRadfio. The station is now stunting with Gary Glitter.

Staff Update:  All talent is out, including PD Mike Krinik. He is expected to possibly move to another Entercom market.

From Chronicle Staff Writer Susan Slusser

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Tom's Take:  The Wolf forfeits a 1.1 share 6+. Will the cume move to Empire's KRTY, which also scored a 1.1 share in the latest PPMs? 

KNBR AM is currently owning a 2.4 sports share.

Interesting news in A's - and Sharks' - land today. The A's new station, 95.7 FM, is switching from country music to an all-sports format, and the name changes from The Wolf to SportsRadio 95.7 FM.

There have been several attempts to wean some audience away from KNBR over the years, with little overall success. This is the first try on FM, and with a big company, Entercom, with lots of sports programming experience behind it.

The station promises A's and Sharks' programming, with on-air personalities and other programming to be announced at a later date. Sharks' playoff games will remain on KFOX for the playoffs, with simulcasts on 95.7 FM when possible (i.e., not during A's games) and Entercom is in discussions with the Sharks about moving their broadcasts to 95.7 FM next season.

Dwight Walker, Entercom's market manager and vice president, tells me that Entercom also will be having talks with Stanford (currently on the dying KTRB) and Cal today.

If this station picks up Stanford and if the A's ever get permission to move to San Jose, Entercom might have positioned itself well as a South Bay alternative to KNBR. In addition, the A's and Sharks have fan bases that feel particularly under-served by KNBR, so that gives 95.7 FM some hungry listeners from the get-go.

Walker tells me that listener studies show that 80 percent of those who listen to the radio stay on the FM side and never switch over to AM at all. He and Entercom believe there are plenty of sports fans in general who are listening to FM radio and who are currently under-served. SportsRadio 95.7 FM is calling itself the biggest large-market all-sports station in the country.

"We'll be talking A's and Sharks, two winning franchises that aren't getting as much attention as they could," he said. "But we'll also be talking Warriors, Giants, Earthquakes, SaberCats.