A's ink 10 year deal with KTRB 860 am
by GreggC on Nov 18, 2009 7:33 PM PST
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PrintThe news Nico and his tin foil antenna have been waiting for: the A's have inked a deal with Xtra Sports 860 am to broadcast up to 20 spring training games, plus the entire 162 game season and any post season games, through 2019.
Let's hope Xtra Sports will sign Marty Lurie to 10 year deal also.
No word yet if Miller Genuine Draft has signed on to run it's jingle for the next 10 years also.
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Presumably, the stability of this relationship will mean that KTRB
will be able to invest money in their broadcast system, without worrying that the rug will be pulled out from under their feet?
Fingers crossed?
I suspect that you think tilting at windmills means something other than what it does
what's the range, will we actually be able to hear the games?
A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones."
-BB 07/27/05
+1
There’s always the old ‘drive and listen’, aka the old ‘drive to where you can listen’ and park
Let the Kids play Billy!! No More Rent-a-Vet in Oakland!!
by s0sNe@kYbUtY? on Nov 18, 2009 8:08 PM PST up reply actions
Drive to the Coliseum parking lot
Oooh! Finally have reception… might as well go to the game.
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
KKCccCCHHHHHHking son of a
bittttssccccckhkhkhkhkhCCCCHHHH!
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Damn radio!
I need to get a new one to replace my grandmas hand-me-down I guess
Ooo! Piece of candy!
by ChickenStanley on Nov 18, 2009 10:17 PM PST up reply actions
Does this mean
I have to finally invest in XM to hear the games, even though I live 25 miles away from the Coliseum….
Anyone have sucess with the antennae boosts?
Surprisingly little for me
But I’m in Berkeley, which is actually in a zone in which KTRB is required to lower its signal from the usual suckitude the rest of the East Bay enjoys.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Dude, you really need to get XM.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
Not actually
The A’s need a station that’s isn’t one of the weakest on the dial, yet claims to have a strong signal.
Check out clueless Ken Pries, who said in the press release that “In entering into this new long-term agreement with XTRA Sports 860, we will be providing the continuity and strong signal (50,000 watts) that A’s fans want and deserve.”
Has he ever attempted to listen to a game on the radio, or did he just quickly cash KTRB’s check without looking back?
Yes actually.
regardless of what is SUPPOSED to happen, or claims that there is a strong signal, the fact of the matter is that the KTRB signal pretty well sucks in a lot of places in the Bay Area.
For 12 bucks a month you can have XM, listen to every game that’s broadcasted (through MLB, not just A’s), and hear them crystal clear.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
The problem, mikev, and the reason I don't use XM,
is the delay. I watch on TV and listen on the radio, and with Delay Play can always synch the two. With XM I wouldn’t be able to do that.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Which is ahead, radio or TV?
or, rather, XM or TV?
I’m assuming XM is ahead too far?
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
Satellite radio has a built-in delay of several seconds
So the TV will normally be ahead of XM. I noticed that on Fox network broadcasts during the postseason, TV apparently had such a long delay that Fox and XM’s broadcast of ESPN Radio were virtually simultaneous.
The other problem with XM is that they only carry the home team’s radio broadcast. MLB Gameday Audio at $14.95/year carries both broadcasts. Sometimes Gameday Audio is ahead of TV, sometimes it’s behind.
To do what he really wants to do, Nico could use a DVR to delay the TV broadcast by 10 seconds or so, then use his Delay Play to synch the Gameday Audio sound. This is what I did all season since I live out of range of any station that carries A’s games. The only problem was that occasionally the Gameday Audio stream would pause for a few seconds and then resume where it left off, meaning you have to restart Gameday Audio and re-synch.
BTW on the DVR comment
You don’t have to buy one. If you have Comcast you might check to see what is their fee for leasing one. Moreover, if you have not checked out alternatives to Comcast it might be worth doing that. The other services often include a DVR for low or no additional cost.
When I lived in Oakland AT&T was pushing U-Verse at me pretty hard. It looked like the price would be similar to Comcast. If DirecTV or Dish is a physical option you might save money that way. I’m paying about $20 less for DirecTV than I was paying monthly to Comcast Oakland and getting an HD DVR and the Sports Pack which lets me watch just about any college football or basketball game. Except the Big Game :-( for which I’ll probably go to one of the sports books.
I live in an old neighborhood full of frail senior citizens
and AT&T sends three-man teams of 200-lb young males door to door to sell intimidate little old ladies who still use rotary phones into buying U-Verse.
When they came to my door, they wouldn’t shut up, so I said
“Shut up and go away or I’ll pee on your leg.”
That shut those bastards up.
"Flea Markets aren't just for blind dates anymore!"- The Reverend Billy Lard
by Gaijin_Suketto on Nov 19, 2009 2:24 PM PST up reply actions
But, um, U-verse kicks ass.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
Given that story…
…shouldn’t your user name be “Soaker”?
by PositionPlayerProd on Nov 19, 2009 3:19 PM PST up reply actions
Sounds like you need a big ass
antenna.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
i like this but
I live in San Mateo and have always got the games clearly, both on 1550 and 860.
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out."-Bill Hicks
by Man Bear Pig on Nov 18, 2009 9:46 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Well.
This confirms another 10 yrs of Gameday Audio for me… Thanks MLB.
I’ve never been able to pick up 860 well, when i did it was not the ballgame (!) but some annoying sports show.
Yippee
Now if only I could get a friggin’ signal… it’s bad when I can pick up 680 am at the coliseum loud-and-clear, but all I hear is static on 860 (yes I know I’m at the game and watching it live, but I like to listen to KenKo as well).
Hopefully the “security” of a 10 year contract allows them to actually get a decent signal going.
Hell, I like listening to KenKo
while sitting in Raley Field watching the RiverCats.
"Flea Markets aren't just for blind dates anymore!"- The Reverend Billy Lard
by Gaijin_Suketto on Nov 19, 2009 1:02 AM PST up reply actions
Did they ever respond to feedback about their crappy signal?
What a joke. Did the A’s brass consider that some of us might actually like to listen to the games without static?
Here is part of their auto-reply to my email to listen@ktrb.com
“Also, if you live in the Richmond, Berkeley and Emeryville area, and some parts of Oakland, you may find it more diffcult 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 buildiing 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."
Douchebags.
I shouldn't have to hire the neighborhood kids
to stand in the corner with tinfoil in their mouths just so I can hear the damn game!
"Flea Markets aren't just for blind dates anymore!"- The Reverend Billy Lard
by Gaijin_Suketto on Nov 19, 2009 1:04 AM PST up reply actions
I don't see how this reply makes them douchebags.
Obviously there are technical and regulatory reasons why they can’t get a good signal out there. Now if you were to say you wish the A’s were broadcast by a powerful station and not this puny limited one, OK, but they’re not any happier than you are about their inability to broadcast to Berkeley and they’re giving you as much help as they can. It’s not like they’re neglecting you because they don’t give a shit.
Anyway, my advice to everyone is just get MLB Audio. It’s cheap and you can get other games, too. When you’re home, listen on the computer. When you’re driving around town, try to get them on the radio.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Let me count the ways
1. The signal stinks throughout the bay area, not just along the Eastshore and in parts of Oakland. Last summer, I drove to and from Cupertino three times per week in the evening. The signal was rarely good on any part of that drive. Other popular AM stations? Just fine.
2. They took a job and can’t do it properly, putting them on par with any company that takes on a client/customer and then fails or does it half-assed.
3. They contribute to the A’s rinky-dink, small market, cheapo image. Most MLB fans aren’t advised to put their radio by a window or buy a new one.
4. They still fancy themselves as having a powerful signal.
5. I can call them douchebags because I’m not teaching children, testifying under oath, or conducting/reporting scientific research.
6. When it comes to the business side of baseball (including broadcasting), I’m going to save my love and respect for those who deserve it (Korach, channel 89) Why spread your love around until it’s too thin to matter?
#1 thru #6
still don’t make them douchebags. Incompetent, maybe. Unqualified to handle the job, probably. Douchebag? Not so much.
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
I agree
If anything, the A’s are the douchebags for not using their, yes, profits to either entice a more powerful station to carry them or purchase their own station (and defray costs by selling ad time or on-air space).
This is where investment should be going. If you want to be a major league team, you can’t be represented in the media in a minor league way — actually worse, as many minor league teams have flagship stations with better reception.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I have gotten replies last year from the A's
but I haven’t written to KTRB, which is where I suspect the problem lies. They were supposed to get another transmitter up and running during last summer – but I don’t think they did.
Lately
radio signals go in and out depends where you are. I don’t know if it is because they are on same mountain with blockage. Example with my job I drive all over the bay are and beyond. I have a better signal up in santa rosa than in vallejo? Why is that for the A’s station? I listen 1077 the bone and once you get pass fairfield no signal but good reception all the way to ukiah.
It appears the A's don't want me to follow them
Because they’re on a TV channel I can’t watch and a radio station I can’t listen to. Good times…
"Their batters are patient to the point that it's annoying." -Ryan Franklin
That sounds like me last year.
Barely caught them on the radio (and I live near Richmond, so I guess I know why, but it still blows). And I also had Comcast, did not have a digital cable box (had to splice it with the line in my sister’s room down the hall anyway to get basic cable), and was miserable most of the season. Thank goodness for live games and AN or I’d never get a fix.
This year though - good times are a comin’. We’ve moved to San Pablo (which’ll probably have the same problems with the radio), but now we have Direct TV and I have both CSN channels. W00t. :)
Good luck though with your predicament…
"No matter what I talk about, I always get back to baseball." -- Connie Mack
...where's iglew with his formatting posts? D'oh.
"No matter what I talk about, I always get back to baseball." -- Connie Mack
That's a tricky one.
You can’t blame a guy for wanting to use a properly executed dash and a smiley face.
But yeah, preview.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
I am excited about this
I used to work in communications so I understand the regulatory hassles. They will definitely fix them though.
This says a lot about the A’s:
1. They aren’t planning on leaving the region.
2. They are planning on coming into the 1990’s when it comes to media strategy (finally).
I wouldn't assume this says anything
about A’s ownership’s long-term commitment to the Bay Area. These contracts can be scrapped pretty easily. Witness this A’s press release from October 2006:
The Oakland Athletics and 106.9 FREE FM (KIFR) have agreed to terms on a three-year contract for the San Francisco-based, CBS-owned station to serve as the club’s FM radio flagship through the 2009 season.
That deal was not seen through to its scheduled conclusion.
Didn't 106.9 go under?
That’s not the A’s fault
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
No, it's still there and still owned by CBS Radio
CBS just changed the format. “FREE FM” was music and talk when it carried the A’s games. CBS dumped that over a year ago, and now 106.9 just simulcasts the news, traffic, weather, etc. from KCBS. Evidently CBS did not want live baseball interrupting the all-news format, so the A’s were either freed to or forced to make the deal with KTRB, whose owner wanted the games as core programming for an all-sports station.
So, it wasn't the a's fault then.
That’s the point I was getting at.
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
Did the A's
get their situation worked out between comcast and the other cable carriers/directv that were not able to broadcast the games last year?
Probably Not because the TV ratings dipped
to 20,000 homes per game from 40,000 the previous year on CSBA
I have directv
And could watch every game last season. That was squared away before the first game last year.
I've never had reception trouble with KTRB
in Contra Costa County!
Me either
in Pleasanton, driving on 680 back and forth between my job and my home in Sunnyvale. Driving thorugh Oakland all the way up to Santa Rosa.
I think the problems exist in specific areas.
Why? I think the reception is just that much clearer when I do.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I listened to it in Elk Grove once
I am not sure if that is typical. It was during a day game on a Sunday, which I think the signal is much stronger during the day.
I listened to KNBR in SAC before, it was somewhat strong
Why wouldnt KTRB be the same, they are both 50K watts?
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’d think, huh?
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I thought it was quite clear in the statement
due to the limitations that we had to place on our signal to protect out of market stations
Clearly they have enough wattage that they can make themselves heard in Berkeley, but in doing so they end up blotting out some other stations nearby on the dial. Those stations have regulatory rights, so KTRB is forced to muffle their own signal in order to avoid interfering. The trick which they haven’t figured out yet is how to refine that muffling so that it respects the other stations’ rights without killing their own signal to their own listeners. Unfortunately for them, the regulators oblige them to err on the side of caution and so they lose Berkeley listeners like Nico. You can be sure they’re well aware of the problem and aren’t happy about it.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Yeah, but it's not great a lot of places outside of this "drop area"
Whereas KNBR can be picked up in Phoenix on a good night.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I've picked up KNBR a long ways up the coast.
Well past Mendocino. But only intermittently. I think there are certain spots on coast that just line up well.
Nothing like KGO, though. KGO is just crazy. I’ve gotten that loud and clear in parts of Oregon and even Washington.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
I have directv as well
And I live up in Eureka, and I couldnt get any of the games – and I even have the MLB package.
I also have suddenlink and could not get any games via their channels…sigh
It's puzzling as to why Eureka got screwed on this deal
Usually, whichever MLB team’s territory you live in, DirecTV will give you the channel that carries their games as a local channel. There must be some restriction in the agreement between DirecTV and Comcast that only allows DirecTV to distribute CSN California to certain areas, and Eureka is not included in spite of being part of A’s (and Giants) territory. I’ve seen postings from PO’d Humboldt County Sharks fans about the same issue. MLB Extra Innings would not help you either because Eureka is definitely within the A’s blackout zone for that package.
The problem with Suddenlink is different. Comcast never did reach an agreement with numerous cable companies in outlying areas for carriage of CSN California. The biggest is Charter Cable. There are Charter subscribers as close to the Bay Area as Gilroy and Watsonville who can’t watch the A’s or Sharks for this reason.
All of this is contingent on the belief that KTRB will remain in business for 10 years!
There is no A in OFFENSE!!
If the station cannot serve the team's fanbase adequately...
…regardless the reason, then it seems to me that the team hasn’t really done their fans any favors by signing such a long contract. Themselves, maybe, but not the fans.
Yet another piece of evidence, IMHO, why I am beginning to suspect the motives of one Lew Wolff.
Every hitter likes fastballs, just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's what it feels like when Nolan Ryan's thrown balls by you. ~Reggie Jackson
great....
this means that there is no hope for getting decent reception for A’s games for the next 10 years.
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