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Oakland A’s fans in the Bay Area will have to roam around the FM spectrum to find the team on the radio for likely at least the first few months of the season. When the Golden State Warriors moved from KNBR 680 to 95.7 The Game for the 2016-17 season, one of their primary reasons was that they didn’t like early season San Francisco Giants baseball bumping Warriors games off 680 AM to 1050. Thus, when A’s and Warriors games conflict, the A’s will not be on 95.7 and will move to a different station owned by 95.7 parent Entercom.
“If the Warriors are on, the A’s will move to KFOX 98.5, which is the [San Jose] Sharks station,” says Ken Pries, who recently concluded his role as A’s Vice President of Broadcasting and Communications and has moved to a senior advisor role with the team. “If there is a conflict on 98.5 with the Sharks we will move to 102.9 FM KBLX.”
The first contest affected will be Sunday’s spring contest against the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch from Maryvale is scheduled for 1:05 PM (PT) and will be on 98.5 because game coverage would run into pre-game programming ahead of the Warriors 5:00 PM tip against the Memphis Grizzlies on 95.7.
For the rest of the NBA and NHL regular seasons, here are the games that likely will be moved off 95.7:
A’s-Warriors-Sharks radio conflicts
| Date | A's Radio | A's first pitch | Warriors tip (95.7) | Sharks puck drop (98.5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | A's Radio | A's first pitch | Warriors tip (95.7) | Sharks puck drop (98.5) |
| Sun, March 26 | 98.5 | 1:05 PM at MIL | 5:00 PM vs MEM | None |
| Fri, March 31 | 102.9 | 7:15 PM at SF | 7:30 PM vs HOU | 6:00 PM at CGY |
| Tue, April 4 | 102.9 | 7:05 PM vs LAA | 7:30 PM vs MIN | 7:30 PM vs VAN |
| Wed, April 5 | 98.5 | 7:05 PM vs LAA | 7:00 PM at PHX | None |
| Sat, April 8 | 102.9 | 5:05 PM at TEX | 7:30 PM vs NO | 7:00 PM vs CGY |
| Mon, April 10 | 95.7 or 98.5 | 1:15 PM at KC | 7:30 PM vs UT | None |
| Wed, April 12 | 98.5 or 102.9 | 5:15 PM at KC | 7:30 PM vs LAL | Possible playoffs |
NBA and NHL playoffs through June
The Warriors have clinched their spot in the NBA Playoffs while the Sharks are about two wins away from clinching their spot outright, which will introduce quite a bit of uncertainty for A’s radio over the first half of the season.
The NHL playoffs start for the Sharks as early as April 12 and the Stanley Cup is typically awarded by mid-June. The NBA Playoffs start for the Warriors as soon as April 15 and Game 7 of the NBA Finals, if necessary, is set for June 18.
A’s will stay on 95.7 in the MLB postseason
Should the A’s advance to MLB’s postseason in this or future years under the current broadcasting arrangements, the A’s will probably stay on 95.7, given heightened ratings for postseason play. Besides that, the NBA regular season does not start until late October.
As for the Raiders, the existing arrangement has been to move Raiders games to 98.5 when a conflict arises.
So when you turn on 95.7 only to hear Tim Roye describe Steph and Klay rain down threes, give 98.5 and 102.9 a try to find Ken and Vince.
