The Bay Area's sports radio scene is seeing a bit of a shift as the former country music station 95.7 The Wolf is going all sports and will now be called SportsRadio 95.7. The station became the home of the Oakland Athletics this season and their sister station 98.5 The Fox has long been the flagship for the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks coverage will now switch over to 95.7
Until recently KNBR had long been the leader in sports radio in the Bay Area, as indicated by their tag line The Sports Leader. For A's fans, the Giants-centric nature of KNBR made it often difficult to listen to on a regular basis. That's not to say there wasn't some quality programming. And it's not KNBR's fault that the Giants are the Bay Area team that moves the dial.
However, adding a second sports radio channel can only be described as a good thing. It remains to be seen what kind of success the new 95.7 format will have, but A's fans have signs of hope for a long term future on a single radio station. The A's have moved around from station to station in recent years. While people know who the A's are, having a single consistent radio station would be helpful to building their brand among Bay Area sports fans. They're a long way from the Giants current media reach, but it's a step in the right direction.