The San Francisco Giants and KNBR announced on Tuesday an extension of their partnership that will keep the Giants on the AM dial with KNBR through 2018, as reported by The Bay Area Sports Guy. Good thing they did, because it's about the only thing keeping the listeners on the dial these days.
Here's some of the official press release from the Giants:
KNBR and the San Francisco Giants have agreed to terms on a new seven‐year contract that will keep Giants games on KNBR throughout the 2018 season. Giants' President and CEO Larry Baer and Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey made the announcement today on KNBR's "Murph & Mac" show...This 2012 season will mark the 34th year that KNBR has proudly served as the Giants Flagship station
"On behalf of our loyal listeners and valued clients, we are pleased to announce a new seven year partnership with one of the greatest brands in all of sports," said Dickey. "We are excited to continue KNBR's 34 year run with the Giants with the addition of compelling new content designed to bring the fans even closer to the action both on and off the field with exclusive reporting. "
"The Giants are delighted to extend our partnership with KNBR Radio through 2018," said Baer. "KNBR has played an integral role in the success of our franchise and...it is only fitting that KNBR, one of the great sports stations in the country, continue its long‐standing and successful association with the Giants."
This great news for KNBR, a station that seemingly has only one beat; the San Francisco Giants. But with the rise of 95.7 The GAME on the FM dial, less and less are tuning in to listen to the duller and much older talk over at KNBR. I think BASG says it best:
While something that seems to be a given (the Giants staying on KNBR) might be trivial to some, in the grand scheme of things it's quite important, at least in a Bay Area sports media sense. If KNBR lost the Giants, the station would be left scrambling...also, because of the Giants' presence the Golden State Warriors are often treated almost like second-class citizens by KNBR, with games often thrown over to KNBR 1050 - a station with a far less powerful signal.
As 95.7 The GAME continues to chase down KNBR as leaders of the sports talk in Northern California, KNBR will remain strong for at least seven more years with the ever-popular G-Men keeping them afloat. Well, during baseball season at least.
For more on the Black and Orange, head on over to McCovey Chronicles.