Dubs change radio stations.
The Warriors won the title two years ago, set an NBA record for wins last season, then added a future Hall of Famer, in his prime, two months ago.
There’s a tidal wave of momentum behind the franchise. And just before embarking on the most anticipated season in their history, the Warriors are changing radio homes, leaving the familiar brand of KNBR for a new location: 95.7 The Game, a station that started up in 2011.
“I feel like I just won Olympic gold,” 95.7 program director Don Kollins said.
The news dropped on Thursday morning, creating a seismic rumble in the Bay Area sports
media world. KNBR has been the Warriors’ flagship station the past 32 years. Year 33 might have been the most valuable.
But Warriors execs had grown a bit irked by the franchise’s standing at the station, particularly when the broadcast of their games got pushed down the dial by early-season Giant games. During the past season, 23 Warriors games were bumped to sister station KTCT — 11 in the regular season and 12 in the playoffs, including four of the seven NBA Finals games.
“The time commitment, I think, became problematic for KNBR and the Warriors to coexist,” said Greg Papa, a longtime Bay Area personality and 95.7 radio host. “I did those games for a long, long time. And whenever spring training started, we’d go off to some other station. And it was: ‘You kidding me? You’re going to lose a Warrior playoff game for an early-season Giant game? Or trade an early-season Giant game for an NBA game when they’re going for 73?’ So I felt that frustration and I know they did. I think they just became so popular that they needed a station that dedicated time to them and fans didn’t search where they were every night.”
95.7 is also staring at some potentially problematic overlap. It is also the radio home of the Raiders and A’s. Kollins admits that a few Warriors games will probably get pushed. But not the biggest ones.
“What we’re going to do is to make sure Warriors games are a priority,” Kollins said. “We are working with our partners. We will have to bump a few for Raiders games. I have four franchises in the building (the Sharks are affiliated with a sister station). I only have so much airtime. We have to figure it out. There will be conflicts. So what takes priority? An A’s home opener, pretty big day. And that’s what we’ll play. The Raiders, pretty big team. And we’ll play it. But I will guarantee that we will not be bumping any Warrior playoff games.”
Tim Roye, who is employed by the Warriors, will remain the play-byplay voice for game broadcasts. Former Warrior Tom Tolbert, the color analyst for home games, is more uncertain. He has a long-standing relationship with KNBR.
95.7 has plans for expanded Warriors programming, including an hour of coverage added to the existing 30-minute pre- game and postgame shows, plus more in-season daily content and newly minted Warriors Wednesday.
After the news, some fans voiced their concern about the potential radio strength of 95.7, which doesn’t envelope the area as strongly as KNBR. That’s something Kollins says the station is working on, already establishing affiliates with KRTY in San Jose and KUIC in Vacaville, both at 95.3.
“That takes care of a couple spots,” Kollins said. “We’ll be adding more stations. Absolutely. I don’t think people have to be worried about not hearing the signal. We’re not KNBR. We don’t go from Canada to Mexico. That’s not the goal. But everyone in the region will be able to hear the games.”
After decades of NBA irrelevance, the rise of the Joe Lacob-owned, Stephen Curry-led Warriors has catapulted the value of the franchise’s television and radio rights into previously untapped territory. The signing of Kevin Durant in July sent that into overdrive, coming just as the Warriors were up for a new radio rights deal.
That allowed 95.7 to wrestle it away from its rival, a monumental coup for a younger station trying to carve out a bigger voice in a sports radio market KNBR has long owned.
“While downplaying it on air, two people from KNBR already texted me ‘You hiring?’ in the last hour,” 95.7 personality Damon Bruce tweeted.
Papa said there was a station-wide meeting about the news Thursday morning and when it was announced: “The room just exploded. Sounded like Steph Curry hit a gamewinner at the buzzer.”
But Bay Area News Group columnist Tim Kawakami reports that it’s a relatively short-term deal, believed to only run through the 2018-19 season. That would allow KNBR to re-enter the equation right before the Warriors’ planned move to San Francisco.
But for now, Warriors games will live elsewhere.
“We’re excited about our new partnership with 95.7 The Game and the opportunity to provide our fans with increased coverage of the Warriors in a centralized location,” Warriors president Rick Welts said in a statement. “… We’d also like to thank KNBR and the management at Cumulus for being a valued and trusted partner for nearly four decades.”