Sharks fans speak up after radio is dumped for streaming
Several San Jose Sharks fans had strong reactions on social media — much of it negative — to the team’s plans to leave terrestrial radio and move all audio broadcasts of their games now and in the future to their app and website.
After the Sharks announced Thursday that they were leaving 98.5 KFOX — the team’s flagship station for 20 years — to go all- digital, we asked followers on Twitter what they thought of the change.
Responses ranged from enthusiasm among those who live far from San Jose and do not receive KFOX’S broadcast signal to disgust from others who feel the move was unnecessary and will drive away fans.
“Stop changing things that don’t need to be changed,” wrote one fan with the username @dbonasera. “We already had access to this on the app for a while now. And trying to find where to listen on the app has been torturous as it’s now in an easily found spot. This was not a good move.”
“I’m really sad that we won’t be able to listen to the post game coverage while we drive home from a game,” added another fan, @jessiemae.
“I could never get a game on the radio anyway, in the Bay Area or in Sacramento area,” tweeted @dragonhark13. “They were always on low quality stations that I was unable to receive. And I could sometimes get it on satellite radio, if I was fortunate. Now I will be able to listen anytime. Thank you.”
The Sharks Audio Network will debut Tuesday at 8 a.m. and promises round-theclock Sharks and Barracuda-related audio programming and content. On Sharks game days, there will be a half-hour pregame show and live postgame coverage.
Sharks fans were pleased to hear Dan Rusanowsky, now in his 30th season with the team, will still call the games on the new audio network. But there were also concerns that regularly listening to games on their phones will use up too much data. The move may also be challenging for those who are used to listening to games on the radio and whose vehicles do not have the necessary technology.
“Makes it a lot harder to listen to an early game on the drive home from work, since my car doesn’t have Bluetooth integration and phone speakers are quiet,” @ Goobergunch wrote.
“Not a fan. Not a fan of this at all,” @ MALGIS31 tweeted. “I’m likely to not listen to any games because of it. What’s next? Moving the TV games to some obscure streaming service like (Los Angeles Football Club) does?”
The Sharks were aware there was likely going to be some blowback from fans to the move, as there was from Oakland A’s fans last February when the team announced its games would no longer be on the radio.
Shortly after their season began, and after feedback from their fans, the A’s announced a radio deal with KNEW 960-AM.
“Hate this. The A’s tried it and backtracked. Web/app are fine when they work but not nearly as reliable,” @Finatic408 tweeted. “And takes more effort when in the car.
“I understand some people won’t mind this. But I don’t get some people saying this is great. How is taking away one option for listening a plus?”
Don’t expect the same thing to happen with the Sharks, who wanted to consolidate all of their game broadcasts into one area.
The Sharks say their fanbase is always craving more content. The team is rarely mentioned on either Bay Area sports talk radio stations, and are often overshadowed by the Golden State Warriors when the seasons of the two teams overlap.
“We’re certainly going to be providing a lot of material on how to download the app and where things will be and wanting to make things as accessible and as easy to find as possible,” said Scott Emmert, the Sharks’ vice president of communications. “The hope is like anything else, once people take the initiative to do it and start to get used to it, it just kind of becomes second nature.
“I would probably equate it to back in the (1980s), when the transition started from over the air television to things starting to move more and more to cable. It’s going to take some time.”
The first game of the Sharks’ 56-game season is scheduled for Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes.
“KFOX was literally my childhood, listening to games as I was being driven home from practices are some of my best memories,” tweeted @harrison_ isaacs, “sad to see it go but it makes sense, radio is dying.”
“It’s a very bittersweet announcement,” @brianthief tweeted. “I’m quite excited for more Sharks content, but I was a dedicated radio broadcast listener on KFOX! Always key to have the local station tie in with the community. The times they are a changing. Got to evolve, but still I’m a bit sad.”