San Francisco Radio Station KGO AM Moving to a Sports Betting Format?
KGO Radio in San Francisco abruptly cancelled its news and talk format Thursday and now there is speculation that the am station is moving to a cover the gambling sector.
KGO AM is now in its 98th year in operations.
The station has mostly focused on local personalities including Nikki Medoro, Mark Thompson and the more nationally known Jim Bohannon.
KGO was the radio broadcast home for the San Francisco 49ers football team from 1987 to 2005. It has broadcast the college football games of the University of California, Berkeley, Golden Bears since 1974. Since 2013, it also broadcasts men's basketball games that start after 7 pm or are on weekends.
The SF Gate noted:
Playing on KGO since Thursday morning's abrupt announcement has been a not-at-all-subtle loop of gambling-related songs — including "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers, "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis Presley and "Money" by Pink Floyd — and promos.
"Coming Monday, a radio station that covers all the action," a voiceover claims. "The most unique radio station in the Bay Area is coming Monday. Bet on it"
If true, it's a trend we no all too well. Some of the biggest media outlets have partnered with legal sportsbooks in the U.S.. Even Disney is flirting with the idea of entering the sports gambling business.
Sportsbooks themselves are taking over the airwaves. Case in point: FanDuel Television.
FanDuel TV launched last month and claims to offer more live sports than any other network in the U.S. 24 hours a day. It repleaced the horse racing-themed TVG Network. Horse racing will remain a main component of FanDuel TV.
"FanDuel TV is the first network designed from the ground up to be watched by viewers with their phone in hand," said Mike Raffensperger, Chief Commercial Officer, FanDuel. "We intend for FanDuel TV to sit at the intersection of live sports and interactive content and believe Kay is the best example of an on-air talent who can bring fans closer to the narratives of the games they care about most. Our goal is to provide fans compelling programming to watch and wager on in tandem with our mobile app."
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
