The Warriors announced this morning that they’ll be partnering with 95.7 The Game for future Warriors radio content, effectively ending their partnership with KNBR. This new deal will have a slew of additional Warriors-related content. Pre- and post-game coverage will be extended to 60 minutes, and there will be new call-in shows dedicated to the Warriors that feature members of the organization. Tim Roye will remain on the call and appear Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in some capacity during the season and occasionally in the off-season. However, it remains unclear whether or not Tom Tolbert will still be joining him.
Perhaps the most important aspect will be a central location for game broadcasts, something they did not have at KNBR. This was a source of frustration for fans, as well as KNBR hosts associated with Warriors coverage. So it’s not a stretch to assume it played a big role in this decision. KNBR is the flagship station of the San Francisco Giants and broadcasts all Giants games and features Giants-related content throughout the year. The frustration over this was apparent this season when KNBR played Spring Training and early season Giants games on KNBR 680 while relegating the Warriors broadcasts, including playoffs, to KNBR 1050, which doesn’t have as wide of a reach in terms of range or audience.
From the linked article above:
“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,” said Warriors President & COO Rick Welts.
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This was later deleted, but goes to add on to the point. With as good as the Warriors have been over the last few years, the team deserves its own flagship station and that just wasn’t an option at KNBR, which had contractual obligations to adhere to, and it was very unlikely that the station would be able to maintain the rights to both massively popular teams.
Overall, this is good news for Warriors fans, who will now get much more dedicated coverage of the team throughout the year.