KFOG 104.5 FM is Pulling the Plug After 36 Years
Thousands of Bay Area Residents gasped, pulled out their earbuds and asked their parents, ‘what’s a KFOG?’ Mom’s favorite morning commute, alt-rock radio station is getting pulled off the air after 36 years playing music and car ads to Bay Area ‘Fogheads’. The station’s parent company, CUMULUS MEDIA will replace Alternative KFOG/SAN FRANCISCO to a simulcast of Sports KNBR-A, so now you’ll have two radio stations to hear GIANTS and 49ERS games.
Cumulus had already fired most of their good DJs in 2016, and the final shutdown didn’t come as a surprise to current KFOG staff, Cumulus had already sold their San Jose and East Bay channels out from under them, it was only a matter of time before they were replaced in San Francisco too. KFOG’s main morning commute show relayed that sentiment via Twitter.
For Bay Area peeps. We knew this was gonna happen the minute the company who owns KFOG sold the 97.7 San Jose frequency. It’s an impossible task when nobody can hear the radio station. Without San Jose and east bay, you can’t compete. That said, we love ya! Listen to the podcast! https://t.co/Gop7EKFojq
— The Woody Show (@TheWoodyShow) August 26, 2019
‘For Bay Area peeps. We knew this was gonna happen the minute the company who owns KFOG sold the 97.7 San Jose frequency. It’s an impossible task when nobody can hear the radio station. Without San Jose and east bay, you can’t compete. That said, we love ya! Listen to the podcast!’ -The Woody Show KFOG
The Radio game is a tough one these days, with the advent of Spotify and Pandora most people under the age of 30 see no need for commercial radio, they have their phones, and the freedom to discover music with complete choice, and without 7-minute commercial blocks. If their’s a silver lining it’s that Podcasts are growing, and many of the shows on KFOG have their own podcasts now, so you can find them on iTunes.
For those who remember Rosalie Howarth Acoustic Sunrise, or the annual KFOG KaBoom fireworks shows, it’s perhaps an official end to an era of media.