I usually hate publishing anything so late in the day, but something happened today that caught me off guard that I wanted to share about…

For the last few years or so, I have been a big fan of The Gary Radnich Show on KNBR 680 in San Francisco. His 9-Noon radio show is very informative and not only that the best part of it was when national radio personality Tony Bruno joined Gary every day at 11 for what fans of the show have called “The Best 1/2 Hour on Radio”. Each day Gary and Tony would talk about pretty much whatever they wanted, whether it be sports, pop culture, or whatever. It was radio gold.

Today without any warning beforehand to the audience, Gary’s show changed to include Damon Bruce, who was on KNBR’s second outlet at 1050 from Noon-4 in attempts to boost mid-morning ratings at KNBR. As a result, the half hour with Bruno will no longer be taking place. Fans like myself are none too happy about the decision. I feel like the station just broke the hearts of many throughout it’s audience, which covers a lot of area since it is a 50,000 watt station that can be reached just about anywhere in the north state.  Personally for me, it means one of the most enjoyable parts of my day whether good or bad is gone. Never again will I be able to tune in and hear Gary and Tony do their thing together. I enjoyed the rapport they had and the fun they brought to the show and quite frankly, sports talk radio altogether.

I understand that KNBR has competition for the first time in years with 95.7 coming on the air earlier this year and that they’ve made two big splashed recently with hiring away Dan Dibley from KNBR and getting The Rise Guys who were fired from Sacramento’s KHTK, I really do. However, at what price are they doing to keep beating 95.7 in the ratings? I feel like KNBR has lost a part of their audience, I really do. To not only scrap Tony Bruno but also not give their audience any notice about it is just shameful. I don’t know how much boycotting the station will really work, but I hope the harsh postings on Facebook are some indication to Lee Hammer, KNBR’s program director, that fans aren’t happy.

For the time being, I myself will probably only listen to KNBR when I am on the road and there’s a Giants game on. The news that the best half hour in radio is no more makes me want to listen no more. By the way, if you think this move is as unpopular as I do, write Lee Hammer personally: lee.hammer@cumulus.com