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Padres switching radio stations from Mighty 1090 to FM 94.9 next season

By jbox
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The Padres will be changing their flagship radio station next season to FM 94.9.  To my knowledge, and if memory serves,  the Padres have always been broadcast on AM stations since their beginning from 600 KOGO, to 760 KFMB, back to KOGO, then to the MIGHTY 1090.

While I saw earlier references this afternoon on Twitter, Dennis Lin's secret sources made it official for me:

Connecting the dots is what I do best, especially when it comes to pointing out that the Padres' current president Mike Dee was former CEO of the Red Sox and he loves to do deals with his Boston buddies.  When the going got tough and the construction of Petco Park was stalled by lawsuits, Larry Lucchino left the Padres in the lurch for Boston and Mike Dee jumped ship with him.  Now he's back and he's brought all his Boston cronies with him.  So that appears to be the reason for the move, consider these dots connected!

Entercom secures Padres radio rights for 2017-2021 | SanDiegoUnionTribune.com

"I am pleased to report that we have entered into an agreement to become the flagship radio broadcaster for the San Diego Padres," Field said. "Starting in 2017 and continuing through 2021, our FM 94.9 in San Diego will be the home for all the Padres games. FM 94.9 will retain its alternative rock format offering our listeners a unique combination of great music, sports and local personalities."

That's bad news comes if you've grown accustomed to listening to the 50,000 watt 1090 AM that covers a massive area of the Western United States.  If I remember correctly from my drives to LA, FM 94.9 has trouble reaching the county limits.  Those out of range will now need to purchase the MLB at bat app to hear the games, but they'll miss out on the pre and post game shows.  Perhaps they can switch back and forth from the 94.9 app.

The good news is that 94.9 should be able to show the score on your car radio using Radio Data System, which is only available on FM stations.  That part I like.

The only other question left unanswered is the fate of Mike Dee's buddy Dan Sileo that he forced upon 1090.  Does he keep his morning show on 1090 or move to 94.9 to continue the Padres pre-game show?  Dee needs to him to host his softball interviews so that could be a problem.

UPDATE:

The Kept Faith podcast has some inside connections at 94.9 and has suggested that it will become an all sports station by 2017.  They think that this move revolves around Orsillo rather than Mike Dee.  They even suggested that Ted Leitner will not be broadcasting the games on 94.9.

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