KCBS 740AM

KCBS sports is not accurate, as in daily inaccuracies. I should just turn off my radio during the 15 and 45min mark, rest of the news is okay.
Saturday, Dec 5, 2015, really? Michigan is playing Iowa for the Big Ten Championship? C’mon it is Michigan State.

KCBS radio station has become a testament to ignorance that passes as news. The anchors are usually very dramatic trying to give the impression that they’re on the edge of news while in reality they are a bunch of sound bites making noise.
I would hope the producer might consider re-​wiring the station to have more in depth news as well as even keeled reporters more interested in imparting news to the public than acting like they’re straight out of Hollywood.
marianne

When the going gets tough and you need accurate news coverage ²⁴⁄₇ KCBS AM/​FM is the finest news service in Northern California. I listen to KCBS 740 AM in Davis, CA. During the evening, overnight and weekends when our sorry news/​talk stations KFBK and KXJZ in Sacramento are running syndicated talk shows KCBS is there with the news I need.

I wake up each weekday morning at a quarter to the hour with Steve Bitker doing the sports report.
Every time we run into traffic on the roads, we immediately turn to KCBS for the traffic report.

I am continuing my radio rant by noting that the stock market dropped by over 350 points today, and what did KCBS have to say about it? The reporter spent maybe 10 seconds on the story, followed shortly thereafter by about two minutes of sports.
Too much repetition – you need to hire back a few writers. Way too much time spent on sports. The Kaiser Permanente woman on KFOG and KCBS personifies the nagging wife and mother.

Love KCBS… predictable, traffic and weather together, without complaints about the weather as KGO used to do. Now with the changes at KGO… sad…fired all the great talk hosts, and now the network news missing from KGO’s top of the hour, I am here for good with KCBS… nice people… great news… stories others do not do, and just the facts… no complaints about rain, etc. we need rain!
…Good work KCBS!

Their traffic and weather reports every ten minutes have been so incredibly helpful to me on a number of occasions– mostly on workday mornings. They give me that extra piece of mind before walking out the door.
The news reports are brief and succinct enough for me to feel moderately well-​informed about what is going on before I am able to read about it on the internet.

2 stars because an all news radio station that gives traffic and weather and major headlines is a good idea. But the implementation of this idea gets 0 stars. When I drive from my house to the freeway (10 – 15 minutes), I listen to KCBS for a traffic report to choose my route. But I usually hear nothing about the major freeways I need to choose from (80, 580, 880) until it’s too late. The reports do not include all freeways and often include south bay or Modesto highway traffic news. Today’s 10mph bumper-​to-​bumper traffic all the way from El Cerrito to the Bay bridge maze took 40 minutes, but was described several times only as «west bound 80 heavy from the Bay bridge back to the Oakland maze». As spare as they are with usable traffic news they make up for in the abundance of commercials. Expect to hear the Sleeptrain, CBS tv shows, tax lawyers, etc. commercials every 2 minutes.

The traffic and weather is ok (my smart phone does better) but the news reporting is pretentiously one-​sided.

I will listen mostly for the traffic & weather, but do enjoy listening to the new’s & like that it’s ²⁴⁄₇ new’s & not only during certain hour’s. I have a very long commute & would rather listen to this station than the one I do when I leave the house for the traffic, but there signal isn’t powerfull enough & change to this station once I hit Gilroy if i’m still needing a new’s fix.

When I am tooling around the Bay Area getting somewhere important, sometimes I run up on some slowed traffic. If I am getting a little behind on my schedule, I will pop on over to KCBS on the AM dial for a traffic update. Sometimes it is too late, and I crawl along with a mile of looky-​loos until I get past the fender bender and can be on my (always merry) way. Other times I can avoid the mess by getting off the freeway and taking an alternate route.
One thing though. You have to pay attention because they talk about 20,000 miles of roads in less than a minute, say KCBS about 5 times and throw in the weather report at the same time. Pay Attention, Ian.

I listen to this program if I’m awake before 5:30AM, when I’m in the shower, and throughout the day as background noise. I only turn it off when I’ve heard the «top of the news» at least 10 times already. But during times of big news (e.g., like the Loma Prieta earthquake a few decades ago), the dial is set for nearly 24 hours. And when I’m in the car and somewhere on 880, I know to turn it on as it reaches the 8-​, 18-​, 28-​, 38-​, 48-​, and 58-​minute mark for the traffic report.
There are times when I absolutely can’t bear to listen. (I’m looking at you, John Madden.) Narsai David I can take in small amounts. And on Sundays at 8:30AM («In-​Depth») and 10:00AM («Face the Nation»), I don’t listen with any care when the topic is of no interest to me. Not being a sports person, I tune out at the 15– and 45-​minute mark. I also can’t be bothered to listen to «Banmiller on Business».
I never have the time to listen to the audio version of «60 Minutes» on Sunday evenings.
I love: Sandy Wood and her astronomy lessons, Dave Ross and his outstandingly funny commentary, and Charles Osgood and his «Osgood Files».
The station is 100 years old, one of the first news radio stations in the country. And I’m proud to have been listening for 20% of that time.

This is for the TRAFFIC REPORT only.
Not impressed!
I’m ALWAYS better off just calling 511 for their traffic report.
I have been stuck in traffic numerous times because of their crappy, incomplete, report.
Numerous examples… here’s one…
Traffic report says construction on 880 North thru Oakland, hasn’t started yet on 880 South.
I am stuck in the 880 S traffic because of the construction, and have been for 20 minutes. So, I can attest to the construction traffic.
That’s at least enough time for 2 reports to have come on, but I happened to time it so, right when I was getting into the traffic mess, I was listening to the 1^st report. Then the 2^nd with no 880S traffic mentioned, then the 3^rd.
Also, their bay bridge coverage is always behind what really is happening. And, I say that as I’m on the road driving the stretch they are reporting, and it’s not what’s now, it’s how the traffic was 10 minutes ago or more.
I, too, hate to call in, but have on a few occasions. They sound suspicious and, yes, the tone is even a bit accusatory, each time, like I’m calling in a bomb scare, and they think I’m the bomber!
I didn’t cause the construction/​accident/​stall/​etc., just happened to see it.
And, the kicker! The few times I’ve called in, the information was not in the next report anyway!
What’s the point of calling in? I know they need to check it out, but by the time they check it out, it’s already changed, and thus, they are reporting how traffic WAS 10 minutes ago, not how traffic is now.
Now, I just listen to see how off they are. Pathetic!

This rating is for the traffic reports only.
It could be better. It could be longer and more in-​depth, and they could repeat serious incidents in the same time slot in case you’ve just turned on the radio and you missed the beginning of the report. And like another reviewer said, we really don’t need weather every 10 min.
I love and rely on the traffic report while commuting to and from work, and I’ve tried to do my part by calling in incidents, but no more. A couple examples:
Me: I want to report a full — size couch in the far right lane on 880 north just past Dixon Landing Rd.
Traffic guy: is it impeding traffic?
Me: (i’m rather shocked at this stupid question) «well…yes.»
Traffic guy: ok … thanks. and whats your name?
ANOTHER INCIDENT on another day and time:
Me: I want to report a stalled car in the middle lane of 880 NB between Mowry and Thornton and traffic is very heavy because of it.
Traffic guy: I just heard a dog bark. Are you calling from your house?
Me: (again, shocked at this question) I just pulled in my garage just now because I’m beyond the incident, and I’ve been on hold for at least 8 min. but thought it would be worth reporting.
Traffic guy: ok thanks. and your first name?
_​_​_​_​_​
These and none of the other of my call-​ins were reported on the radio so why should I bother. They don’t seem to want my help, so someone else can do it. I understand they probably need to field through crank calls and made-​up calls just to hear your name on the radio, but that’s not me.

I get a good portion of my news from KCBS 740am. They do a great job of not boring me.
LOVE LOVE LOVE Star Watch!

I can’t believe I’m reviewing a radio station, but everyone else is. Why not jump on the bandwagon? Anyways, the only AM stations that I listen to are 1050 ESPN and 740 KCBS. KCBS has saved me from being stuck in traffic. With their traffic reports on the 8’s every 10 minutes, I have seriously avoided many hours stuck in traffic. Even when I’m listening to a CD or the radio, I would switch to KCBS for up to date traffic reports. Even when I’m close to home, I would listen to it just to listen to what I have avoided. Also, there’s a weather report after the traffic, so that is also very convenient. Try it out; it might save your time on the road. You’ll know it’s the traffic report when you hear the catchy intro with the trumpets or whatever instrument they used. LOL.
Oh yeah. There are sports news at 15 and 45 of every hour. John Madden has his usual boring rant at 5:15pm.

I like this station. It is so ME!!! NEWS! LOCAL NEWS! WORLD NEWS! BUSINESS NEWS! and real time TRAFFIC REPORTS!
I found you through my commuterconnection rider! So you are a ok in my book.
I love the report you guys did yesterday about Tatiana. The Tiger who attacked the trainer and then killed someone last Christmas… That was straight up a Unilocal TIGER! She was not playing about her food. I hope those who are suing whoever use that report for the jury to hear. I Love how you guys used all of your footage from previous news you reported about her attacking the trainer. Now that is my kind of news, that INVESTIGATIVE NEWS!
I am looking forward to more information regarding this mornings report about the teenagers who beet that bum to deaf and how people passing by just stayed in the car and watched. I will stay tuned. That is just like that TV show on ABC called WHAT WOULD YOU DO TV but it was real life…

I don’t have time for TV news, don’t have patience to read the paper and fall asleep when I read news online. KCBS has been the fix for me.
Like all the other Unilocalers here, I initially started listening to the Traffic news every 10 minutes. Overtime, I got hooked to listening to what they had to offer and usually kept me up to date. I knew it became an obsession when I start calling them to report new accidents or to tell them that the traffic report was inaccurate.. and I get a free shoutout too. I was so stooked to finally get the title «Meesha of the KCBS phone force» I called my family to listen to the traffic at home.
If you’re in the bay — home body or tourist — it’s a good thing to turn your radio to 740. .. it’s saved me minutes if not hours of my precious golden time. Thanks KCBS!

I’ve listened to KCBS for traffic for many, many years while pounding my steering wheel at a standstill on the freeway. Their traffic reports are the best for occurring at a predictable time, but also the worst because they are either incomplete or way after-​the-​fact. More than 100,000 miles of driving over the past 11 years in the Bay Area, with still only KCBS to turn to for a hint of what’s happening on the road and I don’t know why they’ve ever improved on this terrible inaccuracy. Here’s an easy solution: if they really want to brag about traffic every 10 minutes, TELL THE WHOLE STORY EVERY 10 MINUTES, DON’T ALTERNATE INCIDENTS! IF THERE IS NOT TIME EVERY 10 MINUTES TO DO THIS, GUESS WHAT, WE DON’T NEED WEATHER EVERY 10 MINUTES! DO WEATHER ON THE HALF-​HOUR OR SOMETHING!
KCBS is good for general news. But still the «AM» soundbites at the beginning of each story are excruciating to my ears, and I could really do without the funny-because-he’s-senile John Madden.

I commute 4 – 5 days a week to/​from the peninsula, and my car-​radio is locked on KCBS for updates every 10 minutes for the latest traffic and weather. FYI, the traffic/​weather update is updated at the 8’s (1:08,1:18,1:28…).
The top and bottom of the hour, they update todays headline news. 15 & 45, they update sports, and 25 & 55, they talk about money & business. It sounds like, I am a frequent KCBS listener. You Betcha!