Battle for Bay Area Supremacy Extends Farther Than Field : Media: The World Series is very big news, so the newspapers and TV and radio stations are serious about the type of coverage they provide.

SAN FRANCISCO —  There’s more than one Battle of the Bay up in these parts.

Of course there’s the one between the Athletics and Giants, which has changed fronts and continues today on the west side of the San Francisco Bay.

That battle might have fizzled somewhat, but there’s another one that remains fierce--the battle among the Bay Area media outlets.

The Bay’s Ball World Series, or rather the Snoozer Ball Series, as some are now calling it, remains big news.

The A’s have been here before, the Raiders won two Super Bowls when they were in Oakland, the 49ers have won three Super Bowls, including one played down the road in Palo Alto, and, back in 1975, even the Warriors won a National Basketball Assn. championship.

But when you’re talking about big stories in San Francisco, it’s hard to top the A’s and Giants playing in the same World Series.

So Bay Area TV, radio and newspapers are serious about this Series.

You turn on a TV and you see Series reports. You turn on the radio, and get more of the same. And the newspapers seem to have all the bases covered, and then some.

Most of the area newspapers have special World Series sections.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s World Series Extra, as it is called, was 16 pages Monday. The regular sports section was 11 pages.

The 49ers and Hershel Walker dominated the front of the Chronicle’s regular sports section. There was a picture of Wayne Gretzky at the bottom of Page 1, but the story of his record-breaking night was played on Page 8.

On the front page of the Chronicle’s main news section, the World Series got a four-column headline, two stories and a big picture. The state of the stock market, meanwhile, got a two-column headline.

The main front page of the San Francisco Examiner also gave the Series four-column play and the stock market a two-column headline.

The Examiner had three sports sections--an 18-page World Series section, a nine-page Sports Monday section and another nine-page section that had more Series stories and other sports as well.

Gretzky’s record got a one-column headline at the top of Page 1 of the Examiner’s Sports Monday section.

As for television coverage, KGO, the Bay Area’s ABC affiliate, is naturally doing the most, since ABC is televising the Series.

The station has a cast of thousands, or so it seems, working special pre- and postgame shows. Joe Morgan has been a regular and Willie Mays will be in the KGO studio after Wednesday’s game.

Some of the other people besides KGO sportscasters and reporters who are appearing or will appear are former A’s pitcher Steve McCatty, former Giant pitcher Mike McCormick, former outfielder Billy North, who played for both the Giants and A’s, stat freak and fantasy league guru Bill James, and sportswriters Leonard Koppett and Glenn Dickey.

Amazingly, KGO overlooked Tom Lasorda. Who can forget the job he did with KNBC’s Fred Roggin during last year’s World Series?

KGO offers the only game telecasts, but there are no fewer than five choices of radio broadcasts, two of them in Spanish.

Just spin the dial and pick a number. At 560 AM is KSFO, the A’s flagship station, with Bill King, Lon Simmons and Ray Fosse.

King, however, missed Game 2 Sunday. Seems his contract with the Raiders puts the football team first, so he was at the L.A. Coliseum for the Raiders’ game with the Kansas City Chiefs.

At 680 AM is KNBR, the Giants’ station with Hank Greenwald and Ron Fairly, the former Angel announcer.

At 740 AM is KCBS with Jack Buck and Johnny Bench of CBS radio.

“I don’t think anything like this has happened since 1956,” said KCBS program director Ed Cavagnaro, referring to the year the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees played in the last all-metro Series.

The smorgasbord of Series broadcasts may be a treat for the fans, but not necessarily for the stations.

Sure, some loyal Bay Area fans may turn down the sound on their TV and listen to their favorite team’s announcers. But since the ABC trio of Al Michaels, Tim McCarver and Jim Palmer is generally well liked, that practice probably isn’t too common.

And, besides, Michaels was once a Giant announcer himself and still has a pretty good following here.

So after commuters get home from work and out of their cars, the radio stations probably lose most of their audiences.

KNBR program director Bob Agnew told the Chronicle that he would be happy if his station ended up getting the same number of listeners it gets for a regular-season Giant game. “And I’d be ecstatic if we are higher,” he said.

However, Agnew figures KNBR is probably beating the competition.

“The Bay Area is primarily a Giants town,” he said. “The A’s still haven’t captured the hearts of Bay Area fans like the Giants.”

Bob Hamilton, KSFO programming boss, said he expected both stations to do very well.

KSFO’s advantage, Hamilton said, is the play-by-play experience of King and Simmons, who have been on the Bay Area airwaves since the late 1950s.

In the latest ratings book, according to the Chronicle’s Tom Gilmore, KNBR averaged a 5 rating for all its programming, up from a 3.5 for the previous ratings period, while KFSO went from a 2.4 to a 2.9.

The numbers suggest that KNBR benefited considerably more from the Giants’ pennant drive than KSFO did from the A’s stretch run.

Still, KSFO was confident enough to consider also putting its game broadcasts on its FM sister station, KYA. But the station was turned down by major league baseball.

If that had come to pass, listeners could have heard King screaming “Holy Toledo” in stereo.

Among the Bay Area radio stations, KCBS is facing the toughest challenge.

“There are a couple of things we have going for us,” said KCBS’ Cavagnaro. “One is the curiosity factor. We think people are switching stations during games to get a different perspective.”

Also, Cavagnaro pointed out, his station offers two nationally known announcers in Buck and Bench. Bench, in particular, has been outstanding during the playoffs and Series.

KCBS, like the other stations, also thinks it is drawing listeners with strong lead-in programming, such as live reports from Candlestick Park.

All the stations are using a squadron of reporters, including some former and current ballplayers.

The KCBS crew includes Giant catcher Brenley, who was left off the Giants’ postseason roster, and A’s shortstop Walt Weiss. KNBR is using injured Giant pitcher Mike Krukow.

The way Cavagnaro sees it, KCBS can’t help but benefit from an all-Bay Area World Series.

“Because of the magnitude of the Series, it has to help--if not during the games then for our programming during the rest of the day,” he said. “We’re a news station and this is our biggest story.”

He won’t get much argument there.