Opie and Anthony spread the virus to San Francisco, to CBS Radio's KIFR (106.9 Free FM). The addition of KIRF gives O&A a total of 21 markets - seven of which are in the top 10 markets.

In addition to this, Opie & Anthony have been booked to make their first appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman on August 31st.

UPDATE: According to AllAccess, Opie & Anthony will not be replacing Adam Carolla who will remain in the morning drive timeslot.

UPDATE 2: R&R informs us that O&A will be on KIRF during the 10am - 1pm timeslot. 

The expansion of Opie & Anthony's syndication through terrestrial radio is continuing. Today XM Satellite Radio has announced that Chicago’s WCKG 105.9 FM will broadcast “The Opie and Anthony Show” starting tomorrow (August 1st), from 6am to 9am CT.

With the addition of CBS Radio’s WCKG, Opie and Anthony are now heard in 20 markets on stations owned by CBS Radio and Citadel Broadcasting.

The expansion to WCKG comes at the expense of Rover, who is moving back to Cleveland to call WXRK his flagship station for syndicating to 7 additional markets. Rover says the departure from WCKG was "a mutual decision."

[more on FMQB] 

So said XM Satellite Radio CEO Hugh Panero during yesterday's conference call:

"Moving to an update on the Opie and Anthony show, the syndication thus far has been a major coup for XM. Its availability in seven major markets at launch and the addition of 12 more markets have expanded the show’s exposure, XM’s branding, and O&A’s exclusive content. Within the last 90 days, customers citing O&A as a reason they subscribe to XM have doubled.

Moreover, O&A broadcast radio ratings are on the rise, and thus we expect the XM brand, which is embedded in those broadcasts, to drive continued awareness and ultimately attract more subscribers desiring XM’s exclusive O&A content."

There's something to be said (at least from a chest-thumping standpoint) for the ability of "shock jocks" to convert their audience to subscribers. Maybe they don't get a piece of the action (maybe they should) but the bragging rights are there.

We've seen the influence that Howard Stern has had on Sirius subscribers. If Opie & Anthony really want to show their arch rival how much clout they hold, it behooves them to do the same for XM.

According to Panero, it sounds like it's working.

Who saw this coming? Opie and Anthony have signed with Citadel Broadcasting syndicate "The Opie and Anthony Show" to eight additional markets - bringing the show's total up to 19 markets.

Citadel has launched O&A in the following markets:

• WSKO-FM/AM, Providence, RI
• WEDG-FM, Buffalo, NY
• WKLQ-FM/WILZ, Grand Rapids, MI
• WBSX-FM, Wilkes Barrie, PA
• WBZU-FM, Albuquerque, NM
• KRDJ-FM, Baton Rouge, LA
• WCYY-FM/WCYI-FM, Portland, ME
• WMOS-FM, New London, CT

Opie and Anthony will be broadcast during morning drive on all of the stations during 6am – 9 am, except for WBZU-FM, where they will be heard in afternoon drive, 3pm to 5pm.

Thanks Rob! 

Fred Jacobs over at Jacobs Media has posted about Opie & Anthony's move to broadcasting on both terrestrial and satellite radio.

It's confusing because the post sets the tone by bashing O&A, followed with the beaten-horse question of "why would anyone pay for O&A if they can listen for free?" - only to end with a sort of back-handed praise of their jump back to terrestrial... I think.

Now, I need to call attention to the fact that he's citing numbers from February (a full 14 months after O&A joined satellite radio) based on a webpoll of terrestrial radio stations. How many satellite radio listeners are visiting terrestrial radio websites? Wouldn't listeners of Stern still be checking terrestrial radio stations at that time? Wouldn't that make this "poll" skewed based on timing?

But aside that, I'm still confused as to his final stance on the move. Yes, he thinks XM won't benefit from this (I disagree), but... is he seeing it as a benefit to terrestrial instead?

According to Radio & Records, Opie and Anthony will simulcast to Citadel's WSKO-AM & FM (The Score)/Providence. WSKO now has a landing page up showing show times (6am-9am) and announcing the boys coming on board.

In addition to Providence, a rumored half-dozen additional Citadel markets may be in the works, with Buffalo and New London having been named on the air.

[WSKO The Score]