Results Radio will start carrying Giants games March 3 on KKXS-FM 96.1, Market Manager Beth Tappan said today.

Giants games will complement the station’s ESPN Radio package, which returns to the north state airwaves March 1, Tappan said.

“We are bringing it back by popular demand,” Tappan said. “ESPN is a live sports talk radio station, and it’s also going to allow us to carry the Giants, and that has been something the community has really wanted.”

In March 2008, Redding Radio got a lot of static from sports enthusiasts when news broke it was canning its ESPN affiliate, KNRO 1670 AM. The station also carried the San Francisco Giants and the Sacramento Kings.

Ultimately, the sports format returned to KNRO when Redding Radio brought in FoxSports Radio in September.

Today, the closest ESPN affiliate is in Chico at 101.7 FM. But the signal is spotty in Redding.

XS Sports 96.1 will replace The Bridge, Results Radio's smooth jazz format that has been on the air since March 2005.

“The jazz station was something we were proud of, but truthfully it didn’t have a large enough audience to support it,” Tappan said.

Shows on ESPN Radio include Mike & Mike, Colin Cowherd, and Scott Van Pelt.

Based in Santa Rosa, Results Radio owns five stations in Redding, four in Chico, two stations in Yuba City, and one in Sacramento.

The Redding stations are Q97, Power 94, Red 103.1, Jack FM (107.1), and XS Sports 96.1, starting March 1.