Redding Radio announced today that it will air Oakland A’s baseball games on FoxSports Radio 1670 AM this summer, and will bring back the Sacramento Kings to north state airwaves beginning March 16 with a game against the Lakers.

The move gives Redding listeners the option between the A’s and Giants this summer, as Results Radio announced last week that it will switch 96.1 FM to ESPN Radio on March 1 as well as broadcast the San Francisco games this summer.

“As a sports fans, it’s the best thing that’s happened to this area in some time,” FoxSports programming director Duane Davis said Thursday. “When is the last time you had A’s and Giants on the radio in this market?”

Davis said Redding Radio bringing the A’s to town isn’t the next volley in a radio war, but part of his company’s strategy to bring professional sports back to the north state airwaves.

“We were always going to bring big three (MLB, NBA and NFL) into the market,” he said. “That’s always been our goal, to bring regional professional teams back into the market like we had.”

Redding Radio used to carry ESPN Radio on 1670 AM, along with the Giants, the Kings and the San Francisco 49ers before Mapleton Communications pulled the plug on the station in April 2008. The company put KPIG Radio on in its spot, then abandoned that in March 2009 in favor of simulcasting its news talk station, KQMS 1400 AM.

Redding Radio returned sports talk to the north state in September, when it flipped the switch on FoxSports Radio.

“I’m excited we’ve got the A’s in town,” said Davis, who also announced the news on Twitter. “I’ve got calls and e-mails from A’s fans excited they can listen to the games here in Redding clearly.”

KCWH 102.3 FM in Mount Shasta was the closest A’s affiliate.

Beth Tappan, market manager for Results Radio, said Thursday that choice in the sports talk market is a good thing for the listener.

“I think there are Giants fans and A’s fans and having the choice is good,” she said. “ESPN Radio also will have local features. We know that people who listen to sports talk will have the choice now.”

Davis said 1670 will broadcast the Kings for the remainder of the season and then air all the Kings’ games beginning next season.

The team’s television deal with Comcast prevents most Kings’ games from being shown in Redding, unless on satellite, which made the radio one way for fans to stay connected to the team.

“That’s one of the major reasons we picked them up a couple of years ago,” Davis said. “(The TV deal) shut the door on Shasta County residents and we picked them up to fill that void.

“It’s nice to have that relationship back.”

Davis said 1670 also will continue to carry Westwood One’s coverage of NFL during the football season.

“Now you can listen to all the major sports and that’s the beauty, we all realized the value in sports talk,” he said.