KNEW (AM)
kHz | |
| Branding | Bloomberg 960 and 103.7 HD2 |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Format | Business News |
| Affiliations | Bloomberg Radio Oakland Athletics |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KIOI, KISQ, KKSF, KMEL, KOSF, KYLD | |
| History | |
First air date | 1925 (as KROW) |
Former call signs | KFWM (1925–1930) KROW (1930–1959) KABL (1959–2004) KQKE (2004–2007) KKGN (2007–2012) |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 59957 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts unlimited |
Transmitter coordinates | 37°49′40″N 122°18′53″W / 37.82778°N 122.31472°W |
| Repeater(s) | 103.7-2 KOSF-HD2 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
KNEW (960
KNEW transmits 5,000
History
KFWM and KROW
On July 8, 1925, the station
In 1947, the station built a new transmitter on a 20-acre island leased from the Port of Oakland. The new transmitter was accompanied by an increase in power from 1,000 watts to 5,000 watts full-time.[5]
KABL
This station is best known as the longtime home of KABL, the successor to KROW and one of the first beautiful music stations in the United States. It was owned by 1950s radio pioneer Gordon McLendon. According to longtime McLendon national program director, Don Keyes, in his book Gordon McLendon and Me, McLendon wanted to own a station in the San Francisco market, and 960 KROW seemed ideal because of its relatively low dial position and strong coverage of the San Francisco market.
Beautiful Music
McLendon had success with
In early May 1959, KROW began "stunting" with a continuous loop of a song called "Gila Monster," the theme song from a horror film that Gordon McLendon had co-produced that year. Based on this stunt, it was assumed by the general public — and by the competition — that KROW was to become a Top 40 station along the lines of McLendon's KLIF in Dallas, WAKY in Louisville or KILT in Houston. But the station took everyone by surprise by debuting KABL as a beautiful music station. KABL quickly captured a more mature listening audience that disliked rock and roll. KABL soon became the number one radio station in San Francisco, and would remain at or near the top of the ratings for years afterward.
KABL's format
As KABL, the station combined a mixture of easy listening string and orchestra music with light classics and an occasional Latin cocktail hour tune. KABL was known for presenting poetic vignettes about San Francisco life, a harp interlude between songs, and a cable car bell to announce the news.
Licensed to Oakland, with a transmitter near the east end of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, KABL often skirted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules on station identification and city of license. While KABL could have legally identified as "Oakland/San Francisco," it instead deliberately tried to identify with San Francisco rather than Oakland. It was notorious for using slogans such as "KABL Oakland, serving San Francisco on your San Francisco radio dial, in the air, everywhere over San Francisco". This raised the ire of FCC officials, resulting in a fine and an admonishment to all broadcasters that they were licensed to serve a particular community, not surrounding ones.
The final years
In 1997, the station switched to an
KABL also carried the syndicated
On September 28, 2004, 960 AM dropped the adult standards programming and the KABL call letters. The KABL call sign subsequently reemerged at then co-owned 92.1 FM in Walnut Creek, California. The station had a very limited signal beyond its immediate broadcast area, however, and in July 2005, switched to an adult contemporary music format.
KABL reborn on the Internet
KABL then began broadcasting as an
On June 1, 2007, under license from Clear Channel, the Bay Area Radio Museum launched a streaming tribute to KABL on the Internet, which featured
Progressive talk as KQKE and KKGN
Replacing KABL on September 28, 2004, were new call letters KQKE and a
The station also aired some local weekend programming. One weekend show, Shake!, aired on Sunday nights and was targeted toward the
in San Diego until November 2007.In 2006, KQKE introduced a local morning show featuring political satirist
John Scott was hired as AM operations manager for both KQKE and KNEW in 2007, and introduced new shows and elements into the programming mix. He would be the last local manager of the stations, with those duties now handled by Clear Channel corporate.
In 2009, the station introduced another weekend program, An Organic Conversation, airing Saturdays at 10am PST. Presented by Helge Hellberg, executive director of
The Progressive News Hour with John Scott once aired weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., leading into Keeping it Real with Will and Willie and was a rundown of local and national news, as well as weather and traffic reports. Shortly after Will and Willie disappeared, Stephanie Miller's morning show arrived to take the 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. slot on KQKE. The remodeled show The Progressive News then moved to 4-6PM, and its content was more focused on the Bay Area, including more interviews and news about Bay Area people and politics, with less repetition of national stories.
"AM 960 The Quake" was not related to KQAK, a San Francisco station that was on the air from 1982 to 1985 that also called itself "The Quake". However, Paul "Lobster" Wells holds the distinction of working for both "Quake" stations, as he served as producer and on-air contributor for KQKE's former morning show.
KKGN
On August 13, 2007, Clear Channel changed the KQKE call sign to KKGN, with a repositioning as "Green 960" and initially with programming focused on environmental issues.[7][8][9]
KNEW
On January 3, 2012, Clear Channel management changed KKGN to KNEW and shifted to a wider-based talk format. The move was part of a broader restructuring of talk programming in Clear Channel's San Francisco cluster.
On January 2, 2014, Rush Limbaugh's daily syndicated program moved from KKSF to KNEW.
Affiliation with Bloomberg Radio
On September 29, 2014, KNEW dropped conservative talk for business talk programming provided by New York City-based Bloomberg Radio.[14] Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity's programs were moved to KSFO.[15][16] On July 30, 2020, KNEW reached an agreement with the Oakland Athletics to broadcast their games for the remainder of the 2020 season, after having initially forgone a radio home in Oakland in favor of streaming only.[17]
References
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/KNEW
- ^ "HD Radio station guide for San Francisco, CA". Archived from the original on 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2016-09-04. HD Radio Guide for San Francisco
- ^ KABL 960, Oakland - Bay Area Radio Museum "KABL, which went on the air from Oakland as KFWM under the ownership of the Oakland Educational Society on July 8, 1925, became KROW in June 1930. In 1939, the station was sold to the owners of San Francisco’s KTAB, who, in turn, were required to sell it in 1944 as a result of the FCC’s “Duopoly” edict, which forbade ownership of more than one station in a market area. On December 19, 1944, Sheldon F. Sackett, publisher of the Oakland-based Olympic Press weekly newspaper, bought KROW for $250,000 and continued operating it until May 1959."
- ^ Lippman, Leopold (February 23, 1958). "Some Radio Call Letters With a Message". The New York Times.
Dog lovers can hear the familiar WOOF in Dothan, Ala., and bird-watchers look to Topeka, Kan., for a WREN, or to Oakland, Calif., for a KROW.
- ^ "KROW Island is site of New 250-ft Towers" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 20, 1947. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ Fost, Dan (September 25, 2004). "Liberal talk radio arrives". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. C1.
- ^ Fong-Torres, Ben (September 23, 2007). "Radio waves". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. N-56.
- ^ "LTR - Watching Alternative Media for Five Years: The 'greening' of The Quake, part 2". Ltradio.blogspot.com. 2007-08-22. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "AM Query Results - Audio Division (FCC) USA". Fcc.gov. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ Clear Channel San Francisco Shuffles Talk Station Lineups All Access Music Group, November 29, 2011
- ^ Bond, Paul (5 December 2013). "Rush Limbaugh to Switch Stations in Los Angeles and San Francisco". Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Faughnder, Ryan (December 5, 2013). "Clear Channel moving Rush Limbaugh from KFI to revamped KTLK". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Talk 910 - San Francisco's Talk Station". Talk 910.
- ^ Scott Fybush. "Bloomberg Radio To Debut On 960 KNEW San Francisco". RadioInsight.
- ^ Nathan Obral. "Limbaugh, Hannity, & Beck Move To KSFO San Francisco". RadioInsight.
- ^ "Bloomberg Radio To Debut On 960 KNEW San Francisco". RadioInsight. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "A's to add local radio station, 960 AM; change to iHeartRadio streaming service". SFChronicle.com. 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
External links
- FCC History Cards for KNEW
- Bloomberg Radio Official website
- KNEW in the FCC AM station database
- KNEW in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- KABL tribute on the Internet — KABL tribute stream