KMEL
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| City of license | San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose Concord Walnut Creek |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Branding | "106 KMEL" |
| Slogan | The People's Station, The Bay Area's Home for Hip Hop and R&B |
| Frequency | 106.1 (MHz) |
| Format | Urban Contemporary (Mainstream Urban) |
| ERP | 69,000 watts 600 watts(horizontal) 560 watts (vertical) 0.1 watts (horizontal) 6500 watts (vertical) |
| Class | B D D |
| Callsign meaning | CAMEL 106 (name of former branding and camel mascot) |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications |
| Website | http://www.106kmel.com/ |
KMEL (106.1 FM) is an urban contemporary-formatted radio station located in San Francisco, California, and owned by Clear Channel Communications.
KMEL broadcasts at an effective radiated power of 69,000 watts from the San Bruno Mountain area south of San Francisco. The station's signal covers areas as far north as Santa Rosa, as far south as the Santa Cruz Mountains, and as far east as Concord and the Livermore Valley. It is currently one of the highest rated stations in the Bay Area, with the highest listening audience in the 18-to-34 demographic.
Contents |
[edit] History
RKO General was the owner of both Top 40 powerhouse KFRC and its sister station, KFRC-FM, playing oldies and soft rock as "K106". In July 1977, after Century Broadcasting purchased the FM station, K106 was history and the station was rebranded KMEL, playing album-oriented rock. Its mascot was a camel (hence the call letters) and was known on-air as "Kamel 106".
KMEL was a top-rated station during that time, and with newer rival KSFX helped force legendary rival KSAN to switch to country music in 1980. In 1980, KMEL signed popular New York radio personality and San Francisco native Alex Bennett as host of its new morning show. Bennett, along with news reader/sidekick Joe Regelski, helped propel KMEL to even greater heights.
The year 1982 was a busy one for Bay Area rock stations. In January 1982, KMEL obtained a new rival when KCBS-FM (97.3) flipped from adult contemporary to KRQR. becoming "The Bay Area Rocker". KRQR started a long run as a dominant rock station, with a harder rocking approach than KMEL's. In May of that year, KSFX dropped rock and went to a talk format as KGO-FM. A month later, Bennett and Regelski both left KMEL in a disagreement over the station's newly hired consultant. Both of them resurfaced at a new rock station on August 23, KQAK, "The Quake". In September, KFOG dropped beautiful music for a more eclectic mix of rock.
With four AOR stations in San Francisco, in addition to two more in San Jose, KMEL faced stiff competition. KQAK was the first to give up, dropped AOR the following April and picking up modern rock. But KRQR and KFOG put lots of pressure on the tightly-formatted KMEL.
KMEL finally succombed, and flipped to mainstream CHR on August 25, 1984. The new "106 KMEL" was a hit, and its success helped push main rival KITS toward modern rock. By 1987, the station's format started to drift in a rhythmic direction as "106.1 KMEL, Northern California's Power Station". Program director Keith Naftaly helped make the current incarnation of KMEL one of the top stations in the Bay Area. It became one of the first crossover pop stations in the nation to target young multiracial audiences with hip-hop, dance, freestyle, house, and reggae music.
The year 1992 marked the arrival of a new competitor, as KSOL retooled and became "Wild 107.7" (KYLD). The competition over the coveted 18-34 hip hop listening audience continued for another four years until the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. KMEL's owner, Evergreen Media, ended the ratings war with KYLD by purchasing it later that year. The difference between the two rivals was already there because KMEL has been in an Urban formatted direction since the early 1990s. Only it wasn't classified as an official "Urban" and instead used a Rhythmic formatted terminology: Churban (Urban/CHR). Even then, the station continued to play dance and freestyle in addition at that time to reflect the Bay Area audience's eclectic music tastes.
Chancellor Broadcasting (later AMFM Inc.) eventually purchased Evergreen Media (along with KMEL and KYLD), and AMFM was later swallowed up by Clear Channel Communications via a $24 billion deal in 1999.
The station's slogan also has changed numerous times, from "The People's Station" to "The Bay Area's Home for Hip Hop and R&B".
[edit] KMEL's urban format
KMEL is noted as the station that helped launch the careers of many "West Coast" hip hop artists in the 1990s, such as Tupac Shakur, Hammer, and E-40 even though it denied airtime to artists like Too $hort and Mac Dre. KMEL is also home to the long-running influential community affairs show, Street Soldiers hosted by Dr. Joseph E. Marshall. The station's commitment to community affairs, however, has been questioned by a former host whose program was cancelled.
KMEL also produced popular Bay Area and national personalities, including Theo Mizuhara, John London, Cameron Paul, Michael Erickson, the late Rick Chase, Rosary, Lisa St. Regis, Efren Sifuentes, Renel Lewis, and MTV's Sway and King Tech. Plus up and coming stars such as Short-E at KBMB in Sacramento Ca, and SliM at KQKS in Denver Co.
A large majority of KMEL's playlist features music under the Urban Contemporary format while sister station KYLD supplies the Bay Area with music under the Rhythmic Contemporary format. The difference can be noticed when listening to both stations. In addition to competing with sister station KYLD, KMEL - under its urban format - also competes with its Urban AC counterparts: sister station KISQ and longtime heritage Urban AC station KBLX (owned by ICBC).
In addition to Hip Hop/R&B, to back up the format, KMEL plays mostly R&B slow jams at night Sundays thru Thursdays and Urban Gospel Sunday Mornings (KMEL is the only Hip Hop/R&B station in the market to do this; KISQ and KBLX play it on Urban AC).
[edit] Role in the Hyphy Movement
The station also played a significant role in the creation and uprise of the "Hyphy Movement" in the San Francisco Bay Area. Both stations accomplished this role by playing music from many of the local artists. KMEL's mixshows had long contained exclusive hyphy music not currently heard on many other radio stations across the United States. However, the hyphy music and culture together had begun to spread nationwide and helped to establish a greater image of the Bay Area in Mainstream America. The station broadcasts live via streaming audio from their website enabling easy access to the music worldwide.
[edit] In the Mix with Cameron Paul
At one time, KMEL was consistently at the bottom of the ratings, trailing longtime urban station KSOL. A large part of their success was due to popular club DJ Cameron Paul and his revolutionary mix show which aired twice daily. Paul had gained fame by remixing the dance track "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa and in early 1987 KMEL hired the famous mixer away from KSOL, gaining his sizable audience in the deal. From then on, KMEL started to dominate the ratings, climbing quickly to number one.
[edit] Controversial Firing or Axe to Grind?
On October 1, 2001, radio personality and hip-hop activist David "Davey D" Cook's was terminated, due to what the station said were consistently low ratings. His firing occurred when a new Program Director (Michael Martin) took charge of the station, and occurred at the same time as the station changed many on-air elements, and fired several other on-air personalities, Trace-Dog Nunez, Rosary Bides, Franzen Wong, and Davey D (listed in order of prominence by daypart they held) were all let go at virtually the same time. Dave Cook claims his departure was due to his having aired statements from California Congresswoman Barbara Lee and rapper Boots of The Coup voicing opposition to the War in Afghanistan.
Davey D's Street Knowledge program debuted in 1995 as a talk show for the hip-hop generation. The show, alongside sister show Street Soldiers brought problems that faced the urban community of the Bay Area to the forefront. Davey D said the termination of his show seemed to symbolize the end of an era in which community input, local music, and progressive politics at 106 KMEL. Davey D charged that the last remaining community-affairs program, Street Soldiers, excludes his views. Davey D notes that local artists, who make up one of the most vibrant and diverse rap music scenes in the country, are not heard on the station, and that he refuses to listen to the station anymore.
[edit] Allegations of Vandalism involving KMEL Street Team
The controversy was later resolved after the introduction of competition in the form of stunting radio station "Power 92.7". This competition did force KMEL to reintroduce local artists to the station's playlist and to become more community oriented.
However, in early 2004, KMEL was brought back in the light of controversy. Members of the station's street team were accused of vandalizing and threating employees of a competing hip hop station in the market. The allegations were all denied by officials of KMEL.
[edit] KMEL in pop culture
The station's name and logo appear briefly in the Japanese animated movie The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
[edit] Station Lineup
Weekdays
- Chuy Gomez in the Morning with Chuy Gomez, Lady Ray, DJ Mindmotion, & Rommel 6-10AM
- Sana G 10AM-2PM
- Super Snake 2-6PM
- Big Von & Scotty Fox 6-10PM
- The 106KMEL Lounge (slow jams) 10PM-1AM
- Music 1:00-6AM
Friday Nights
- The 106KMEL Chop Shop (mixshow with DJ Scotty Fox) 6:00PM-10PM
- School House Knock with Big Von (unreleased tracks and world premieres) 10PM-2AM
Saturdays
- The Hot Box with Box Kev & DJ Amen 2-4AM
- Cuddy Mac 6-10AM
- Chuy & Sana G's Countdown 10AM-Noon
- Drew Hef 2-7PM
- Big Von (Club 106 mixshow) 7PM-12AM
- Sway & King Tech Midnight-2AM
- Drew Hef & ODC 2-4AM
Sundays
- World Hit Gospel Show with Tinka 6-10AM
- Lady Ray 10AM-3PM
- E-Feezy Radio 3-5PM
- Live in the Den with Big Tigger 5-8PM
- Street Soldiers with Dr. Joseph E. Marshall 8-10PM
- The 106KMEL Lounge (slow jams) 10PM-1AM
- Music 1-6AM
[edit] KMEL In Mexico
Kmel Has numerous fans in Mexico City , and there are various rumors that KMEL's streaming is being broadcasted ilegaly in FM in a street located in North Mexico City.
[edit] Station Management
- General Manager Kim Bryant
- Program Director Stacy Cunningham
- Music Director Big Von Johnson
- Public Affairs Director Dr. Joseph E. Marshall
[edit] External links
- 106KMEL, The People's Station, The Bay Area's Home for Hip Hop and R&B
- KMEL Summer Jam - The Original "Summer Jam" concerts by Andrew Knyte of NJS4E
- Cameron Paul Blog
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KMEL
| FM radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area region (Arbitron #4, 35, 80, 81, and 108) | ||
|
|
||
|
(Arbitron #4) |
|
|
|
(Arbitron #35) |
|
|
|
(Arbitron #80) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Arbitron #81 and 108) |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mass media in the San Francisco Bay Area: Radio stations | TV stations | Newspapers |
||
