KFRC (defunct)
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- For the current station that grew from this one, see KEAR (AM).
KFRC was a radio station in San Francisco, California in the United States, which began operating in 1924. For over 80 years, the station had broadcast on 610 kHz AM, until 2005. The station was also simulcast on FM, on 106.1 MHz in the 1970s, and later began simulcasting on 99.7 MHz in 1991, and its format continued on 99.7 FM for a time even after the AM station was sold. The KFRC call sign was moved to KFRC-FM 106.9 on May 17, 2007. The famous callsign letters were sequentially issued, as was common when KFRC signed on the air in 1924. They did not stand for "Francisco" or "Frisco," nor did they stand for "Known For Radio Clearness," though this was the slogan used when the station first signed on with 50 watts of power. Broadcasts had been heard over a much larger area than had been anticipated. Other slogans KFRC used in its early days were "Keep Forever Radiating Cheer" and "Keep Freely Radiating Cheer."
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[edit] Early history
The beginning of KFRC was largely due to the efforts of its first manager, Harrison Holliway. As a child, he was an amateur radio buff, and by 1920, he was operating his own amateur radio station, with the call sign 6BN. For a time, Harrison was on the air every day with 6BN, broadcasting record programs "for the sheer pleasure of it." He also worked as a part-time newspaper reporter, covering high school sporting news for the San Francisco Call.
Beginning in 1920, Holliway attended Stanford University. During the summer of 1924, Holliway was working at a radio shop called the Radio Art Corporation in San Francisco. A Western Electric salesman called on the owners, Jim Threlkeld and Thomas Catton, and sold them on the idea of starting a new radio station (and of course, buying a Western Electric transmitter). So, KFRC was born and Holliway became the manager.
KFRC went on the air on September 24, 1924 with speeches by local dignitaries, followed by a program with concert, symphony and dance orchestras. Although the signal was only 50 watts, reception proved exceptionally good. It was heard on the U.S. Atlantic Coast, and across the Pacific Ocean as far away as New Zealand.
In the following years, Holliway interviewed such personalities as baseball great Rogers Hornsby, French-Canadian heavyweight boxer Jack Renault, and actors William S. Hart, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and John Barrymore. Harry "Mac" McClintock who hosted a daily children's program, later wrote the hit song "Big Rock Candy Mountain."
[edit] Don Lee networks
In 1926, KFRC was purchased by Don Lee, who was the wealthy California distributor for Cadillac automobiles. He is said to have had "a personal habit of doing everything in grand style." His family owned the station for 25 years. In 1927, he purchased KHJ in Los Angeles, and in 1929, both stations became affiliated with William S. Paley's Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).
Jack Benny's announcer Don Wilson began his radio career at KFRC. Others included Ralph Edwards, Art Van Horn, and Mark Goodson, who later went on with partner Bill Todman to create many radio and television game and quiz shows. Other personalities associated with KFRC during the Don Lee era were Art Linkletter, Mel Venter, Bea Benaderet, Harold Peary, Morey Amsterdam, Juanita Tennyson, Merv Griffin, and John Nesbitt.
Don Lee died in 1934 and his son took over management. KFRC (and sister station KHJ in Los Angeles) switched to the new Mutual Broadcasting System on December 29, 1936.
[edit] 1950s and 1960s: Bill Drake era
In 1949, RKO-General acquired KFRC. Like most radio stations during the 1950s, KFRC lost ratings and share to television. In the mid-1960s, KFRC changed to a Top 40 rock and roll music format, and quickly became the dominant station in the region with that format through the 1970s, featuring the tight, carefully programmed sound developed programmer, Bill Drake, formerly of cross-town rival KYA. It entered its second "golden era," which coincided with San Francisco’s Summer of Love.
On June 9th and 10th, 1967, KFRC organized and hosted the Fantasy Fair & Magic Mountain Music Festival at the summit of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California. This was two weeks before the more famous Monterey Pop Festival, and hence was the first rock and roll festival in history.
For several years, KFRC had extended local newscasts on its AM station, under the leadership of news director Bob Safford; however, management decided to curtail news coverage, so Safford and other news staff moved to other news broadcast departments in San Francisco, including KCBS Radio and KGO-TV. The FM station used one of the first computer-operated automation systems in the country.[1]
[edit] 1970s and 1980s: Dr. Don Rose, Magic 61
From 1973 until 1986, Dr. Don Rose (July 5, 1934–March 30, 2005) was radio personality KFRC's morning air personality. With earlier experience at WQXI (AM) in Atlanta, Georgia, and WFIL in Philadelphia, he was known for his one-liners and sound effects. With Dr. Don as anchor, KFRC was voted "Station of the Year" four times by Billboard Magazine. He was considered by many to be the king of radio in the Bay Area during the last decade of AM's musical dominance.
The station began broadcasting in AM stereo in the early 1980s [1]. However, with the decline of the Top 40 format by mid-decade, KFRC's programming was changed at 6am on August 11, 1986, to a 1940s big band format, and was known as "Magic 61", while still broadcasting in stereo.
[edit] 1990s: adding FM
In the 1990s, KFRC changed to a nostalgia format by playing the rock hits of the 1960s and '70's, recreating the successful Bill Drake years.
When, in 1977, KFRC sold off its money-losing FM station at 106.1 (to become KMEL), it soon became clear that the owners had made a mistake. This was corrected in 1991 with the purchase of the station at 99.7. The frequency for many years had been KNBR-FM, and later KNAI, KYUU and KXXX. Under KFRC, the FM signal at 99.7 was simulcast with the popular AM station at 610. The oldies format proved very successful in the Bay market reaching number one with the popular 25-54 demo. Oldies program directors included Bob Hamilton of KRTH fame Brian Thomas from 1994 to 2003, Tim Marinville in 2003-04 and Bob Harlow became the last PD to play oldies on KFRC.
[edit] Sell Of KFRC AM
In 2005, the owners, Infinity Broadcasting (now CBS Radio), announced the sale of the AM station, which was anticipated to receive new call letters. The sale price was reported to be $35 million. The oldies format of KFRC AM and FM was scheduled to continue on the FM frequency.
The sale of the AM station came about as a result of the purchase of CBS' Sacramento television affiliate, KOVR, by Viacom, at the time the owner of both CBS and Infinity. Because KFRC's strong 5,000 watt AM signal from the Berkeley Marina was heard as a local station not only in San Francisco, but in Sacramento as well, the FCC required Infinity to sell either one of its Sacramento stations or a Bay Area station that had Sacramento as part of its city-grade coverage.
Gerry Cagle, who programmed KFRC in the early eighties, and now writes for MusicBiz.com, commented in 2005:
- "KFRC wasn't a position on the dial. It was a place in the hearts of the many professionals who worked there to build and continue a legacy unmatched in radio. It was also a place in the hearts of the listeners who made it important in their lives. 610 means nothing. 'KFRC San Francisco with the Best Music!' will live forever in that magical place we all go when we think about the good things of the past." [2]
Infinity sold the AM station to Family Stations, the owners of KEAR 106.9 FM, a Christian radio station. Shortly thereafter, Family Stations sold their FM station to Infinity. On April 29, 2005, Family Stations began simulcasting the signal of their FM station on 610 AM. The Oakland Athletics baseball team, which was the only sports tenant the past few years on the AM side, negotiated with Family Stations to have their games broadcast until the end of the 2005 baseball season.
[edit] Classic Hits KFRC
On September 5, 2005, KFRC-FM, the only oldies outlet in San Francisco moved their format ahead ten years switching to a '70s & '80s music format. The station billed itself as "the Bay Area's Classic Hits". However, more Oldies from the 1960s had been added in months around this time.
The legendary KFRC call letters left the AM band on October 17, 2005, when the KEAR call letters were transferred from 106.9 FM to 610 AM. Meanwhile, 106.9 FM had become KIFR, an outlet for CBS Radio's new Free FM talk format.
[edit] Rhythmic Movin 99.7 KFRC
At 10:03 a.m. on Friday, September 22, 2006, KFRC-FM changed their format to a Rhythmic Hot AC format. Closing off their oldies broadcast with American Pie, by Don McLean, they changed to "The New Movin' 99.7 KFRC" with Gonna Make You Sweat by C+C Music Factory. The "MOViN'" brand had previously been picked up by KQMV/Seattle, KMVN/Los Angeles, KYMV/Salt Lake City, KMVK/Dallas and WMVN/St. Louis. The format switch was met with sharp criticism from long time listerners of KFRC because it was the last remaining Oldies station in the region.
[edit] KFRC call letters move to 106.9
On Thursday, May 17, 2007, the KFRC-FM call sign moved to 106.9 FM, when CBS Radio discontinued the Free FM format in San Francisco, and revived the "classic hits" format after the Oakland Athletics vs Kansas City Royals game. 106.9 is set to continue hosting the Oakland Athletics, who were hosted on KFRC 610 AM for several years before it was bought and the A's left it for KYCY 1550 AM and now 106.9 FM. MOViN' 99.7 continues on under the call sign KMVQ-FM.
[edit] References
- ^ Eyewitness account by Robert E. Nylund, KFRC news intern, summer 1968
[edit] External links
- The History of KFRC San Francisco and the Don Lee Networks
- KFRC switches from oldies to music of 1970s and '80s, from the San Francisco Chronicle
- The History of KFRC Radio
