KFOG
 | |
| City of license |
KFOG: San Francisco, California KFFG: Los Altos, California |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, California |
| Branding | KFOG |
| Slogan | World Class Rock |
| Frequency |
KFOG: 104.5 MHz KFFG: 97.7 MHz |
| First air date |
KFOG: February 4, 1960 (as KBAY-FM) KFFG: October 1, 1960 (as KPGM) |
| Format | Triple-A |
| ERP |
KFOG: 7,100 watts KFFG: 3,300 watts |
| HAAT |
KFOG: 459 meters KFFG: 135.8 meters |
| Class |
KFOG: B KFFG: A |
| Facility ID |
KFOG: 54770 KFFG: 58843 |
| Callsign meaning |
KFOG: The FOG of San Francisco KFFG: K F FoG |
| Former callsigns |
KFOG: KBAY-FM (1960-1964) KFFG: KPGM (1960-1970) KPEN (1970-1984) KLZE (1984-1988) KHQT (1988-1995) |
| Owner | Cumulus Media |
| Sister stations | KGO, KNBR, KSAN, KSFO, KTCT |
| Webcast |
Listen Live Listen Live via iHeart |
| Website | kfog.com |
KFOG is an FM radio station in San Francisco, California, broadcasting on 104.5 and sister station KFFG 97.7 FM MHz. The 97.7 transmitter is located near Cupertino, California, and it is a simulcast of 104.5 KFOG.
The stations' formats are adult album alternative, an eclectic variety of blues, reggae, folk, pop, and rock music from the mid-1960s to the present, which the station calls "World Class Rock." Both stations are owned by Cumulus Media.
History
The station signed on on February 4, 1960 as KBAY and was owned by Kaiser Broadcasting, a company started by local industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.
The KFOG call letters have been around for decades, and were used when 104.5 played beautiful music. On September 16, 1982, they dropped the easy listening format for a blend of album-oriented rock which they called "Timeless Rock". The station featured a wide range of music, from the psychedelic sounds of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane to newer artists such as Prince, the Eurythmics, and the Thompson Twins. They avoided more commercial bands such as Loverboy, which were widely played on many other AOR stations at the time. KFOG's specialty programming included the nightly "Psychedelic Psupper" and the "Sunday Night Idiot Show", which featured 1950s oldies. KFOG was inspired by San Francisco's freeform rock radio heritage, dating back to KSAN.
When KFOG went on the air, the Bay Area was deluged with AOR stations. KMEL was the established, tightly-formatted album-oriented rock station that had been playing rock music since 1977. KRQR was the hard rock station and KQAK was a new station with a friendly, loosely programmed, personality-driven alternative rock/new wave format. There were two other rock stations in the South Bay - KSJO and KOME. One San Francisco rock station, KSFX, switched to talk radio in May of that year. Of the six Bay Area rock stations that were on the air in late 1982, KFOG is the only one that remains.
The station has evolved over the years, but has now been airing an eclectic rock format from the transmitter on Sutro Tower for more than twenty-five years.
KFOG programming and promotions
KFOG has a reputation for being devoted to their listeners, whom they call "Fogheads." The weekday morning show from 6 to 10 Pacific Standard time often features prize giveaways (usually concert tickets), and guests candidly field questions from callers and e-mails. The station gives registered Fogheads first crack at tickets to private concerts and exclusive events.
Ten At 10 is a daily program the begins at 10 a.m. and also rebroadcast at 10 p.m. On Saturday morning at 7 a.m. the entire weeks show are rebroadcast back to back. Each weekday a random year is selected followed by “ten great songs from one great year” in addition to classic commercials, news broadcasts and clips from popular TV programs. Listeners would call in with their favorite songs with the winner being named “Best Of Set”, (B.O.S.). In later years the “Best Of Set” votes would also be tabulated from the KFOG Facebook fan site.
The show was hosted by Dave Morey with Don Pardo serving as announcer beginning on September 1982. Don Pardo would “spin the big wheel” which would land on the year of the day. Dave Morey retired from KFOG on Friday, December 19, 2008 to his home on Lake Huron.
In addition to the regular programs, there are occasional special shows, such as “Ten Turkeys” on Thanksgiving, “Hits From Hell” on any Friday the Thirteenth. During Dave Morey's tenure, he was fond of occasional all Beatles play lists.
Following Dave Morey's retirement, on air personality AnnaLisa took over the program until 2012 when Annalisa moved to KFOX radio and Renee Richardson took over Ten At 10.
The station holds a popular outdoor concert, KFOG KaBoom, at San Francisco's Piers 30 and 32 each May. This is followed by a nighttime fireworks show synchronized to a soundtrack. The extravagant fireworks display draws over 350,000 people. The lineup for the 2009 edition included Los Lonely Boys, Susan Tedeschi, and Chuck Prophet. In 2010 KaBoom was moved to the parking lot outside of Candlestick Park due to erosion of the support pylons at Piers 30/32. The 2010 KaBoom featured headliner Melissa Ethridge and opening act The John Butler Trio and Grace Potter and The Nocturnals and was the last KaBoom concert.
Many of the concerts KFOG sponsors are recorded for KFOG's "Live from the Archives", a massive library of live performances that drawn on once a year for a limited-edition CD called KFOG Live From the Archives. No more than 35,000 copies of each volume are pressed, and all of the proceeds are donated to Bay Area Food Banks. Volume 16 was released in November 2009.[1]
KFOG has a tradition of playing various songs at the same time each week. On Friday afternoons at 5 p.m., the station always broadcasts the song "Smoke Two Joints", playing a version by either The Toyes or Sublime. Thursdays have been dubbed “New Releases Thursday” and KFOG plays music from new bands, often including indie rock groups. On Sunday mornings and evenings feature “Acoustic Sunrise” 7 a.m. To 11 a.m. and Acoustic Sunset” from 7 p.m. To 9 p.m. hosted by long time DJ Rosalie Howarth with a mellower slant to the playlist and tone to the set.
In 2002 KFOG was the first in the nation to put its music on iTunes and on HD Radio. KFOG streams its programming live over the Internet worldwide.[2] There is a foghorn sound effect heard from time to time.
Blocks
- Acoustic sunset- acoustic music during the evening
Notable personalities and shows
- KFOG KaBoom
- Rosalie Howarth is on Sunday mornings. The Sunday evening format includes Acoustic Sunrise and Acoustic Sunset.
- The Putumayo World Music Hour is syndicated across the United States.
- Weekends include The House of Blues Hour,[3] the KFOG Sideshow, Live From The Archives-The Show, and the Putumayo World Music Hour.
- 10@10[4] is one of KFOG's most popular features, broadcast at 10 a.m. and repeated at 10 p.m. weekdays, with a 7 a.m. Saturday morning marathon replaying all five shows from that week. The general theme is "ten great songs from one great year" but the show also occasionally features other special themes. The show is currently hosted by midday personality Renee Richardson.
- On May 29, 2012, KFOG debuted a new morning show called "KFOG In The Morning with Greg, Tony, and Melanie," featuring Tony Longo, Greg Gory and Melanie Walker.
HD radio
As of 2013, KFOG broadcasts two feeds in HD Radio, the first is a simulcast of their analog feed and the second rebroadcasts "all-10@10-all-the-time".
References
External links
- KFOG Website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KFOG
- Radio-Locator information on KFOG
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KFOG
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KFFG
- Radio-Locator information on KFFG
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KFFG
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Coordinates: 37°45′18″N 122°27′11″W / 37.755°N 122.453°W