KMKY (AM)

KMKY
City of license Oakland, California
Broadcast area San Francisco Bay Area
Branding Radio Disney AM 1310
Slogan Your Music, Your Way
Frequency 1310 kHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date 1922
Format Children's radio
Power 5,000 Watts unlimited
Class B
Facility ID 96
Transmitter coordinates 37°49′27″N 122°19′10″W / 37.82417°N 122.31944°WCoordinates: 37°49′27″N 122°19′10″W / 37.82417°N 122.31944°W
Callsign meaning K MicKeY Mouse
Former callsigns KDIA, KFYI
Affiliations Radio Disney
Owner ABC, Inc. (Disney)
(Sale pending)
(RD San Francisco Assets, LLC)
Sister stations KGO-TV
Website www.radiodisney.com

KMKY is a radio station licensed to Oakland, California that broadcasts on 1310 AM. It has children's variety programming and is part of the Radio Disney network. The 1310 AM frequency licensed to Oakland was the longtime home of Urban AC KDIA.

History

KMKY began as KLS in 1922 on 1200 kHz. It moved to 1220 kHz in 1927 then 1440 kHz in 1928. It moved to 1280 kHz in 1937 then 1310 kHz in 1941 as a result of the NARBA agreement. In 1945, when the station was owned by Warner Brothers,[1] it changed its call letters to KWBR and changed its format to focus on an African-American audience. In 1959, it was bought by the owners of Memphis radio station WDIA, and the call letters were changed to KDIA. During the 1960s through the 1980s, the station was the premier soul and funk station in the San Francisco Bay Area. The station helped launch the careers of such musicians as Sly and the Family Stone.

In the early 1990s KDIA was co-owned by then mayor of Oakland, California, Elihu Harris with then California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. In 1992, the late Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey returned to the Bay Area to work as public affairs director and newscaster on KDIA. Bailey later became the editor of the Oakland Post who was murdered on the streets of downtown Oakland.[2] KDIA changed from gospel music to Radio Disney in mid-December 1997.[3]

In August 13, 2014, Disney put KMKY and 22 other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ↑ "Warner Bros.' KWBR-FM (97.3 mc) Is Dedicated" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 22, 1947. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Josh Richman and Douglas Fischer (2007-08-03). "Bailey's career in news spanned globe for decades". Oakland Tribune.
  3. ↑ Evenson, Laura (December 24, 1997). "Disney Radio Station Aims at Young Listeners". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  4. ↑ Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ Venta, Lance (August 13, 2014). "Radio Disney To Sell All But One Station". Radio Insight. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2014.

External links