KABL (defunct)
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KABL was an AM radio station in San Francisco Bay Area, which broadcast at 960 kHz. For many years it broadcast a beautiful music format, but later switched to a traditional pop music format.
Known for many years as KROW, and known for launching of the career of comedian Phyllis Diller and for helping the career of "the world's greatest disc jockey" Don Sherwood, this station had had a format of news, music and sports when it was purchased by legendary broadcaster Gordon McLendon in 1959 and renamed KABL.
As KABL, the station was one of the first beautiful music stations, combining 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 Bay Bridge, KABL was also noted in radio history for its failure to properly identify its city of license. In its attempt to identify with San Francisco rather than Oakland, KABL used 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 the FCC, resulting in a fine and an admonishment to all broadcasters that they were licensed to serve a particular community, not surrounding ones.
In 1997, the station switched to a traditional pop and big band format. In 2000, they briefly switched to a 1960s-1970s soft rock format, but went back to older music after complaints from their regular audience. In 2004, KQKE took over the 960 kHz spot, and KABL reemerged at 92.1 FM in Walnut Creek, California. The station had a very limited signal beyond its immediate broadcast area however, and in July 2005, went off of the air entirely.
KABL then began broadcasting as an internet radio station. This lasted until January 31, 2007, when Clear Channel Conmmunications discontinued KABL's streaming music. On June 1, 2007, under license from Clear Channel, the Bay Area Radio Museum launched a streaming tribute to KABL on the Internet at KABLradio.com, with a blend of Beautiful Music, Easy Listening, Adult Standards, Big Bands, traditional pop and middle-of-the-road music, saluting the various musical styles presented during the station's forty-year run on the Bay Area's airwaves.
[edit] External links
- KABL Radio - Official website.
- "Big Band Fans Turned Off After KABL is Tuned Out", Contra Costa Times, August 14, 2005.
- Bay Area Radio Museum, KABL archive – audio archive of KABL broadcasts.
- KABL Online's farewell message
- Bay Area Radio Digest Blog Entry on KABL Online's demise
