KSFB (AM)
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| KSFB | |
| City of license | San Francisco, California |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Branding | Immaculate Heart Radio |
| Slogan | Sharing the Heart of the Christian Faith |
| Frequency | 1260 (kHz) |
| First air date | 1926 |
| Format | Catholic radio |
| ERP | 5,000 watts (day) 1,000 watts (night) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 6369 |
| Callsign meaning | K San Francisco Bay |
| Owner | IHR Educational Broadcasting |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.ihradio.org |
KSFB (1260 AM) is a Roman Catholic-formatted radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States.
The AM station was a simulcast of the former sister station KOIT-FM, and unlike that station, continued to be owned by Bonneville International until February 1, 2008, when it was officially sold to Immaculate Heart Radio Educational Broadcasting.
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[edit] History
The 1260 AM frequency originated as KYA in 1926, and is noted as having had the most owners of any radio station in the history of California radio. Many owners had the station for less than a year in its early days, but even at its height, a three-year ownership was typical before changing hands once again. KYA was owned by everyone from Hearst Corporation to AVCO Broadcasting of California, a subsidiary of the jet and aerospace contractor.
Having moved to various locations around the radio dial during the chaotic early days of broadcasting, KYA was assigned permanently to 1260 kilocycles (now kiloHertz) by the Federal Communications Commission in 1941.
In the mid-1950s, KYA made its mark as a rock and roll station. KYA was for many years the leading Top 40 music radio station in the Bay Area, until the stronger-signalled KFRC switched to the format in 1966. From time to time, up through 1970, KYA would again beat KFRC in the Arbitron ratings, but KYA's dominance was truly over after the mid-60's. Ironically, former KYA morning man and legendary radio programmer Bill Drake went on to consult KFRC to its ratings success; in fact, it was at KYA that Drake first made his mark as program director. KYA was also instrumental in the careers of future sportscaster Johnny Holliday, audio and electronics store pitchman Tom Campbell, Hall of Fame disc jockey and underground radio pioneer Tom Donahue (a/k/a "Big Daddy"), and Tommy Saunders, who retired from KYA's successor, KOIT, in 2006.
[edit] KOIT (1983-2007)
KYA, which became KOIT in 1983 under the ownership of Bonneville International Corp., still transmits from the station's classic Julia Morgan-designed transmitter building on Candlestick Point, with studios at 2nd and Howard in San Francisco. Morgan was on retainer for Hearst, and the building has the trademark Hearst eagle above the front door.
A KYA jingle can be heard at the beginning of the movie Zodiac. A commercial for a now defunct local San Francisco Bay Area retailer, Gensler-Lee Diamonds, can be heard preceding the jingle.
In mid-2007, Bonneville reached an agreement to sell the 1260 AM frequency to IHR Educational Broadcasting. IHR took over the station's operations in December of that year under a time-brokerage agreement, and officially closed on the station on February 1, 2008.
[edit] Format Change
On December 10, 2007, a religious format came to 1260 AM; the call sign was changed to KSFB. KSFB is part of one of the largest Catholic radio network in America, and its daily broadcasts include daily mass and rosary. Many other programs such as Life is Worth Living with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Fr. John Corapi, and Mother Angelica are also on the air.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Radio station KYA technical/owner history
- Archival KYA broadcast recordings from the Bay Area Radio Museum
- Query the FCC's AM station database for KSFB
- Radio Locator Information on KSFB
- Query Arbitron's AM station database for KSFB
