Product Code Database
KOSF (103.7 FM broadcasting) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Francisco, California. It airs a classic hits radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KOSF's studios are on Townsend Street in San Francisco's SoMa district.
KOSF has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 6,400 watts. Its transmitter is located on Colma Road atop San Bruno Mountain in Brisbane. Radio-Locator.com/KOSF KOSF broadcasts using HD Radio technology.
By the late 1960s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began requiring FM stations to offer separate programming from that of their AM counterparts. KGO-FM, like other ABC-owned FM stations around the country, became an outlet for Love, an automated progressive rock format.
To develop a separate identity from its AM counterpart, KGO-FM changed its call sign to KSFX in early 1971. Its progressive rock format continued until May 1973, when KSFX switched to a Top 40 "Musicradio" approach, similar to WABC in New York City. By late 1974, the station veered towards a Soul music-flavored format. During the late 1970s, KSFX had a brief run with a disco music format.
In late 1980, KSFX switched to an album-oriented rock (AOR) format modeled after sister station KLOS in Los Angeles and WPLJ in New York. It played the top songs from the best selling rock albums. This lasted until May 1982. Stiff competition from rival rock stations KMEL and CBS Radio-owned KLLC prompted KSFX to drop AOR.
In 1982, the station returned to its KGO-FM call letters and switched to Talk radio, based on 810 KGO's success as San Francisco's top station. While KGO had mostly local talk hosts, KGO-FM featured programs from the ABC-syndicated Talkradio network, along with some local shows.
KLOK-FM had an interactive adult contemporary format called "Yes/No Radio." Listeners would call in their votes on whether songs should remain on or to be removed from the playlist. This only lasted three years.
KKSF debuted on July 31, 1987, at midnight. The first song played was "Back In The High Life Again" by Steve Winwood. The general manager from 1987 to 1997 was David A. Kendrick. Liner notes of the first "KKSF Sampler for AIDS Relief" list the members of the group responsible for the development of the KKSF concept as Willet Brown, Mike Brown, Dave Kendrick, Phil Melrose, Bob O'Connor, Michael Fischer, and Steve Feinstein.
Steve Feinstein, who had previously been a format editor at trade magazine Radio & Records, was chosen by consultant Bob O'Connor and GM Dave Kendrick to be KKSF's first program director. Until his death in 1996, Feinstein guided KKSF to be one of the leading stations in the NAC/Smooth Jazz format. He was known for being open and responsive to listener comments and suggestions. He constantly searched for new and interesting music that fit the KKSF sound, often gravitating to lesser-known imports and hard-to-find, out-of-print selections.
In 1988, the station teamed with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to produce their first KKSF Sampler for AIDS Relief album. Songs were donated by the artists so that KKSF could give all the net proceeds from the sale of the Sampler albums to the foundation. Often, the Sampler CDs were the only way to find certain KKSF listener favorites that had otherwise gone out of print. There were seven KKSF Samplers produced by Dave Kendrick and Steve Feinstein, with Sampler 7 being dedicated to Feinstein's memory, as he died in September 1996, during the album's creation.
KKSF was the first commercial radio station to have a presence on the World Wide Web. In October 1993, the station launched a website created by chief engineer Tim Pozar and morning host Roger Coryell, using the URL http://kksf.tbo.com and later http://www.kksf.com. The site was hosted by Internet service provider TLGNet, which was co-founded by Pozar.
The sound of KKSF changed with the new ownership. The smooth jazz consultancy Broadcast Architecture became more involved with the station at this time. Gradually, the station became more like other stations in the US using the "Smooth Jazz" handle, dropping some of its more eclectic music along the way in favor of mass appeal R&B songs.
The 2000s brought many changes to KKSF. In 2001, several announcers left, with a number of them going to former sister station KDFC. Former KKSF morning host John Evans joined KDFC where he hosted the afternoon show for seven years. Through the next eight years, the number of live announcers on staff gradually decreased, as KKSF began airing syndicated programming in morning drive, like the national Wake Up with Whoopi show hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, and later The Ramsey Lewis Morning Show, featuring pianist Ramsey Lewis. In 2008, KKSF added Dave Koz in afternoons. By the end of the smooth jazz era at KKSF, only midday personality Miranda Wilson was truly live in her time slot.
In its first few months as "The Band", KKSF increased its listenership among adults ages 25–54, considered a Key demographic than KKSF's previous audience, which skewed considerably older. The station featured mostly out-of-market personalities who Voice-tracking their shows, and had a very small local staff.
The transition to classic hits on KKSF was completed on April 8, 2011, at 3 pm, when the station rebranded as "Oldies 103.7". The last song on "The Band" was "Changes" by David Bowie, while the first song on "Oldies" was "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown. The Band Becomes Oldies 103.7 The branding was changed to simply "103.7 FM" in December. On January 3, 2012, KKSF changed its call sign to KOSF.
In November 2013, KOSF adopted a new on-air moniker, "The Bay's 103.7". The station rebranded again on May 2, 2014, at 5 pm, this time to "Big 103.7". No programming or staff changes were made in either case. The first song on "Big" was "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf.
KOSF aired commercial-free for its first eight days. MTV VJ Martha Quinn began hosting the station's morning drive time show on June 14. KOSF San Francisco to Become iHeart 80s Radio KOSF Becomes iHeart '80s 103.7
On May 24, 2021, at 10 am, KOSF relaunched with a broader-based classic hits format as "80s Plus 103.7". While 1980s hits still remain the focus of the format, the change saw the station added some songs from the late 1970s and the 1990s. To a certain extent, this brought the station closer to what it was prior to the debut of the prior format. The last song as "iHeart '80s" was "Oh Sherrie" by Hanford native Steve Perry, while the first song as "80s Plus" was "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.
Shortly after the move, in January 2022, likely due to popularity of her morning show on KOSF, Martha Quinn was chosen to become a national show host across all of iHeart's classic hits stations, including KOSF. Her syndicated show was offered to stations in their midday time slot. To fill in the morning show gap, KOSF promoted Christie James, former midday DJ and co-host of the Martha Quinn Show. Her show was named "Morning Drive with Christie Live". Former show producer Karena Velasquez was promoted to co-host. 80s Plus 103.7 San Francisco Equals Revamped KOSF KOSF Debuts Morning Drive with Christie Live
|
|
