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KNBR

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KNBR, "The Sports Leader", are the call letters associated with 680 AM in San Francisco and KTCT 1050 AM in San Mateo, California. Between the two stations, the entire seasons of San Francisco Giants baseball, Golden State Warriors basketball, San Jose SaberCats arena football, and San Francisco 49ers football are broadcast to the San Francisco Bay Area.

KNBR is one of two class A 50,000 watt clear channel stations in the Bay Area, and the only one in the area to use a non-directional transmitter (the other, KGO-AM, directs its signal mainly to the north and south in order to have a stronger signal on the more populated west coast and to protect WGY in Schenectady, NY). At night, KNBR can be heard throughout much of the western United States and in the Hawaiian Islands. Because of it's extensive range, it is sometimes called by the nickname "The 50,000 Watt Flamethrower."

Contents

History

KNBR began life as KPO, owned by the Hale Brothers department store and the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. Originally located in the Hale store at Market and 5th (now site of Marshall's and other stores), its horizontal wire antenna on the roof was so efficient it immediately attracted the attention of audiences all over the Pacific Coast.

In 1927, KPO became an affiliate of the new NBC radio network. Eventually, KPO was sold to NBC, where its operation was consolidated into that of its co-owned KGO at 111 Sutter Street. From there, NBC operated its West Coast network, feeding dozens of stations and operating a news bureau to serve NBC. From this address, NBC maintained a fulltime orchestra, five studios, and produced many live shows. During the rise of Hollywood, NBC's radio operation was moved to Los Angeles.

In 1941, just before World War II, NBC constructed Radio City at 420 Taylor Street, considered one of the best radio facilities built during radio's golden age. However, with the network control having been moved to Los Angeles, the San Francisco NBC building was never fully utilized. (Later, the building housed KBHK-TV, and now houses the headquarters of a janitorial service.)

During World War II, KPO's news bureau was the major source for NBC of news about the war in the Pacific, and operated shortwave radio stations (transmitters located in Dixon) serving the world. It was at the KPO (RCA) shortwave facility that the message was received that Japanese emperor Hirohito had surrendered, ending World War II.

In 1946, to shore up its reputation as an NBC station (and the only radio station NBC ever owned on the West Coast), the callsign was changed from KPO to KNBC. This change lasted until 1960, when the callsign was applied to NBC's TV station in Los Angeles, and the radio station was renamed KNBR.

In the 1950s when NBC scrapped its comedy, drama, variety shows, and serials, the Los Angeles facility was sold and demolished, and KNBC/KNBR once again became the West Coast NBC network control center and West Coast NBC Radio news operation.

In 1986 when NBC got out of the radio business, KNBR was sold to Susquehanna Corporation, a longtime radio station operator.

KNBR has long been linked with 680 AM. Several years after KNBR's parent company acquired 1050 AM and converted it into KTCT, "The Ticket 1050," the company opted to re-brand that other station as another version of KNBR.

KTCT 1050 began life as a suburban San Mateo Western music station in 1949.

As all-sports format stations, both KNBRs features game broadcasts and sports talk, including shows hosted by Bay Area staples Ralph Barbieri, Tom Tolbert, and KRON's Gary Radnich. Some shows are simulcast on both 680 and 1050.

Sports content

KNBR is the longtime radio home of the San Francisco Giants. Giants broadcasters and former Giants Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, affectionately known as "Kruk and Kuip," are considered to be broadcasting elite in baseball, as is San Francisco native and ESPN broadcaster Jon Miller, who is also a part on the Giants' on-air team. Recent additions Dave Flemming and Greg Papa round out the Giants' broadcast team.

Tim Roye is the radio play-by-play announcer for the Golden State Warriors, and is joined by Jim Barnett on non-televised games (as Barnett serves as an analyst for TV broadcasts).

A vast array of announcers participate in San Jose SaberCats broadcasts, including Bob Fitzgerald, Keena Turner, George Atkinson, Tim Liotta, F.P. Santangelo, and Troy Clardy.

In 2005, KNBR became the official radio home of the San Francisco 49ers. Currently, 49ers games are broadcast by Joe Starkey and Gary Plummer.

KNBR is also an affiliate of ESPN Radio, and carries selected content and games from the national network. KNBR 1050 is an affiliate of Fox Sports Radio.

KNBR is owned by [link]Cumulus Media Partners, LLC, a private partnership of Cumulus Media, Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group, and Thomas H. Lee Partners. Former owners Susquehanna Radio Corp., a subsidiary of [link]Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff Company announced in April of 2005 plans to sell its broadcast properties. [Reference: Susquehanna Press Release, 4-20-2005]

Schedules and shows

This list is [Incomplete listsincomplete]; you can help by [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ expanding it].

Programming from KNBR's flagship station (680 AM) is discussed here. For "KNBR 1050" (KTCT), see entry.

Past programs

This long-running show (1978-1997) was a staple of San Francisco Bay Area morning drive-time radio. It was variety show with interviews, light satire (sketch comedy, complete with characters), and occasional remote broadcasts, such as from the AT&T Pebble Beach Open. Until the early '90s it, along with the rest of the station, also featured adult contemporary music selections.

While "Frank" usually played the straight man, "Mike" provided the majority of the program's ubiquitous sketch-comedy character voices, which included a confused newsman, a chef ("Julia Chives"), an heiress ("Noone Gotmore Danyudu"), and others. Cleary left the show in the '90s and was replaced by other sidekicks, including traffic reporters Blackstone and Wonderley and sports reporter Radich. John Madden appeared with Dill regularly for several years; shortly after Dill retired, he moved his daily show to competitor KCBS-AM.

Typically an interview show, rather than a call-in show, Steve Jamison typically interviewed notable figures from the Bay Area, as well as national newsmakers and figures from entertainment. A relaxed afternoon talk show with an eclectic focus. Laporte went on to develop and host KNBR's "California Weekend", a block of weekend talk shows that lasted (in various forms) until KNBR's adoption of an all-sports format in the 1990s. An afternoon [drive-time] talk show focused primarily on current events, with various entertainment elements. These included "Dialing for Dorks", in which Collins called various shady companies whose advertising he or listeners had received. The station's flagship program, later known as "SportsPhone 680", has featured numerous hosts over the years. The program was one of the first sports talk shows available in the San Francisco Bay Area, and eventually helped steer KNBR toward an all-sports format in the 1990s. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, KNBR broadcast a suite of weekend talk shows on various topics, including Real Estate, Automobiles (Brian Douglas), Home Repair ("On the House" with Morris Carey and James Carey), and computers ("Dvorak On Computers" with: John C. Dvorak.) Broadcaster Leo Laporte anchored all of these programs, allowing the "expert" hosts, which had less radio experience, to concentrate on their topics, and answering callers' questions. During the early 1990s, KNBR aired a weekly show that introduced San Francisco Bay Area media personality Jan Wahl to the broader public. Although the show's introduction referred to Wahl as a Television Emmy-award-winning producer and television director, the program focused on motion pictures, with discussions of current film releases, personalities, Hollywood history from the days of the studio system to the present, Hollywood collectibles, and included interviews of various Hollywood personalities, mostly from behind the scenes. Wahl later went on to become the movie critic for San Francisco television station KRON-TV, and its cable offshoot, "BayTV". A weekly radio interview program, often recorded before a studio audience, "Costas Coast to Coast" aired weekends, originating as a nationally syndicated program. Hosted by nationally-known media commentator Bob Costas. A weekly radio interview program, begun in 1990, "Instant Replay" featured host Pat Summerall interviewing many of the highest-profile sports figures of the day, including athletes as diverse as Pete Rose and Arthur Ashe. Airing during the peak of Summerall's long broadcasting career, many of the show's interviews were later reprinted in a book entitled Pat Summerall's Sports in America (ISBN 006270186X). KNBR began carrying Rush Limbaugh around 1990, but retained the show long after the station's focus was shifted to its sports programming, due to its popularity. The station finally dropped the show and went all-sports about 10 years later. KNBR brought an edgier form of sports talk to the Bay Area air by hiring Pete Franklin from Cleveland. The station promoted Franklin as "the King of Sports Talk", perhaps in part to establish his reputation in the Bay Area radio market, where he was not yet well known.

Franklin quickly became popular among KNBR personalities, and (like Limbaugh) was unafraid to attack callers whom he disagreed with, or whose reasoning he found faulty. One of Franklin's signature "bits" was the use of a "toilet flushing" sound effect, with which he would dismiss callers.

In addition to the stations' main shows, they both have sports updates throughout the day. Present and past update anchors include:

Many of the producers at KNBR have become major personalites in their own right. Shiela Louie was a constant source of discussion during the Gary Radnich program. Mike Currie was a name that got constant air time during the Pete Franklin show. Other notable producers were:

Current programming

Programs airing on KNBR (680) in 2006 include (all times Pacific):

Weekdays

Weekends

(Various times)

Ongoing

An afternoon Sports Talk show, begun in 1996. The premise of "The Razor and Mr. T" was the pairing of Ralph Barbieri (promoted from evenings to afternoons) with former NBA (and Golden State Warriors) player Tom Tolbert. Originating as part of the station's statutory requirement of public affairs, the station continues to air an hourlong interview show Sunday mornings at 5 a.m..

During the 1990s, the program typically began and ended with the phrase "This is Gimmy Park Li, Your Host". No program title was given. Interviews for this program often consisted of local individuals in volunteer, charitable, or minor governmental capacities.

Due to its time slot, the program is the [[wiktionary:quintessential|quintessential]] example of the "Sunday-morning public affairs ghetto". (Related article: Public affairs) The program has, apparently, never been promoted outside of its timeslot. "Gimmy Park Li" was the station's Public Affairs Director.

External links

'''AM Radio Stations in the San Francisco Bay Area market

By Frequency: 560 | 610 | 680 | 740 | 810 | 910 | 960 | 1010 | 1050 | 1080 | 1100 | 1170 | 1190 | 1220 | 1260 | 1310 | 1340 | 1400 | 1450 | 1510 | 1550 | 1640

By Callsign: KCBS | KDIA | KDYA | KEAR | KEST | KFAX | KGO | KIQI | KLOK | KMKY | KNBR | KNEW | KNTS | KOIT | KOMY | KPIG | KQKE | KSCO | KSFO | KTCT | KVTO | KYCY

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