KALW Celebrates 80th Anniversary With New Operating Agreement, Programming & Look

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

KALW Celebrates 80th Anniversary With New Operating Agreement, Programming & Look - RadioInsight

radioinsight.com

KALW is one of the first FM's in San Francisco.

San Francisco Unified School District’s Public News/Talk/AAA 91.7 KALW San Francisco has unveiled a number of new initiatives as part of its 80th anniversary.

Credited as the first FM license to launch west of the Mississippi in 1941, KALW has announced that operations of the station have been transferred to a new nonprofit KALW Public Media. The school district will continue to own the station’s license, however the nonprofit that was formed in 2019 began managing the station for eight years starting December 8, 2020. KALW says the deal will allow the station more operations discretion and fundraising control.

 

[radio11]

Like a number of other stations, KALW has a lot of talk most days and a lot of music in the evenings and Saturday. Unlike most other stations, the talk is in mono; and the music is usually in stereo. It makes sense because of the greater range of mono. I am wondering what's involved in flipping the switch. Is another transmitter needed? Does power consumption change?

 

[Hole in your radio]

Like a number of other stations, KALW has a lot of talk most days and a lot of music in the evenings and Saturday. Unlike most other stations, the talk is in mono; and the music is usually in stereo. It makes sense because of the greater range of mono. I am wondering what's involved in flipping the switch. Is another transmitter needed? Does power consumption change?

In my experience, the stereo/mono switch is accomplished by literally throwing a switch, usually at the studio, to turn the stereo generator on and off.

 

[radio11]

Sometimes the DJ, or whoever, forgets to throw the switch.

 

[DaveBayArea]

In my experience, the stereo/mono switch is accomplished by literally throwing a switch, usually at the studio, to turn the stereo generator on and off.

In today's modern processor/generators that function can be set to happen automatically. There are also options to change the processing parameters to better suit either the music or talk programming. I'm not certain by any means, but I suspect KALW has taken the humans out of that equation. As long as the actual programming follows the schedule that works perfectly. If they have specials, breaking news, etc. there might be a need for manual intervention though.

On a side note, it's been a few years since I've listened to KALW, having moved from the Bay Area in 2012. This thread reminds me of how cool they were, and I see they upped the ante on July 19th with a bunch of new shows. Guess maybe I should take some time & listen to the new incarnation for a while.

Dave B.