A's Moving To KTRB/860

[Madmansam]

any of Beene's "moneyball" fire sales, with the number of stations they've bounced around.

The oldies format on KSFO lasted for most of '93, while the A's moved (briefly) to KNEW.
KSFO(which had actually been sold by King Broadcasting in late '92) adopted the 'lefty talk' format in September of '93...with Gene Nelson as the only holdover from the oldies era.
The next year, of course, KSFO was sold once again, and the A's began their first stint on KFRC

KSFO was sold by KING BROADCASTING in 1994, not late 1992. In fact, KSFO changed its format to Talk in 1993, while still under the ownership of King. And the first Talk format was not Totally Lefty Talk as in addition to GENE NELSON in the Morning and PETER B. COLLINS in the Afternoons there was syndicated Talk of G. GORDON LIDDY, LARRY KING and JIM BOHANNON and a Sunday Night Marathon of OLD TIME RADIO with WHEN RADIO WAS.... A year later, King sold KSFO to ABC who dropped everything and chaged it to a MOSTLY LEFTY TALK with JEFF BLAZEY and CHARLEE SIMONS in the Mornings and TOM LEYKIS in the Afternoons as well as THE SPORTS BABE and a few more I can't remember. And starting The New Year of 1995, KSFO changed it format to its current Conservative Hot Talk Format. In 1995, KSFO initially had J. PAUL EMERSON followed by TOM KAMB then a Black Conservative who I think was called The Black Avenger KEN HAMBLIN followed by MICHAEL SAVAGE then followed by PAT BUCHANAN and COAST TO COAST with ART BELL.

 

[onairb]

any of Beene's "moneyball" fire sales, with the number of stations they've bounced around.

The oldies format on KSFO lasted for most of '93, while the A's moved (briefly) to KNEW.
KSFO(which had actually been sold by King Broadcasting in late '92) adopted the 'lefty talk' format in September of '93...with Gene Nelson as the only holdover from the oldies era.
The next year, of course, KSFO was sold once again, and the A's began their first stint on KFRC

KSFO was sold by KING BROADCASTING in 1994, not late 1992. In fact, KSFO changed its format to Talk in 1993, while still under the ownership of King. And the first Talk format was not Totally Lefty Talk as in addition to GENE NELSON in the Morning and PETER B. COLLINS in the Afternoons there was syndicated Talk of G. GORDON LIDDY, LARRY KING and JIM BOHANNON and a Sunday Night Marathon of OLD TIME RADIO with WHEN RADIO WAS.... A year later, King sold KSFO to ABC who dropped everything and chaged it to a MOSTLY LEFTY TALK with JEFF BLAZEY and CHARLEE SIMONS in the Mornings and TOM LEYKIS in the Afternoons as well as THE SPORTS BABE and a few more I can't remember. And starting The New Year of 1995, KSFO changed it format to its current Conservative Hot Talk Format. In 1995, KSFO initially had J. PAUL EMERSON followed by TOM KAMB then a Black Conservative who I think was called The Black Avenger KEN HAMBLIN followed by MICHAEL SAVAGE then followed by PAT BUCHANAN and COAST TO COAST with ART BELL.

I stand by my post. KSFO was briefly owned by the founder of the Good Guys home electronics chain, Ron Unkefer. KYA remained with King Broadcasting, and the two former sister-stations officially split in the fall of '92; on the Bay Area Radio Museum's site, you'll find a link to a Gene Nelson show where he refers to having undergone a 'call-letter-ectomy', because of the oddness of only having one set of call letters to announce.
Refer to this 2006 Radio Waves column, in which Celeste Perry is interviewed about her SF radio work:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/12/03/PKGMQKFN871.DTL
While Perry is unclear on the date of Unkefer's ownership, I recall it being late '92 through perhaps early '94. KSFO tried a mix of oldies and sports-talk(replacing Ron Barr's 'Sports Byline USA' with short-lived nighttime programs hosted by Mark Ibanez, Barry Tompkins, Joan Ryan, and Ken Dito).
The emphasis on sports ended almost before it started, and the station played oldies til September of '93, as noted above.

 

[RadioStarOne]

The Good Guys owner most certainly did take buy "Both" KSFO/KYA From King Broadcasting, bought Gene Nelson's contract and got rid of most of the rest of the staff which was a union operation. This guy Ron Unkefer has a large ownership stake in First Broadcasting, to this day. don't any of those of you out there save any of your old Radio and Records?

 

[MikeAmatori]

Onairb and Mamansam...You are both close, BUT.

King sold KSFO/KYA to Ron Unkafer (First B'casting) on January 27th 1991. He fired most everyone and took the station non union. The A's contract was still in place. The station was oldies for a while, but no longer a simulcast, he split the a/f. They did not resign the A's for 1994. He Sold KYA to John Hays of Alliance Broadcasting in early 94' Then sold KSFO to ABC on 9/1/94. KSFO was talk for a brief time before ABC got it
when Unkefer sold off KYA. It was live and Syndie talk, Nelson did do mornings.

I was there for the end of King's KSFO/KYA and was there for the start of ABC's KSFO. I sat out Unkafers
ownership. But Ron was a smart guy he bought KSFO/KYA from King for 13 million...Then sold KYA to Alliance for 17 million and KSFO to ABC for 10 million... Not a bad return. Bob Hamilton was Unkafers last PD at the 300
Broadway version of KSFO. Unkafer hired Hamilton Back after he fired him in 91.

Also...ABC took KSFO to "Attitude Radio" when they got it, kind of a mix of live and Syndication lefty and righty talk. Then Jack Swanson, who returned from Seattle, changed it to conservative talk on 1/1/95...

Trust me, I was there.

 

[Madmansam]

I stand corrected! Darn Brain Cells ;D Now I do remember FIRST BROADCASTING owning KSFO. But I do remember the mostly LEFTY TALK with some RIGHT TALK (but not much) first started with ABC in 1994, ever so briefly before its 1995 switch to CONSERVATIVE TALK.

 

[SFStatic]

Actually, yes it was simulcast oldies for about a year under the Unkenator. Dave Anthony was the PD. The only non-simul was for the A's games on KSFO...KYA rocked on. It was later when they split into two different oldies formats. Uncle Gene took the KSFO morning show, and Terry McGovern did the duty on KYA.

 

[RadioStarOne]

KSFO prior to going talk had Wolfman Jack live in the studio for a brief time. I have the tapes! A friend of mine got to meet him through his friendship with the guy that called himself Donovan on the air. He Donovan went to work for KBAY in San Jose after that. I got to visit the KBAY studios in San Jose with my friend while he made a deal to buy a car from the Donovan guy. ("Just a bunch of useless information I know!") My friend said Wolfman was a coool guy! Was He?

 

[JEREMIAH]

MY GOOD FRIEND PRODUCTION BOY NAILED THE HISTORY RE:KSFO/KYA..

I WAS DOING A LOT OF DIFFERENT STUFF IN SF RADIO-TV AT THE TIME, ONE OF THEM WAS FILL IN NEWS ON UNKEFER'S STATIONS...MY WIFE DID TRAFFIC THERE(LOGS, NOT CARS)....AT A CHRISTMAS PARTY UNKEFER GOT UP AT THIS SO CALLED FESTIVE OCCASION AND ANNOUNCED THAT THERE WOULD BE "MANY CHANGES" UPCOMING.....TURNING THE CHRISTMAS PARTY INTO A WAKE.


HAPPY NEW YEAR RON!


JERRY GORODN KNUU LAS VEGAS [email protected]

 

[SFStatic]

Wolf was a good guy, met him several times, including at KSFO when he was doing some live shows there with his road manager, Lonnie.

The Donovan guy is still selling cars.

Jerry Gordon's wife is probably the best traffic director that has ever worked in the Bay Area.

 

[JEREMIAH]

SFSTATIC:


I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND SO WOULD PHYLLIS..

I WILL NOT "OUT" YOU. ASK PRODUCTON BOY ABOUT ME KEEPING A SECRET.

E-MAIL: [email protected]


THANKS,


JG

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Veteran sportscaster Ron Barr is the founder of the Sports Byline USA network. He also hosts the network’s flagship program, “Sports Byline USA,” Monday through Friday, 7pm to 10pm PT. In returning to a bay area broadcast home, Barr says, “It’s always nice to come home. I think the over 40 hours a week of Sports Byline programming on KTRB will give Bay Area sports fans the kind of choice they haven’t had here in several years.”

I was wondering if Sport Byline would ever find a permanent home in its hometown. Here's a network that has been running for 20 years over on Broadway and it's had no regular outlet in the Bay Area. Yet they have lots of affiliates elsewhere.

On the same note, here's an interesting fit: KTRB/860 is moving in to 300 Broadway this week, where it will begin cohabitating with the long-established Sports Byline USA operation there (in the former home of KSFO/KYA-FM).

Strange bedfellows? Nope. Sounds like a pretty smart arrangement, according to everyone I've talked to.

 

[SCV_Ears]

Most definitely ... I was a sportswriter in Merced in the mid-90s when one of the local radio stations (powered down to 100 watts at night to protect Radio Disney in Phoenix ... drive 10 miles out of town and it was like the radio changed all by itself!) picked up his show as part of a flip to a sportstalk format. I wrote a few nice things about Barr's show in my column one week and, the next day, the phone started ringing as soon as I got in the office. It was Ron Barr, saying thank you.