A few statements I'd like to correct.
First, there was a KGO-FM in the 80s or 90s. It was not a simulcast, except maybe some newscasts. They tried to do younger Talk on the FM. I remember they had a nightly show aimed at the gay community, something controversial then, even in SF. But even though I thought KGO-FM gave youthful talk a good effort, the AM KGO was so good, I didn't listen much to KGO-FM when I was visiting SF. I believe it was gone in about a year.
Second, NPR may care about its aging audience but as long as they're able to pledge money, their age isn't that important. NPR isn't selling burgers or beer to an 18-34 demo. Yes, underwriters may want to see more youthful listeners. But they're only a small part of public radio funding. If Car Talk still gets donors, it will stay on. NPR doesn't have to appeal to media buyers concerned about aging demos.
Third, Talk as a format isn't going away. Humans need to hear conversation and get casual information (as opposed to All-News). They want to know what their neighbors are thinking. What it will sound like in a few years, I can't say. Not every guy and certainly few women will substitute Sports Talk for General Talk.
Certainly the current model of Conservative Talk is getting older. But when CBS tried putting Hot Talk (Free FM) on several of its FM stations, that didn't work either. There are only a few Hot Talk stations left.
The Talk version of KGO-FM was in the
early 80s. According to info on the internet, KLOK-FM signed on to 103.7 in 1984, so the talk version lasted only a couple of years. You are right that it was NOT a simulcast. Even the short news breaks were separate from the AM, though they may have used news readers from the AM side - I don't recall. There was very little actual news content though - just brief headlines and weather.
The programming came from ABC's fledgling talk network. I believe it provided the programming for WABC-AM in NYC, which had finally dropped it's long-time Top 40 format. No doubt, it was syndicated to other ABC stations on both AM and FM, and possibly to other stations in markets where there was no interest from ABC affiliates.
The morning host was Owen Spann of KGO-AM, who moved to New York. I believe this was Ronn Owen's opportunity to move to mornings on KGO-AM to replace Spann. Prior to that, Ronn had been doing evenings. Mid-days on KGO-FM was psychologist Dr. Toni Grant, who was a kindler-gentler version of the later Dr. Laura Schelessinger, though not by much. I don't remember afternoons, but evenings were Ira Fistell, a longtime talk radio veteran.
It was a good effort, I thought - but never really caught on. I listened quite a bit, but ultimately preferred the local hosts on KGO-AM, and I think that was what most listeners felt. They later tried some local programming, including Don Chamberlain's
Sex Talk. It was a apt title because the show was very explicit in its content. I remember being amazed at the time that they could get away with it without intervention from the FCC. I guess it was because the content had socially redeeming value and was presumably helping people. Chamberlain had done a more censored version of his show a few years earlier on KNEW called
California Girls, but it had been cancelled when KNEW flipped from Oldies to Country music.
About a year in, they stopped calling the station KGO-FM and rebranded as "Talk Radio FM 104," almost as if they were afraid the failure would sully the legend that was KGO-AM. It limped along for a few more months until the frequency was sold.
