History/Format Question Regarding KMEL & KYLD...

[Marv-L.A.]

Can someone provide a timeline on the history for KMEL & KYLD since 1980?

How long each station has been in existence, how many times has each changed formats, and which station has been among SFs top five or ten rated stations most frequently over the past 20-30 years?

Thanks!!

 

[LKellerIII]

Can someone provide a timeline on the history for KMEL & KYLD since 1980?

How long each station has been in existence, how many times has each changed formats, and which station has been among SFs top five or ten rated stations most frequently over the past 20-30 years?

Thanks!!

I'll give it a try. The two stations were competitors until Clear Channel bought both about 1997 or 98. Both stations have been in the top 10 over the last 25 years or so, and KMEL has usually been in the top 5.

I'm not so good at years, but I remember that 107.7 KSOL was the top rated music station in the Bay Area with a urban format in the early 80s. KMEL had been an AOR format, but flipped to an "All Hit" format by the late 70s (I think). KMEL had an urban lean, and as rap and hip-hop became popular, they more or less morphed over time into a Hip Hop station. KMEL overtook KSOL in the ratings. 107.7 responded by changing their branding to Wild 107, though they retained the KSOL call letters. They had morning drive success with Mancow, but otherwise never caught up to KMEL in the ratings.

In the mid 90s, the company that owned 107.7 bought the 98.9 frequency and moved the KSOL call letters to 98.9 for a "Classic Soul" format. At that point, 107.7 became KYLD.

As de-regulation continued, Clear Channel hoovered up the larger AM/FM corporation, and purchased both KMEL and KYLD. The two stations were no longer direct competitors. CC did a frequency flip with Susquehanna which owned KSAN 94.9, and KYLD became Wild 94.9.

But until recently, KMEL still enjoyed the higher ratings - at least outside of morning drive. The Doghouse on Wild were extremely popular for most of the 90s until they self-destructed. Since PPM, I've noticed that KYLD seems to have higher ratings.

 

[DavidKaye]

Looks pretty good to me, Lkeller. From what I have heard, Mancow suggested the callsign change from KSOL to KYLD. For fairly exact dates (there are a couple errors, but they're otherwise pretty good, see the Wikipedia entries for KYLD, KSOL, and KSAN.

 

[dharmadoug]

18-34 KMEL has been consistantly beating KYLD in all the PPM books except 1.

98 KYLD switched from 107 - 94.9

 

[michael hagerty]

Can someone provide a timeline on the history for KMEL & KYLD since 1980?

How long each station has been in existence, how many times has each changed formats, and which station has been among SFs top five or ten rated stations most frequently over the past 20-30 years?

Thanks!!

I can fire up the Wayback Machine for KMEL's early history. It was KFRC-FM until 1977, when it was sold to Century Broadcasting, which changed the call letters to KMEL and the format to AOR (KFRC-FM had done mostly automated oldies...I say "mostly" because I think there was a short attempt at A/C.).

In August, 1984, KMEL flipped to CHR. The first jock in the new format: Marvelous Mark McKay, longtime KFRC jock, who had done a short stint in Minneapolis at KDWB. I don't know how long Mark stayed at KMEL (anyone)? Over time, KMEL's music leaned more and more urban.

KFRC-AM was already floundering as a CHR by the time KMEL made the move, but KMEL was probably the nail in the coffin, meaning KFRC was done in by its own former sister station.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[jprg]

I sure do miss the "old" KMEL when they were "rockin' the bay" as they used to say. KSOL is neat too playing the top soul songs of the day when I was in jr. high and high school. I even went to the KSOL studios when they used to be at 1700 North Amplett Blvd. in San Mateo. It was fun listening to the radio way back when.........

 

[LKellerIII]

Can someone provide a timeline on the history for KMEL & KYLD since 1980?

How long each station has been in existence, how many times has each changed formats, and which station has been among SFs top five or ten rated stations most frequently over the past 20-30 years?

Thanks!!

I can fire up the Wayback Machine for KMEL's early history. It was KFRC-FM until 1977, when it was sold to Century Broadcasting, which changed the call letters to KMEL and the format to AOR (KFRC-FM had done mostly automated oldies...I say "mostly" because I think there was a short attempt at A/C.).

In August, 1984, KMEL flipped to CHR. The first jock in the new format: Marvelous Mark McKay, longtime KFRC jock, who had done a short stint in Minneapolis at KDWB. I don't know how long Mark stayed at KMEL (anyone)? Over time, KMEL's music leaned more and more urban.

KFRC-AM was already floundering as a CHR by the time KMEL made the move, but KMEL was probably the nail in the coffin, meaning KFRC was done in by its own former sister station.

---Michael Hagerty

Thanks for that additional info, Michael. Not mentioned yet - when Century purchased 106.1 from RKO General to make it an AOR station, the K-M-E-L call letters were chosen as sort of an acronym - and the station was called "Camel 106." Billboards and other advertising for the station featured a cute cartoon camel. That logo had such a strong AOR identity, I remember being surprised that they didn't change call letters for the AOR format, or go with some typical "Mix 106" or "B-106" type thing.

As an AOR station, it sounded a LOT like 610/KFRC, which also had an urban-funk orientation in those days. As I remember, McKay did not stay that long.

As mentioned many times on this board, RKO's decision to sell has to rank as one of the more lame decisions in Bay Area radio broadcast history. The second is probably ABC's decision to sell 103.7 FM - but that didn't come back to haunt them for 2 decades or more, unlike KFRC.

The second version of KMEL (All Hits) may have been the "nail" in KFRC's coffin, but by the mid 80s, the FM dial was cluttered with 'Top 40' stations - 99.7/KYUU (later KFRC-FM again), and Hot Hits 105/KITS...K-101 wasn't strictly Top 40, but it was close.

 

[sandwix]

LLew, I think you mean CHR, because as an AOR, KaMEL rocked hard! For a long while, they were the premiere AOR station on a crowded FM dial in the early 80s (KRQR, KQAK,KFOG, KSJO, KOME).

And the reason the CHR incarnation of KMEL sounded so much like KFRC was that their music director was a wunderkind who cut his chops under Gerry Cagle at KFRC: Keith Naftaly.

And as to how long Mark McKay stayed under the KMEL CHR banner, he left after only a few months and was replaced by London & Engleman in the Spring of 1985.

 

[LKellerIII]

LLew, I think you mean CHR, because as an AOR, KaMEL rocked hard! For a long while, they were the premiere AOR station on a crowded FM dial in the early 80s (KRQR, KQAK,KFOG, KSJO, KOME).

And the reason the CHR incarnation of KMEL sounded so much like KFRC was that their music director was a wunderkind who cut his chops under Gerry Cagle at KFRC: Keith Naftaly.

And as to how long Mark McKay stayed under the KMEL CHR banner, he left after only a few months and was replaced by London & Engleman in the Spring of 1985.

Yes, I did mean CHR. Thank you.

 

[DavidKaye]

LLew, I think you mean CHR, because as an AOR, KaMEL rocked hard! For a long while, they were the premiere AOR station on a crowded FM dial in the early 80s (KRQR, KQAK,KFOG, KSJO, KOME).

In those days, "AOR" meant "all over the road", not "album oriented rock". In fact, when I spoke with the program director at the old KMEL he specifically said, "we're doing an all over the road format." (I was trying to get a job there at the time.)

 

[LKellerIII]

LLew, I think you mean CHR, because as an AOR, KaMEL rocked hard! For a long while, they were the premiere AOR station on a crowded FM dial in the early 80s (KRQR, KQAK,KFOG, KSJO, KOME).

In those days, "AOR" meant "all over the road", not "album oriented rock". In fact, when I spoke with the program director at the old KMEL he specifically said, "we're doing an all over the road format." (I was trying to get a job there at the time.)

Being just a listener, I don't remember when I first heard the AOR label - I do remember KSAN and KMEL in those days being referred to as "Album Rock"...same thing -and it made the point that these were rock stations that didn't just play 30 songs that were hits on 45 rpm singles.

People still refer to "Top 40" which is odd to me. Bill Drake (and like minded programmers) made that label obsolete about 43 years ago when they cut playlists to 30....plus the odd 3 or 4 "Hitbounds."

As for Camel 106 being "all over the road" - to me, that would imply a deep playlist like the old free-form stations - but Camel was pretty tightly programmed in my memory. KMPX or KSAN (the original version), they were not.

 

[sandwix]

LLew, I think you mean CHR, because as an AOR, KaMEL rocked hard! For a long while, they were the premiere AOR station on a crowded FM dial in the early 80s (KRQR, KQAK,KFOG, KSJO, KOME).

In those days, "AOR" meant "all over the road", not "album oriented rock". In fact, when I spoke with the program director at the old KMEL he specifically said, "we're doing an all over the road format." (I was trying to get a job there at the time.)

Never heard that before. In those days--70's, 80's--AOR meant "album oriented rock." If you talked to the KaMEL PD about a gig there, he must've spoken with his tongue-firmly-placed-in-cheek. AOR was an actual "R&R" ("Radio & Records") classification for reporting album cuts back in the day. In fact, the term was coined by KMET air talent, Mike Harrison.

 

[keesue]

I sure do miss the "old" KMEL when they were "rockin' the bay" as they used to say. KSOL is neat too playing the top soul songs of the day when I was in jr. high and high school. I even went to the KSOL studios when they used to be at 1700 North Amplett Blvd. in San Mateo. It was fun listening to the radio way back when.........

I remember when KSOL was on AM in a little studio on 11th & Mission in S.F. It was a direct competitor to the then mighty KDIA Lucky 13, 1310 AM, on the east side of the bay. The prime-time evening DJ was Sylvestor Stone. He was the first cousin of one of my best friends, and we used to go to the studio and watch him work. He absolutely dominated the airwaves. He had a cast of characters that used to call in and they would cut up in between cuts. One of his signatures was the integration record of the night, which was always "I can't get no satsifaction". His signature sign-off was playing a guitar singing, "Good night, my love..." Every night, he followed this format it was always alive and fresh. He was a true entertainer and his show became the precusor to many who followed. He later went on to form a band called Sly and the family stones. Heh...

Sorry, I know that wasn't related to the history of KMEL& KYLD but I couldn't resist. ;D

 

[LKellerIII]

I sure do miss the "old" KMEL when they were "rockin' the bay" as they used to say. KSOL is neat too playing the top soul songs of the day when I was in jr. high and high school. I even went to the KSOL studios when they used to be at 1700 North Amplett Blvd. in San Mateo. It was fun listening to the radio way back when.........

I remember when KSOL was on AM in a little studio on 11th & Mission in S.F. It was a direct competitor to the then mighty KDIA Lucky 13, 1310 AM, on the east side of the bay. The prime-time evening DJ was Sylvestor Stone. He was the first cousin of one of my best friends, and we used to go to the studio and watch him work. He absolutely dominated the airwaves. He had a cast of characters that used to call in and they would cut up in between cuts. One of his signatures was the integration record of the night, which was always "I can't get no satsifaction". His signature sign-off was playing a guitar singing, "Good night, my love..." Every night, he followed this format it was always alive and fresh. He was a true entertainer and his show became the precusor to many who followed. He later went on to form a band called Sly and the family stones. Heh...

Sorry, I know that wasn't related to the history of KMEL& KYLD but I couldn't resist. ;D

Some KSOL Soul 145 Airchecks courtesy of Bay Area Radio Museum. Stone is last on the list of links



http://www.bayarearadio.org/audio/ksan/index.shtml

 

[DavidKaye]

Never heard that before. In those days--70's, 80's--AOR meant "album oriented rock." If you talked to the KaMEL PD about a gig there, he must've spoken with his tongue-firmly-placed-in-cheek. AOR was an actual "R&R" ("Radio & Records") classification for reporting album cuts back in the day. In fact, the term was coined by KMET air talent, Mike Harrison.

Nope, when I worked in commercial radio, AOR meant all over the road. It was the KSAN 94.9 format late 60s/early 70s format.

Here's a Google search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&q=aor+"all+over+the+road"+format&btnG=Search

 

[sandwix]

>>Nope, when I worked in commercial radio, AOR meant all over the road. It was the KSAN 94.9 format late 60s/early 70s format.

[/quote]

Well, I'm not going to get into a pissing match with you on the term. Just stating the facts. "Album Oriented Rock" in the 70s and early 80s--before it was re-classified and niched as "progressive" or "Adult Alternative"--was how KaMEL was classified in R&R, as was KSAN in its last years. Originally called "Free-form radio" when it was developed at KSAN in 1967 under rebel Tom Donahue, by the time the 70s came around, owners and programmers found that in order to sell the format, it had to be somewhat disciplined. Mike Harrison, who at the time worked at KMET (KSAN's sister station in L.A.), and who also wrote and charted the weekly Album column for R&R, came up with the term "Album Oriented Rock" to showcase its legitimacy in commercial radio.

 

[LKellerIII]

Never heard that before. In those days--70's, 80's--AOR meant "album oriented rock." If you talked to the KaMEL PD about a gig there, he must've spoken with his tongue-firmly-placed-in-cheek. AOR was an actual "R&R" ("Radio & Records") classification for reporting album cuts back in the day. In fact, the term was coined by KMET air talent, Mike Harrison.

Nope, when I worked in commercial radio, AOR meant all over the road. It was the KSAN 94.9 format late 60s/early 70s format.

Here's a Google search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&q=aor+"all+over+the+road"+format&btnG=Search

I never heard KSAN in the late 60s and early 70s, but from what I've heard, it was like KPPC and KMET in LA (Tom Donahue pedigree) which could definitely be considered "all over the road"...in a good way. I wouldn't be surprised if that...uh...interpretation of "AOR" was the KSAN programmers and DJs (a bunch of hippies, no doubt) having fun with the term. By about 1970, the "AOR" label was certainly applied to KLOS in Los Angeles, which was a mix of album cuts and politically correct Top 40 hits (no bubblegum, of course). It was very popular, but it was hardly "underground" radio. I don't know if there was a Bay Area equivalent or not - KSFX, perhaps? I remember that KSFX had the same logo when I got here in 73. Certainly, KMEL ("Camel 106") was in that category in the mid and late 70s.

 

[DavidKaye]

By about 1970, the "AOR" label was certainly applied to KLOS in Los Angeles, which was a mix of album cuts and politically correct Top 40 hits (no bubblegum, of course). It was very popular, but it was hardly "underground" radio. I don't know if there was a Bay Area equivalent or not - KSFX, perhaps? I remember that KSFX had the same logo when I got here in 73. Certainly, KMEL ("Camel 106") was in that category in the mid and late 70s.

All I know is that the PD at KMEL specifically said that the format was "all over the road" and he called it AOR.

As to stations being "hardly underground", this is definitely true as discipline came into the format. But in the KMPX and early KSAN 94.9 days, there were definitely elements that would make the station "underground". Among them there "Listeners' Personals" which was the Craigslist of the radio, advertising everything from requests for long distance rides to selling bongs. Then there was the daily drug reports indicating which drugs were good and which were cut with nasty stuff. It was amusing at the time that a Metromedia-owned station actually talked about which drugs were good and which were bad. That didn't last long, of course, but it was one of those shining moments in Bay Area radio.

So, you're the son of Lew Keller? I'll be damned!

 

[Bryan Simmons]

I worked middays at AOR formatted KZAP in Sacramento in 1979 & early 1980. We used to joke that AOR was all over the road, but clearly it stood for Album Oriented Rock. I have to agree, I think the KMEL PD was using this little tongue in cheek term for AOR. AOR as "all over the road" was never an official commercial term.

Someone mentioned KSFX as an AOR and they were for the most part in the early 70's with ABC's Rock N' Stereo format. They duplicated this format on many of their FM's.

 

[Wildstyle K]

WiLD 94.9 was ALWAYS (one of) my favorite station(s)! Unfortunately, I never got to live or visit the town where it can be heard over radio, but it was most definitely my favorite, especially late 90's - early 2000's. They truly lived up to their name as a party station, and if I had the chance to go back, change, and re-live my life as I wished, I'd want to live in Sacramento just to hear that station and their dj's, which outweighs the fact that I'd be sacrificing my life to the possibility of earthquakes. No other station, in my opinion, that I've heard played more of the hits and remixes I loved to grow up with, and maintained to keep it's consistency when it comes to the mixshow music choices for as long of a period of time as KYLD. Even today, though watered down quite a bit and changed with the evolution of music, they've managed to somewhat stay true to their roots, but in a modernized way. Look how long Jose Melendez lasted, even through the toughest times in certain genres of music! The past is gone, but the station continues to move on forward. I really regret never having the chance to live there and get to hear exactly what I wanted, how I wanted, without someone always screwing around and trying to completely change things... The Mixtress herself put out some amazing c.d's too, with that WiLD 94.9 logo on it. I miss those days, but it's time to move forward and stop looking back. Every state should've had a station like WiLD. A lot of people missed out on certain styles of music as a result to many stations choosing not to play or have certain types of mixshows and music.