KCBS Illegal ID?

[DaveBayArea]

I remember the former X-100. They would play it real, real low at 2 minutes til the hour, "KXXX FM San Francisco" Then at 2 minutes past the top of the hour they would blast, "X-100 San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose!"

Or the 1050 sports station that prominently says "This is KNBR 1050" while uttering "ktct san mateo" very quietly and fast. Same with "107.7 the bone rocks" (or whatever they say now) and "ksan san mateo" buried in the SFX. What is it about San Mateo anyway? Are they afraid to identify that as a city of license?

Dave B.

 

[LKellerIII]

I remember the former X-100. They would play it real, real low at 2 minutes til the hour, "KXXX FM San Francisco" Then at 2 minutes past the top of the hour they would blast, "X-100 San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose!"

Or the 1050 sports station that prominently says "This is KNBR 1050" while uttering "ktct san mateo" very quietly and fast. Same with "107.7 the bone rocks" (or whatever they say now) and "ksan san mateo" buried in the SFX. What is it about San Mateo anyway? Are they afraid to identify that as a city of license?

Dave B.

Being a geek, I've always enjoyed those super-fast-talked TOH IDs. About 1998, when all the frequency swaps had just happened, it took a couple of months for the FCC to approve the various call letter changes. During that period, Wild 94.9 was "KSAN, San Francisco," KSAN was "KYLD, San Mateo," and Kiss-FM was "KBGG, San Francisco." - all whisper-announced at lightning speed.

 

[weav]

Showing my age: I recall "KIOI San Francisco" being uttered by the newsman in between stories during K101's TOH newscast...

 

[djj]

In the mid-1980s, there was 1460 KQTE, Santa Rosa, which changed format/callsign
from beautiful-music to oldies under the moniker "W F N 1460," and the only time you
heard the 4-letter call was when the "Legal I.D." went:

"From Santa Rosa, THIS is K W F N!!"

(W F N was supposed to mean, "Double Your Fun," so I was told by Kaz Koast,
a DJ there.)
--jay

 

[Madmansam]

I remember the former X-100. They would play it real, real low at 2 minutes til the hour, "KXXX FM San Francisco" Then at 2 minutes past the top of the hour they would blast, "X-100 San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose!"

Or the 1050 sports station that prominently says "This is KNBR 1050" while uttering "ktct san mateo" very quietly and fast. Same with "107.7 the bone rocks" (or whatever they say now) and "ksan san mateo" buried in the SFX. What is it about San Mateo anyway? Are they afraid to identify that as a city of license?

Dave B.

Being a geek, I've always enjoyed those super-fast-talked TOH IDs. About 1998, when all the frequency swaps had just happened, it took a couple of months for the FCC to approve the various call letter changes. During that period, Wild 94.9 was "KSAN, San Francisco," KSAN was "KYLD, San Mateo," and Kiss-FM was "KBGG, San Francisco." - all whisper-announced at lightning speed.

I remember when KRQR changed from The Rocker to Alice, that they used to id as "We Used To Be KRQR San Francisco" on the top of the hour before its callchange to KLLC.

 

[Mediaace]

They should swap the calls between 93.1 Los Angeles and 106.9 San Francisco so the KCBS-FM letters can be used to their maximum value. Does Jack 93.1 give reference to the calls other than the top of the hour ID? They can warehouse KFRC to Los Angeles to prevent any nearby competitor using them. Not the first time CBS has done this.

I think because KCBS-FM is in a different city, they can't just say KCBS here in SF, they make it hard when 106.9 is still KFRC-FM

 

[davideduardo]

They should swap the calls between 93.1 Los Angeles and 106.9 San Francisco so the KCBS-FM letters can be used to their maximum value. Does Jack 93.1 give reference to the calls other than the top of the hour ID?

The issue here is not whether the calls are used on the air, but how stations are listed in the Arbitron reports, which is by call letters. Taking the risk that advertisers will not associate the calls with the established format in LA is just not worth it.

 

[DavidKaye]

Or the 1050 sports station that prominently says "This is KNBR 1050" while uttering "ktct san mateo" very quietly and fast. Same with "107.7 the bone rocks" (or whatever they say now) and "ksan san mateo" buried in the SFX. What is it about San Mateo anyway? Are they afraid to identify that as a city of license?

Dave B.

The station at 107.7 has had many famous and not so famous callsigns including KUFY (when it was owned by Scott Kilgore who also owned KOFY 1050 and KAFE 98.1), KVEZ, KSOL, KYLD, and now KSAN. It has been background music, Spanish language contemporary, urban (in fact the first black-oriented station to make into the top 5 in the SF book), and now oldies.

It's always been licensed to San Mateo, however. Originally the transmitter was on King's Mountain, which I think is the spot originally occupied by KPEN (KIOI) in its early days.

Since its beginning the various management have never wanted to identify it as San Mateo.

 

[LKellerIII]

Or the 1050 sports station that prominently says "This is KNBR 1050" while uttering "ktct san mateo" very quietly and fast. Same with "107.7 the bone rocks" (or whatever they say now) and "ksan san mateo" buried in the SFX. What is it about San Mateo anyway? Are they afraid to identify that as a city of license?

Dave B.

The station at 107.7 has had many famous and not so famous callsigns including KUFY (when it was owned by Scott Kilgore who also owned KOFY 1050 and KAFE 98.1), KVEZ, KSOL, KYLD, and now KSAN. It has been background music, Spanish language contemporary, urban (in fact the first black-oriented station to make into the top 5 in the SF book), and now oldies.

It's always been licensed to San Mateo, however. Originally the transmitter was on King's Mountain, which I think is the spot originally occupied by KPEN (KIOI) in its early days.

Since its beginning the various management have never wanted to identify it as San Mateo.

Actually, during the period in the mid 80s when they were the number 1 Bay Area music station (before KMEL switched formats and eclipsed them), they IDed as "KSOL, San Mateo." without any whispering or fast-talking...the DJ just said it. It was a very no nonsense station - no imaging, jingles, or pre-recorded sweepers...just music and back announcing with mainstream soul DJs like Marvin Robinson, Marcos Guitterez and Leslie Stoval. There was also Billy Ocean, who changed his on-air name to Billy David Ocean when Caribbean Queen became a hit for the singer Billy Ocean. At that time, I was into their music, and listened to KSOL frequently.

 

[marshallstax]

Amateur (Ham) stations (and repeaters) can ID in Morse Code ... would this be legal for a broadcast station? Not that anyone would do it...

 

[kenglish]

Amateur (Ham) stations (and repeaters) can ID in Morse Code ... would this be legal for a broadcast station? Not that anyone would do it...

If their call sign was "KSOS", or they were owned by "Morse Broadcasting", I don't think any RI ("Radio Inspector") would have the heart to write them up ;D .

 

[marshallstax]

Amateur (Ham) stations (and repeaters) can ID in Morse Code ... would this be legal for a broadcast station? Not that anyone would do it...

If their call sign was "KSOS", or they were owned by "Morse Broadcasting", I don't think any RI ("Radio Inspector") would have the heart to write them up ;D .

Hmmm, so I looked up "KSOS" - turns out there is one - in Nevada - part of the "SOS" broadcasting empire:
KSOS - 90.5 FM Las Vegas, NV

"What does SOS stand for?

SOS stands for Sounds Of the Spirit. SOS is owned by Faith Communications Corporation, a non-profit corporation.

What kind of music does SOS play?

SOS plays contemporary Christian music."


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[EDIT-English language only please]