The ratings are out for los angeles.

[michael hagerty]

The difference was programming style. Jacobs was the essence of Top 40 formatics, while Tom Rounds at KFRC had "discussions" with Drake about playing "White Rabbit" and the like. The Mount Tamalpais State Park Fantasy Faire concert proved Rounds was right for that market. Even though TR moved on to do the Miami Pop Festival, KFRC had been branded as being the station that would venture in to the harder rock areas successfully.

And I agree that KFRC was saved for longer than most AM Top 40's by the combination of terrain, lack of FM radios with AFC and low car penetration. But behind it all was some pretty good programming.

All true---though Jacobs deserves some credit for being savvy about rock as well. If there wasn't a hit single on an album by a major artist, Jacobs found tracks and programmed them. Some of it may have been that the artists themselves listened to KHJ---especially before KPPC and KMET came along---but Jacobs held firm. It wasn't really until after Jacobs left in mid-69 that the station would lean too bubblegum to be credible as a rock option for listeners. Fortunately, "The History of Rock and Roll" was one of Jacobs' last great acts.

 

[michael hagerty]

I recall that during the late 70's and 80's, when FM was making big in roads in the Bay Area and KFRC was losing rating points to FMs like KYUU, KITS, land later KMEL (on the old KFRC-FM frequency yet) - that they entirely stopped mentioning their dial position. All their marketing from TV commercials to on-air promos to bumper stickers just said "KFRC." No more "Big 610" or anything similar. I've often wondered if this was part of their effort to hold onto audience, and hope people would forget they were on the increasingly less-hip and less youthful AM dial. Or maybe I'm just thinking too hard...

No, I think you're right. De-emphasis of the negative. KFRC was just----KFRC. And San Francisco in the late 70s and early 80s knew where to find it.

 

[oldies76]

Looking at the chart, Margaritaville was his only #1

You are referring to the AC charts. #1 in mid 1977, #8 nationally. Either way, a huge hit.

 

[LKellerIII]

No, I think you're right. De-emphasis of the negative. KFRC was just----KFRC. And San Francisco in the late 70s and early 80s knew where to find it.

Example. Great 80's era TV commercial for KFRC, though there's a brief flash of a man drinking from a coffee cup that says 610 KFRC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbovY8rQKRQ

 

[joelr]

KDKA broadcast election results in 1920. They still do today!

Of course, KDKA hasn't played any music since 1992. So, they have changed formats.