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the worlds greatest radio station - and then some

K

krth101

im looking for historical information - a time line if you will of the jock lineups and various format/ musical changes that occured at ksfo during its time as the worlds greatest radio station. more specifically, the years 1963 up to the end of king broadcastings ownership in late 1994. any and all recollections would be most entertaining. for instance, would love to know how soon king realized the " weve got personalities" approach was not going to be the ticket to fix the ratings in 1984 and some of the thoughts behind pairing ksfo with the kya oldies format.
 
thanks michael. the timeline gives a pretty good overall picture, but im looking for more specifics if available. if i recall correctly, in mid 1964 the personality lineup looked something like this:

6 - 9 don sherwood
9- 12 carter b. smith
12- 4 jack carney
4 - 8 jim lange
8- 12 al collins
12- 6 herb kennedy

cant remember if this was after dan sorkins accident or not. and cant recall the weekend lineups either. hope this jogs some memories.
 
some of the other full-time guys during the golden years were Bob Colvig and Dan Sorkin and don't forget the 15-minute sports news show at 5:45 anchored by Lon Simmons.
 
if i recall correctly, in mid 1964 the personality lineup looked something like this:

6 - 9 don sherwood, etc.

cant remember if this was after dan sorkins accident or not. and cant recall the weekend lineups either. hope this jogs some memories.
Click to expand...

Considering that Dan Sorkin was still in Chicago in 1964, didn't come to Bay Area (at KFRC, following an abortive stint at pre-Boss Radio KHJ) for at least another year, didn't get to KSFO until 1966, and didn't have the motorcycle accident until a few years after that (May 1969, shortly thereafter precipitating Terry McGovern's hiring at KSFO), I'd say that mid-1964 was before Dan Sorkin's accident.

Your best bet for KSFO schedules, and for other stations as well, is NewspaperArchive.com -- their collection of Oakland Tribune and San Mateo Times radio pages are an invaluable resource.
 
thanks for clearing the sorkin part up. was dan brought in to replace jack carney and then terry came on to cover while dan was recovering ? was terry moved into mornings shortly afterwards and wasnt rick cimino there for a while as well.

thank you all - i appreciate the feedback.
 
was dan brought in to replace jack carney and then terry came on to cover while dan was recovering ?
Click to expand...

Carney and Sorkin were at KSFO at the same time, as shown on the schedule I referenced in my previous post. Sorkin came to KSFO after his short stint at KFRC (Frisco Radio) because of his reputation as one of the giants in the business (he remains a legend in Chicago radio history) and because he sparred so easily and well with Sherwood.

Terry McGovern wasn't hired for fill or cover; he was recruited from KDKA/Pittsburgh by KSFO PD Al Newman because he was a star on the rise.
 
Hey now - what's this "world's greatest" business?

Those of us who grew up within earshot of WLS and CKLW would like a moment with you in private, buddy.
 
World's Greatest Radio Station in the World's Greatest City.
 
Angie Coiro said:
Hey now - what's this "world's greatest" business?

Those of us who grew up within earshot of WLS and CKLW would like a moment with you in private, buddy.
Click to expand...

I believe "The World's Greatest Radio Station" was their slogan for awhile - perhaps meant somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

I arrived in the Bay Area in 73, a few years after KSFO's 60s heyday -and I wasn't into MOR music in any case. But a few years later I became a fan of John Gilliland's evening (7 to midnight, I think) show. I knew Gilliland from KRLA in the 60s, and he had been the creator of The Pop Chronicles, one of the two competing "rockumentaries" that made the radio rounds in the late 60s - the other being The History of Rock and Roll, of course, for the Drake stations.

Gilliland's KSFO program included comedy album cuts, some jazz and MOR music, Jean Shepherd's brilliant audio essays, the CBS Mystery Theatre (which KSFO ran after KCBS rejected it). It was a great - and the kind of show that you'll never find on radio these days - even then, it was a rarity.
 
Sports were a part of the Golden West formula too. KSFO carried the Giants from when they moved here in '58 through 1978, when KNBR snapped up the rights (and hasn't let go). KSFO got back in the baseball business in 1980 with the A's. KSFO also had 49ers and Stanford broadcasts as well. Same with KMPC ... the story I've always heard is the Dodgers were on KMPC when they moved out here, but switched to KFI after two years. When the American League created the Angles, Gene Autry went to the meetings determined to get the broadcasts for KMPC, and ended up buying the team! KMPC also had the Rams until they went to St. Louis as well as UCLA.
 
Giants were on KSFO for what seemed to be forever until Gene Autry pissed off Giants' ownership when, as owner of the Angels, he voted against some big deal that impacted the future of the Giants in SF. As a result the Giants sought another outlet for his radio flagship and by default, KNBR won the rights. Seems to me it happened in the late '70s.
 
I was doing nights on KSFO when the giants left but only because of money. KNBR offered a million two per year for the rights to the Giants.
KSFO's manager, Jack Bankson only offered 700K to renew.

Autry pissed off the owners of the "49ers, becuse he vetoed a baseball deal in LA they wanted.

Jerry Gordon KNUU Las Vegas
 
I would not defend my statement about Autry against any other theory or fact, but I am having trouble figuring out how the 49ers football club would be working on a baseball deal in LA. Autry was already running the second team in the LA basin so it could not have been a third team and in the late 70s the 49ers couldn't even run a football team let alone get involved in a a baseball team. Perhaps it had something to do with the Rams playing in his Anaheim stadium.
 
JEREMIAH said:
I was doing nights on KSFO when the giants left but only because of money. KNBR offered a million two per year for the rights to the Giants.
KSFO's manager, Jack Bankson only offered 700K to renew.

Autry pissed off the owners of the "49ers, becuse he vetoed a baseball deal in LA they wanted.

Jerry Gordon KNUU Las Vegas
Click to expand...

IIRC, the DeBartolos were trying to buy the White Sox and Autry helped vote it down. Soon as the contract was up, the Niners split for KCBS. I know we've talked about this before on the board.

KNBR and KSFO had similar music formats and always thought losing the Giants was one of those bellwhether moments in the decline of KSFO. KNBR had Frank Dill in morning drive, followed by Mike Cleary and Carter B. in the afternoons. I know Jim Lange was doing mornings on KSFO, but don't recall if Gene Nelson had left for KYA-FM yet. I was a KNBR listener, but would go back to KSFO for the Giants. Shortly after, Frank and Mike were teamed for the morning show.
 
SCV:

So it was the White Sox...I knew the Cowboy vetoed a baseball deal that pissed off Debartolo but did not recall the team. Thanks for clearing it up.

Jerry Gordon KNUU Las Vegas
 
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