| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1450kHz |
| Programming | |
| Format | Multilingualtalk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KIQI,KSJX | |
| History | |
First air date | November 30, 1925; 99 years ago (1925-11-30) as KGTT |
Former call signs |
|
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 17410 |
| Class | C |
| Power | 1,000watts day 960 watts night |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | kestradio |
KEST (1450AM) is abrokered-timeradio station inSan Francisco, California. Most of the station's programming is in Asian languages, includingMandarin andCantonese.[2] It also airs someSouth Asian,Greek, andGerman programs as well asNew Age shows in English. KEST, then called KSOL, was one of the first full-time "rhythm and blues" radio stations in the U.S. That station employeddisc jockey Sylvester Stewart, later known asSly Stone ofSly and the Family Stone recording fame.
Multicultural Radio owns KEST and numerous ethnic stations nationwide, including five inNew York City. KEST transmits with 1,000watts by day and 960 watts at night. It shares atransmitter site withKSFB1260 AM, off Bayview Park Road, near theBayshore Freeway (U.S. Route 101) in San Francisco.[3]
The station firstsigned on, with thecall signKGTT, on November 30, 1925. A few years later, it switched its call letters toKGGC, which stood for theGoldenGate BroadcastingCompany.[4] It was among the first stations on the air in San Francisco. In the 1930s, it was powered at only 100 watts and had to share time with other stations on its frequency of 1420kilocycles. It was bought in 1939 by Sherwood Patterson, who changed the call letters toKSAN.
After the 1941 enactment of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), where many stations switched their dial positions, KSAN moved the dial to 1450 kHz.[5] New studios were constructed in the Merchandise Mart near Market Street, and a 250-watt transmitter was installed in a tower on top of the building.
In 1958, KSAN switched to a full-timerhythm and blues music format, targeting black listeners in the Bay Area, the first station on the local dial to broadcast R&B around the clock. KSAN's transmitter was on top of the Merchandise Mart building on Market Street, where the studios were located. Until the 1950s, San Francisco radio stations devoted little time to "ethnic" programming, except for KSAN and KWBR, which also broadcast programs intended for the Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, German, and Japanese communities.
On July 3, 1964, KSAN was sold to John F. (Les) Malloy andDelmor A. (Del) Courtney, two well-known San Francisco radio and television personalities. Malloy was a local radio star for many years and hosted a popular TV talk show on KGO-TV in the 1950s, while Courtney found fame as a bandleader and personality onKSFO. With Malloy as president and general manager, KSAN becameKSOL under new ownership, hoping to better emphasize its "Soul Radio" format until September 1970. KSOL helped launch the career of popular 1960s and 1970s musicianSly Stone, who was one of the station's DJs
Withurban contemporary stations on the FM dial by the 1970s, KSAN concentrated on other underserved communities in the Bay Area, including ethnic groups looking for radio programming in their language.[6] The station becameKEST.[7] In 1974, KEST changed its format to a mix of old-time radio dramas, comedy recordings known as "Freeway Funnies," and talk shows. The station was known as "KEST Theater Of The Air." In 1977, KEST dropped the old-time radio dramas and talk shows and changed formats to religious programming but surprisingly kept the "Freeway Funnies" until 1980.
In the early 1990s, KEST adopted a multilingual ethnic format and became part of Douglas Broadcasting.
In 2019, KEST was granted anFM translator allocation of 104.9 MHz. The coverage of this low-power outlet was expected to be limited to Southeast San Francisco and the city of South San Francisco.[8] 104.9 is also used byclassical music stationKXSC inSunnyvale, California, serving theSan Jose metropolitan area. KXSC is a full-timesimulcast of San Francisco classical stationKDFC on 90.3 MHz.
When it went on the air, the KEST translator began interfering with KXSC's signal in some San Jose and San Francisco communities. In reaction, KDFC began an on-air appeal to listeners looking for interference complaints from the new transmitter.[9] Eventually, KEST took its translator station off the air.
37°42′58″N122°23′38″W / 37.71611°N 122.39389°W /37.71611; -122.39389
