 | |
| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 98.9MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Que Buena 98.9 y 99.1 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Regional Mexican |
| Subchannels | HD2:TUDN Radio (SpanishSports) |
| Affiliations | Las Vegas Raiders (NFL) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KBRG,KSQL,KVVF,KVVZ | |
| History | |
First air date | July 1, 1947 (78 years ago) (1947-07-01) |
Former call signs | See below |
Call sign meaning | SOuL (old format) SOL =Spanish for "sun" |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 70032 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 6,100watts |
| HAAT | 409 meters (1,342 ft) |
| Repeaters | 99.1 KSQL (Santa Cruz) See also § Boosters |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | Que Buena |
KSOL (98.9FM "Que Buena 98.9 y 99.1") is aSpanish languageradio station inSan Francisco, California.KSQL (99.1 FM)simulcasts the station inSanta Cruz. KSOL and KSQL program a format consisting of regionalMexican music andtalk shows. Both stations are owned byTelevisaUnivision USA. Its studios are located at 1940 Zanker Road inSan Jose,[1][2] and the KSOL transmitter is onMount Sutro.
The 98.9 frequency is the third station in the San Francisco market to use the callsign KSOL. The first was the AMrhythm and blues station at 1450 AM (the currentKEST). Sly Stone was influential in guiding KSOL into soul music and started calling the station K-SOUL. The second was a popularsoul music station (sans the K-SOUL moniker), at 107.7 FM (now known asKSAN). The current KSOL is unrelated to the previous two stations.
The station at 98.9 was established in July 1, 1947 as KJBS-FM, the FMsimulcast component of KJBS 1100 (nowKFAX) by Julius Brunton & Sons, transmitting from the (still-existing) tower atop Clay Jones Apartments at 1250 Jones Street. It was the first FM station in the San Francisco area.[3] As KJBS it had been a full-service station with news, weather, and sports programming, and served as a relay, interrupting programming overnight, to alert police and fire personnel to incidents, prior to the departments' own radio dispatch systems. The FM station was financially unsuccessful, and in 1953 it was sold to CBS. KCBS-FM had been operating with substantially lower power on 103.7 when it made the move to acquire this station.
Under CBS it rebroadcastKCBS until 1968 when it began to use the syndicated CBS automated programming, "The Young Sound". Later, it produced its own locally originated rock programming.
In September 1978, ownerCBS wanted a still more powerful FM assignment, so they arranged a three-station swap that enabled them to be heard on a much stronger signal. KCBS-FM, their format and intellectual property moved toKEAR's97.3 FM frequency,KMPX moved theirbig band andswing music format and callsign from106.9 FM to 98.9 FM, and KEAR moved theirChristian-based format from 97.3 FM to 106.9 FM.
In 1982, KMPX was sold to aNew Jersey investor group, administered by general manager Les Elias and station manager Bob Heymann, and flipped to amainstream rock format as KQAK, "The Quake FM99", on August 23 of that year. Hosting the morning show was the popularAlex Bennett, who had leftKMEL in a disagreement over station direction a few months earlier.
KQAK was a personality-orientedalbum-oriented rock station for its first eight months of operation, and was partially influenced by the programming ofWLUP inChicago, a station that Elias and Heymann had previously managed. The logos for these stations were very similar and made by the same graphic designer.
A talented air staff was assembled for the station. In addition to Bennett was Joe Regelski as co-host, continuing their collaboration fromKMEL, andRichard "Big Rick" Stuart, future KROQ jock Jed "Jed the Fish" Gould The 3rd, Mike Koste, Richard Gossett, Belle Nolan, Rob Francis, Oscar "Oz" Medina, Paul "Lobster" Wells, comedianTim Bedore and others worked at The Quake at one time or another.
A month after KQAK's debut, another Bay Area station,KFOG changed its format frombeautiful music to rock. This change left the Bay Area with six very similar-sounding stations (KMEL,KRQR, KQAK and KFOG, plusSan Jose stationsKOME andKSJO). Until 2019, KFOG was the only one of those stations still carrying a rock format, when it switched to a simulcast of sports stationKNBR.[4]
In April 1983, Elias and Heymann decided to reposition the station (under the programming guidance ofRick Carroll fromKROQ-FM) as the "Rock of the '80s," emphasizingnew wave,punk,reggae,2 Toneska, first generationGothic rock, tracks from the 1960s and 1970s by musicians whose work influenced later punk and new wave performers, and the occasional novelty track. The modern rock format of The Quake has become much more memorable than their AOR incarnation, and its later demise was an important catalyst for a shift to a similar but more polished presentation at"Live 105" (KITS) in 1986.
Popular programs on The Quake, in addition to shows like,"The Alex Bennett's Morning Program","The Quake's Early Tremors","Midnight Dread" and a syndicated program called"The Rock Over London".
The KQAK broadcast studios were located at 1311 Sutter Street in San Francisco.
The final song broadcast before The Quake went off the air for transmitter maintenance after midnight on June 18, 1985 was "Around The Dial" fromThe Kinks; this featured a re-edited version of the 'radio tuning' intro for the song which made reference to the demise of the station. This was followed by several station IDs before the signal was cut off. It was unknown whether the new owners would take over the next morning, but The Quake continued until noon the following day with one last show from Alex Bennett, followed by Jed the Fish playing music. He said final goodbyes over Prince’s “Controversy,” then played the final song “Hey Girl” by Gruppo Sportivo before transitioning to KKCY’s stunting with two days of Brian Eno music.
Later, another station,progressive talk radio KQKE, went on to use the same "Quake" nickname. Paul "Lobster" Wells has worked for KQKE, which was otherwise not related to KQAK. Today, the station, AM 960, isKNEW.
TheKQAK call letters currently reside on a station inBend, Oregon.
On June 22, 1985, following four days of stunting with all-Brian Eno music, the station became KKCY ("The City"), with an eclectic rock format, partly inspired by another midwestern station,KTCZ inMinneapolis, Minnesota. All of The Quake's on-air staffers left the station, except for Bennett and his morning sidekick, Joe Regelski who were under contract through August 1987 according to one of their final Quake broadcasts. Bennett ended up never appearing on The City as they had insisted he play more music (he was still being paid in accordance with his contract) and later brought his morning show (sans Regelski, who remained on The City’s morning show with a new host) toKITS.
The 98.9 frequency then underwent years of turmoil. In late 1986, the station dropped the eclecticfreeform rock in favor ofBig Band/Adult Standards (shades of the original KMPX); then, on February 1, 1988, they adopted a short-livedCHR format as KHIT.[5] Both of these changes elicited a large outcry from the dedicated following KKCY's format had gathered. A group called "Coalition To Save The City" was formed and the group lobbied KHIT's owners to change the format back.
The format lasted for 3 months and 5 days, as on May 6, 1988, after playing "Shakedown" byBob Seger, the station dropped its short-lived CHR format and immediately began simulcastingKOFY for 8 days. The station was eventually purchased by Bay Area media mogulJames Gabbert, who changed the callsign to KOFY-FM on May 14, 1988, matching the calls of sister stationKOFY-TV (channel 20) and KOFY radio (1050 AM, nowKTCT). Gabbert returned the station to the previousadult album alternative format, which lasted for two years amid much tweaking.[6][7]
The next owner of KOFY-FM,Viacom, later obtained their neighboring station on the dial, KLRS (99.1 FM) inSanta Cruz. The two stations tweaked KOFY's Triple A format to "Rock Adult Contemporary" and adopted the callsigns KDBK (98.9) and KDBQ (99.1) - "Double 99" on July 30, 1990.[8]
The two stations then shifted to aHot Adult Contemporary format on March 13, 1993 as “Star 99”. The stations' callsigns were also changed to KSRY and KSRI.[9]
In December 1993, Allen Shaw's Crescent Communications purchased 107.7 KSOL from United Broadcasting, and purchased KSRY and KSRI fromViacom in 1994. Shaw changed 107.7 to KYLD in April 1994, calling it "Wild 107". The callsign KSOL was put on then-co-owned 98.9, with the format switching tourban adult contemporary on April 18, 1994, where Bay Area Hall of Fame (BAHOF) inductee Don Sainte-Johnn served as morning host.[10] TheSan Jose signal of 99.1 became a San Jose simulcast of "Wild 107" as KYLZ.
KSOL, KYLD and KYLZ were sold by Crescent Communications to Tichner Media and Evergreen Media in August 1996. On August 15 of that year, KSOL then switched to aRegional Mexican music format, and 99.1 became KZOL, again a simulcast.[11]
In April 2002, KSOL swapped callsigns withKEMR Amor (105.7 FM) in San Jose, and shifted toward aSpanish-languageadult contemporary direction consisting ofSpanish Adult Hits, with 99.1 becoming KZMR. When 105.7 switched formats and changed callsign to KVVF, the callsign KSOL returned to 98.9, with 99.1 redubbed KZOL.
The two stations have simulcasted since 1990, with 98.9 covering the North Bay, and 99.1 covering the far South Bay.
KSOL is rebroadcast on the following FM Boosters:
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KSOL-FM2 | 98.9 FM | Sausalito, California | 70028 | 150 (Vert.) | 294 m (965 ft) | D | LMS |
| KSOL-FM3 | 98.9 FM | Pleasanton, California | 14485 | 185 (Horiz.) | 927 m (3,041 ft) | D | LMS |
It is believed that 98.9 has had more callsign changes than any other radio or TV station in California history.
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| Uforia Audio Network |
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| Univision Television Group |
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37°45′18″N122°27′11″W / 37.755°N 122.453°W /37.755; -122.453