James Gabbert (born 1936 in

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

) is a radio and television engineer and entrepreneur, California Broadcasters Association 1994 Broadcaster of the Year, and past president of the National Radio Broadcasters Association. He has owned and managed

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

television station

KOFY-TV KOFY-TV (channel 20) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area as an affiliate of the Grit network. It is owned by CNZ Communications, LLC, alongside Class A station KCNZ ...

and radio stations

KIOI KIOI (101.3 FM, "Star 101.3") is a hot AC-formatted radio station licensed to San Francisco, California and owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studios and offices are in the SoMa district of San Francisco. KIOI has an effective radiated po ...

and

KSOL KSOL (98.9 FM "Que Buena 98.9 y 99.1") is a Spanish language radio station in San Francisco, California. KSQL (99.1 FM) simulcasts the station in Santa Cruz. KSOL and KSQL program a format consisting of regional Mexican music and talk shows. ...

, and

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

stations KIKI and KPIG-FM. Gabbert lives in

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

Education

Gabbert studied electrical engineering at Stanford University.

Career

Radio

While in school in 1957, Gabbert founded KPEN-FM in Atherton. and in 1968 changed its call sign to KIOI ("K-101"). Gabbert moved K101 to San Francisco and purchased KSAY (1010 AM), changing its call letters to

KIQI KIQI (1010 AM) is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California. It is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting and airs a Spanish-language talk radio format. KIQI 1010 AM is simulcast on KATD 990 AM in the Sacramento Valley. Most shows ...

. In 1979, Gabbert acquired Honolulu stations KIKI and KPIG-FM.

Television

Gabbert sold his four radio stations and bought KEMO-TV (Channel 20) in San Francisco, changing its call sign to KTZO in October 1980. In 1986, KTZO became KOFY. In 1994 Gabbert was approached by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and asked to be the Bay Area affiliate for the new

WB Television Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros ...

Retirement

In 1998, Gabbert sold his last two radio stations, KOFY 1050 AM and KDIA 1310 AM, and KOFY-TV.

References

Additional sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabbert, James 1936 births Living people Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Mass media in the San Francisco Bay Area People from Chico, California Stanford University alumni People from Sausalito, California Television in the San Francisco Bay Area