KGO (810 kHz) is a commercial AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, and owned by

Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 8 ...

. KGO operates with 50,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s, the highest power permitted AM radio stations by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

, but uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performanc ...

to protect the other Class A station on 810 kHz, WGY in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Yo ...

. Most nights, using a good radio, KGO can be heard throughout the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

east to the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

, and in Northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, Western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

. Cumulus's offices are based on Battery Street in the

SoMa Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

portion of San Francisco's

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

. KGO's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

site is based in Fremont near the Dumbarton Bridge. Its towers are noticeable enough that pilots use them as a waypoint in communications with local airports. Two of KGO's three towers partially collapsed during the

Loma Prieta earthquake The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...

on October 17, 1989. All three were replaced. Since October 2022, KGO has broadcast a

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

format with an emphasis on

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...

; it is one of three sports stations owned by Cumulus Media in the

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 G ...

, along with KNBR AM– FM and

KTCT KTCT (1050 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to San Mateo, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a sports radio format as KNBR 1050, a sister station to KNBR and KNBR-FM. In contr ...

. From 1962 until 2022, the station was known for carrying

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...

and talk programming. It was the number one radio station in the Bay Area in the

Arbitron ratings Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging ...

from July 1978 to January 2009, a feat unmatched by any other station in the United States.

History

1920s and 1930s

After several late-night test broadcasts, using the experimental

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

6XG, radio station KGO

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

the air on January 8, 1924, from

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

manufacturing plant. The original two-story brick building, constructed specifically for the station on East 14th Street, was demolished sometime in the 1980s.) KGO was part of a planned three-station network comprising WGY in

, and

KOA KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded in ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. KGO was first known as the "Sunset Station" since it was General Electric's West Coast outlet. At that time it operated with a then-impressive 1000 watts. As was the custom with early radio stations, the programming consisted of performances by local talent, including the KGO

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

which provided some of the music, and a dramatic group known as the KGO Players, which performed weekly plays and short skits, often under the direction of Bay-area drama instructor Wilda Wilson Church. The station's music, which was also performed by other local orchestras and vocalists, included classical selections as well as popular dance music the next night. Due to GE's involvement in

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and RCA's launch of the

NBC Red Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

, KGO was soon operated by NBC management out of studio facilities in San Francisco. See the KNBR entry for a fuller discussion of NBC's San Francisco radio operations. In order to make its Schenectady outlet a

clear channel station A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-cou ...

, GE effected a breakdown of 790 kHz. WGY would assume the maximum permissible power, and KGO would be lowered in power to 7,500 watts. That was then lower than the minimum permissible power for a clear channel station (10 kW), and also was then higher than the then maximum permissible power for a regional channel station (5 kW). Both stations retained omnidirectional antennas. Therefore, GE effectively removed from the West one of its eight clear channels and added another clear channel to the East, thereby giving the East nine cleared channels and the West only seven. The other "regions" in the Band Plan all retained their allotted eight cleared channels.

1940s and 1950s

In 1941, stations on 790, including WGY and KGO, were moved to 810 to comply with the

North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...

(NARBA). On December 1, 1947, KGO switched to a

and its power was increased to 50,000 watts, the new minimum standard power for a U.S.

. An article in ''

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

'' magazine noted that the increase "retired the nation's oldest regularly operating transmitter-a 7,500-watter ... in use since Jan. 8, 1924." When the

forced NBC to sell one of its two networks (and that network's

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

s), KGO's license switched from Radio Corporation of America to the Blue Network, Inc., effective January 23, 1942. The

NBC Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Comp ...

simply dropped "NBC" from its name to become the "Blue Network," then in June 1945 re-branded itself the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...

. KGO became one of the founding stations of the

ABC Radio Network Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which ...

as a result. In the postwar period, KGO produced many live music programs, including that of

Western Swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

bandleader

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

, whose music was a staple of the time. KGO was instrumental in bringing the first exercise show to broadcasting, hosted by

Jack LaLanne Francois Henri LaLanne (; September 26, 1914 – January 23, 2011) was an American fitness and nutrition guru and motivational speaker. He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was aged 15. He also had behav ...

, a fitness instructor and gym operator in nearby Oakland. LaLanne conducted his radio fitness show for many years on KGO, moving in the late 1950s to

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, KGO-TV ma ...

and a successful TV syndication career. By the late 1950s, KGO had suffered poor ratings. In 1962, ABC management brought in new management, including program director Jim Dunbar from Chicago sister station WLS. Dunbar revamped the station into one of the country's first news/talk stations. While the new format was initially unsuccessful, Dunbar stressed the "live and local" aspect of the programming by running the talk shows every day from locations such as

Johnny Kan Johnny Kan (1906–1972) was a Chinese American restaurateur in Chinatown, San Francisco, ca 1950–1970. He was the owner of Johnny Kan's restaurant, which opened in 1953, and published a book on Cantonese cuisine, ''Eight Immortal Flavors'', whic ...

's Chinese restaurant, Señor Pico's Restaurant, and the

hungry i The hungry i was a nightclub in San Francisco, California, originally located in the North Beach neighborhood. It played a major role in the history of stand-up comedy in the United States. It was launched by Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, who sold i ...

nightclub. This higher profile caused KGO's ratings to begin a steady climb. Among KGO's personalities during this period was future

Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicatio ...

member J.P. McCarthy, the station's morning host in the early 1960s.

1960s–1980s

After trying various formats, KGO eventually shifted to news and talk programming, relying heavily on the ABC radio network for its news programs. KGO started carrying

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

's twice-daily programs but also began to develop a strong local news staff that produced extended morning and afternoon newscasts. The local talk show hosts included

Les Crane Les Crane (born Lesley Stein; December 3, 1933 – July 13, 2008) was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem ''Desiderata'', w ...

, Owen Spann and

Jim Eason Jim Eason is a conservative talk radio personality who hosted broadcasts from 1966 to 2000 in the San Francisco Bay Area. He always ended his talk shows with the catchphrase "Do what you can, but behave yourself". His early 1970s theme was "Hold ...

, who often interviewed visiting celebrities in the KGO studios. Owen Spann also originated special broadcasts from Europe and Africa, interviewing government officials from those countries. Local director-actor Jack Brooks hosted a Saturday-morning entertainment program until his sudden death in June 1984, after directing a production of '' Kismet'' for the Capuchino Community Theatre that featured Jim Eason as the poet

Omar Khayyám Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, an ...

. Dr. Dean Edell began his regular medical programs at KGO, leading to nationally syndicated broadcasts.

Ratings and signal strength

KGO logo during the 1990s For over 30 years, from July 1978 to January 2009, KGO was the number-one station in the

in the

, a feat unmatched by any other station in the United States. According to the 2010 Arbitron ratings, however, KGO had lost its lead to KCBS, with

KOIT-FM KOIT (96.5 FM) is a commercial adult contemporary radio station licensed to San Francisco, California. The station has studios along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City, and transmits from Sutro Tower in San Francisco, with a power output of ...

as a close second, and KGO listing at third. When KGO switched to all-news in December 2011, it fell further behind in the local ratings. As of Spring 2013, KGO placed 16th in the market, with approximately half of their listenership when they were number one. KGO logo from 2000 to 2011 The KGO signal also registers with Arbitron as a station listened to in surrounding metropolitan areas. Due to the nature of its signal and antenna placement, KGO broadcasts on a north-to-south axis, keeping itself from interfering with WGY (Schenectady, New York) during the night-time and overnight hours when the station broadcasts at 50,000 watts. KGO's signal is received essentially free of static at night in locations such as

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

and

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, but is difficult to receive in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

, and other points east of the Sierra Nevada mountains due to its signal directionality. That said, its overall reach is greater than any FM signal in the Bay Area (according to radio-locator.com map referenced below).

1990s–2010s

Until December 5, 2011, KGO created nearly all of its own local programming, with very limited syndicated content. The majority of its programs were hosted by San Francisco Bay Area broadcasters. The daily schedule included many issues-oriented talk shows, with weekday hosts that included

Gene Burns Gene Burns (December 3, 1940 – May 25, 2013) was an American talk radio host. He hosted ''Dining Around with Gene Burns'', a food wine and travel program, which aired Saturdays on NewsTalk 810 AM in San Francisco. He also hosted ''The Gene Bu ...

Gil Gross Gil Gross is an American radio personality. He most recently hosted a weekday radio talkshow on KKSF Talk 910 in Oakland/San Francisco from 10am to 2pm, as well as the syndicated Real Estate Today program on Saturdays. However, that station flip ...

, Ronn Owens,

John Rothmann John Francis Rothmann (born 1949) is an American talk radio host on KGO in San Francisco. Political and academic career Rothmann has a B.A. in political science (1970) and M.A. in teaching (1971) from Whittier College. He has worked for many pol ...

and lawyer

Len Tillem Leonard M. Tillem (June 9, 1944 – January 13, 2022) was an American attorney and radio broadcaster. He hosted "The Len Tillem Show," which is considered to be one of the first legal affairs radio show in the U.S. Early life Tillem was born o ...

. The station also carried a variety of specialty programs, particularly on weekends, with John Hamilton discussing travel and leisure,

covering fine food and dining (on a show separate from his weekday program),

Joanie Greggains Joanie Greggains (1944–2022) was an American fitness instructor. Greggains was the radio host of ''The Joanie Greggains Show'', a weekend health and fitness program on KSRO Radio, Santa Rosa, California. She was also known for her long-running ...

hosting a health-and-fitness program, and Brent Walters, who teaches "Comparative Religions" at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

, hosting the early Sunday morning show, ''God Talk.'' In 2014, KGO brought in John Batchelor at midnight. News/talk weekend hosts now include

Brian Copeland Brian Copeland (born 1964) is an American actor, comedian, radio talk show host, playwright and author based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Copeland has been the opening act for artists such as Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin and Ring ...

, "Karel"

Charles Karel Bouley Charles Karel Bouley, known on-the-air as Karel (pronounced ka-REL), is an American entertainer, talk radio host, singer, TV personality, stage performer, journalist, and author. He began his career as a comic and vocalist with 1995's album "Danc ...

, and Pat Thurston. Up to 2011, the weekday morning news (from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.) was co-anchored by Jon Bristow and Jennifer Jones-Lee. The afternoon news (from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.) featured veteran reporter Chris Brecher and award-winning reporter/anchor Bret Burkhart. On December 2, 2011, new owner Cumulus Media announced that KGO was rebranding itself as "news and information," moving to an

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...

format from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. (in addition to the existing morning-drive, noon-hour and afternoon-drive news blocks) on December 5. This had resulted in the abrupt termination, on December 1, of most of the talk hosts (including

Ray Taliaferro Raphael Vincent "Ray" Taliaferro (February 7, 1939 – November or December 2018) was an American radio host and liberal political commentator. He joined KGO News Talk AM 810 (San Francisco) in 1977. In 1986, his talk show moved to the 1 to 5 a ...

, and Dr.

Bill Wattenburg Willard Harvey Wattenburg (February 9, 1936 – August 2, 2018) was an American inventor, engineer, author, and Talk radio, talk radio show host from California. Advertisements for his show often referred to him as "The Smartest Man in the Wo ...

). Ronn Owens's morning show, as well as weekend talk programming remained, although some of the weekend hosts (including

, and

) were also terminated on December 1, 2011.

Bob Brinker Robert John Brinker (born circa 1941) is an American financial advisor and radio host. From 1986 to 2018, Brinker hosted the syndicated financial radio show ''Moneytalk''. He previously had a show on local New York radio on WMCA. Prior to that B ...

's syndicated "Moneytalk" was moved to

KSFO KSFO (560 AM) is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a talk radio format. The station's studios and offices are on Battery Street in the SoMa district of San Francisco, along with fiv ...

, a politically conservative talk radio sister station which arguably better reflects Brinker's conservative politico-economic views. KGO also dropped

Leo Laporte Leo Laporte (; born November 29, 1956) is the host of ''The Tech Guy'' weekly radio show and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. O ...

's weekend syndicated tech talk program in the format change. Gil Gross, Len Tillem and Leo Laporte would all move to competitor

KKSF KKSF (910 AM) is a licensed broadcasting commercial radio station coming out of Oakland, California. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the San Francisco-Oakland- San Jose media market. It operates as the Bay Area affiliate for the ...

. The format change and termination of many popular talk show hosts sparked outrage among long-time listeners, many of whom called for sponsors to drop their advertising on the station. Ratings declined substantially following the change, with competitors KCBS and

KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both of which are PBS member outlets: KQED (channel 9) and KQEH (channel 54). Studio ...

continuing to lead the market, and in December 2014, KGO reintroduced talk programming on weekdays. In December 2014, KGO added Chip Franklin to the noon to 3 pm lineup. In January 2015, KGO announced they had hired Chicago/San Antonio radio personality Kevin "DreX" Buchar, best known for his successful morning show on Chicago's

WKSC-FM WKSC-FM (103.5 MHz) – branded "103.5 Kiss FM" – is a commercial Top 40 (CHR) radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) format. Its studios are located at the Illinois Center complex on ...

, which ran for more than a decade, from 7PM to 10PM.

John Batchelor John Calvin Batchelor (born April 29, 1948) is an American author and host of ''Eye on the World'' on the CBS Audio Network. His flagship station is New York's 710 WOR. The show is a hard-news-analysis radio program on current events, world his ...

's syndicated show aired overnights, returning KGO to the same level of news programming as before 2011. KGO (AM) logo

Both KGO and

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

-based sister station KLIF shared similar visual "News/Information" identities after KLIF's parent Cumulus acquired Citadel until 2014, when talk programming was reintroduced. On March 31, 2016, at Noon, KGO dropped its previous programming and began stunting with recordings of speeches from influential figures and people talking about San Francisco, as well as songs about the city, while promoting "The Next Generation of KGO" to launch on April 5 (though with a break during the weekend for

paid programming Paid or PAID may refer to: * ''Paid'' (1930 film), an American film starring Joan Crawford * ''Paid'' (2006 film), a Dutch film *''Personality and Individual Differences'', a journal See also * Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the ...

). At least 20 people, including the entire news staff, as well as some staffers from sister station

KFOG KNBR-FM (104.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, serving the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Owned by Cumulus Media, KNBR-FM features a sports radio format in a simulcast with co-owned KNBR. Both stati ...

, were laid off with the change.KGO Announces New Lineup With Ronn Owens Staying After All
- ''RadioInsight'' (published March 31, 2016) Originally, long-time KGO host Ronn Owens announced that he would be moving to sister station KSFO in the afternoon slot beginning April 4. However, due to what was advertised as a 'listener reaction' against the move (in reality, Owens contested the move of his show off KGO as against the terms of his contract), Owens stayed with KGO. KGO kept its news/talk format, but relaunched it with a new live and local lineup, which included Owens and ''

Armstrong & Getty ''Armstrong & Getty'' are the hosts of ''The Armstrong & Getty Show,'' a nationally syndicated morning drive radio show hosted by Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. The talk show format is a mixture of libertarian political commentary, observations on ...

'' in mornings; ''Armstrong & Getty'', a regionally syndicated program based at

KSTE KSTE (650 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Rancho Cordova, California, the station serves the Sacramento metropolitan area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and features shows from Westwood One ...

in Sacramento, had previously aired in the Bay Area on KKSF. Owens left the station in 2018, and ''Armstrong & Getty'' moved to KSFO in 2020 to be replaced by Nikki Medoro, previously an afternoon news anchor.

2020s: end of news and talk; "The Spread"

On October 6, 2022, at approximately 10:16 a.m., KGO abruptly ended the news/talk format in the middle of midday host Mark Thompson's show; Thompson later said he had been informed just before going on-air that a format change would be implemented shortly, but was asked not to use the opportunity to say goodbye to listeners. Instead, mid-show, Thompson was signaled to give a final

station identification Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...

; the station then began a stunt loop featuring songs and promotional announcements referring to betting, money, and winning. The promotions stated that a new format, billed as "the most unique radio station in the Bay Area", would launch on October 10, assuring listeners that they "can bet on it". On that day, KGO launched a

format emphasizing

, branded as "810 The Spread"; the new format has no local programming, and the station's schedule is primarily sourced from the BetQL and

CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...

networks, serving as a complement to sister sports stations KNBR- FM and

Sports

KGO was the radio broadcast home for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

football team from 1987 to 2005. It has broadcast

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

Golden Bears Football games since 1974; since 2013, it also broadcast select

California Golden Bears men's basketball The California Golden Bears men's basketball team is the college basketball team of the University of California, Berkeley. The program has seen success throughout the years, culminating in a national championship in 1959 under coach Pete Newell ...

games.

Annual Cure-a-Thon

Until the sudden format change in December 2011, KGO hosted an annual fundraiser called the KGO Cure-a-Thon to help raise money for The

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1949, is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer in the world. The LLS's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's l ...

with all of the station's regular programming pre-empted for an entire day during the event. Listeners were encouraged to call in and donate money to help in the fight against these kinds of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. An auction was also held to help raise money. Notable items up for auction have included a trip with

on a private jet to various destinations, such as

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, for a gourmet dinner. Cumulus Media has announced that it will not be continuing the KGO Cure-a-Thon charity event despite the fact it has raised millions of dollars for charity in the past.

Solar power

In March 2008,

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s were installed at KGO's transmitter site in

Fremont, California Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...

, to offset some of its power consumption during daytime hours. The effort is a testbed for

Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...

and is located near the Dumbarton Bridge. The solar system uses both CPV (SolFocus) and PV (Premier Power) arrays and provides about 17 Kilowatts, or 33% (one third), of the radio frequency (RF) power output from the 50KW transmitter (or about 1/10th of the total power consumption of their transmitter site over a 24-hour period). United States Speaker of the House Rep.

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

turned the system on during an on-air ceremony.

Former staff

* James AbbeSies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . * Robert J. Ackerly *

Ken Bastida Ken Bastida (born December 30, 1956) is a former broadcast journalist who most recently anchored at KPIX-TV, the CBS station in San Francisco. Bastida holds a bachelor's degree in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State Universit ...

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

Joy Browne Joy Browne (born Joy Oppenheim; October 24, 1944—August 27, 2016), also known as Dr. Joy, was an American talk show host, specializing in advice counselling. She hosted a nationally syndicated call-in talk show for several decades, heard ...

Angie Coiro Angie Coiro is an American talk radio host. She is the host and senior producer of ''In Deep with Angie Coiro'' (formerly known as ''The Green Show''). Prior to that, she was the host of '' Mother Jones'' Radio on Air America Radio. The program wa ...

Peter B. Collins Peter B. Collins (born 1953) is an American talk radio host, voiceover talent, entrepreneur, and media consultant based near San Francisco, California. He moved there in 1976 after growing up in the Midwest and starting on a radio talk show in Chi ...

Russ Coughlan Russ is a masculine given name, often a short form of Russell, and also a surname. People Given name or nickname * Russ Abbot (born 1947), British musician, comedian and actor * Russ Adams (born 1980), American retired baseball player * Russ B ...

Christine Craft Christine Ann Craft (born December 18, 1944) is an American attorney, radio talk show host and former television news anchor. She became known in the broadcast industry in the 1980s for her age and sexual discrimination lawsuit against a televisio ...

* Mark Curtis * Jim Dunbar *

* Dean Edell *

Art Finley Art Finley (born Arthur Finger; 1926 – August 7, 2015) was an American television and radio personality, mostly in San Francisco and Vancouver, until his retirement in 1995. His broadcasting career began at KXYZ Houston in 1943. He enlisted ...

* Michael Finney * Chip Franklin *

James Gabbert James Gabbert (born 1936 in Chico, California) 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 ...

* Duane Garrett *

* Greg Jarrett * Michael Krasny *

David Lazarus David Lazarus is an American business and consumer columnist who works for '' KTLA'' and worked for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from August 2007 to January 2022. His last column was published on January 28, 2022. Early life and education He attend ...

Dick Leonard Richard Lawrence Leonard (12 December 1930 – 24 June 2021) was a British writer, journalist and Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Romford (UK Parliament ...

* J. P. McCarthy *

Larry Mendte Lawrence David Mendte (born January 16, 1957) is an American news anchor, commentator and radio talk show host. Mendte is currently hosting three TV shows, ''Jersey Matters'', ''The Delaware Way'', and ''Another Thing with Larry Mendte''. Mend ...

Melanie Morgan Melanie Morgan is an American radio personality, formerly with KSFO (560 kHz AM) in San Francisco, where her husband, Jack Swanson, was VP of News and Programming. She was laid off from KSFO due to budget cutbacks and declining ad revenue, ...

Kevin Radich Kevin "The Rat" Radich (born June 13, 1960) was the weekday afternoon sports reporter on KGO AM 810, in San Francisco. He joined KGO in early 2007, after a year of work as a weekend sports anchor for KCBS 740 AM radio. His wife, Kim Wonderley ...

Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942), known by his professional name Michael Savage, is a far-right author, conspiracy theorist, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Na ...

Lon Simmons Lonnie Alexander "Lon" Simmons (July 19, 1923 – April 5, 2015) was an American sports announcer, best known for his play-by-play broadcasts of San Francisco Giants baseball and San Francisco 49ers football. He was born in Vancouver, Washin ...

Barbara Simpson Barbara Allan Simpson (born July 29, 1937) is an American retired TV reporter, news anchor, and conservative radio talk show host. She is currently an on-line columnist. Early life and education Simpson was born Barbara Allan in New York City and ...

Joe Starkey Joseph K. Starkey (born 1941) is an American sportscaster who has served as the radio play-by-play announcer of California Golden Bears football from 1975 to 2022. He previously worked as the sports director of KGO radio in San Francisco, Califor ...

Monty Stickles Monty Anthony Stickles (August 16, 1938 – September 3, 2006) was an American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints. Stickles was born in Kingston, New York on August 1 ...

* Mark Thompson *

* Wayne Walker *

Bernie Ward Bernard Vincent Ward (born April 5, 1951) was an American former radio personality whose career ran from 1985 to 2007. Formerly a radio talk show host with KGO 810 AM in San Francisco, California, Ward, once billed by KGO as "The Lion of the Lef ...

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...

Jim Wieder Jim Wieder is an American business owner, retired television and radio news anchor, former chamber of commerce executive in the East Bay of Northern California. Currently, Jim is owner of Discount Products 1. Broadcasting career Wieder, born i ...

* Dennis Willis *

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California bet ...

Lloyd Lindsay Young Lloyd Lindsay Young, known as "Double L" (born September 4, 1941) is an American weather reporter who gained notoriety for his over-the-top delivery and antics. He is the father of former KGET-TV weatherman George Lindsay Young, with whom he worked ...

References

External links

*
John Schneider's History of KGO RadioA Technical Description of the KGO Facility in 1924The Spread 810 AMThe Complete KGO Collection in The Bay Area Radio Museum
{{Authority control GO (AM) Clear-channel radio stations Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1924 1924 establishments in California California Golden Bears men's basketball Former General Electric subsidiaries Former subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company Sports radio stations in the United States CBS Sports Radio stations