KEST (1450
AM) is a
brokered time
Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...
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 ...
in
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 17th ...
. Most of the station's programming is in Asian languages, including
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
and
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
.
It also airs some
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
n,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
programs as well as
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
shows in English. KEST, then called KSOL, was one of the first full time "
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
" radio stations in the U.S. That station employed
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
Sylvester Stewart, later known as
Sly Stone
Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the ...
of
Sly and the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...
recording fame.
Multicultural Radio owns KEST and numerous ethnic stations across the country, including five in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. KEST transmits with 1,000
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 Wa ...
s by day and 960 watts at night. It shares a
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
site with
KSFB
KSFB (1260 AM) is a radio station licensed to San Francisco, California. It broadcasts Relevant Radio, a Roman Catholic radio format, to the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. It was previously known as KYA (AM) until 1983, and KOIT ...
1260 AM
The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1260 kHz: There are 55 stations in the United States which broadcast on 1260 AM; the Federal Communications Commission classifies 1260 AM as a regional frequency.
Argentina
* LT14 Gral ...
, off Bayview Park Road, near the
Bayshore Freeway (
U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
) in San Francisco.
History
KGTT, KGGC and KSAN
On , the station first
signed on
Signing may refer to:
* Using sign language
* Signature
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
the air. Its first
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 assigne ...
was KGTT. A few years later, it switched its callsign to KGGC, which stood for the Golden Gate Broadcasting Company. 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 1420
kilocycle
The cycle per second is a once-common English name for the unit of frequency now known as the hertz (Hz). The plural form was typically used, often written cycles per second, cycles/second, c.p.s., c/s, or, ambiguously, just cycles (Cy./Cyc.). The ...
s. It was bought in 1939 by Sherwood Patterson, who changed the call letters to KSAN.
After the 1941 enactment of 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) where many stations switched their dial positions, KSAN moved up the dial to 1450 kHz. 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.
R&B and Soul
In 1958, KSAN switched to a full-time
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
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 of any kind, with the exception of 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 and
Delmor A. (Del) Courtney, two well-known San Francisco radio and television personalities. Malloy was for many years a star on local radio and had hosted a popular TV talk show on KGO-TV in the 1950s, while Courtney found fame as a bandleader and personality on
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 ...
. With Malloy as president and general manager, KSAN became KSOL under new ownership, hoping to better emphasize its "Soul Radio" format, which continued until September 1970. KSOL helped launch the career of popular 1960s and 1970s musician
Sly Stone
Sylvester Stewart (born March 15, 1943), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer who is most famous for his role as frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the ...
, who was one of the station's DJs
KEST
With
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
stations available 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.
The station became KEST. 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.
Translator station
In 2019, KEST was granted an
FM translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
allocation on 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. But 104.9 is also used by
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
station
KXSC in
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California.
Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...
, serving the
San Jose metropolitan area. KXSC is a fulltime
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
of San Francisco classical station
KDFC
KDFC (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that broadcasts classical music 24 hours daily. It is owned by the University of Southern California. KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Symphony and the San ...
on 90.3 MHz.
When it went on the air, the KEST translator began interfering with KXSC's signal in some communities located between San Jose and San Francisco. In reaction, KDFC began an on-air appeal to listeners looking for interference complaints from the new transmitter.
[https://www.kdfc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Listener-Interference-Complaint-Form-Template-KXSC-and-K285HD-c3.pdf ] Eventually, KEST took its translator station off the air.
References
External links
FCC History Cards for KEST
*
*KSAN:
Jumpin' George Oxford on KSAN 1450 (1955; 30 minutes)KSAN 1450 "Most In Rhythm & Blues" Jingle (c. 1958; 30 seconds)The Burner (Bill Mercer) on KSAN 1450 (December 15, 1960; 2 minutes)John Hardy/Rockin' Lucky Show Transition on KSAN (Dec. 16, 1960; 1 minute)Mike Dix as Jumpin' George on KSAN (June/July 1963; 34 minutes)Doctor Soul on KSOL 1450 (c. 1966; 30 minutes)KSOL 1450 "Swingin' Soul Brothers" Jingle (c. 1966; 15 seconds)Charlie Brown on KSOL (July 12, 1966; 11 minutes)Sly Stone and Ronnie Dark on KSOL Soul 145 (March 29, 1967; 1 hour)
{{coord, 37, 42, 58, N, 122, 23, 38, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title
Asian-American culture in San Francisco
EST
Talk radio stations in the United States
Radio stations established in 1925
Multicultural Broadcasting stations