KSFN (1510

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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 ...

broadcasting a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...

music

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

Licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Piedmont, California Piedmont is a small city located in Alameda County, California, United States, completely surrounded by the city of Oakland. Its residential population was 11,270 at the 2020 census. The name comes from the region of Piedmont in Italy, and it me ...

, the station serves 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 Go ...

. The station is currently owned by Alfredo Plascencia's Lazer Broadcasting, through licensee Lazer Licenses, LLC. KSFN's

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 ...

is in an industrial section of West Oakland, California.

History

The station was first licensed June 4, 1947, to

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...

, with its transmitter in

Kentfield, California Kentfield (formerly Ross Landing, Tamalpais, and Kent) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Kentfield is located southwest of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 fee ...

, and was owned by Marin Broadcasting Co. The station was originally licensed to broadcast 1,000 watts during daytime hours only. In the station's early years, it aired a

full service Full service or Full Service may refer to: * Full-service radio, a wide range of programming * Full Service Network, a communications company Entertainment * "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block'' * F ...

format, with an hour of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

weekday afternoons. By 1957, the station aired popular music from the 1930s and 1940s, and an hour of

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 ...

in the morning and afternoon, along with local news and other local programming. The station's transmitter was moved to San Rafael, California in 1960. In 1961, the station began to be

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 ...

on 100.9 KTIM-FM. In the mid 1970s, the station switched from a MOR format to an

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-orien ...

format."It's Rock Around the Clock for KTIM", '' Independent Journal'', March 4, 1977. p. 22. The album-oriented rock format continued through the rest of the 1970s and into the early 1980s. In 1980, the station was sold to Platt Communications. The station would end its simulcast with KTIM-FM, and in 1982, the station began airing a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

format. In 1983 the station was sold to Arthur Astor. In 1988, the station's call sign was changed to KCAF, and the station adopted a country music format as "Calf Country".Ross, Sean; Olson, Yvonne.
Vox Jox
, '' Billboard'', August 20, 1988. p. 11. Retrieved June 18, 2018. In 1989, the station's call sign was changed to KTID.Call Letters
, ''

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

'', May 29, 1989. p. 66. Retrieved June 18, 2018. In 1990, the station's call sign was changed to KAPX,Call Letters
, ''

'', December 10, 1990. p. 122. Retrieved June 18, 2018. and the station adopted an adult standards format.Format Changes
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 9, No. 46. November 18, 1992. p. 1. Retrieved June 18, 2018. In 1992, the station's call sign was changed to KTID,Call Letters
, ''

'', December 7, 1992. p. 62. Retrieved June 18, 2018. and the station simulcast the

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

programming of its sister station KTID-FM. In 1993, the station was bought by Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters Inc. In Spring 1994, KTID (AM) ended its simulcast of adult contemporary KTID-FM and began airing Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters syndicated adult standards format. On October 12, 1994, the station's call sign was changed to KKHI. As KKHI, it simulcasted the classical programming of KKHI-FM 100.9. In April 1995, the station began broadcasting Big Band Jazz, as KNOB.Hamlin, Jesse.
Jazz Is Bustin' Out All Over / KJAZ goes cable, other stations fill airwaves
, ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', April 11, 1995. Retrieved June 10, 2018. This occurred after America's last commercial jazz station KJAZ stopped broadcasting in August of the previous year. On February 16, 1997, the station's call sign was changed to KKHI, and the station again simulcast the classical music programming of KKHI-FM.Kosman, Joshua.
KKHI to End Classical Format / Switch blamed on $3 million in losses
, ''

'', November 26, 1998. Retrieved June 19, 2018. On December 5, 1998, the station's call sign was changed to KJQI, and the station began airing an adult standards format as "the Joy of San Francisco".Format Changes & Updates
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 17, No. 10. March 8, 2000. p. 1. Retrieved June 19, 2018. On February 28, 2000, the station's call sign was changed to KMZT, and the station aired a classical music format as K-Mozart. On March 19, 2001, the station's call sign was changed to KJQI, and the station aired a Christian format as "K-Joy". On March 25, 2002, the station's call sign was changed to KJAZ, and on August 15, 2002, the station's call sign was changed to KTIM. As KTIM the station aired a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. On June 28, 2003, the station's call sign was changed to KMZT, and the station again aired a classical music format as K-Mozart. In 2003, Mt. Wilson Broadcasters moved the transmitter from Marin to Oakland so as to improve its signal into San Francisco. The station is unique in that its entire directional antenna array is located on the rooftop of a large warehouse. By 2005, the station was airing an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

format.Fong-Torres, Ben.
Radio Waves
, ''

'', May 1, 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2018. In 2005,

Mapleton Communications Mapleton Communications (MC) was a media company. It was formed in May 2001 to acquire and operate radio stations in mid-sized markets in the western United States. Mapleton owned and operated 41 radio stations (11 AM radio, AM and 30 Frequency m ...

purchased the station for $5.1 million, and began simulcasting the programming of

KPIG-FM KPIG-FM (107.5 FM, "K-PIG") is a radio station located near the city of Santa Cruz, California, United States. Founded in 1988, the studio is based in Watsonville, California, and broadcasts to the counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey. It als ...

Santa Cruz on the station on July 1, 2005. KPIG-FM carried a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

and

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

format. AM 1510's call sign was changed to KPIG on August 4, 2005. To help KPIG, Mapleton purchased co-channel

KGA KGA (1510 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station serving Spokane, Washington. Owned by Stephens Media Group (broadcasting), Stephens Media Group, through licensee SMG-Spokane, LLC, it broadcasts a Sports radio, sports format. KGA's studios and ...

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

, a 50,000–watt Class A station. In 2008, Mapleton reduced the nighttime power of KGA to afford KSFN more power at night to better cover the Bay Area. KGA kept its 50,000 watt daytime signal but dropped its nighttime power to 15,000 watts. Additionally, and simultaneously, KGA was reduced in class from Class A to Class B. Subsequently, KGA eliminated its directional antenna system, and further reduced its nighttime power to 540 watts. On August 25, 2010, AM 1510's call sign was changed to KSFN. The station adopted a

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

format, targeting the Bay Area

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese communities. In 2019, Mapleton agreed to sell KSFN to Lazer Broadcasting. In anticipation of the sale, it switched KSFN to a

music format. Lazer specializes in

Spanish-language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

formats. The sale to Lazer Broadcasting, at a price of $200,000, was consummated on December 31, 2019. It marked the exit of Mapleton from the radio business, as it was the final sale from their portfolio of stations. On February 3, 2020, KSFN changed their format from Regional Mexican to Spanish Sports, with programming from Unanimo Deportes Radio.Unanimo Deportes Debuts in San Francisco
Radioinsight - February 4, 2020 In late 2020, Lazer dropped the Unanimo Deportes Radio Network and flipped back to Regional Mexican as "Radio Lazer".

References

External links

{{Spanish Radio Stations in California SFN Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in California SFN