KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member

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 ...

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 ...

. Its parent organization is

KQED Inc. KQED Inc. is a non-profit public media outlet based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, which operates the radio station KQED-FM and the television stations KQED/KQET and KQEH. KQED's main headquarters are located in San Francisco an ...

, which also owns its television partners, both of which are PBS member outlets: KQED (channel 9) and KQEH (channel 54). Studio operations for all three are located on Mariposa Drive in the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

of San Francisco, while its transmitter is located atop San Bruno Mountain.

History

KXKX

The San Francisco Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian group, began broadcasting with station KXKX in April 1963. The new 110,000-watt station signed on two years after the seminary received a construction permit in August 1961. In addition to Christian programming, the station's subcarrier broadcast theology courses to receivers at 44 Bay Area churches. When agencies of the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

could no longer support the station, KXKX signed off at midnight on the evening of June 29, 1967.

KQED-FM

In July 1968, the San Francisco Theological Seminary filed to sell KXKX to the Bay Area Educational Television Association, owner of KQED (channel 9). The station returned to the air as KQED-FM in mid-1969, originally using the studios at 286 Divisadero Street inherited from the seminary. The founding manager was Bernard Mayes, who later went on to be executive vice president of KQED television and also co-founder and chairman of NPR. The first programming of KQED-FM included news, 'street radio' broadcast live from local street corners, drama and music. In its third year on the air, KQED-FM became one of the first 80 NPR affiliates—five of which were in California—to air the first edition of ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

.'' Later, due to reduced funding, Mayes opened the air to 'Tribal Radio' - productions by local non-profit groups, some in their own languages.

Current programming

Today, KQED-FM is one of the most-listened to public radio stations in the United States, and ranks first in the San Francisco market as of July 2018. In addition to local programming, KQED-FM carries content from major public radio distributors such as

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

, Public Radio Exchange,

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

and American Public Media. Among the locally produced shows are '' Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal'', '' The California Report'', and ''Perspectives''. ''Tech Nation'' is produced at KQED studios. In addition to over-the-air broadcasts, KQED-FM audio is carried on Comcast

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previ ...

channel 960 and is

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

with live streaming audio around the clock. The station's live stream is also available through it
mobile app
'' Forum'' is carried live, nationwide, on Sirius Satellite Radio. KQED also offers an extensive audio archive and podcasts of previous shows for download. One of the most famous programs to have been broadcast on KQED was ''An Hour with Pink Floyd'', a 60-minute performance by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

recorded in 1970 without an audience at the station's studio. The program was broadcast only twice—once in 1970, and once again in 1981. The setlist included "

Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Ro ...

", "

Cymbaline "Cymbaline" is a Pink Floyd song from the album '' Soundtrack from the Film More''. Lyrics Its lyrics vividly tell the tale of a "nightmare", which was the title of the song when it was first introduced in Floyd's '' The Man and The Journey Tour ...

", " Grantchester Meadows", " Green Is the Colour", "

Careful with That Axe, Eugene "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is an instrumental piece by the British rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded in November 1968 and released as the B-side to the single " Point Me at the Sky", and featured on the 1971 compilation album ''Relics ...

", and "

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, appearing on their second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968). It was written by Roger Waters, taking lyrics from a Chinese poetry book, and features ...

Expansion into Sacramento

In 2003, KQED Radio expanded to the

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

area by purchasing KEBR-FM at 89.3 in North Highlands from

Family Radio Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

, a religious broadcaster based in

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 ...

. The call letters were changed to KQEI, and it became a full-time satellite of KQED.

Ransomware attack

In July 2017,

The 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 Michael H. de Young. The p ...

reported that the radio station was the victim of a massive

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware from cryptovirology that threatens to publish the victim's personal data or permanently block access to it unless a ransom is paid off. While some simple ransomware may lock the system without damaging any files, ...

attack which began on June 15, 2017. More than a month later, many critical systems were still offline and during the attack email was down, hard drives were locked, and prerecorded programs were lost.

Additional frequencies

In addition to the main station, KQED-FM is relayed by these stations and translators to widen its broadcast area. KQED and KQEI also broadcast in HD Radio.

References

External links

*KQED Car Donation Program kqed.careasy.org * *
FCC history cards for KQED-FM
* {{Authority control NPR member stations QED-FM Radio stations established in 1963 KQED Inc. 1963 establishments in California