KKSF 103.7 FM

Radio Station based in San Francisco, California. (1987 - 2009) KKSF 103.7 FM was a radio station in San Francisco. KKSF debuted July 31, 1987 at midnight; the first song played was by Steve Winwood. The General Manager from 1987 to 1997 was David A. Kendrick. Liner notes of the first KKSF Sampler for AIDS Relief list the members of the group responsible for the development of the KKSF concept as Willet Brown, Mike Brown, Dave Kendrick, Phil Melrose, Bob O'Connor, Michael Fischer and Steve Feinstein, . Steve Feinstein, who had previously been a format editor at trade magazine Radio and Records, was chosen by consultant Bob O'Connor and GM Dave Kendrick to be KKSF's first Program Director. Until his death in 1996, Feinstein guided KKSF to be one of the leading stations in the NAC format. He was known for being open and responsive to listener comments and suggestions, and constantly searched for new and interesting music that fit the KKSF sound, often gravitating to lesser-known imports and hard-to-find, out-of-print selections. In 1988 the station teamed with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to produce their first KKSF Sampler for AIDS Relief. Songs were donated by their artists so that KKSF could give all the net proceeds from the sale of the Sampler albums to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Often the Sampler CDs were the only way to find certain KKSF listener favorites that had otherwise gone out of print. There were seven KKSF Samplers produced by Dave Kendrick and Steve Feinstein, with Sampler 7 being dedicated to Feinstein's memory, as he died in September 1996, during the album's creation. KKSF was also the first commercial radio station to have a Web presence, putting up a Web site in October 1993 as kksf.tbo.com and eventually www.kksf.com, created by Chief Engineer Tim Pozar and edited by morning host Roger Coryell. In 1993, Brown Broadcasting purchased classical station KDFC (then at 102.1 FM). The two stations were co-located at 455 Market Street until 1997, when both were sold to Evergreen Media. Evergreen sold KDFC to Bonneville that same year, but kept KKSF, which eventually passed to Chancellor Broadcasting, AMFM Broadcasting, and finally Clear Channel Communications during a short period of rapid ownership changes in the late 1990s. Studios were moved to their present location at 340 Townsend Street in 1998. The sound of KKSF changed with the new ownership. The Smooth Jazz consultancy Broadcast Architecture became more involved with the station at this time. Gradually the station became more like other stations in the U.S. using the "Smooth Jazz" handle, dropping some of its more eclectic music along the way in favor of mass appeal R&B songs. The 2000s brought many changes to KKSF. During 2001 many announcers left, a number of them going to former sister station KDFC. Through the next eight years the number of live announcers on staff gradually decreased, as KKSF began airing syndicated shows in morning drive, like the national "Wake Up with Whoopi" show hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, and later The Ramsey Lewis Morning Show, featuring pianist Ramsey Lewis. In 2008 KKSF added the syndicated Dave Koz show to afternoons. By the end of the Smooth Jazz era at KKSF, only midday personality Miranda Wilson was truly live in her time slot. On May 18, 2009, at 3 p.m., KKSF began a classic rock format. Owner Clear Channel cited economic considerations and the results of "exhaustive market research" as they announced the change to "103.7 The Band.". The first song played under the Classic Rock format was "Everybody's Everything" by Santana. The demise of Smooth Jazz on KKSF also ended one of the Bay Area's most spirited radio rivalries, as KKSF battled it out with Urban AC KBLX, which often included Smooth Jazz in its Quiet Storm Smooth R&B playlist. Smooth Jazz in San Francisco can now be heard on sfsmoothjazz.com and Smooth Jazz Beach Radio. In its first few months as 103.7 The Band, KKSF gained listeners aged 25–54, considered a more desirable group by advertisers than KKSF's previous audience which skewed considerably older. The station features mostly out-of-market personalities who voice track their shows, and has a very small local staff. KKSF began shifting to more of a classic hits format in February 2011, after Entercom added classic rock on KUZX, using one-time sister station KDFC's former frequency. The classic hits format had previously been heard on CBS Radio's KFRC-FM, which became a simulcast of all-news KCBS in October 2008. The shift to classic hits was completed on April 8, 2011, when the station rebranded to "Oldies 103.7". The branding was changed to simply "103.7 FM" that December; on December 13, it added the "-FM" suffix. On January 3, 2012, the station changed its call sign to KOSF. station rebranded to "Oldies 103.7". The branding was changed to simply "103.7 FM" that December; on December 13, it added the "-FM" suffix. On January 3, 2012, the station changed its call sign to KOSF