KOIT
Broadcast areaSan Francisco Bay Area
Frequency96.5 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding96.5 KOIT
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatAdult contemporary
SubchannelsHD2: AAA "Highway 1"
HD3: Christmas music
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
July 1, 1947 (1947-07-01)
Former call signs
KRON-FM (1947–1975)
KOIT (1975–1983)
KOIT-FM (1983–2010)
Call sign meaning
The COIT Tower, a San Francisco landmark
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID6380
ClassB
ERP24,000 watts
HAAT480 meters (1,570 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
37°45′19″N 122°27′10″W / 37.7552°N 122.4527°W / 37.7552; -122.4527
Repeater(s)See § Booster
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Listen live (via Audacy)
Listen live (HD2)
Listen live (via Audacy) (HD2)
Listen live (HD3)
Websitewww.koit.com
highway1radio.com (HD2)

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 24,000 watts effective radiated power. The signal can be received throughout the Bay Area with relative ease. There is also a booster station in Martinez, California called KOIT-3 that improves the coverage in the Diablo Valley area.

KOIT is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. From 2007 through 2017, the station was owned by Entercom. As part of its merger with CBS Radio, the company was required to divest four of its radio stations in San Francisco in order stay within ownership caps. KOIT was placed in a trust and was subsequently reacquired by Bonneville, which had owned the station from 1975 until the sale to Entercom.

KOIT broadcasts in HD.[2]

History

The station signed on the air July 1, 1947, under the callsign KRON-FM.[3] It was owned by the deYoung family, and was co-owned with KRON-TV and the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. The station had a limited broadcast schedule (airing only during the evening hours). The station shut down on December 31, 1954; when it returned to the air as non-commercial station in 1957, KRON-FM began carrying an evening-only program schedule devoted to classical music. During the 1960s, KRON-FM devoted a full hour (7 to 8 p.m.) to a complete Broadway show album. Since the station had no commercials, no underwriters, and no on-air fund drives, the Chronicle operated the station as a public service.[4] Staff announcers delivered short newscasts on the station's evening broadcasts. In December 1970, KRON-FM began simulcasting a Spanish-language newscast from KRON-TV by Terry Lowry.[5]

In 1975, the deYoung's Chronicle Publishing Company, which was the then-parent of KRON-TV and the Chronicle, sold KRON-FM to Bonneville International, who changed the station's callsign to KOIT. On December 13, 1983, Bonneville purchased KYA (1260 AM) from KING Broadcasting, changing the call letters to KOIT with 96.5 going to KOIT-FM per FCC convention. The KYA call letters remained in service at KYA-FM (93.3, now KRZZ) and went into retirement in 1993. In 1983, KOIT was playing a lot of instrumental music, sort of like the "elevator music" that was being played at KBAY (then at 100.3 FM) in San Jose. The majority of the station's playlist consisted of instrumentals, but also contained some vocals. In late 1985, KOIT changed their music format to soft adult contemporary by dropping all instrumentals, and started playing music from the 1950s, 1960's, 1970s and 1980s. KOIT called their music "Light Rock". For the first 8 years of the adult contemporary format, the station was heavy on oldies. In 1995, KOIT updated their playlist by dropping the 1950s and 1960s songs, and added more recent and current music. As recently as 2009, KOIT was playing approximately one song from every decade in order in 3 song-sets. In 2009, KOIT started playing more recent hits from the late 2000s and early 2010s. Since 2003, KOIT has switched to Christmas Music every year, generally the Friday before Thanksgiving at 12:00 PM, and brands itself as "The Bay Area's Official Christmas Music Station."

On January 18, 2007, Bonneville announced a station swap with Entercom, with KOIT and Bonneville's other San Francisco area FM radio holdings going to Entercom in return for three of Entercom's stations in Seattle, Washington and Entercom's entire radio cluster in Cincinnati, Ohio.[6] This trade marked Entercom's re-entry into the country's fourth largest radio market. Entercom officially took over KOIT-FM via a local marketing agreement on February 26, 2007, and Entercom and Bonneville officially closed on the deal on March 14, 2008, with KOIT and the other San Francisco FM stations formerly owned by Bonneville becoming owned by Entercom outright. KOIT's AM sister station was concurrently sold to Immaculate Heart Radio, and became KSFB in December 2007; however, KOIT-FM did not drop the "-FM" suffix until September 2010.

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced that it would merge with Entercom. To comply with FCC ownership limits, it was announced that KOIT, along with sister stations KBLX and KUFX, CBS-owned KMVQ, and a cluster in Sacramento, would be divested.[7] Under a local marketing agreement with the Entercom Divestiture Trust, Bonneville once again assumed operations of the station following the completion of the merger on November 17.[8] On August 3, 2018, Bonneville announced that it would acquire all of the divested Entercom stations it had been operating for $141 million;[9][10] the sale was completed on September 21, 2018.[11]

In 2020, KOIT, along with the other Bonneville stations, moved their studios from the SoMa district in San Francisco into a newly built studio along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City.[12]

Booster

KOIT is rebroadcast on the following FM booster:

Call signFrequencyCity of licenseFIDERP (W)HAATClassFCC info
KOIT-FM3 96.5 FMMartinez, California63743,300 (Vert.)305 m (1,001 ft)DLMS

HD Radio

On December 28, 2018, KOIT's HD2 subchannel changed their format from 1970s' hits (which moved to KUFX's HD2 subchannel) to adult album alternative, branded as "96.5 HD2".[13] In early September 2020, the format was changed to rock, branded as "Highway 1".

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KOIT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "HD Radio station guide for San Francisco, CA". Archived from the original on 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2016-09-04. HD Radio Guide for San Francisco
  3. ↑ "San Francisco Chronicle Launches Its FM Outlet" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 7, 1947. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Bay Area Radio Museum | History | Audio | Archives
  5. ↑ "Broadcast Legends - Terry Lowry". Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  6. ↑ "Entercom trades radio stations". 19 January 2007.
  7. ↑ Venta, Lance (October 10, 2017). "Entercom Narrows Down 16 Stations To Be Divested To Complete CBS Radio Merger". RadioInsight. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  8. ↑ Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Bonneville Turns San Francisco and Sacramento LMAs Into Purchase - RadioInsight". RadioInsight. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "LMA Becomes Sale As Entercom Officially Sells Eight SF, Sacramento Stations To Bonneville For $141 Million". All Access. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Consummation Notice". Bonneville Communications. September 24, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018 – via FCC.
  12. ↑ "They Built New Studios During COVID". 4 September 2020.
  13. ↑ Bonneville Launches AAA on HD2 in San Francisco Radioinsight - December 28, 2018
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