KGO (AM)

After several late-night test broadcasts, using the experimental call sign 6XG, radio station KGO signed on the air on January 8, 1924, from General Electric's Oakland transformer manufacturing plant. The original two-story brick building, constructed specifically for the station on East 14th Street, was demolished sometime in the 1980s.[2]) KGO was part of a planned three-station network comprising WGY in Schenectady, New York, and KOA in Denver, Colorado. KGO was first known as the "Sunset Station" since it was General Electric's West Coast outlet. At that time it operated with a then-impressive 1000 watts.[3]

As was the custom with early radio stations, the programming consisted of performances by local talent, including the KGO Orchestra which provided some of the music, and a dramatic group known as the KGO Players, which performed weekly plays and short skits, often under the direction of Bay-area drama instructor Wilda Wilson Church. The station's music, which was also performed by other local orchestras and vocalists, included classical selections as well as popular dance music the next night. Due to GE's involvement in RCA and RCA's launch of the NBC Red Network, KGO was soon operated by NBC management out of studio facilities in San Francisco. See the KNBR entry for a fuller discussion of NBC's San Francisco radio operations.

In order to make its Schenectady outlet a clear channel station, GE effected a breakdown of 790 kHz. WGY would assume the maximum permissible power, and KGO would be lowered in power to 7,500 watts. That was then lower than the minimum permissible power for a clear channel station (10 kW), and also was then higher than the then maximum permissible power for a regional channel station (5 kW). Both stations retained omnidirectional antennas. Therefore, GE effectively removed from the West one of its eight clear channels and added another clear channel to the East, thereby giving the East nine cleared channels and the West only seven. The other "regions" in the Band Plan all retained their allotted eight cleared channels.

In 1941, stations on 790, including WGY and KGO, were moved to 810 to comply with the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA). On December 1, 1947, KGO switched to a directional antenna and its power was increased to 50,000 watts, the new minimum standard power for a U.S. clear channel station. An article in Broadcasting magazine noted that the increase "retired the nation's oldest regularly operating transmitter-a 7,500-watter ... in use since Jan. 8, 1924."[4]

When the Federal Communications Commission forced NBC to sell one of its two networks (and that network's owned-and-operated stations), KGO's license switched from Radio Corporation of America to the Blue Network, Inc., effective January 23, 1942.[5] The NBC Blue Network simply dropped "NBC" from its name to become the "Blue Network," then in June 1945 re-branded itself the American Broadcasting Company. KGO became one of the founding stations of the ABC Radio Network as a result.

In the postwar period, KGO produced many live music programs, including that of Western Swing bandleader Bob Wills, whose music was a staple of the time. KGO was instrumental in bringing the first exercise show to broadcasting, hosted by Jack LaLanne, a fitness instructor and gym operator in nearby Oakland. LaLanne conducted his radio fitness show for many years on KGO, moving in the late 1950s to KGO-TV and a successful TV syndication career.

By the late 1950s, KGO had suffered poor ratings. In 1962, ABC management brought in new management including program director Jim Dunbar, who revamped the station into one of the country's first news/talk stations. While the new format was initially unsuccessful, Dunbar stressed the "live and local" aspect of the programming by running the talk shows every day from locations such as Johnny Kan's Chinese restaurant, Señor Pico's Restaurant, and the legendary hungry i nightclub. This higher profile caused KGO's ratings to begin a steady climb. Among KGO's personalities during this period was future Radio Hall of Fame member J.P. McCarthy, the station's morning host in the early 1960s.

After trying various formats, KGO eventually shifted to news and talk programming, relying heavily on the ABC radio network for its news programs. KGO started carrying Paul Harvey's twice-daily programs but also began to develop a strong local news staff that produced extended morning and afternoon newscasts. The local talk show hosts included Les Crane, Owen Spann and Jim Eason, who often interviewed visiting celebrities in the KGO studios. Owen Spann also originated special broadcasts from Europe and Africa, interviewing government officials from those countries. Local director-actor Jack Brooks hosted a Saturday-morning entertainment program until his sudden death in June 1984, after directing a production of Kismet for the Capuchino Community Theatre that featured Jim Eason as the poet Omar Khayyám. Dr. Dean Edell began his regular medical programs at KGO, leading to nationally syndicated broadcasts.

KGO logo during the 1990s.

For more than 27 years (as rated quarterly by Arbitron), KGO was the number-one station in the Bay Area. According to the 2010 Arbitron ratings, however, KGO had lost its lead to KCBS, with KOIT-FM as a close second, and KGO listing at third. When KGO switched to all-news in December 2011, it fell further behind in the local ratings. As of Spring 2013, KGO placed 16th in the market, with approximately half of their listenership when they were number one.[6]

KGO logo from 2000 to 2011.

The KGO signal also registers with Arbitron as a station listened to in surrounding metropolitan areas. Due to the nature of its signal and antenna placement, KGO broadcasts on a north-to-south axis, keeping itself from interfering with WGY (Schenectady, New York) during the night-time and overnight hours when the station broadcasts at 50,000 watts. KGO's signal is received essentially free of static at night in locations such as Vancouver, Washington, Seattle, Washington and San Diego, but is difficult to receive in Reno, Nevada, and other points east of the Sierra Nevada mountains due to its signal directionality. That said, its overall reach is greater than any FM signal in the Bay Area (according to radio-locator.com map referenced below).

KGO Helicopter.

Until December 5, 2011, KGO created nearly all of its own local programming, with very limited syndicated content. The majority of its programs were hosted by San Francisco Bay Area broadcasters. The daily schedule included many issues-oriented talk shows, with weekday hosts that included Gene Burns, Gil Gross, Ronn Owens, John Rothmann and lawyer Len Tillem. The station also carried a variety of specialty programs, particularly on weekends, with John Hamilton discussing travel and leisure, Gene Burns covering fine food and dining (on a show separate from his weekday program), Joanie Greggains hosting a health-and-fitness program, and Brent Walters, who teaches "Comparative Religions" at San Jose State University, hosting the early Sunday morning show, God Talk. In 2014, KGO brought in John Batchelor at midnight. News/talk weekend hosts now include Brian Copeland, "Karel" Charles Karel Bouley, and Pat Thurston.

The weekday morning news (from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.) is currently co-anchored by Jon Bristow and Jennifer Jones-Lee.[7] The afternoon news (from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.) currently features veteran reporter Chris Brecher and award-winning reporter/anchor Bret Burkhart.[8]

On Friday, December 2, 2011, new owner Cumulus Media announced that KGO was rebranding itself as "news and information," moving to an all-news format from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. (in addition to the existing morning-drive, noon-hour and afternoon-drive news blocks) on December 5.[9][10] This had resulted in the abrupt termination, on December 1, of most of the talk hosts (including Gene Burns, Gil Gross, John Rothmann, Ray Taliaferro, Len Tillem, and Dr. Bill Wattenburg). Ronn Owens's morning show, as well as weekend talk programming remained, although some of the weekend hosts (including Joanie Greggains, and Len Tillem) were also terminated on December 1, 2011. Bob Brinker's syndicated "Moneytalk" has been moved to KSFO, a politically conservative talk radio sister station which arguably better reflects Brinker's conservative politico-economic views ("Moneytalk" is a brand which is owned by ABC and its successor, not by Brinker; Brinker's own brand is "Marketimer", although Brinker has not and does not espouse market timing, as commonly understood, per se in any of his broadcasts or newsletters). Leo Laporte's weekend syndicated tech talk program was also a casualty of the format change and is no longer being broadcast on KGO.[11] Gil Gross, Len Tillem and Leo Laporte are being broadcast by KKSF.

The format change and termination of many popular talk show hosts sparked outrage among long-time listeners, many of whom called for sponsors to drop their advertising on the station.[12] Ratings declined substantially following the change, with competitors KCBS and KQED-FM continuing to lead the market, and in December 2014, KGO reintroduced talk programming on weekdays.[13] In December 2014, KGO added Chip Franklin to the noon to 3 pm lineup.[14] In January 2015, KGO announced they had hired Chicago/San Antonio radio personality Kevin "DreX" Buchar, best known for his successful morning show on Chicago's WKSC-FM, which ran for more than a decade, from 7PM to 10PM.[15] John Batchelor's syndicated show air overnights, returning KGO to the same level of news programming as before 2011.[16]

KGO's ident under an all-news format.

Both KGO and Dallas-based sister station KLIF shared similar visual News/Information identities after KLIF's parent Cumulus acquired Citadel until 2014, when Talk programming was reintroduced.

On March 31, 2016, at Noon, KGO dropped its previous programming and began stunting with recordings of speeches from influential figures and people talking about San Francisco, as well as songs about the city, while promoting "The Next Generation of KGO" to launch on April 5 (though with a break during the weekend for paid programming). At least 20 people, including the entire news staff, as well as some staffers from sister station KFOG, were laid off with the change.[17][18][19] Originally, long-time KGO host Ronn Owens announced that he would be moving to sister station KSFO in the afternoon slot beginning April 4. However, due to what was advertised as a 'listener reaction' against the move (in reality, Owens contested the move of his show off KGO as against the terms of his contract), Owens left with the station. KGO will also keep its News/Talk format, but will launch with a new live and local lineup, which includes Owens and Armstrong & Getty in mornings.[20]

KGO was the radio broadcast home for the San Francisco 49ers football team from 1987 to 2005. It has broadcast the college football games of the University of California, Berkeley, Golden Bears since 1974. Since 2013, it also broadcasts men's basketball games that start after 7 pm or are on weekends. Games that start before 7 pm on weekdays air on KSFO.[13]

San Francisco 49ers on KGO–AM 810

• Gene Burns (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 12/1/2011); died May 25, 2013[24]
• Gil Gross (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 12/1/2011)
• Ray Taliaferro (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 12/1/2011)
• Len Tillem (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 12/1/2011; now podcasting)
• Bernie Ward (program terminated due to federal investigation 12/31/2007)
• Monty Stickles (sports announcer, writer, and sports-talk host from 1973 to 1985)
• Jack Webb (announcer, producer, director, writer, and performer in the 1940s)[25]

• Gene Burns — Dining Around, with Gene Burns (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 12/1/2011)
• Michael Finney — Consumer Talk '[26] (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 3/31/2016)
• Joanie Greggains — Health Talk (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 12/1/2011)
• John Hamilton  — John Hamilton On-The-Go[26] (Hamilton retired March 8, 2020 after 49 years with KGO Radio)
• Maureen Langann — Entertainment/News Talk, Hangin' with Langan[26][27] (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 3/31/2016)
• David Lazarus  — News Talk (left in 2007).[28]
• Pat Thurston — News Talk[26] (program hired by owner, Citadel 3/31/2006)
• Brent Walters — God Talk[27]'[26] (program terminated by owner, Cumulus Media 3/31/2016)
• Bill Wattenburg — Open Line to the West Coast (program terminated 12/1/2011)

• Ken Bastida
• Ira Blue
• Barbara Boxer
• Joy Browne
• Chris Clarke
• Peter B. Collins
• Russ Coughlan[29]
• Les Crane — evening host (moved to New York)
• Jim Dunbar (served as program director, newscaster, talk show host)
• Jim Eason
• Art Finley
• Christine Craft[27]
• James Gabbert[27]
• Duane Garrett – died July 26, 1995; suicide; jumped from Golden Gate Bridge[30]
• Greg Jarrett
• Michael Krasny
• J. P. McCarthy
• Larry Mendte
• Lee Rodgers-went to KSFO-AM; died January 25, 2012, due to complications from heart surgery
• Michael Savage
• Barbara Simpson
• Joe Starkey (sports)
• Bernie Ward
• Jim Wieder – fill-in talk show host
• Pete Wilson; died at age 62 after suffering heart attack while having hip-replacement surgery

• Bob Brinker (Moneytalk; moved to KSFO after 12/5/11)
• Leo Laporte ("Tech Guy")
• Dr. Dean Edell, MD, hosted syndicated radio medical talk show; aired live 1979-December 10, 2010
• Paul Harvey, national news and commentary; died 2009

• Jon Bristow – morning anchor
• Bret Burkhart – anchor/reporter
• Nikki Medoro – anchor
• Mark Curtis – political and presidential campaign analyst
• Michael Finney[8]
• Peter Finch – anchor/reporter
• Lynn Jimenez – business reporter (on extended leave)
• Kristin Haynes – reporter
• Beth Houston – reporter
• Jennifer Jones-Lee – morning anchor
• Katy Leaver – reporter
• Scott Leteri -reporter
• Kevin "DreX" Buchar – evening reporter
• Kim McCallister – morning reporter/fill in anchor [31]
• Mark Nieto – morning traffic anchor
• Kevin "The Rat" Radich (sports)[8]
• Dennis Willis
• Rich Walcoff – sports reporter

• James Abbe – newscaster and host of James Abbe Observes (1946–47)[32]
• Robert J. Ackerly – newscaster (1938–39)[32]
• Rosie Allen – former afternoon anchor
• Ed Baxter – former morning and afternoon anchor
• Ken Beck – former reporter and news director
• Jan Black – former news anchor
• Stan Burford – former traffic anchor, reporter
• Leo Ciolino – former weatherman
• Jim Dunbar – former morning anchor
• Lin Durling – former airborne traffic reporter
• Greg Edmonds – East Bay Bureau Chief, reporter
• Mary Ellen Geist – former reporter, anchor
• Ken Hunt – former reporter, anchor
• Lou Hurley – former airborne traffic reporter
• Dick Leonard – news director/reporter
• Michaelyn Meyers – former airborne traffic reporter
• Melanie Morgan – former anchor/reporter
• R.J. Peruman – former reporter
• Bob Trebor – reporter
• Lloyd Lindsay Young – weather, terminated 12/1/2011
• Joe Vincent – former traffic anchor
• Jon Wailin: Super Commuter[8]
• Gretchen Wells – former reporter
• Ted Wygant – former morning anchor
• Bob Thorne – former traffic reporter
• Jay Peterson - former traffic reporter