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Postby radiofan » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:15 pm

San Francisco?s Newest Radio Station, KTRB-AM 860, Hits the Airwaves with 50,000 Watts of Power

- 73-Year-Old Heritage Radio Station Moves from Modesto to San Francisco -

- Station Begins Final Phase of Testing at Alameda County Transmitter Site

Thursday, February 1, 2007 -

- On-Air Testing Features a Tribute to?The San Francisco Sound? -

San Francisco, California (January 31, 2007) - - Something old is new again, as one of Northern California?s pioneer radio stations, KTRB-AM 860, makes its historic Bay Area debut by bringing ?The San Francisco Sound? back to the nation?s fourth-largest radio market beginning this Thursday, February 1, 2007.

KTRB-AM 860 will sign-on at midnight on February 1, and beginning at 6:00 a.m. that day, the station will play continuous music reprising the late 60s and early 70s heyday of ?The San Francisco Sound.?

?The San Francisco Sound? refers to rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based artists and groups from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. KTRB-AM 860 will showcase seminal Bay Area bands such as The Beau Brummels, The Syndicate of Sound, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother & The Holding Company, as well as Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Journey.

KTRB-AM 860 Vice President & General Manager Jim P. Pappas said, ?Our sign-on in the Bay Area is the culmination of three decades of dreaming, planning, and hard work by the best and brightest from inside and outside our company. KTRB-AM 860 represents the genesis of our company?s more than 50-year California-based broadcast tradition. It was KTRB that inspired the three Pappas Brothers to become broadcasters. We are thrilled to own and operate a 50,000 Watt blowtorch that will serve the millions of residents in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and the entire Bay Area, just as KTRB-AM 860 has served generations of Californians since its founding in 1933.?

KTRB-AM 860?s permanent format will commence March 1, 2007. While plans have not been disclosed, Pappas said, ?KTRB will bring a fresh sound to the Bay Area to add diversity to the choices available to the public. KTRB will entertain and inform with fresh, lively content, the likes of which the public does not now have available.?


About KTRB

KTRB-AM 860 is one of the oldest radio stations on the West Coast, having served the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding areas since the early days of the medium. Until recently, the station was licensed to Modesto, California. In 2003, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the relocation of KTRB's transmitter site to the Bay Area. On February 1, the station will return to the air licensed to San Francisco and serving the entire San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose radio market. Broadcasting on a Canadian Clear Channel frequency with 50,000 Watts of power day and night - the highest power allowed in the United States - KTRB has been engineered to cover a huge geographic area. San Francisco is the fourth-ranked radio market in the United States and the number-one AM radio market in the nation.

KTRB?s storied history began in 1933, when original owners T.R. McTammany and Bill Bates (the ?TR? and ?B? in KTRB) established the station as the first commercial broadcast outlet in Modesto. Through the years, KTRB has served as the launch pad for the careers of Country music notables such as The Maddox Brothers and Rose, and Chester Smith, and the station was the dominant radio voice in the San Joaquin Valley for decades. In 1973, brothers Pete, Mike, and Harry Pappas led a group of investors in purchasing KTRB from the Bates estate, and the station has remained under Pappas family ownership ever since.

KTRB?s studios are located at 1700 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, overlooking The Embarcadero. KTRB is owned by Pappas Radio of California, an affiliated company of Pappas Telecasting Companies, the largest privately-held, commercial television broadcaster in the United States.
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Postby tuned » Fri Feb 02, 2007 12:01 am

Some good news in the radio biz! I hope they stream online.
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Postby jon » Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:49 pm

Unfortunately, chance of hearing them in Western Canada would appear to be slight, as their transmitter is extremely East of SF, almost to Interstate 5, and their signal is basically all to the West, both day and night.

This makes sense as it (860KHz) is a Canadian clear channel. I always wondered why there were so many of the 40 watt CBC repeaters (LPRTs) on 860 when I DX'ed in the '60s. And now I figured out the answer -- a strong night-time signal from a fairly distant 50KW station could easily compromise the local coverage of a 40 watt transmitter. Sound far fetched? Ohio's WGAR-1220 used to be dominant at night in parts of St. Catharines, Ontario, even though they had a local station on the same frequency.
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Postby skyvalleyradio » Fri Feb 02, 2007 5:59 pm

jonedmonton wrote:Unfortunately, chance of hearing them in Western Canada would appear to be slight, as their transmitter is extremely East of SF, almost to Interstate 5, and their signal is basically all to the West, both day and night.

This makes sense as it (860KHz) is a Canadian clear channel.  I always wondered why there were so many of the 40 watt CBC repeaters (LPRTs) on 860 when I DX'ed in the '60s. 

that IS too bad as the temp. format at KTRB sounds pretty appealing in the short-term as I imagine they'll have a somewhat small library of all-SF rock. Here in south-west BC, CFPR "CBC R 1" from Prince Rupert and XEMO Tijuana are often the dominant night-time signals on 860. KPAM from Portland can often be heard during the daylight hours on 860 & occasionally in the mud at night under CFPR & XEMO
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Postby jon » Fri Feb 02, 2007 7:49 pm

fccinfo.com shows a December Application by KTRB to have a daytime pattern that lets some signal go in other directions, besides West, so there might be some hope of hearing them in Western Canada around sunset or sunrise.

What confuses me is Oregon's KPAM. One source lists them as 50KW directional daytimes, the other non-directional. If they are pumping much signal northward, that would mean you'd need KPAM on night pattern and KTRB on day pattern, if you want much hope of hearing KTRB.
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Postby skyvalleyradio » Fri Feb 02, 2007 8:52 pm

jonedmonton wrote: What confuses me is Oregon's KPAM. One source lists them as 50KW directional daytimes, the other non-directional. If they are pumping much signal northward, that would mean you'd need KPAM on night pattern and KTRB on day pattern, if you want much hope of hearing KTRB.

Jon - I looked up KPAM on recnet.com and they currently show them at 50 kW non-directional daytime using 1 tower. Their night-time signal is 5 kW radiated through 3 towers. I had trouble determining the bi-drectional pattern direction from the supplemental Google map, but the 3 towers look like they radiate WNW and ENE
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