KPEN,
under the ownership of James Gabbert, changed its call letters to KIOI
("K-101") in December 1968 to reflect its position at 101.3 MHz on the
FM dial; Mr. Gabbert, along with Gary Gielow and John Wickett, had
founded the station in 1957.
K-101 moved to new studios and offices at 700 Montgomery
Street in San Francisco early in 1973, in a pre-1906 earthquake building
once occupied by the old Columbia Savings Bank. (The building later
housed the law offices of Mayor Joe Alioto and his daughter, Angela
Alioto.)
The K-101 Building at 700
Montgomery Street (2002 Photo)
Gabbert's company, Pacific FM, sold KIOI to San
Francisco Broadcasters in October 1980 for $12-million, the record price
for an FM station at that time. In August 1983, KIOI was sold again —
this time for $12.4-million — to Bay Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Price
Communications.
On October 1, 1987, KIOI was sold for $120-million,
along with three other stations in the Price Communications stable, to
Fairmont Communications. Fairmont filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early
in 1993, and K-101 became the property of Evergreen Media in a
$45-million deal in April 1994. (Evergreen also owned KMEL in San
Francisco at that time.)
KIOI moved out of the fabled 700 Montgomery Street
facility in 1996, relocating to the fourth floor of 240 Townsend Street
in the city's South of Market district. In a series of corporate
mergers, KIOI owner Evergreen Media was amalgamated into Chancellor
Media (1997), then AMFM, Inc. (1999) and Clear Channel Communications
(2000).
In November 2000, the station's K-101's imaging was
replaced with new "Star 101.3 FM" branding.
It's 1963 on the final broadcast by Gary
Taylor from the K-101 Time Machine, recorded for posterity
in the Ultimate Radio Bootleg LP series (Volume VI). Note
the use of a classic Drake/Johnny Mann "San Francisco
Weather" jingle, lifted from KFRC, about four minutes into
the recording.
IN STEREO! Chris
Edwards, formerly of 1260/KYA,
hosts the K-101 Sunday Night Solid Gold Time Machine,
assisted by Bouncin' Bev ("The Wild Wahini") and playing
plenty of instant requests. Listen for several mentions of
K-101's morning man, Don Gerrard; a reference to the
station's then-owner during a top-of-hour ID ("A service of
Price Communications"); and big bunches of kitbashed Chris
Edwards jingles from KYA ... with the "KYA" call letters
creatively excised. Chris later worked on air at KSFO/KYA-FM
(photo here)
and segued into a successful career as a sales executive
with Clear Channel and CBS Radio in San Francisco.
A simulcast of K-101 programming on co-owned
KNEW.
— Exhibit includes text and audio.
— Audio presentation only.
— Fair-to-poor audio quality.
— Edited (scoped) aircheck.
MDA — Courtesy of Michael
D'Augelli.
MS — Courtesy of
Mike Schweizer.
RS — Courtesy of
Robin Solis.
Real Player (free
download) is required to play these exhibits.
THE BAY AREA RADIO MUSEUM IS A CALIFORNIA 501(C)(3) NON-PROFIT
CORPORATION
DEDICATED TO PRESERVING AND HONORING THE HISTORY OF
RADIO BROADCASTING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
IN AFFILIATION WITH THE
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RADIO SOCIETY
KPEN,
under the ownership of James Gabbert, changed its call letters to KIOI
("K-101") in December 1968 to reflect its position at 101.3 MHz on the
FM dial; Mr. Gabbert, along with Gary Gielow and John Wickett, had
founded the station in 1957.
— Exhibit includes text and audio.
— Fair-to-poor audio quality.
![[ Return To The Bay Area Radio Museum ]](http://www.bayarearadio.org/logos/barhof_logo_110px.gif){kind=logo}
