San Francisco's radio station KYA has a long and varied history, having had 14 owners since its inception nearly 100 years ago. KYA was started by Seattle's Vincent I. Kraft, and began broadcasting in 1926. In 1928 it was purchased by Seattle's American Broadcasting Company, but after that company's bankrupcy the ownership passed to NBC in 1930. In 1934, it became part of the Hearst Corporation, and operated as an adjunct of the San Francisco Examiner until 1942. A series of short-term owners followed until its sale to Avco Broadcasting in 1966. KYA became one of the Bay Area's first Top 40 rock'n'roll stations in 1959, and continued the format for 20 years, battling it out with top-rated KFRC. KYA was purchased by Bonneville International Corp. in 1983 and became KOIT. Finally, in 2007, it became KSFB, a Catholic-oriented station owned by Immaculate Heart Radio.
The Beginnings of KYA:
Vincent I. Kraft was a pioneer Seattle broadcaster who operated three stations - KJR Seattle, KEX Portland, and KGA Spokane. His fourth station, KYA in San Francisco, signed on the air December 18, 1926. Kraft’s partner was Frederick C. Clift, owner of the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, and so the station was installed at the hotel. In 1927, the company joined forces with the West Coast Theatres, and KYA moved into new studios in the basement of the Loew's Warfield Theater Building. KYA adopted the slogan “West Coast Theatres Studio”. A hookup was established with KPLA in Los Angeles and programs were exchanged between the two stations.
In 1928, financially overextended and more interested in building stations than operating them, Vincent Kraft sold his interests in his four radio stations to Adolph F. Linden, a Seattle bank president. Under Adolph direction, expansion occurred at a fast pace. He signed an agreement with CBS to distribute their programs in the West through a new network called the American Broadcasting Company. Linden also fed his own programs on the Western hookup, originating in either Seattle or San Francisco.
KYA had now become a network programming center. It originated ABC network programs on alternate nights, with KJR in Seattle having the responsibility for the remaining nights. Occasionally, KYA also originated programs that were fed east to the entire Columbia chain.
Unfortunately, the entire operation came crashing down in the 1929 stock market crash, and Linden went to prison for embezzling bank funds for his radio operations. NBC purchased KYA out of bankruptcy and operated it as its third Bay Area station until 1934.
On February 1, 1934, NBC sold KYA to Hearst Enterprises, owned by San Francisco Examiner publisher William Randolph Hearst. KYA’s studios moved into Hearst Building at Third and Market Streets in 1934. The new studio and master control room were compact but functional. During the Hearst years, KYA employed a staff of fifty, including a full staff orchestra. Fortunately for us, KYA's association with the Examiner meant that photographers were always on call to record the day's entertainment for publication in the newspaper. Here are some of the images from the Examiner's files (UC Berkeley digital library)
On April 13, 1936, the Hearst organization acquired a parcel of land on Candlestick Hill in the southeast corner of the city, and it filed for approval to construct a 450 foot self supporting tower. A daytime power of 5 kW was requested for the new site, reduced to 1 kW at night. A new RCA 5C transmitter was ordered and construction was begun on an imposing concrete art deco structure. The Bethlehem Steel Company provided the tower. After numerous construction delays caused by inclement weather, operations from the new site began on June 1, 1937. Reports of vastly improved coverage quickly poured in from around the region.
In 1942, Hearst Radio sold KYA for $50,000 to a group of Stanford professors and instructors doing business as "Palo Alto Radio Station, Inc." This began a turbulent period in the history of KYA -- over a period of almost twenty years, KYA was operated by no less than eight different owners!
