KITS-FM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| KITS-FM | |
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| City of license | San Francisco, California |
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| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area/Oakland/San Jose |
| Branding | Live 105; formerly Hot Hits KITS |
| Slogan | The One and Only Live 105 |
| First air date | 1983 as CHR/Pop, becomes a modern rock station in 1986 |
| Frequency | 105.3 MHz |
| Format | Alternative Metal/Modern Rock |
| ERP | 15,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Owner | CBS Radio |
| Website | www.live105.com |
KITS-FM ("Live 105") is a San Francisco, California, USA-based radio station broadcasting at 105.3 MHz. The station is owned by CBS Radio and programs a modern rock format. The station also broadcasts on High Definition channel L2, locally on Comcast cable channel 986, and is streaming online using Radiomat.
Contents |
[edit] History
Hot Hits
The station's original call letters were KBRG. The KITS call letters arrived in February 1983 when the station adopted radio consultant Mike Joseph's Hot Hits Top-40 music format. Seven air personalities were recruited during a nationwide search from stations such as XTRA-AM Tijuana, Mexico, Q104 Kansas City, 92x Columbus, Ohio, and WCAU-FM Philadelphia. The transplanted jocks underwent a "broadcasting bootcamp" for two weeks prior to launching the new Hot Hits format. Radio personality Doug Ritter(Doug Ritterling) was the first Disc Jockey on the air(at 9am on February 27, 1984), transitioning KBRG-FM from its Spanish format to Hot Hits. The station was referred to as "Hot Hits KITS" and followed the formula of a very short playlist with heavy repetition and fast-talking air personalities. The original DJ lineup on 105 KITS consisted of: Jeff Hunter(Program Director) 6-9am, Doug Ritter 9am-12noon, Gary Robbins 12noon-3pm, Todd Parker 3-7pm, Richard Sands 7pm-12midnight, Rick Neal(George Fryer)12mid-6am, Mark Van Gelder was 105 KITS first Production Director, Annette Parks (daughter of pioneer broadcaster and Miss America Pageant Host, Bert Parks) was the station's News Director, and Michele Meisner(formerly of San Francisco's Fantasy Studios) was Music Director.
A modest ratings success, KITS fought off competition from the legendary AM CHR station, KFRC (which changed format to live game shows in 1984), KMEL-FM, which had switched from album-oriented rock to CHR in 1984. 105 KITS was, for a while, the darling of the Jet Set; daily visits were common from movie celebrities such as Bette Midler, Tom Cruise, Pat Morita, George Takei, Anthony Perkins and others. The celebs didn't usually make it on the air, but they toured the studios in San Francisco's Merchandise Mart just to see what the industry buzz was all about.
Modern Rock
Modern rock station KQAK changed formats in 1985, and fans of the station were eager for another station to pick up the format. During this time, on-air personality Steve Masters began experimenting with modern rock on his evening show and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Over time, KITS dropped the "Hot Hits" approach and remained a mainstream CHR station, but began a gradual musical shift, incorporating modern rock songs into their Top 40 playlist. By October 1986, KITS had completely dropped the pop artists from the playlist and became a pure modern rock station. The station's new moniker became "Live 105" under program director Richard Sands and music director Steve Masters. The music ranged from mainstream alternative rock, imports, dance music, and even classic songs from pioneering artists such as Lou Reed, David Bowie and T-Rex. Live 105 became a major influence on the format, and sole source of radio exposure for such artists in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The airstaff lineup remained relatively stable from 1986 through 1997, and included Masters, Big Rick Stuart, Mark Hamilton, Roland West, and Alex Bennett and Laurie Thompson in the morning. Bennett was let go from the station briefly in 1989 and replaced by Perry Stone, as Live 105 attempted a 'more music' approach in the morning. This proved to be a failure, and Bennett, who briefly went to WIOD in Miami, Florida, was brought back. Hamilton left in 1994 to accept the program director job at KNRK in Portland, Oregon. Steve Masters departed soon after to take a Promotion job at MCA's new alternative label, WAY COOL. Roland West then moved from night to midday's and took over the music director position, eventually becoming the Assistant Program director. Aaron Axelsen, then assistant music director, become the music director and host of specialty programs "Sound Check" and "Subsonic".
The modern rock format changed nationwide by the 1990s, moving away from the dance-heavy European sound to a harder direction with artists like Nirvana and Soundgarden, and Live 105 began incorporating it into their sound. After numerous years of success, ratings for Live 105 began to dip during the late 90's, as Infinity Broadcasting's KOME in San Jose switched to a harder modern rock sound. KOME had great success in the ratings and managed to even beat Live 105 with the Howard Stern morning show and its guitar-driven music format, as opposed to the more British, euro-based music Live 105 had carved a niche with. On March 11, 1997, owner Entercom sold the station to Infinity Broadcasting (later CBS Radio). After the sale to Infinity, on June 1, 1998, the big shakeup occurred. Stern's morning show, KOME's management and programming staff, and a few on-air personalities were brought up from San Jose to take over Live 105. KOME was eventually sold to Jacor, which moved KUFX to the 98.5 frequency and the KOME call letters were "parked" on an AM station in Fort Worth, TX. Program director Richard Sands, assistant program director/midday host Roland West, and the relatively new morning team of Johnny Steele & Laurie Thompson were all dismissed. KOME's program director, Jay Taylor, assumed programming duties at the new Live 105, and Ally Storm and No-Name moved into middays and nights, respectively. Big Rick Stuart continued in afternoons until being let go in 2000, severing the last remaining thread to the original incarnation of Live 105, though Steve Masters returned briefly to host a midday specialty show.
By the end of 2001, Live 105 had drastically lost listeners due to the generally unpopular music assortment that was being played, which included heavier amounts of hip hop and heavy metal. Toward the middle of 2002, the station hired Sean Demery as Program Director In hopes of bringing back listeners and refocused on core alternative rock artists, more popular hits, and established artists such as Social Distortion, The Pixies, and Pearl Jam. They have since begun to play more popular/indie artists than the artists which appealed to the previous "core alternative rock" audience.
Howard Stern ended his syndicated morning show in December 2005, and departed for Sirius Satellite Radio. In response, CBS Radio flipped the majority of its Alternative-formatted radio stations to an all-talk format known as Free FM . Live 105 was allowed to keep its music format, and thus, decided to go in a music-oriented direction for its subsequent morning show hosted by Woody, Tony, and Ravey, which made its debut on January 3, 2006.
[edit] Shows
[edit] Present
- Woody, Tony, and Ravey (formerly the Morning Music Co-op) on weekdays from 6:00 to 10 A.M. - Hipster-ironic morning show hosted by Jeff "Woody" Fife, Tony Mott, and Renae Ravey. Greg Gory produces.
- Nineties at Noon: An hour of alternative music from the 1990s.
- Resurrection Sunday, Sundays from 7 A.M. to Noon - Five hours of classic songs from the station's history (see Flashback Lunch and Rewind at Noon below)
- Loveline, 10 P.M. Sundays through Thursdays
- Soundcheck, Sunday nights at 7-10 P.M. Hosted by music director Aaron Axelsen, the program showcases new music, local bands, imports, and indie/unsigned bands.
[edit] Past
- Local Lounge at 8- featured 1/2 hour of local music from the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursdays from 8-8:30 PM.
- Listener Livespace, weeknights at midnight- Hosted by listeners, who play whatever music they want.
- Absolutely Live, Sunday morning at 9A.M. Hosted by Miles the Intern this is a one hour live concert program featured some of Live 105's biggest bands.
- The Activists Top 5@5, weekdays- The most requested songs of the day. Now called The Activists Top 5@9
- Exposed, weekdays at noon. This program spotlighted music from a certain year in the 1980s and 1990s or a theme. Replaced by Nineties at Noon when Ally Storm left Live 105 in May 2006.
- The Modern Rock Doc, a health issues show from the mid-1990s airing late at night.
- Untitled, Friday nights 8 P.M.-midnight with DJ Madden, Miles the Intern, and Party Ben. The show was later cancelled after six shows on February 17, 2006.
- Sixx Mixx: Party Ben's half-hour program aired on Fridays at 6 p.m. from June 2003 - December 2005. It featured mash-ups and new music mixed in a 2manydjs-style fast-paced format. Guest DJs included DJ Zebra, Go Home Productions, Adam Freeland, Lionel Vinyl and McSleazy.
- Flashback Lunch: show in the mid-1990s. Nostalgic tracks that were played in the 1980s. Show cancelled in 1997.
- Rewind at Noon: Similar to Flashback Lunch, it included tracks in the 1990s, aired from 2001-2005
- Friday Night Game Show: A two-hour music trivia game show, it aired Friday nights 8-10 from Summer 2003 through September 2004. It featured Bay Area contestants live in studio. Its first host, Jake, left the station after the first two months of shows. DJ Madden took over in his place until the end of its 10 month run. The show also featured the ribald antics of announcer Ben Johnson (aka Party Ben).
- Subsonic: electronic and techno music. Was broadcast on Saturday nights until the end of 2005. Its first host, Aaron Axelsen, began the show in the late 90s. After the station was taken over by KOME management, the show was put on hiatus. It has aired in varying timeslots continuously since 1999. In 2005, Axelsen left the show as permanent host, and producer Disco Shawn took over. The show last aired on December 18, 2005.
- Reggae Sound System: Was aired in Sunday afternoons featuring reggae and ska music. Cancelled in 1997.
- Hibernia Beach LIVE: a talk show featuring gay and lesbian issues
- The Green Hour: environmental talk on Sunday mornings. Cancelled in 1997
- Local Lounge: Aired on Wednesday nights the late 1990s. Featured local bands around in the Bay Area who are not signed in a major label.
- Alex Bennett Show: first morning talk show host when KITS got started. Currently, he is on Sirius Left.
- Johnny Steele Show: Replaced Bennet in 1996 when Live 105 was brought by CBS Radio.
- Howard Stern: Live 105 broadcasted this morning show when it merged with KOME
- All Request Saturday night, Saturday nights from 7pm - midnight. As the title says, the songs were all requests called into the station that evening.
- Sunday Morning Flashback Brunch. Featured tracks from the '80's and early '90's.
- Modern Rock Report A daily music news feature. Hosted by Audio Vidya for many years, then Renee Rotten.
[edit] Concerts
Live 105 hosts two major concerts every year. BFD, (Big Fucking Day) usually takes place on the second Friday of June at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. (In 2006, it was held on Saturday, June 10.) This festival-style concert runs all day with up and coming bands performing on the festival stage during the day, and the more established bands on the main stage at night. The first BFD concert took place in June 1994 with artists such as Beck, Green Day, and the Pretenders. It has since hosted bands which went on to platinum-album status such as System of a Down, the Foo Fighters, and Beastie Boys as well as classic alternative bands such as Duran Duran and the Cure. In 2006, bands who performed were A.F.I., Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Echo and the Bunnymen, H.I.M., Every Move a Picture, Anti-Flag, Yellowcard, Thursday, Panic! at the Disco, The Sounds, OK Go, She Wants Revenge, The Hush Sound, Hard Fi, Wolfmother, and DJ Mike Relm. In 2007, the festival will be held on Saturday, June 9th. A full line-up has not been announced, but Bloc Party is set to perform.
The other major concert is Not So Silent Night, which rolls around in early December at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in downtown San Francisco, which has featured such bands as Muse, Blink 182, Franz Ferdinand, The White Stripes, The Killers, Modest Mouse, Green Day, and Death Cab for Cutie.
[edit] External links
- Official Live 105 website
- Scans of a pamphlet listing the songs from a special "countdown" weekend, 1988
- Listener Network
- An Opinion on Live 105's slogan
- Big Rick Stuart's website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KITS
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