KTRB
| City of license | San Francisco, California |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, California |
| Branding | ESPN Deportes 860 |
| Frequency | 860 (kHz) |
| First air date | 1934 in Modesto, California 2007 in San Francisco, California |
| Format | Spanish Sports |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 66246 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (day) Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (night) |
| Callsign meaning | founding owners T. R. McTammany and Bill Bates[1] Truth Radio for the Bay (previous format) |
| Affiliations | ESPN Deportes Radio |
| Owner | Comerica Bank (KTRB Trust) |
| Website | espndeportesradio.com |
KTRB (860 AM) ESPN Deportes 860 is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California. The station began in Modesto, California and was moved north to serve the San Francisco Bay Area in 2007. The station has a Spanish sports-talk format since June 27, 2011.
Contents
History
KTRB signed on in 1934, broadcasting to the Modesto, California, area until June 19, 2006. Pappas obtained permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move to San Francisco, California though this move meant the signal would no longer be heard in Modesto. (The station's owner, Pappas Telecasting, established KMPH at AM 840 in Modesto to replace the moved station.) During transmission testing in the Bay Area KTRB aired a classic rock music format on February 1, 2007[citation needed]. In order to serve the Bay Area with a usable signal, but protect other stations on the frequency, a new transmitter site was constructed in Sunol which pointed its signal west over the Bay Area. This site is situated directly south of Livermore.
As a hot talk station
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that KTRB would debut a hot talk format on March 15, 2007, featuring syndicated personalities Mancow Muller and John London, who once aired on San Francisco stations,[2] as well as other syndicated hosts such as Glenn Beck. A similar article appeared a few days later in the San Jose Mercury News.[3]
As a sports talk station
In the fall of 2008, KTRB became the radio home of Stanford University football and Men's basketball [4] On January 25, 2010, the station announced that conservative talker Michael Savage would take over the afternoon slot, four months after being let go by KNEW (910 AM).[5] That April, a replay of Savage's show also began airing in morning drive, owing to his live show being frequently preempted due to live coverage of Athletics games.
Receivership by Comerica Bank
Following the demise of KMPH on August 31, 2010 due to lack of revenue, KTRB, on September 10, 2010, was taken over by Comerica Bank through receivership of Susan L. Uecker. The station then dismissed their entire staff except for the chief engineer[6] and ceased to carry Michael Savage, but will continue in operation with its sports format for the time being.[7] Athletics radio productions, including pregame and postgame shows, were taken over by the team itself; after the Athletics' attempt to purchase the station collapsed, the broadcasts were moved to KBWF (95.7 FM, now KGMZ) for the 2011 season (with the Bay Bridge Series exhibition games airing on KFRC (1550 AM, now KZDG).[8]
As the station is in receivership, and as no capital is available to repair the failed former directional day/night site, and the new non-directional day site is the only operational site, the receiver has petitioned countless times for FCC permission to operate the station non-directionally during all hours, with 50,000 watts days, but with 12,500 watts nights, subject to objections from co-channel stations, several of which have already been received.
Under the terms of the "STA", KTRB is expected and required to reduce night power further, in order to mitigate interference.
The combined directional day/night site was never particularly effective either day or night, and it is believed that the station is seeking a replacement site, one which has utility power.
There are few stations whose existing towers have the requisite geometry for operation on 860 kHz, but the 1050 kHz site, which is not too far from the existing 1100 kHz full-time/860 kHz daytime site, may be one of these.
Switch to ESPN Deportes
On Friday, June 24, 2011, KTRB was LMA'd by Deportes Media and their format changed to Spanish Sports via ESPN Deportes Radio.
References
- ↑ [1] The Story of Bill Bates and KTRB. modestoradiomuseum.org
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Stanford Press Release"
- ↑ http://www.ktrb860.com/ktrbonair/1549.html
- ↑ http://www.insideradio.com//Article.asp?id=1949484&spid=32061
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
