KSCO

Infobox Radio station
name = KSCO


area = Santa Cruz, California
branding = "AM 1080 KSCO"
slogan = "Talk Back Radio for the Central Coast"
airdate = 1947
frequency = 1080 (kHz)
format = Talk
erp = 10,000 watts (day) 5,000 watts (night)
class =
owner = Zwerling family
website = http://www.ksco.com/
callsign_meaning =K Santa Cruz's Own

KSCO (1080 AM) is a 10,000 watt daytime, 5,000 watt nighttime [http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=CA&call=ksco&arn=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&list=0&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9 "(link to FCC license)"] , independent radio station located in Santa Cruz, California. It can be heard over much of Central California during the day. Since 1991, it has been owned by the Zwerling family. Both son Michael and mother Kay Zwerling take an active role in the station with the former regularly hosting the call-in show "Saturday Special" and the latter writing and voicing politically conservative commentaries on a variety of topics, especially politics and current events.

History

KSCO began life in 1947 in a distinctive art deco building (that was built for the station) and still broadcasts from there today. The founder was Vern Berlin. Years later he began KSCO-FM (99.1 FM), which had a beautiful music format.

In 1986, Vern Berlin sold both KSCO-FM and AM to Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting which owned numerous stations around the country. The AM station went to an automated satellite format of adult standards and on March 10, 1987, KSCO-FM changed call letters and its format to KLRS (Colors) with a first in the world New Age music format. The Zwerlings acquired the AM station in 1991, and later acquired another local AM station, KOMY.

On September 25, 2006, KSCO and KOMY received an envelope containing white powder. The envelope, which had no return address and contained no letter, was addressed to "AUNTIE KSCO" in handwriting described by Program Director Rosemary Chalmers as "chicken-scratch." Emergency response teams arrived on scene, and all KSCO personnel in the building were evacuated by a HazMat crew. By the evening of Tuesday, September 26th, an FBI lab had determined that the powder was inert, and KSCO/KOMY's broadcast studios were deemed safe. Regular broadcasting resumed at 8:00 PST that evening. None of the four people who came in contact with the envelope have experienced symptoms of any illness.

KSCO was put up for sale on September 21, 2007.Fact|date=October 2007

Programming

Recently, the station programming is a mix of local, syndicated and brokered programming (meaning a person can purchase an available hour of time and produce their own show). A host can either pay for the hour out of his or her own pocket or find local businesses to sponsor the show in exchange for advertising.

With the retirement of radio host Phil Hendrie, the station has returned to a primarily locally produced format. In the early-to-mid 1990s, KSCO's local programs were hosted by Daryl Alan Gault, Rob Roberts, Brian Maloney and others. Current local hosts include Vernon Bohr (A.K.A. Vernon Vernon Vernon), Nick Bulaich, Cyrill Vatomsky, Bill Graff, and Richard Quigley, as well as Rosemary Chalmers (host of KSCO's morning commute show, Good Morning Monterey Bay, with engineer & Co-host Rick O'Shea, Doug Winfrey with traffic & sports, & Susan Simon with local news. The station also carries a mix of syndicated programs and hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Alan Colmes and "Coast to Coast AM".

External links

* [http://ksco.com/dspNR.cfm?nrid=11186 KSCO For Sale]
* [http://www.ksco.com KSCO 1080 AM Website]
* [http://www.ksco.com/ksco.m3u Listen to KSCO Online]
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