- KFBK
Radio station
name = KFBK
area =Sacramento, California
branding = "NewsTalk 1530"
airdate =February 2 ,1922
frequency = 1530kHz | a clear channel frequency shared by WCKY
sister_stations =KGBY ,KHYL ,KSTE
format =News /Talk
power = 50,000watt s
class = A
website = http://www.kfbk.com
owner =Clear Channel Communications
licensee = AMFM Broadcast Licenses, LLCKFBK (1530 AM, "NewsTalk 1530") is a
radio station inSacramento, California broadcasting on afrequency of 1530kHz . KFBK is a class Aclear channel station, formerly designated as a class "I-B" station, sharing 1530 with WCKY inCincinnati, Ohio . It is owned byClear Channel Communications .History
KFBK's history reaches back to station KVQ (first license issued: February 2, 1922), which shut down later that year after listener complaints about interference. KVQ's facilities were sold to the Kimball-Upson Music Store and the Sacramento Union newspaper. [cite web |url= http://www.playlistresearch.com/sacramentoradio.htm |title= Sacramento Radio History ]
Later, Kimball-Upson sold out to the
The McClatchy Company , a local, family owned company which not only owned theSacramento Bee newspaper, but other media outlets in the California Central Valley.At one time, Sacramento market TV station
KOVR 13 was also owned by McClatchy, along with newspapers and broadcast outlets throughout Central California. Because of its signal strength and location KFBK was for many decades the chief method by which Central Valley farmers obtained weather, prices and other vital farming information.Recent years
KFBK is where syndicated talk radio host
Rush Limbaugh first rose to prominence as a local midday host. [The Rush Limbaugh Show ] Limbaugh's national program still airs on KFBK in the same time slot where he hosted locally.Limbaugh's local replacement after leaving KFBK, Tom Sullivan has also taken his program into national syndication, after taking an anchor position at the new cable TV business channel
Fox Business Network . Like Limbaugh, Sullivan's national show (syndicated viaFox News Radio ) [ [http://www.foxnews.com/radio/tomsullivan/ Tom Sullivan Show page (Fox News Radio)] ] , continues to air on KFBK in its former local time slot.Criticism
Clear Channel management has made many unpopular decisions (such as the layoff of 18-year
KGBY veteranDana Hess [cite web |url= http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/ticket/archives/005093.html |title= 21Q (sac ticket), "Another radio layoff" ] ) based on low market share and decreasing revenue [cite web |url= http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,59059.msg414240.html |title= Radio-Boards, "Dana Hess out at Y92!" ] . Hess has since been rehired, albeit in a different on-air capacity.Like many other corporately-owned radio stations, KFBK - and Clear Channel Radio in general - have come under fire from the public and their own employees for what can be seen as overly profit-driven maneuvers including:
*The redistribution of KFBK resources to sister stations in the market as part of a change in market strategy similar to one used by Entercom at Boston's WRKO AM where the entire (12 person) award-winning news division was eliminated in early 2007.
*KFBK has given up its two news/traffic aircraft
*KFBK lost a roster of long time and experienced journalists.
*KFBK has stepped up the practice of brokering time and selling on-air "interviews"
*Traffic reporting and other services have been spun off into separate, Clear Channel owned vendors which provide services to KFBK and other stations in the market (including those not owned by or affiliated with Clear Channel)Prominent hosts and programs
*"
The Rush Limbaugh Show " (syndicated)
*Tom Sullivan (now syndicated viaFox News Radio )
*Bruce Maiman (local)
*"Coast to Coast AM " (syndicated)References
External links
* [http://www.kfbk.com KFBK official website]
* [http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/ccs/kfbk.htm KFBK history at The Broadcast Archive]
*AMQ|KFBK
*AML|KFBK
*AMARB|KFBK
* [http://a278.l1978045431.c19780.g.lm.akamaistream.net/D/278/19780/v0001/reflector:45431/.wma Live web broadcast] (only available in.wma format)
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