KMKY (AM)

KMKY (1310 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to Oakland, California that broadcasts with 5,000 watts. It calls itself "Radio Punjab" and airs programming in Hindi and Punjabi aimed at the San Francisco Bay Area's South Asian community. It is owned by Charanjit Batth of Akal Broadcasting Corporation. Its transmitter is located in Oakland near the toll plaza for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

KMKY
CityOakland, California
Broadcast areaSan Francisco Bay Area
Frequency1310 kHz
Programming
FormatSouth Asian
Ownership
OwnerCharanjit Batth
(Akal Broadcasting Corporation)
History
First air date1922
Former call signsKDIA, KFYI
Call sign meaningK MicKeY Mouse (from the former Radio Disney format)
Technical information
Facility ID96
ClassB
Power5,000 Watts unlimited
Transmitter coordinates37°49′27″N 122°19′10″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websiteradiomirchi1310.com

The 1310 AM frequency from 1959 to 1997 was the home of Urban adult contemporary and Gospel music KDIA. It later served as the San Francisco home of Radio Disney from 1997 to 2015, using the call sign KMKY, the last three letters standing for the Disney character Mickey Mouse.

History
Logo used by KMKY from 2010 until 2013.

KMKY is the second-oldest surviving radio station in the Bay Area. It began as KLS on March 10, 1922 on 1200 kHz. It moved to 1220 kHz in 1927 then 1440 kHz in 1928. It moved to 1280 kHz in 1937 then 1310 kHz in 1941 as a result of the NARBA agreement. In 1945, when the station was owned by the Warner Brothers of Oakland, no relation to the movie studio,[1] it changed its call letters to KWBR and changed its format to focus on an African-American audience. In 1959, it was bought by the owners of Memphis radio station WDIA, and the call letters were changed to KDIA. During the 1960s through the 1980s, the station was the premier soul and funk station in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sly Stone was a DJ at the station before launching Sly and the Family Stone.

In December 1984, the station was sold to Adam Clayton Powell III, who turned the station into KFYI, with an all-news format backed by a 32-member news team. After Powell failed to make payroll for KFYI — having lost a reported $4-million in funding invested by Aetna Insurance in less than six months on the air — the station went silent on April 9, 1985. It returned to air in July, however, having reclaimed its legacy KDIA call letters, while resuming its Urban Music format.

In the early 1990s, KDIA was co-owned by then mayor of Oakland, California, Elihu Harris, with then California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. In 1992, the late Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey returned to the Bay Area to work as public affairs director and newscaster on KDIA. Bailey later became the editor of the Oakland Post who was murdered on the streets of downtown Oakland.[2] KDIA changed from gospel music to Radio Disney in mid-December 1997 when the station was sold to The Walt Disney Company.[3]

On August 13, 2014, Disney put KMKY and 22 other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[4][5][6]

On June 24, 2015, RD San Francisco Assets filed an application to sell KMKY to Radio Mirchi, for $600,000.[7] The sale was completed on October 6, 2015.[8] The current Radio Disney programming for the region has since moved to the KLLC HD3 digital subchannel.

References
  1. "Warner Bros.' KWBR-FM (97.3 mc) Is Dedicated" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 22, 1947. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  2. Josh Richman and Douglas Fischer (2007-08-03). "Bailey's career in news spanned globe for decades". Oakland Tribune.
  3. Evenson, Laura (December 24, 1997). "Disney Radio Station Aims at Young Listeners". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  4. Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  5. Venta, Lance (August 13, 2014). "Radio Disney To Sell All But One Station". Radio Insight. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  6. "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  7. "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. June 24, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  8. Consummation Notice - FCC


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