KYLD
| File:KYLD-FM.png | |
| Broadcast area | San Francisco Bay Area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 94.9 (MHz) (HD Radio) |
| Branding | "WiLD 94.9" |
| Programming | |
| Format | Rhythmic Top 40 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications |
| KIOI, KISQ, KKGN, KKSF, KMEL, KNEW | |
| History | |
First air date | 1958 |
Call sign meaning | YLD (a play on Wild) |
| Technical information | |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 30,000 watts |
| HAAT | 369 m |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.wild949.com/ |
KYLD is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area on 94.9 FM. The station airs a rhythmic Top 40 music format on its analog primary signal.
In January 2006, KYLD added a HD Radio subcarrier, "WiLD en Espanol", which had targeted a Hispanic audience with a commercial-free, jockless Rhythmic Dance format, but in 2007 it was replaced by "FuZiK", which offers a format focusing on future hit music.
History
The 94.9 MHz signed on in the 1940s with the KFSH call letters.[1]
The "Original" KSAN
This station was home to legendary freeform rock station KSAN from 1968 until 1980, when they switched to country music. The KSAN call letters eventually went to 107.7 FM in a frequency swap that brought KYLD to 94.9.
- See KSAN
KSOL
In the 1970s, an Urban/R&B station operated on 107.7 and was known as KSOL (K-Soul). It was successful for years until 1988 when the station's ratings began to slip due to competition from KMEL, then a Top 40 station which was slowly evolving in a rhythmic direction.
WiLD 107
KYLD originally started their current format at 107.7 (licensed to San Mateo, California when owned by United Broadcasting. The call letters at the time were KSOL. Allen Shaw's Crescent Communications bought KSOL (Wild 107) in December 1993 and changed KSOL's call letters to KYLD the following year. They also purchased 99.1 in San Jose from Viacom, and began simulcasting 107.7's programming in the South Bay, in order to help fill out 107.7 FM's frequency limitations. When changing formats from KSOL to WiLD 107 the station played "Wild Thing" by Tone Loc for 3 days straight. Program Director Rick Thomas and Music Director Michael Martin were the original team that attempted to dethrone 106 KMEL. They came with a strategy of playing "old school" and up tempo freestyle/dance cuts like those heard on Heritage San Jose radio station HOT 97.7.
Since 1997
In 1997, KYLD switched frequencies from 107.7 to 94.9 giving it more signal coverage. The station's music mix includes current R&B/Hip-Hop, Dance and Rhythmic Pop product, along with radio personalities and mixers. "WiLD" 94.9, and before it was KSOL 107.7, it was formerly broadcasted to the San Francisco Bay Area's African-American residents, but the station has now targeted mainly Latino youths. The move was due to the 1996 pairing of KYLD with rival KMEL when Chancellor Media bought that station. Before that, KMEL was another Rhythmic formatted station but was already an unofficial Urban station (due to promoting its own local artists); after the buyout it shifted to an official Urban format. While KYLD often ranks behind KMEL in Arbitron ratings in the San Francisco-Oakland market, it indeed ranks ahead of KMEL in the San Jose market.
Personalities
Some previous air personalities in KYLD's history include Mancow Muller and The Doghouse.
KYLD-HD
KYLD-HD, AKA "FuZic", is a HD2 subcarrier of KYLD. The station began broadcasting as "WiLD en Espanol" on January 19, 2006, offering a commercial-free, jockless Rhythmic/Dance Top 40 format targeting a bilingual Hispanic audience. But in early 2007 it was replaced by a new one offered by Clear Channel's Format Lab, which focuses on future hit music, thus the name "FuZiC".