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KCBQ

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Coordinates: 32°53′42″N 116°55′31″W / 32.89500°N 116.92528°W / 32.89500; -116.92528
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KCBQ
File:KCBQ logo.png
Broadcast areaSan Diego, California
Frequency1170 kHz
BrandingIntelligent Talk 1170
Programming
FormatNews Talk Information
AffiliationsSalem Communications
Ownership
OwnerNew Inspiration Broadcasting Company
KPRZ
History
Call sign meaning
CBS Quality (KCBQ was a CBS affiliate in the 1950s).
Technical information
Facility ID13509
ClassB
Power50,000 watts day
2,900 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
32°53′42″N 116°55′31″W / 32.89500°N 116.92528°W / 32.89500; -116.92528
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitekcbq.com

KCBQ (1170 AM, Intelligent Talk 1170) is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format and is owned by Salem Communications. The station offers Conservative talk programming such as Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager and Michael Medved. It was formerly a top 40 and country music powerhouse.

Top Forty Years

Years prior, the station was one of the two leading AM Top 40 stations in San Diego. KCBQ began broadcasting Top 40 music in the late 1950s and continued with the format through the 1960s and 1970s with great success. The station achieved national prominence in 1972-1973 with its presentation of "The Last Contest," a promotional and production extravaganza created by program director Jack McCoy. The promotion was later syndicated nationally by TM Productions of Dallas, and KCBQ's on-air format was widely copied as the "Q format." KCBQ's success prompted a substantial number of Top 40 stations to apply to the Federal Communications Commission for new call letters which included the letter Q. During its Top 40 heyday, KCBQ was owned by Bartell Media Corporation. [1]

Notable DJ's

Some of KCBQ's most legenday personalities included Dex Allen, Harry "Happy Hare" Martin, "Shotgun" Tom Kelly, Charlie & Harrigan, Charlie Tuna, Bob Shannon, Perry Allen, Bobby Ocean, Lee "Baby" Sims, Jimmy Rabbitt, Rich "Brother" Robbin, Brian Roberts, China Smith, Chuck Browning, Harry Scarborough, Dave Conley, Jim Barker, The Magic Christian and Brian "The Blind Owl" White.

Changes

By the mid-'70s, the station had begun a series of ownership and format changes that continued on a fairly regular basis. In 1978, with music-formatted radio becoming dominated by FM stations, KCBQ dropped top 40 in favor of an adult contemporary format, to be followed in 1982 by a switch to country music. In 1985 the station changed to a syndicated "first decade of rock 'n' roll" oldies format, Kool Gold, which carried it through most of the '90s.[citation needed] In the late 1990s KCBQ was acquired by Salem and settled into its conservative talk format.

Transmitter

KCBQ featured a 50,000 watt transmitter (limited to 5000 watts at night, and later, reduced to 1500 watts nighttime). The antenna was originally a six-element directional array in the city of Santee, on Mission Gorge Road, just east of Carlton Hills Blvd., northeast of downtown San Diego and north of the city of El Cajon.

The antenna site was sold amidst urban development in the area, and is now a shopping center, anchored by a Kohl's and a Lowe's; a nearby area was developed into a park called "Mast Park" in memory of the antenna towers. For a time the station had to broadcast at reduced power from a temporary longwire antenna on long time competitor's tower 1360 KGB/KLSD and 101.5 KGB-FM, as well as the former FM side of competitor 910 radio KDEO/KECR (now Channel 933 KHTS). According to the FCC, KCBQ's daytime power on the long wire was 5,000 watts, with power reduced after sunset to 675 watts (non-directional, both day and night).[citation needed]

KCBQ received a construction permit for a five-tower array in the area north of Lakeside, not far from the old site, and to increase power to 50,000 watts daytime, 2,900 watts nighttime. The station began to operate at the 50,000 watts on Monday, June 4, 2007. KCBQ is now sharing antennas with KECR 910, another former AM top 40 competitor of KCBQ's in the first half of the 1960s; KECR 910 was known as Radio KDEO (pronounced "Radio kay-dee-oh") in the 1960s.[2]

KCBQ Monument

On August 28, 2010, a monument to the "Top 40" days between 1958 and 1978 was dedicated near the site of the former broadcast center and radio towers. The dedication was attended by more than 400 people. Located in the 9400 block of Mission Gorge Road, the monument has over 100-names of on-air personalities. Funding for the monument was raised by alumni and fans of KCBQ radio.[3]

The monument has been nominated and recognized as the only place where a radio station and radio hosts were recognized. KCBQ is often recognized for the wave of Top 40 radio and the prominence of the letter 'Q' in station call letters.

References

  1. ^ Gerald A. Bartell biography
  2. ^ San Diego, California antenna sites 2001
  3. ^ KCBQ Remembered
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