April 29, 2005

KFRC/610 Becomes Family Radio

The Big 610, KFRC in San Francisco, was one of the legendary Top 40 stations from the 1960s through the 1980s, with the beloved Dr. Don Rose helping the station remain strong even as FM radio became dominant.

This morning (April 29) at midnight, Viacom transferred ownership of 610 AM to Family Stations; in a few weeks, it is expected that Viacom will take possession of San Francisco's 106.9 FM signal (currently KEAR), which they recently acquired from Family Radio. Until then 610 remains KFRC, and 106.9 remains KEAR.

For your downloading pleasure, here are the last 15 minutes of the "old" Big 610, and its first half-hour under new ownership:

KFRC/610 Becomes Family Radio (MP3)

Please right-click the link and "Save Target As." Please do not stream it directly from our website; the bandwidth costs are high enough as it is.

The aircheck begins at exactly 11:45 PM on Thursday night. After "United We Stand," Christopher Lance foreshadows the impending change with his comment: "That's right, it's a family thing ... you know what I'm talking about."

At 11:59 PM (about 14 minutes into the recording), the Beau Brummels' "Laugh Laugh" is cut off by the crew at the KFRC transmitter, who offer a brief homage to Dr. Don Rose, and then it's officially The Big 610, Family Radio.