610, 106.9 Changes Expected Sunday At Midnight

If you put any faith in the rumors going down on the radio message boards the past few days — and why shouldn't you? — it looks like this Sunday night (October 16) at midnight will mark the disappearance of the KFRC call letters from 610 AM, which will become KEAR.

At the same time, the KEAR calls will be removed from 106.9 in San Francisco and will reappear on Family Radio's current KEDR (88.1) in Sacramento, which will become KEAR-FM as the main distribution hub of Family's network of low-power translator outlets up and down the West Coast.

Meanwhile, CBS Broadcasting — newly renamed after years as Infinity — may launch its new talk programming on 106.9 as early as noon on Monday (October 17). As noted here previously, the station is rumored to have Darian O'Toole pencilled in for the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. slot, with Adam Carolla doing mornings once CBS settles contract details that will put the current Lovelines and former Man Show host also on CBS-owned radio stations in Los Angeles, San Diego and Portland.

The spies have noted that CBS has set up a makeshift website at 1069FreeFM.com, along with a "Radio Mutiny" Flash movie (still image above) that shows a skull and crossbones waving above the Golden Gate Bridge. An indication, perhaps, that the new talker will be called 106.9 Free FM ... or just a clever ruse?

New call letters for 106.9 have been assigned to CBS by the FCC, but the station may be briefly operated as KIFR (a kit-bashing of "I" for Infinity and "FR" for Family Radio?) beginning at midnight on Sunday. The station will be working from new — and, from all reports, spectacular — studios at the company's 865 Battery Street complex.

UPDATE: At noon on Monday (Oct. 17), Family Stations handed off 106.9 to CBS/Infinity, and the station became KIFR as expected. The station began stunting with an audio montage (well-known sound bites mixed with music). You may download the final few moments of KEAR and the first hour of KIFR in glorious MP3 Monaural by clicking right about here.

Radio Dots & Dashes -- Newstalk KGO 810 will present its big All Star broadcast featuring its lineup of heavy hitters on November 10 at the Marin Civic Center. Details at www.KGOAM810.com ... Meanwhile, Ronn Owens celebrates his thirtieth anniversary at KGO on October 27. Production director Mike Amatori tells me that he has put together some funny stuff about Ronn — most of it made up — that he says "will either get me fired or win me another Addy"...

Wave farewell to Gretchen, who had been evening voice at Alice (KLLC 97.3) until this week ... I realize that Uncle Al Davis has to keep him employed somewhere, but perhaps Al could invest a few bucks and get Flores, Flores, Tom Flores, um, um, um some lessons, some um diction lessons so he, so he can be under, understood on the uh Raider broadcasts it would uh be um a good thing ...