Сакраменто қаласының KFBK радиосы: Жаңалықтар мен талқылаулар

Clear channel news/talk radio station in Sacramento, California

KFBK (1530 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Sacramento, California. It is simulcast on KFBK FM 93.1 MHz. KFBK AM FM air a news talk radio format and are owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are on River Park Drive in North Sacramento, near the Arden Fair Mall. KFBK 1530 is a Class A radio station. Its 50,000 watt transmitter is on Pleasant Grove Road at Catlett Road in Pleasant Grove. Because KFBK shares AM 1530 with another Class A station, WCKY Cincinnati, KFBK uses a directional antenna, which operates with separate day and night parameters and has the highest field strength of any AM station in the United States. The daytime signal covers much of the Northern California, from the northern Sacramento Valley to the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley. At night, it reaches much of the Western United States and Western Canada.

iHeart owns three talk stations in the Sacramento metropolitan area, KFBK AM FM, which air mostly local shows and news blocks on weekdays, and KSTE 650 AM which carries mostly syndicated conservative talk shows. Weekdays on KFBK AM FM begin with "The KFBK Morning News" with Cristina Mendonsa and Sam Shane, followed by "Clay Travis & Buck Sexton," Tom Sullivan (originally local, now syndicated via NBC News Radio), John McGinness and "The Afternoon News with Kitty O'Neal." At night, three syndicated shows are heard: "The Pat Walsh Show," "Coast to Coast AM with George Noory" and "This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal." Weekends feature shows on money, health, the outdoors, guns, car repair and travel, some of which are paid brokered programming. Some weekday shows are repeated on weekends. ABC News Radio begins most hours nights and weekends.

According to official government records, KFBK's first license was granted in August 1922. However, the station has in some cases included as part of its history an earlier Sacramento station, KVQ, which began broadcasting in February 1922. KVQ received its initial license, as Sacramento's first broadcasting station, on December 9, 1921, issued to J. C. Hobrecht. It was operated in conjunction with the Sacramento Bee newspaper, and made its debut broadcast on February 2, 1922. A few months later, ownership was transferred from J. C. Hobrecht to the Bee's publisher, James McClatchy, followed a short time later by a transfer to "Sacramento Bee (James McClatchy Co.)". However, KVQ suspended operations on December 20, 1922, and was formally deleted on January 2, 1923. Early reviews in the Sacramento Bee treated KVQ as a separate station from the later KFBK, and government regulators at the time consistently considered the two to be separate, unrelated stations.

As television took over network programming, KFBK reinvented itself as a news, information, sports, and entertainment station. Because of its strong signal and location in the heart of the Central Valley, the station became the chief source for farmers to obtain weather reports and price and other farming information. Beginning on January 4, 1960, KFBK carried CBS Radio Network programming, including top of the hour newscasts, plus specialized reports from Edward R. Murrow and Lowell Thomas. Local news programs included the Richfield Reporter. Tony Koester was both the long time voice of the minor league Sacramento Solons and the station's sports director. When the San Francisco Giants arrived in 1958, the station began a long partnership carrying their games. Entertainment programming included Arthur Godfrey and Doug Pledger.

In the 1970s, with less network programming available, KFBK began programming talk shows as part of their broadcast day, promoting them as "The Talk of the Town". After a brief trial as an adult contemporary music station, ownership committed themselves to a format that included news blocks during morning and afternoon drive time, with the remainder of the day's programming featuring local talk shows. With the U. S. Federal Communications Commission implementing a newspaper broadcasting cross ownership rule, McClatchy was forced to divest itself of its radio and television stations. KFBK was sold to Westinghouse Broadcasting and later shifted network affiliation to ABC Radio. Chancellor was acquired by Clear Channel Communications a few years later; in September 2014, Clear Channel changed its name to iHeartMedia, Inc.

During the 1980s, KFBK employed Morton Downey, Jr. as a local midday host. Downey later went on to host a popular nationally syndicated weekday TV show. After Downey's departure, Rush Limbaugh replaced him at the station in 1984. Limbaugh first rose to prominence at KFBK before becoming nationally syndicated in 1988. His national program aired for many years on KFBK in the same time slot (9:00 a. m.–noon) where he hosted locally. Limbaugh's local replacement, Tom Sullivan later gained national syndication. For a time, he also working for the Fox Business Network. Sullivan continues to be heard on KFBK weekday afternoons. A number of other KFBK alumni have gained national prominence. Former KFBK news reporter/anchor Laura Ingle is a featured reporter on Fox News Channel. Former KFBK reporter and weekend anchor Todd Starnes hosted a weekday show on Fox News Radio and currently owns a radio station in Memphis, Tennessee. Former KFBK evening host Spencer Hughes hosted a weekday program Fox Across America on Fox News Radio.