First air date 1947 (as KXKX) HAAT 309 meters Frequency 97.3 MHz Format Adult contemporary music Branding Alice @ 97.3 | ERP 82,000 watts Class B City of license San Francisco Owner CBS Radio | |
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Broadcast area San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, California Slogan San Francisco's Station for Generation Alice Area San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose Sister stations KPIX-TV, KCBS, KMVQ-FM, KITS, KFRC-FM, KZDG, Sacramento, KZZO, KBCW | ||
KLLC (97.3 FM, Alice @ 97.3) is a commercial radio station located in San Francisco, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Contents
- HD Programming
- History
- Programming
- Off air activities
- Summerthing lineups
- Now and Zen Fest lineups
- Alice in Winterland Alice 973 Green Christmas Hosted by Sarah and Vinnie lineups
- Alices Mad Hatter Birthday Bash
- References
HD Programming
KLLC airs a Hot AC music format on its traditional analog and
According to the radio industry website RadioStats.Net, KLLC's site is the most visited Hot AC radio station website in America. The station transmits its signal from Mount Beacon in the Marin Headlands near Sausalito, California, while studios are located in downtown San Francisco.
History
The 97.3 MHz frequency signed on the air as KWBR-FM, dedicated September 14, 1947. The station was owned by Warner Brothers, with studios and transmitter on the side of Twin Peaks. It was a sister station of KWBR-AM (earlier known as KLS).
97.3 FM was home to Family Radio's KEAR since 1956. On September 13, 1978, Family Radio purchased a much stronger frequency, which saw KEAR and their format move to 106.9, as part of a three-way deal that also saw KCBS-FM move from 98.9 MHz to 97.3 MHz. KCBS-FM, now known as "97K", programmed an adult contemporary/Top 40 format. Over the years, the station evolved in more of a classic hits direction. For a time, they aired the syndicated American Top 40.
On January 25th, 1982, at Midnight, KCBS-FM became KRQR, "The Bay Area Rocker", with a hard album-oriented rock (AOR) format, to compete against leading rock station KMEL. KRQR's harder approach helped start a long run as a dominant rock station. The year was a busy one for Bay Area rock stations. In May of that year, KSFX dropped rock and went to a talk format as KGO-FM. A month later, on August 23, KQAK switched to rock as "The Quake". And in September, KFOG dropped beautiful music for a more eclectic mix of rock.
Even with four AOR stations in San Francisco, in addition to two more in San Jose, KRQR still dominated amidst the stiff competition. KQAK was the first to give up, dropped AOR in April 1983 and picking up modern rock. But KRQR and KFOG put lots of pressure on the tightly-formatted KMEL, which flipped to CHR in 1984.
KRQR's rock format continued throughout the 1980s and up to 1993, when they repositioned in a classic rock direction. By 1995, the hard rock format was in decline across the country, as modern rock was on the rise. To combat this, the station would evolve back to a more current direction in February 1996. However, this failed to turn around ratings, and on June 5, 1996, at 3 PM, KRQR flipped to KLLC, "Alice 97.3", with a Modern AC format (one of the first and pioneering stations in the format), which gradually evolved into Hot AC in 2010.
Programming
The station's most popular show has been in weekday morning drive. Originally known as "The Sarah and Vinnie Show", it was hosted by Sarah Clark (a.k.a. Sarah Emily Lyman) and Vinnie Hasson, then known as Vinnie Crackhorn, until he was fired in 2002 because of his problems with alcohol. After a several month search for a replacement for Vinnie, the station selected Mike Nelson, a.k.a. "The DJ with No Name", to become the co-host of the renamed "Sarah and No-Name Show". After 6 years, Nelson was let go by station management on July 17, 2008, who announced that Vinnie would re-team with Sarah starting on August 4, 2008, returning the show's name to "The Sarah and Vinnie Show." Nelson later returned to his previous station, Live 105, as the host of their morning show before becoming a part of KFOG's morning show in 2015.
Weekdays at noon, the station features a program called "Retro in the Metro", which plays a variety of songs that were released before 2000. The majority of the playlist is composed of music from the 1980s.
Off-air activities
The station sponsors 3 seasonal concerts each year - the free "Summerthing" show in June and the "Now and Zen Fest" in September, both in Golden Gate Park, and "Alice in Winterland" in December. Featured acts have included Alanis Morissette, Duran Duran, Five for Fighting, Smash Mouth, and Train. Up until 2009 recordings from the concerts and other live appearances on the station were collected into the annual "This is Alice Music" CD, which was sold to raise funds donated to Breast cancer research and treatment charities.