Kits

KITS ("Live 105") is a San Francisco, California, USA-based radio station broadcasting at 105.3 MHz. The station is owned by CBS Radio and programs a modern rock format. more...

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Currently broadcasting with the slogan "Fighting to keep alternative music alive in the Bay Area", the station also broadcasts on High Definition channel L2, locally on Comcast cable channel 986, and is streaming online using Radiomat.

History

Hot Hits

The station's original call letters were KBRG. The KITS call letters arrived in February 1983 when the station adopted radio consultant Mike Joseph's Hot Hits Top-40 music format. Seven air personalities were recruited during a nationwide search from stations such as XTRA-AM Tijuana, Mexico, Q104 Kansas City, 92x Columbus, Ohio, and WCAU-FM Philadelphia. The transplanted jocks underwent a "broadcasting bootcamp" for two weeks prior to launching the new Hot Hits format. Radio personality Doug Ritter(Doug Ritterling) was the first Disc Jockey on the air(at 9am on February 27th, 1984), transitioning KBRG-FM from its Spanish format to Hot Hits. The station was referred to as "Hot Hits KITS" and followed the formula of a very short playlist with heavy repetition and fast-talking air personalities. The original DJ lineup on 105 KITS consisted of: Jeff Hunter(Program Director) 6-9am, Doug Ritter 9am-12noon, Gary Robbins 12noon-3pm, Todd Parker 3-7pm, Richard Sands 7pm-12midnight, Rick Neal(George Fryer)12mid-6am, Mark Van Gelder was 105 KITS first Production Director, Annette Parks (daughter of pioneer broadcaster and Miss America Pageant Host, Bert Parks) was the station's News Director, and Michele Meisner(formerly of San Francisco's Fantasy Studios) was Music Director.

A modest ratings success, KITS fought off competition from the legendary AM CHR station, KFRC (which changed format to live game shows in 1984), KMEL-FM, which had switched from album-oriented rock to CHR in 1984. 105 KITS was, for a while, the darling of the Jet Set; daily visits were common from movie celebrities such as Bette Midler, Tom Cruise, Pat Morita, George Takei, Anthony Perkins and others. The celebs didn't usually make it on the air, but they toured the studios in San Francisco's Merchandise Mart just to see what the industry buzz was all about.

Modern Rock

Modern rock station KQAK changed formats in 1985, and fans of the station were eager for another station to pick up the format. During this time, on-air personality Steve Masters began experimenting with modern rock on his evening show and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Over time, KITS dropped the "Hot Hits" approach and remained a mainstream CHR station. KITS began a gradual musical shift, incorporating modern rock songs into their Top 40 playlist. By October 1986, KITS had completely dropped the pop artists from the playlist and were a pure modern rock station. The station's new moniker became "Live 105" under program director Richard Sands and music director Steve Masters. The music ranged from mainstream alternative rock, imports, dance music, and even classic songs from pioneering artists such as Lou Reed, David Bowie and T-Rex. Live 105 became a major influence and sole source of radio exposure for such artists in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Read more at Wikipedia.org