San Jose’s History Park was the scene of a boot-scootin’ celebration of The Bay Area Radio Museum and Hall of Fame’s 2025 Legendary Station of the Year: Radio KEEN. The station went on the air in 1947 and became a significant force in the Country music world. KEEN (1370 AM) remained under local ownership for five decades, shutting down the Country sounds at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1992.
The June 8 event saw Steve Snell, the son of KEEN co-founder George Snell (and himself a station executive for many years) receive a Letter of Commendation from the Academy of Country Music for KEEN’s role in supporting Country music artists. The letter was presented by former KEEN announcer Melissa McConnell.
Haig Mardikian, son of KEEN co-founder George Mardikian, was also in attendance. A live video stream of the event was arranged for Keith Farr, nephew of KEEN’s third co-founder, Floyd Farr.
Former KEEN morning personality Lissa Kreisler served as the event’s hostess.
Other notable attendees included Country music legend Lacy J. Dalton, San Jose Vice Mayor Pam Foley, and many Radio KEEN alumni. Live music was provided by The Patty Kistner Band.
A spirited Country Karaoke contest was won by Owen Buchser, whose rendition of the Waylon Jennings hit “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean” was judged best among five finalists. Owen’s victory earned him a $1,000 check and a gold-plated Radio KEEN belt buckle, both donated by Steve Snell.
A video tracing Radio KEEN’s history was presented. Click here to view.
It was a great event and it was so nice to see so many people – it brought back a bunch of good memories. A couple of notes about KEEN. The station was San Jose’s first full-time broadcast station. KEEN signed on with 1kW day and night! The other SJ radio stations (KLOK 1170 & KSJO 1590) came on the air as daytime only stations. The last of the big four AM’s in SJ, KX-RX (1949) went on as a daytimer as well. KEEN increased day power to 5kW in 1955 and added 5kW at night in 1963 with the addition of a third tower at their transmitter site on Old Oakland Road. Today KEEN is known as KZSF and broadcasts a Regional Mexican format. The transmitter site moved many years ago (1993?) co-locating with the former KX-RX on Wooster Way in San Jose near 101. The station still broadcasts with 5kW 24/7. .