Ken Ackerman was raised in Sacramento and found his first on-air work at KROY, which aired a program produced at Grant Union High School. Upon graduation, Ackerman found part-time work at Sacramento’s KFBK.
He recalls being hired “on the spot” after a 1942 audition at KQW in San Francisco, and he would remain with the station through its shift to KCBS until his eventual retirement in 1995.
Ackerman hosted numerous live remote broadcasts of musical performances at San Francisco nightclubs. He may be best remembered as the smooth-voiced announcer on the overnight music program Music ‘Til Dawn, which aired for many years on KCBS.
When KCBS launched its all-news format in 1968, Ackerman shifted from musical host to news anchor. He left full-time work in 1982 but continued to anchor part-time until 1995.
Ackerman was a noted collector of broadcast recordings and historical artifacts, many of which are in the collection of the Bay Area Radio Museum. He was a founding member of the social organization known as Broadcast Legends.
Ken Ackerman died in 2017 at age 95.
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITS:
Ken Ackerman, Original Radio Legend