Ralph Brunton was an innovative radio executive whose start in radio was a family matter: his father Julius launched one of San Francisco’s pioneering stations, KJBS. “KJBS” stood for “Julius Brunton’s Sons”: Ralph and his brothers Sherwood and Mott.
They managed KJBS from 1925 to 1944. The 1930 decision to purchase high-quality phonographs from Western Electric allowed KJBS to become one of the nation’s first stations broadcasting almost excusively music. Under Brunton’s management, KJBS also pioneered remote broadcasting and brought aboard Frank Cope, whose morning “Alarm Klok Klub” show was a San Francisco favorite for almost twenty-five years.
Ralph Brunton also purchased KQW in 1934 and sold it to CBS in 1949. Because of Ralph’s ownership of KQW, the Bruntons were required to sell KJBS in 1944 when the FCC passed its duopoly rule, prohibiting the ownership of two stations in a single community.
Ralph Brunton died in 1962 at age 70.
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