KCBS was “born” on April 3, 1949 when the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) announced its ownership of the station at 740 on the AM dial. The station’s history can be traced back to the 1909 broadcasts from San Jose carried out by Charles D. Herrold. Herrold would obtain a license from the Department of Commerce in December 1921, with the randomly-assigned call letters of KQW.
CBS switched its network programming affiliation in San Francisco from KSFO to KQW in 1942. The deal included an option to purchase the station, which CBS would exercise seven years later. In 1951, KCBS moved its transmitter site to Black Point in Novato, from which its 50,000 watt signal has emanated ever since.
Through the 50’s and early 60’s, KCBS broadcast a “full service” format. Notable voices included Red Blanchard, Dave McElhatton, Ken Ackerman, newscaster Don Mozley, and sportscaster Don Klein.
In 1962, general manager Jules Dundes oversaw the launch of a four-hour afternoon program called Spectrum 74. It moved the station away from its full-service past and toward its all-news future. Dundes noted at the time, “To survive, we must find a new type of radio, we must get away from the jukebox.”
In 1968, KCBS joined the parade of CBS-owned stations switching to the all-news format.
In 1971, the station moved from facilities at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel to the 32nd floor of the 1 Embarcadero Center high-rise, where a newsroom and studios designed from scratch for the all-news format came into use. The station moved to 855 Battery Street in 2000, occupying space in the same building as KPIX-TV. In 2024, the most recent relocation took KCBS to 88 Kearny Street.
On October 27, 2008, KCBS began simulcasting its programming on the 106.9 FM frequency (KFRC-FM), ending the “Classic Hits” format that had previously been heard at 106.9. In 2009, the station celebrated 100 years since “Doc” Herrold’s pioneering broadcasts.
