In a run of barely seven years, KEWB etched itself into Bay Area radio history with a version of Top 40 radio concocted by programmer Chuck Blore. “Color Radio” was a high-energy, fast-paced format in which the music was almost secondary to the energy of the DJ’s coupled with the polished production of jingles and promos.
KEWB succeeded Oakland’s legacy station KLX when Crowell-Collier Publishing paid $750,000 to acquire the station from the owners of the Oakland Tribune.
Crowell-Collier had already launched “Color Radio” on its Los Angeles station KFWB a year earlier. On June 8, 1959, the sound exploded out of Bay Area radio speakers. Talented disc jockeys like Gary Owens helped drive KEWB past pioneering Bay Area Top 40 station KOBY within months.
Management knew it was on the right track in targeting young listeners when traditionalists like San Francisco Examiner columnist Dwight Newton panned the product. In a 1961 column, Newton referred to the station as “a public nuisance”.
“Channel 91” would dominate the Top 40 scene for a few years, spinning out talent like Casey Kasem, “The Real” Don Steele, and Robert W. Morgan–all of whom would go on to become radio legends.
But by the mid-1960s, both KYA and KFRC had switched to Top 40 and Crowell-Collier decided to cash out. Metromedia paid $3 million to acquire the station and by September 1966, KEWB was KNEW.
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITS:
The History of KZM, KLX, and KEWB
KEWB Channel 91 Fabulous Forty Survey January 23, 1960
