KFWM went on the air on October 15, 1925. The station was owned by the Oakland Educational Society, which had a contractual relationship with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (later known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses).
Authorized to broadcast with 500 watts of power, the station launched with a 50-watt transmitter located on the property of the International Bible School at 1520 8th Avenue in Oakland.
The station, billing itself as “The Golden West Station”, carried some programming provided by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society but also a range of other popular programming.
In its early years, KFWM was a bit of a radio vagabond. Initially authorized by the Department of Commerce to operate at 206.8 meters (1450 kHz), the station was eventually heard on a number of frequencies.
The Radio Act of 1927 created the Federal Radio Commission, which set out to restore some order to what had become a bit of a Wild West scene in which stations simply shifted frequencies at will. In 1926, KFWM was one of many stations to “jump the traces”, in the parlance of the day, after a July 8 Attorney General’s ruling that the government had no control over frequency assignments.
In April 1927, the Federal Radio Commission ordered KFWM to park itself at the 208.6 meter frequency (1440 kHz).
A notable aspect of KFWM’s story was the fact that it was forced to share frequencies with other stations. Initially, it had a 50/50 timeshare with San Francisco’s KGTT (later KSAN, KSOL, and KEST). Dissatisfaction with the arrangement helped spur KFWM to its peregrinations, but by the time federal authorities sorted everything out in the fall of 1928, KFWM was permanently assigned to 930 kHz, which it still had to share with KFWI in San Francisco.
In January 1930, the KFWM license was transferred to the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, with Henry P. Drey assuming the role of president and general manager. He held a controlling share of stock, though not a majority. The remaining ownership consisted of more than 100 people associated with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, with no one person’s share exceeding 10%.
Under the new ownership structure, KFWM set out to become a serious player in Bay Area commercial radio, though still saddled with the frequency-sharing restriction. A spring 1930 advertisement in Broadcast Advertising touted the station’s staff, equipment, and business opportunity serving the Bay Area market.
Shortly thereafter, the station’s call letters were changed to something easy to remember: KROW.
RELATED EXHIBITS:
April 1927: KFWM Ordered to 1440 Frequency by FRC
Early Broadcasting in the San Francisco Bay Area
