KHBG went on the air in February 1996, the result of efforts by former Healdsburg City Council member and local electrical supply company owner Edgar Deas to obtain a new radio license for a community that had been originally served by KREO. Deas told reporters his plan was to focus on the 200,000 residents of northern Sonoma County.
Like many small-market broadcasters, Deas faced the reality of constructing studios and a transmitter while finding staff for a new enterprise that wasn’t paying like the big boys.
With general manager Roger Mayer at the helm, the new station marketed itself as “The Bridge”, airing an adult-alternative format. Mayer was quoted as saying the station wanted to pose “an alternative to the humdrum, middle-of-the-road pablum that is consultant-driven radio.”
