KIFR briefly occupied the 106.9 FM frequency in San Francisco after Infinity Broadcasting acquired the license from religious broadcaster Family Stations.
Late in 2004, in order to meet an FCC requirement that would allow the Infinity to acquire KOVR-TV (Channel 13) in Sacramento, Infinity and Family Stations entered into a deal to “trade” two San Francisco stations: Infinity’s KFRC and Family Stations’ KEAR. At midnight on April 29, 2005, the legendary “Big 610,” KFRC began simulcasting Family Radio programming.
Under a marketing agreement, Family Stations was required to continue carrying Oakland Athletics baseball broadcasts on 610 AM through the end of the team’s 2005 season, during which time the station remained KFRC. With the A’s season concluded, the KEAR call letters were transferred to the AM station at noon on Monday, October 17, 2005, while Infinity simultaneously took over ownership of the 106.9 facility which became branded as “Free FM 106.9” with the new KIFR call letters.
“Free FM” was born of Infinity’s desire to fill the void left by the loss of syndicated morning legend Howard Stern to the Sirius satellite service. KIFR general manager Ken Kohl told the San Francisco Chronicle, “For the most part, FM is music radio and is not considered a foreground medium. We’re looking to create an FM foreground environment.”
The station’s lineup included syndicated shows from the likes of Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis as well as local programs hosted by edgy talent such as The Dog House, Darian O’Toole, and John London. All three shows would be gone within months: The Dog House to the Free FM outlet in New York City and O’Toole and London to pink slips.
In 2007, the station became the flagship outlet for Oakland A’s baseball. In June of that year, Free FM was gone as the station became KFRC-FM and began airing oldies music.
