KITS came into being in 1983 when the long-running foreign-language programming on KBRG was shut down by owner Entertainment Communications Inc. (later known as Entercom and then Audacy). Entercom had purchased the station in 1969.
The removal of Spanish-language programming triggered protests and threats of an advertiser boycott, but the new station would become a significant force in Bay Area radio for many years–and Entercom would relinquish ownership and then regain it.
The February 1983 format change launched “Hot Hits KITS”, a high-energy Top 40 format developed by programmer Mike Joseph and heard on numerous FM stations nationwide.
The music mix gradually changed until the fall of 1986. That’s when KITS began calling itself “Live 105” and airing a modern rock format under program director Richard Sands and music director Steve Masters.
The 1986-1997 incarnation of “Live 105” put KITS squarely on the music industry map. Air talent for many of these years included Alex Bennett, Lori Thompson, Steve Masters and “Big Rick” Stuart.
Billing its music mix as “Modern Rock” (and even trademarking the term), KITS regularly landed in the top ten slots in San Francisco radio ratings. The station began promoting major concert festivals in 1994, launching the long-running “BFD” and “Not So Silent Night” series.
In 1997, Entercom sold KITS to Infinity Broadcasting. The sale occurred as implications of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 settled in: limits on station ownership had been drastically loosened. A series of corporate mergers and acquisitions over the next few years ended with KITS belonging to CBS Radio.
In the meantime, Infinity’s purchase of KITS had given the company ownership of both “Live 105” and San Jose’s KOME. In June 1998, much of KOME’s programming, including The Howard Stern Show, was shifted to KITS and most of the previous staff dismissed.
By 2002, KITS had pivoted back toward a more focused alternative rock music mix. The station’s morning show remained The Howard Stern Show until December 2005, when Stern moved from terrestrial radio to Sirius Satellite Radio.
The Stern departure led CBS Radio to launch a talk format called “Free FM” on most of its alternative rock stations, but KITS kept playing music.
Over the next several years, a variety of talent was heard on KITS, including Kevin Klein, who hosted mornings from 2014-2018.
KITS carried Oakland Raiders football for several seasons beginning in 2010.
In November 2017, CBS Radio and Entercom merged, putting KITS back under Entercom’s ownership. Within weeks, the station was re-branded “Alt 105.3”, in line with the branding used at other Entercom alternative-rock stations.
Starting in 2020, Entercom further homogenized the alternative-rock format by delivering programming out of hubs in Los Angeles and New York. This meant most of what was heard on KITS was originating outside the Bay Area.
A further change occurred in October 2021 when the 35-year run of alternative rock on KITS ended as the station began carrying the “Dave FM” adult hits format.
That lasted barely a year and a half. In June 2023, Audacy (Entercom had renamed itself in 2021) announced it was bringing back the historic “Live 105” brand, saying the format would include “music from every era of its history as the ‘Bay Area’s Alternative’.”
RELATED EXHIBITS:
“Live 105” Playlist Winter 1994
