There have been some short-lived radio stations in the Bay Area (see KFYI for a notable example), but it’s quite possible that not set of call letters was around for less time than KKBR.
When Michigan broadcaster Robert Liggett’s Southcom, Inc. paid a reported $565,000 to acquire the quirky and money-losing KRJB, changes were in order. Liggett announced plans to move the transmitter to Mt. Jackson, add a new main studio in West Santa Rosa, and set out to become a countywide station. Radio veteran Casey Stangl was handed the reins. The call letter change to KKBR was listed in Federal Communications Commission records as being effective on January 7, 1986.
But Liggett already had other plans, realizing the call letters KMGG were available and would be a better fit for the new format Stangl was installing. The new blend of classic and contemporary rock, driven by newly-hired announcers, would be known as “Magic” 97.7, and on January 16, 1986 KKBR became KMGG.
