KSFH went on the air in October 1947 under a license held by the San Diego-based Pacific Broadcasting Co. Pre-launch announcements pegged longtime Oakland Chamber of Commerce general manager Harold Weber to run KSFH and another new FM station in Fresno. Forrester Mashbir moved from a job with Washington, DC TV station WTTG to become program director. By the time the station went on the air, H.R. Hurd was being identified as the station manager. At the time, the Bay Area was estimated to have fewer than 60,000 FM receivers.
The station’s studios were located at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel and the transmitter site was in the Oakland hills. Soon after the station’s launch, Pacific Broadcasting president C.A. Gibson announced plans to launch an FM station network, using KSFH as a hub. The company had already raised more than $150,000 through the sale of stock.
Early announcing staff members include Billy Heyward and Wally Hutchinson. The station was on the air from 3 PM to 10 PM daily at the outset.
By 1950, published rate cards showed the station charging $4.00 for a one-minute commercial announcement. The programming was generally of the “good music” category, including programs with names like Velvetunes and Club 235 (the 94.9 MHz frequency on which KSFH transmitted is known as Channel 235).
It’s apparent that the station struggled financially from the outset. By the spring of 1951, the Federal Communications Commission had granted authority to remain silent for 60 days, ordering ownership to turn in a plan for refinancing by the end of that period or surrender its license.
In late 1951, word came that KPFA had purchased the assets of the now-dark KFSH, giving the Pacifica Radio outlet a better transmitter location in the East Bay hills, allowing it to reach listeners between San Jose and Healdsburg. Pacifica paid $16,000 for the four-acre property, transmitter and 300-foot tower at a time when the Berkeley station was attempting to deal with the loss of its own transmitter tower in a major windstorm.
The 94.9 frequency would remain dark until 1958 when KSFR took to the airwaves.
