San Jose State University’s campus station was granted its Federal Communications Commission construction permit in August 1962. The station’s 85 watt transmitter coupled with a 130 foot antenna built atop the campus library were expected to give anyone within a 10-mile radius a listenable signal.
Broadcasts began on February 11, 1963. The station’s original frequency was 90.7 MHz.
KSJS has long carried a mix of music, typical of many campus stations, as well as campus-produced news and coverage of San Jose State athletics.
Longtime faculty advisor Mike Adams spearheaded an initiative that moved the transmitter site to Coyote Peak in Santa Teresa County Park. The 1990 move led to an increase in coverage area, but a dispute about interference with the University of California’s KALX (also transmitting at 90.7 MHz) led to a frequency shift to 90.5 MHz.
KSJS has been named “Station of the Year” twice by the National Association of College Broadcasters.
