KYA Radio, San Francisco
Reception Verification Letter
April 20, 1939

San Francisco radio station KYA, founded in October 1926, struggled for much of its early life until it was purchased by the National Broadcasting Company in 1931. NBC operated KYA in conjunction with KPO and KGO through 1934 when the network sold the fledgling station to William Randolph Hearst, wealthy publisher of the San Francisco Examiner.

Hearst relocated KYA to new studios and offices in the Examiner building at the corner of Third and Market, and created a new network, the California Radio System, which included Hearst’s KEHE/Los Angeles and stations owned by the McClatchy Newspaper group. As part of the continuing improvement of KYA, Hearst had a new transmitting facility built for the station on Candlestick Hill near Bayview Park in the city, which is still in use by KYA’s successor on 1260 kHz., KOIT.

This 1939 verification letter confirms reception by Richard Wright, who had successfully tuned in KYA at his residence in Chicago. Letters such as this were highly prized by DXers (distance listeners), and were considered even more valuable when an EKKO verification stamp was affixed.

PLEASE NOTE: This verification letter was assembled from a black-and-white photocopy of the original, with a verification stamp from the museum’s collection placed in the same position as one appeared on the original letter.
ORIGINAL SIZE: 8.5 inches x 11 inches.
SOURCE: Richard Wright Collection, Bay Area Radio Museum.

RELATED EXHIBITS

• The History of KYA from “Voices Out Of The Fog”