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KFSD stands for "FM of San Diego," dating from when it was an FM classical music station, broadcasting from the top of Mount Soledad (between La Jolla and Pacific Beach). At that time, its 100 kW transmitter (on 94.1 MHz) was-and still is-the most powerful in the area. While KFSD primarily played classical music, it presented a complete range of broadcasting items: news, traffic reports, and (since classical music listeners tend to be upper class) stock market reports. While KFSD had a good solid audience, it depended primarily upon locally-owned businesses for advertising revenues and, when many of those companies were bought out by national chains, the radio station was financially strangled. KFSD changed ownership in 1996, and its format was changed a number of times, from classic rock, to soft oldies (unrelated to KFSD's current format). The 94.1 transmitter was renamed KXGL (now known as KMYI), and the call letters KFSD were transferred to a much smaller FM transmitter, 92.1 MHz, near Escondido, California, which now simulcasts KSON. The KFSD call letters were then transferred to a nearby AM transmitter on 1450 kHz, where it currently broadcasts today. The call letters were previously used on KOGO AM 600, as well as Channel 10, San Diego's NBC television affiliate (now KGTV). In the 1950s, these three broadcasters (AM, FM, and TV) were all operated by the same company; their call letters were changed as a result of a corporate breakup. The station began life in 1957 as KOWN, broadcasting from studios on Hale Avenue on the eastern side of Escondido. In 1964, the station moved into studios in the then-new Escondido Village Mall, and added an FM station, KOWN-FM, on 92.1 mHz. Shoppers could look through double-pane windows to see disk jockeys spinning records and the state-of-the-art (for 1964) Shafer automation system which played easy listening music on the FM station. AM and FM transmitters stayed on Hale Avenue until 1972, when they were moved to a new location south of the city. Both stations moved again in 1974, to studios in the Vineyard Shopping Center on Valley Parkway, just east of the Escondido Village Mall. From February 1, 2007 until March 15, 2010 KFSD was a simulcast of sister station KSPA featuring a nostalgia format, with music from the 1930s through the 1960s. The current format quoting from their website is: "Our philosophy is to blend the enduring standards of timeless artists with bold new interpretations from the younger vanguard". |
