KCBS

KCBS may refer to:

KCBS (AM)

KCBS, 740 AM, is an all-news radio station located in San Francisco, California, United States. The station serves as an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network (of which KCBS serves as its West Coast flagship station) and Dial Global. The station is owned by the CBS Radio subsidiary of CBS Corporation. The station shares studios with CBS owned-and-operated television station KPIX-TV (channel 5) on Battery Street, and its transmitter is located in Novato. KCBS's programming is also simulcast on co-owned FM station KFRC (106.9), which is available in the HD Radio broadcast format.

History

KCBS is the third oldest radio station in California (behind KWG in Stockton and sister station KNX in Los Angeles) and the oldest in the San Francisco Bay Area.

As KQW (1909–1949)

KCBS has its roots in the experiments of San Jose engineer Charles Herrold as far back as 1909, making the broadcaster a leading contender for the title of oldest continuously broadcasting station in the United States and possibly the world. Herrold used a variety of different radio call signs in the early days, including FN, SJN, 6XF and 6XE. In the very beginning, Herrold used a simple greeting like "San Jose calling." That greeting and the initial FN sign (which was an inverted abbreviation of "National Fone") reflected the fact that he had been partially working on the idea of a radiotelephone.

KCBS-TV

KCBS-TV, channel 2, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station located in Los Angeles, California, USA. KCBS-TV is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation, and operates as part of a television duopoly with independent station KCAL-TV (channel 9). The two stations share offices and studio facilities inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and KCBS-TV's transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.

In the few areas of the western United States where a CBS station is not receivable over-the-air, KCBS-TV is available on satellite television through DirecTV.

History

Early years

KCBS-TV is one of the oldest television stations in the world. It was signed on by Don Lee Broadcasting, which owned a chain of radio stations on the Pacific Coast, and was first licensed by the Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the Federal Communications Commission as experimental television station W6XAO in June 1931. The station went on the air on December 23, 1931, and by March 1933 was broadcasting programming one hour each day only on Monday through Saturdays. The station used a mechanical camera which broadcast only film footage in an 80-line image, but demonstrated all-electronic receivers as early as 1932. It went off the air in 1935, and then reappeared using an improved mechanical camera producing a 300-line image for a month-long demonstration in June 1936. By August 1937, W6XAO had programming on the air six days each week. Live programming started in April 1938.