KOIT Goes All Christmas, All The Time

The snow is on the ground, the presents are under the tree ... well, they aren't, but that ain't going to stop 96.5 KOIT from breaking out the Christmas music and going all festive on us.

...You have done all your shopping, haven't you?

Here's the announcement from the station:

We're pleased to announce that KOIT will begin All Christmas programming at 3pm this afternoon, Friday, November 16. You'll hear us play continuous Christmas favorites until 11:59pm on Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25, so you can set 96.5 KOIT on your radio at home, in your car, or at work and enjoy all your Christmas favorites.

This will be our 6th year of special Christmas programming, and based on the calls and emails we have already received, this may be the best year ever! We appreciate you as a listener and a supporter of KOIT Christmas programming in the past, and we hope to be a part of your holiday celebrations again this year.

We have some special contests just for the holidays, such as Celine Dion tickets, family ticket 4-packs to Raggs Holiday Jam, the Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular, and some HoneyBaked Ham certificates. And, kick off your holiday today with the Embarcadero Building Lighting Ceremony and Winter Carnival.

All of us at 96.5 KOIT wanted to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope you celebrate the season with us.

All the best.

Jack, Sherry, Larry, Laurie, Julie, Mark, and Linda
Your friends at KOIT

Bonneville Sells KOIT/1260 To Immaculate Heart

Bonneville International's final remaining Bay Area broadcast property, KOIT/1260, has reportedly been sold to IHR Educational Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Immaculate Heart Radio, which describes itself as a "non-profit umbrella organization that operates a 24-hour Catholic Radio Network on the West Coast."

The reported sale price for the station is $14-million.

The station presently simulcasts KOIT/96.5's Lite Rock programming via the 1260 AM 5000-watt daytime, 1000-watt nighttime signal that was once the beloved KYA.

IHR also operates Catholic-programmed stations elsewhere in California, Nevada and New Mexico, including KWG/1230 in Stockton and KSMH/1620 in Sacramento. IHR may take over operation of the station in the next few weeks with an LMA in advance of final FCC approval of the sale.

Free FM Folds; KFRC Resuscitated

The buzz began building before noon today with a news tip that CBS Radio was reviving the venerable KFRC call letters and a Classic Hits format on 106.9 FM later this afternoon, ending a year and a half of moribund "Free FM" programming on the frequency.

With confirmation in the form of an official press release from deep within CBS Radio's San Francisco headquarters, the wait was on, goosed along by regular mentions by Ken Korach during the Oakland A's broadcast that an exciting announcement was coming following the game at about 4 p.m.

The change came abruptly, however, when Robert Buan — ostensibly hosting the team-produced "Extra Innings" postgame show — decided to read from the CBS press release, apparently trumping the company's hoped-for dramatic debut. Buan's show on 106.9 FM was quickly cut off, and the KFRC Classic Hits "Magical Mystery Tour" stunting began.

Following a recorded "Winds Of Change" announcement by former 610/KFRC personality Beau Weaver, the music began with Free's "Alright Now," kicking off an A-Z jukeboxing of classic hits, heavily weighted toward Seventies tunes, with a smattering of Sixties and Eighties.

Meanwhile, according to comments I've heard from a CBS/SF insider, plans are in the works to hire an air staff that features several well-known voices, although the announcement may be weeks away. One name to scratch off the list: Bobby Ocean, who was reportedly courted for an on-air shift and to do the station's imaging, but respectfully declined. He'll stay with Entercom's Lite Rock KOIT/96.5 and continue doing afternoons on XM Radio's 70s on 7 channel.

Several Free FM talk programs will be switched over to co-owned KYCY/1550 (KYOU), including the Adam Carolla and Danny Bonaduce morning show and the Tom Leykis afternoon show. With additional brokered programming on KYCY, it may mean that the vaunted podcasting format pioneered by the station may be pushed even farther into the background.

Bonneville Trades S.F. Stations To Entercom

According to a breaking bulletin in Radio & Records, Bonneville International and Entercom have executed a multi-city, multi-station swap that will move KOIT-FM (96.5), KDFC (102.1) and KMAX (95.7) into Entercom's stable.

Bonneville will gain KIRO, KBSG and KTTH in Seattle and WKRQ, WSWD, WUBE and WYGY from Entercom in exchange for the San Francisco cluster, the report claims. R&R also notes that both ownership groups will be seeking a time brokerage pact (LMA) to operate their new stations by the end of this quarter, and are hoping to close on the deal by the end of 2007.

"We are very pleased to announce the acquisition of this terrific group of stations in San Francisco, one of America's greatest markets," Entercom president and CEO David J. Field said in a press release quoted by R&R. "[T]he opportunity to enter the fourth largest market with a station group led by KOIT, one of America's strongest radio brands, was incredibly compelling."

The press release also notes "KOIT is an award-winning Adult Contemporary station, a perennial market ratings leader and one of the nation's most respected radio brands. KDFC is one of the nation's leading Classical stations while KMAX is a newly formatted station that debuted an Eclectic Hits format in 2006."

ADDENDA: In the original bulletin from Radio & Records, no mention was made of Bonneville's KOIT/1260. The report was updated to include the following: "The company [Bonneville] will be keeping its KOIT-AM (1260), which is a simulcast of KOIT-FM. Not word yet on what will become of KOIT-AM's format."