The story of KIOI begins with the story of station KPEN. And KPEN’s story is legendary. It was created by two Stanford students named James Gabbert and Gary Gielow, and started broadcasting in 1957 from a 120 year old adobe hut.
KPEN was a station of innovations and firsts. It was the first station west of the Mississippi to broadcast in Multiplex Stereo, the first FM station in Northern California to broadcast 24 hours a day, the first to limit commercials to 6 per hour; KPEN produced the first Live Stereo remote broadcast. KPEN prided itself on airing fine quality programming with the highest quality FM, then FM Multiplex Stereo signal possible. The gear that generated that signal was constantly tweaked and improved, always making it state-of-the-art for the times. The two kids from Stanford who said, “Let’s build our own radio station” succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
In 1968 the FCC was petitioned to change KPEN’s call sign to KIOI, to be known as K101. Historic KPEN paved the way for the powerhouse K101 would become.
Cliff Saunders on K-101 and KIQI/1010, March 10, 1974 Part 1 | Part 2
K-101 moved to new studios and offices at 700 Montgomery Street in San Francisco early in 1973, in a pre-1906 earthquake building once occupied by the old Columbia Savings Bank. (The building later housed the law offices of Mayor Joe Alioto and his daughter, Angela Alioto.)
On October 1, 1987, KIOI was sold for $120-million, along with three other stations in the Price Communications stable, to Fairmont Communications. Fairmont filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early in 1993, and K-101 became the property of Evergreen Media in a $45-million deal in April 1994. (Evergreen also owned KMEL in San Francisco at that time.)KIOI Star 101.3 Logo
KIOI moved out of the fabled 700 Montgomery Street facility in 1996, relocating to the fourth floor of 240 Townsend Street in the city's South of Market district. In a series of corporate mergers, KIOI owner Evergreen Media was amalgamated into Chancellor Media (1997), then AMFM, Inc. (1999) and Clear Channel Communications (2000).
The SNACK Benefit Concert on K-101 on March 23, 1975. The closing segment of the concert, benefiting SNACK ("Students Need Athletics, Culture And Kicks"), featuring Bob Dylan, Neil Young and members of The Band. Broadcast live on KIOI and KIQI (1010 AM) from foggy, chilly Kezar Stadium and hosted by James Gabbert, with an assist from Stefan Ponek, Claude Hall from Billboard magazine and Joel Selvin of the San Francisco Chronicle. [ LISTEN ] (44:22)
Benefit poster from Kezar Stadium, March 23, 1975.In November 2000, the station's legendary K-101 imaging was dropped, with the station rebranded as "Star 101.3 FM."
WHO WORKED AT KIOI? Here is the list: Myles Cameron, Mark Carlson, Ken Copper, Chris Edwards, John Evans, John Mack Flanagan, Bob Gowa/Bob Michaels, Jack Friday, Darla Jaye, Bill Keffury, Jim Kelly, Jack Kulp, Lisa Lee, Ken McCartney, Melissa McConnell, Terry McGovern, Mike Phillips, Bobby Ocean, Michael Rivers, Dr. Don Rose, Don Sainte-Johnn, Harry Scarborough, Eric Scott, Jeff Serr, Dave Shakes, Rick Shaw, Hoyt Smith, Steve Taylor, Bobbie West, and Steven B. Williams.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Bay Area Radio Museum.
