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KZAC

KZAC (560 AM) is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that used the call sign KSFO from 1935 to 2024, and is currently silent. Owned by Cumulus Media, KZAC's transmitter is located near the Islais Creek Channel.

KZAC began broadcasting in 1925 as a station licensed to Oakland with the call sign KTAB, on a frequency of 1390 kHz. Owned by a Baptist church in Oakland, KTAB had a religious-focused format in its first year before changing to a commercial, non-religious format. After several frequency changes, the station moved to its current 560 kHz frequency in 1929 and became KSFO in 1935, re-licensed to San Francisco. KSFO joined the CBS Radio Network in 1937.

In 1956, KSFO was purchased by Golden West Broadcasters, a company co-owned by Gene Autry and Bob Reynolds. Golden West programmed a full service format for KSFO featuring popular music, news, and sports, with a popular jingle "The Sound of the City". Golden West sold KSFO to King Broadcasting Company in 1983, after which KSFO became a pop standards station. Then in 1986, KSFO shifted its music format to reflect 1950s to 1970s oldies, before becoming a simulcast of KYA-FM in 1987. Sold again to First Broadcasting Company in 1992, KSFO had a combined oldies and sports talk format before changing to a full-time talk radio format in 1993.

Capital Cities/ABC Inc. bought KSFO in 1995 and shifted its programming to emphasize conservative talk, and was one of the most popular stations in San Francisco through the late 1990s. Michael Savage and his show The Savage Nation, which was later nationally syndicated, originated from KSFO through the majority of its run. Other local hosts included Geoff Metcalf, Melanie Morgan and Brian Sussman. Through its history, KSFO has also broadcast local sports teams, including Stanford Cardinal football, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, and California Golden Bears men's basketball. A 2024 programming realignment by current owner Cumulus Media saw KSFO's format and branding moved to 810 AM and this facility renamed as KZAC; in 2025, the station went silent.

Until 1927, radio in the United States was regulated by the Bureau of Navigation within the Department of Commerce. On August 1, 1925, the bureau sent a telegram authorizing a new radio station for the Tenth Avenue Baptist Church in Oakland, California, operating on 1390 kHz. The station's call letters, KTAB, reflected its owner's name.

KTAB's debut broadcast, at 8 p.m. on August 1, 1925, featured a doxology from the church choir, a classical music performance from trumpeter Grace Adams East and a speech by the Reverend George W. Phillips, the church's pastor. KTAB was issued a formal broadcast license on August 10, 1925, and began broadcasting daily at 1250 kHz eight days later. In its early months, KTAB had a noncommercial format primarily with broadcasts of church services.

On March 25, 1926, The Associated Broadcasters, a company founded by Tenth Avenue Baptist Church attendees, entered a 20-year lease agreement with the church to operate KTAB. The Associated Broadcasters converted KTAB into a commercial station, and owing to a temporary lack of U.S. Department of Commerce regulation of radio station wavelengths or power levels under the Radio Act of 1912, KTAB moved to a better frequency of 990 kHz in June 1926.

Following the passage of the Radio Act of 1927 in April of that year, the newly formed Federal Radio Commission (FRC) relicensed KTAB to broadcast on 1070 kHz with a power of 500 watts, effective June 1, 1927. Following an appeal, the FRC allowed KTAB to broadcast with 1,000 watts on Sundays in July and August 1927.

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