KBLX-FM
KBLX-FM (102.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Berkeley, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. The radio studios and offices are along Junipero Serra Boulevard in Daly City. The transmitter is atop the San Bruno Mountains.
102.9 KBLX
HD3: Praise Bay Area
HD2: Classic soul
HD3: Urban gospel
- Bonneville International
- (Bonneville International Corporation)
April 29, 1949
KRE-FM (1949–1962)
KPAT-FM (1962–1973)
KRE-FM (1973–1979)
KBLX (1979–1986)
BLaX, at one time co-owned with WBLS in New York City
28670
B
7,200 watts
387 meters (1,270 ft)
See § Booster
Listen live
Listen live (via Audacy)
Listen live (HD2)
Listen live (HD3)
Until its sale in April 2012, KBLX was owned for more than 30 years by the now-defunct, black-owned Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, and used the slogan "The Quiet Storm."
History[edit]
KRE-FM and KPAT-FM[edit]
On April 29, 1949, the station signed on as KRE-FM. It mostly simulcast the programming of co-owned KRE 1400 AM (now KVTO). In 1962, the station changed its call letters to KPAT-FM. In 1973, it changed its call letters back to KRE-FM.[1] Donnell Lewis, a Blues musician, approached KRE to do one night a week of Blues programming.
The idea caught on. KRE-FM, which had previously played religious programs and Top 40 music, became one of the first commercial full-time "fusion" stations playing Blues, R&B, Latin pop, Reggae, Jazz and World Music. It supported local artists who frequently stopped by to visit with the deejays on the air to talk about new recordings and gigs.
The station frequently produced live broadcasts out in the community, including at the Oakland Community School when Huey Newton came home from Cuba. The station was the first to break records by Pete and Sheila Escovedo, Bill Summers, Sylvester, and other Bay Area artists. When Inner City Broadcasting purchased the station, it eliminated the unique format and changed it to more mainstream urban sound with less interaction with local artists and the community.