KMEL
KMEL (106.1 FM) is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia.
106 KMEL
- iHeartMedia
- (iHM Licenses, LLC)
November 30, 1960 (as KFRC-FM)
KFRC-FM (1960–1968)
KFMS (1968–1972)
KKEE (1972–1973)
KFRC-FM (1973–1977)
CAMEL (sic), name of former branding and mascot
35121
B
69,000 watts
393 meters (1,289 ft)
KMEL has studios located in the SoMa district, and broadcasts a "superpower" Class B signal[1] of 69,000 watts from a transmitter atop the San Bruno Mountains south of San Francisco. The station's powerful signal is heard all over the Bay Area and covers areas as far north as Santa Rosa and as far south as the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is currently one of the highest-rated stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the largest listening audience in the males 18-to-34 year-old demographic.
History[edit]
1940s–1977[edit]
106.1 FM began as KGO-FM, sister station of KGO. The FM station was originally licensed at 96.9 FM in 1946. KGO-FM moved to 106.1 FM on November 3, 1947, with facilities at a former General Electric plant on East 12th Street in Oakland. On January 14, 1955, KGO-FM moved from 106.1 to 103.7 and today is KOSF.
On May 7, 1958,[2] RKO General, owner of Top 40 powerhouse KFRC 610 AM, was granted authority to construct a new station at 106.1 FM and on July 20, 1961,[2] it became officially licensed with the call letters KFRC-FM. The station's call letters changed to KFMS in November 1968, then KKEE in October 1972. In September 1973, the KFRC-FM call letters were reinstated, and the station began a "nostalgia rock" format, playing oldies and soft rock as "K106".
Signal issues in the outskirts of the east bay area[edit]
when in cities such as Fairfield, Vacaville, etc... KMEL's HD signal fights with KCFA, a radio station from Arnold. the same can be said for the eastern Alameda county, where as soon as you pass the hills that can be found between Castro Valley, and Dublin, as KMEL's signal will begin to fight with KCFA, before getting cut off as soon as you are east of the Altamont pass.