KALW

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KALW is a public radio station based in San Francisco, California. Its FM radio signal is broadcast over the immediate San Francisco Bay Area at 91.7 MHz. In addition, KALW is webcast with live streaming audio available.

KALW is operated by the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and is a National Public Radio affiliate, carrying content from NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International and the BBC World Service. In addition, KALW produces its own local music and interview shows, and is the flagship station for West Coast Live, a two-hour live variety program broadcast on Saturday mornings. As KALW is operated by the San Francisco Unified School District, it also carries broadcasts of the monthly SFUSD Board meetings and daily listings of school lunch menus, with said menus occasionally read by celebrities who have come to the station for interview shows. The KALW studios are located at Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School off Mansell Avenue in the City.

KALW is the oldest FM station west of the Mississippi, having launched as an experimental station for a demonstration exhibit by owner General Electric at San Francisco's world's fair at Treasure Island, CA in 1939-40. The station was licensed to the SFUSD in April 1941 when GE gave it to the district. KALW originally operated on 45.1 MHz in the old FM band, which was re-assigned to police and fire departments after World War II.

KALW's original transmitter was a modified GE medical diathermy machine. While the original transmitter had not been used since the switch to the modern FM band in the late 1940s, it was still located at John O'Connell Technical High School until the school was demolished in the mid-1990s. The station's current transmitter tower is on Twin Peaks.

KALW was instrumental in helping KQED television sign on the air in 1954 as one of the first "educational" non-commercial TV stations in the country, by providing technical training, studio space, and engineering advice to the KQED founding staff.

KALW provided Chinese language simulcasts of KGO-TV newcasts in the 1970's, before local Asian language newcasts became established.

During the 1970's and 80's KALW also aired live coverage of SFUSD sporting events, the last such regular live coverage of high school sports in San Francisco broadcasting.

[edit] Legal troubles

In 1997 a group of full and part time KALW employees filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission to deny the renewal of KALW’s broadcast license, alleging that station management had covered up violations of hiring rules and had lied about required record keeping. The case was inactive for several years and according to KALW's website the group that filed the petition, known as Golden Gate Public Radio, went defunct.^[1]

In July of 2004 the FCC resurrected the case. While it issued only a warning to KALW about employment practices, more significantly, the FCC decided that allegations of lying were supported by sufficient evidence to warrant hearings.^[2] The hearings concluded in June of 2005.

FCC Chief Administrative Law Judge Richard Sippel ruled in April 2006 to grant a two-year license renewal for KALW while reducing a fine for public file violations from $300,000 to just $10,000. In its defense to the FCC, KALW management showed evidence of its meritorious service to the community. The school district also argued for a hardship case, saying it was incapable of paying the $10,000 fine. (For instance, local school programs for children have recently been cut from the district's budget.) The judge disagreed with that assertion, however, and the SFUSD has two years to pay the fine.^[3]

[edit] Antenna Replacement

In late October 2006, KALW suffered an antenna malfunction. The station continued to broadcast at only 3% of normal power, causing many listeners to think the station had ceased broadcasting, although the audio stream was still available via the website. KQED allowed KALW the use of their backup transmitter on San Bruno Mountain during the repair process.

On November 2, 2006, station general manager Matt Martin posted the following update on the station's website:

Dear Listeners: Yesterday, we installed a new antenna on our transmitter at Twin Peaks, and the next step is to replace the cables on the tower from the ground up. In spite of the rain, it looks like the work that needs to be done can be completed today. So, if all goes as planned, we should be able to return to full power broadcasting on Friday. Thank you for bearing with us, and for all your supportive calls and e-mails. We are as anxious as you are have the station back to its full reach, and providing you with all the programs that you appreciate and depend on. Thanks also to our fellow public broadcaster KQED-FM, which has provided significant technical support that has helped us stay on the air while we fix this problem.

[edit] External links

• KALW Website
• KALW audio stream
• West Coast Live
• Friends of KALW
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KALW
• Radio Locator information on KALW

[edit] References