KCAL-FM (96.7 FM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station licensed to

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

, and broadcasting to the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

. The station is owned by Anaheim Broadcasting and airs an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

format. The station's studios are on Orange Tree Lane in Redlands. KCAL-FM is a Class A station. Its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

site is off Cloudland Truck Trail near Lake Arrowhead in the

San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...

.Radio-Locator.com/KCAL-FM
/REF> Programming is

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

on KCAL-FM1, a booster station in

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

History

Early years

KCAL-FM first

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air in 1965. It had a middle of the road (MOR) format. Originally owned by Southwest Broadcasting Company, it was the

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

KCAL KCAL may refer to: * KCAL (AM), a radio station (1410 AM) licensed to Redlands, California, United States * KCAL-FM, a radio station (96.7 FM) licensed to Redlands, California, United States *KCAL-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent tel ...

(1410 AM). In 1969, KCAL-FM adopted a dayparted rock format, playing

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

during daytime hours and harder

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...

at night. This hybrid format, known as "The Rock Spectrum", was unique in the

radio market. A prominent feature on KCAL-FM was a weekly program called ''Album Premiere'', during which a newly released album was played Monday and Tuesday evenings – one side each evening. This eventually led to a switch to album-oriented rock (AOR) full-time in 1978.

Changes in ownership

In October 1986, Southwest Broadcasting sold KCAL-FM to San Bernardino Broadcasting, headed by Tim Sullivan, for $4 million; KCAL (AM) remained with Southwest. On January 1, 1987, control of the station passed to Anaheim Broadcasting, also led by Sullivan; that March, the new owner installed former KGGI program director Cliff Roberts in the same position at KCAL-FM. During the 1990s, KCAL-FM adjusted its AOR format to

. The station mixes new and recent rock releases with hard-edged

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

titles, going back as far as the early

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and Steppenwolf. In the late 1990s, the station began hosting a listener appreciation party known as the "KCAL Kegger". Held in the station's parking lot in Redlands three times a year, each party features live rock bands, local vendors, refreshments, and a beer garden; the station donated proceeds from beer sales to local charities. Each year's final Kegger includes a bikini pageant called "Miss KCAL".

Tower topples

On December 31, 2014, high winds in the

toppled KCAL-FM's transmission tower, knocking the station off the air. The station resumed broadcasting two days later on the evening of January 2, 2015. Engineers were able to attach the station's transmission equipment to

KFRG KFRG (95.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Bernardino, California, and broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino- Inland Empire radio market. KFRG airs a country music radio format calling itself "K-FROG" and is beli ...

's tower temporarily. In January 2018, longtime KCAL-FM on-air personalities Michael "Stu-Man" Stewart, "Tiffany" Angelo, and James "Jimbo" Smith – the

morning drive Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

hosts collectively known as "STJ", and previously known as "The Morning Stiffy" — were dismissed from the station due to budget cuts. Morning show producer Steven Kono was also let go. Patrick Tish took over morning host duties.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kcal-Fm 1965 establishments in California Active rock radio stations in the United States Mass media in Riverside County, California Mass media in Riverside, California Mass media in San Bernardino County, California Mass media in San Bernardino, California Mass media in the Inland Empire Radio stations established in 1965 CAL-FM Redlands, California