KDB (93.7

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

) is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, and serving

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

and

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...

. It is owned by the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

and broadcasts a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

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) ...

ing

KUSC KUSC (91.5 FM broadcasting, FM; "Classical California™ KUSC") is a listener-supported european classical music, classical music radio station broadcasting from downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States. KUSC is owned and ope ...

(91.5 FM) in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. KUSC and KDB air periodic

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

s on the air, seeking donations and members. KDB has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

of 12,500

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. The

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 ...

is off Gibraltar Road in Santa Barbara, located among the

towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

for other Santa Barbara FM and TV stations.

History

Beautiful and classical music

KDB-FM first signed on the air on February 14, 1960. 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 ...

to KDB (1490 AM). The AM station had held the KDB

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

since 1929, an era where many stations were granted three-letter call signs. This is why today's KDB still retains unusual call letters for an FM station. KDB-AM-FM were Santa Barbara's first 24-hour stations. The stations were bought in 1971 by the Pacific Broadcasting Company, consisting of Bob Scott, Harvey Pool, and Dick Marsh. After programming American

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...

s and beautiful music for nine years, KDB-FM changed its format to

in 1980. A competing classical music station appeared in Santa Barbara in 1985. Signing on that year was KSCA, a full-power

station owned by the

that served as a repeater of

in Los Angeles. KSCA's call letters changed to KFAC in 1991, then to KQSC in 2004.

Ownership Changes

The KDB-AM-FM combo was split in November 1990 due to an ownership dispute. Pacific Broadcasting sold the AM station, then known as KSPE, to Spectacular Broadcasting for $302,000. Meanwhile, KDB-FM remained with Bob Scott, his son Roby, and Pool.

Non-profit status

Through the 1980s and 1990s, many commercial classical stations around the U.S. were sold and their formats changed to more mass-appeal musical genres; others, like WQXR-FM in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

WCRB WCRB (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Lowell, Massachusetts, which serves the Greater Boston area. It broadcasts European classical music, classical music. The station's studios are located in Brighton, Boston, Brighton, ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, were converted to non-profit status. In 2001, Michael Towbes, David Anderson, and Jean and Barry Schuyler bought KDB-FM with the goal of selling the station to a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that would keep the classical format and local orientation. This happened in November 2003, when the Santa Barbara Foundation purchased the station through a generous donation from Towbes. In 2010, KDB embarked on a three-year strategic plan to enhance and grow its service to the community with programming that enriched the lives of those who listen. KDB added a Features Producer who created two to three interviews and features per week on the performing, visual and literary arts, as well as the work of local nonprofit organizations. In 2011, KDB entered the world of social media, adding a monthly e-newsletter and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page. In October 2013, the Santa Barbara Foundation announced that it had put KDB up for sale. In a statement, the station said that it was unable to attract enough revenue from contributing listeners to support KDB's operations, despite an increase in membership revenue. The foundation hoped to sell the station at a discount to interests that would retain the classical format, citing the "continuing community benefit" of continuing this programming. However, the organization also considered full-price offers from groups that would program a format of their choosing, in which case the proceeds would go toward an endowment to support classical music in the area.

KCRW and KUSC ownership

In February 2014, public radio station

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

announced that it would buy KDB for $1 million; the sale price was amended to $1.3 million in June. The transaction would allow KCRW to shift its Santa Barbara broadcast coverage from a weak

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

to the full-powered 88.7 signal then licensed to KQSC. USC moved its classical music programming from 88.7 to KDB's 93.7 frequency, thus continuing KDB's role as Santa Barbara's classical station. On August 28, 2014, the sale was finalized and KDB began simulcasting KUSC's classical format. KCRW donated much of the KDB studio equipment to KBUU-LP, a startup community radio station in Malibu. The vintage 1990 broadcast board remains in continuous use at KBUU, with an old KDB logo and its baton-wielding penguin affixed.

References

External links

*
FCC History Cards for KDB (FM)
*
FCC Public Inspection File contour map
{{Santa Barbara Radio DB Classical music radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in California