KOSC (89.9
FM) is a non-commercial
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...
licensed to
Angwin, California
Angwin is a census-designated place (CDP) in Napa County, California, best known as the site of Pacific Union College. It is part of the northern San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 3,051 at the 2010 census. Its area code is 707. Its t ...
, United States, and serving the
Santa Rosa area. The station broadcasts a
classical music format as a full-time simulcast of
KDFC
KDFC (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that broadcasts classical music 24 hours daily. It is owned by the University of Southern California. KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Symphony and the Sa ...
in San Francisco. It is owned by the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8. ...
. KDFC is the radio home of the
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fra ...
and the
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...
.
History
KANG went on the air in 1961 at 88.1 MHz, moving to 89.9 in January 1968. The station's call letters later changed to KPRN (1981 to 1983), KCDS (1983 to 1998), and KNDL (1998 to 2011).
Throughout most of this time, the frequency and station were owned by the Howell Mountain Broadcasting Company, then a subsidiary of
Pacific Union College
Pacific Union College (PUC) is a private liberal arts college in Angwin, California. It is the only four-year college in Napa County. It is a coeducational residential college with an almost exclusively undergraduate student body.
PUC is accredi ...
.
Howell Mountain operated the station as "user supported
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
" with no commercials. The station also broadcast on the Internet. The KNDL call letters represented the station branding as ''The Candle''. This is a reference to themes from the Bible such as "Jesus is the Light of the World", and "We should not hide that light, but should put our light where it is visible to the world."
On January 18, 2011, KNDL ceased operation of its
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
format upon the announcement of the purchase of the station by the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8. ...
's
Classical Public Radio Network
{{Update, date=January 2011
The Classical Public Radio Network was a national, 24-hour classical music service in the United States. Its mission was to preserve, enhance and expand experience of classical music for radio listeners. With this visio ...
. That same day, the group switched KNDL and its translators to a simulcast of KDFC in San Francisco, which moved to the
90.3 MHz signal also acquired by USC. On April 5, 2011, the deal closed, and KNDL officially changed its call sign to KDFC.
On May 1, 2017, the radio station swapped its call sign with 90.3 FM in San Francisco to become KOSC. The San Francisco station became KDFC.
Programming
KDFC broadcasts classical music 24 hours a day, and morning drive hours also feature short news and traffic updates by Hoyt Smith. Programming features include: the ''Big One @ 1'' at 1 p.m., the ''Island of Sanity'' at 5 p.m., and the ''Classical Giant at 10'' at 10pm. The San Francisco Symphony airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m.
KDFC's self-described approach to the classical format includes special programming and promotions such as the "KDFC World Tour" (the music of a different country, every hour); "History on Shuffle"; (fantasy
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
sets of famous people through history); and the "KDFC Classical Star Search" talent contest.
In addition to FM and
SHOUTcast MP3 streaming, KDFC was the first radio station in the country to broadcast in digital
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
, offering a secondary HD Radio channel, KDFC-2, featuring longer classical pieces and vocal works, without commercials on their former 102.1 FM frequency.
A multiple winner of the award for public service, KDFC is an active partner to arts groups and an active advocate for music education. Proceeds from the station's annual CD sampler, and the annual 'Music Educator of the Year' support and celebrate public school music programs.
Additional frequencies
In addition to KOSC, the programming of KDFC is transmitted by these stations and translators to widen its broadcast area.
*
KDFC
KDFC (90.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that broadcasts classical music 24 hours daily. It is owned by the University of Southern California. KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Symphony and the Sa ...
— 90.3 FM, licensed to
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
*
KXSC — 104.9 FM, licensed to
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California.
Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the no ...
*
KDFG
KDFG is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Seaside, California, broadcasting to the Santa Cruz- Carmel-Salinas, California, area on 103.9 FM. Owned by the University of Southern California, the station broadcasts a classical ...
— 103.9 FM, licensed to
Seaside, California
Seaside, formerly East Monterey, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, with a population of 32,366 as of the 2020 census. It is located east-northeast of Monterey, at an elevation of , and is the home of California State Unive ...
*
K212AA
K, or k, is the eleventh letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''kay'' (pronounced ), plural ''kays''. The letter K ...
— 90.3 FM, licensed to
Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of th ...
*
K223AJ
K, or k, is the eleventh letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''kay'' (pronounced ), plural ''kays''. The letter K ...
— 92.5 FM, licensed to
Lakeport, California
Lakeport is an incorporated city and the county seat of Lake County, California. This city is northwest of Sacramento. Lakeport is on the western shore of the county namesake, Clear Lake, at an elevation of . The population was 5,026 at the 202 ...
References
External links
*
*
{{NPR California
Classical music radio stations in the United States
Napa County, California
OSC
NPR member stations
Radio stations established in 1981
1981 establishments in California
University of Southern California