KRAC (1370 AM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 ...

broadcasting a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. Licensed to

Red Bluff, California Red Bluff is a city in and the county seat of Tehama County, California, United States. Its population was 14,710 at the 2020 census, up from 14,076 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is located north of Sacramento, California ...

, it serves

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, including Redding. It is owned by the Independence Rock Media Group. By day, KRAC is powered at 4,000

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, using a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a two-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. At night, to prevent interference with other stations on

1370 AM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1370 kHz: 1370 AM is a regional broadcast frequency, on which Class B and D stations broadcast. Argentina * LRA 54 in Ingeniero Jacobacci, Rio Negro ...

, it reduces power to 200 watts.

History

KQCY

The station

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 on . Its original

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 ...

was KQCY and its

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

was Quincy. It called itself "K-Quincy". The FCC granted the license for the 1370 AM frequency for daytime operation only at 500 watts. It had to protect the signal of

KEEN Keen, Keen's, or Keens may refer to: People * Keen (surname) * Thomas Keens (1870-1953), British politician Music and song * "Keen" (song), a single by That Petrol Emotion * Keen Records, American record label * Keening, traditional Irish la ...

in San Jose, which is a 5,000 watt station also on 1370. KQCY was allowed to sign on at 6 a.m., but had to

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

at sunset to avoid interference. In winter, that meant the station went off the air at 4:45 p.m. KQCY originally used a modified RCA transmitter that had been used on a naval ship during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The studios and transmitter were located in East Quincy behind a bowling alley.

KPCO

In the late 1960s, the

call letters 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

were changed to KPCO, calling itself "K-

Plumas County Plumas County () is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 19,790. The county seat is Quincy, and the only incorporated city is Portola. The largest comm ...

." In 1976, the station moved to new state of the art studios in downtown Quincy. The signal got an upgrade, now using a new 5,000 watt transmitter, installed at the old site. From 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.,

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

Andy Anderson, who was also Quincy’s fire chief, hosted a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

program. The rest of the day, it was programmed by Stan Castles who had radio experience in Texas. KPCO became a popular

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

radio station. By the late 1970s, KPCO switched to a middle of the road (MOR) format of popular adult music. KPCO was also an important source for daily news in Plumas County. A half-hour local newscast was broadcast each weekday morning from 8:00 to 8:30, with a live call-in talk show “People's Dialogue” from 8:30 to 9:00. There were hourly newscasts throughout the day with extended newscasts at noon and 4 p.m.

News director A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, ...

s included Tom Guarino and Dan Adams, who went on to

KHSL-TV KHSL-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Chico, California, United States, serving the Chico–Redding, California, Redding area as an affiliate of CBS and The CW Plus. It is owned by Allen Media Group in common operation with KNVN (chan ...

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 United Sta ...

and eventually on to

KXTV KXTV (channel 10) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Broadway, just south of US 50 at the south edge of downtown Sacramento, and its tr ...

, News10 in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

for 27 years. In the early 1980s, KPCO was granted a license to broadcast full-time with limited power at night.''Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1993'' page B-44. Retrieved Feb. 24, 2025.
/ref> Its commitment to Plumas County expanded as its signal strength increased to include much of the county. In the 1990s, longtime owner Ralph Wittick sold KPCO.

KRAC

As other radio stations signed on the air in Plumas County, KPCO was no longer the only choice. By the late 1990s, KPCO abandoned music programming and adopted a

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

show format. After a series of changes in ownership, KPCO went

off the air In broadcasting, a dark television station or silent radio station is one that has gone off the air for an indefinite period of time. Usually unlike dead air (broadcasting only silence), a station that is dark or silent does not even transmit a ...

. According to FCC records, the station went temporarily silent in 2007 due to financial problems. The station went back on the air under the ownership of the Independence Rock Media Group. The station moved its studios and transmitter to Red Bluff and it changed its call sign to KRAC on August 28, 2009.

Popular culture

"KRAC" was referenced in the June 21, 2007 episode of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'' is an American comedy-drama television series created for NBC and primarily written by Aaron Sorkin. The series was about the production of a live comedy series similar to ''Saturday Night Live''. Produced by ...

'' as being a talk radio station with a pair of

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

morning hosts. At the time, "KRAC" represented a non-existent station, more than two years before that radio call sign would be used by 1370 AM in Northern California.

References

External links

{{Red Bluff Radio

RAC RAC or Rac may refer to: Organizations * Radio Amateurs of Canada * RATCH-Australia Corporation, electricity generator * Refugee Action Collective (Victoria), Melbourne, Australia * Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, US * Rent-A-Cent ...

Radio stations established in 1963 1963 establishments in California