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1970's & 1980's

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In 1975, KFBK made the switch from music and news to news and talk. Originally, much of the news was delivered nationally, through the station’s affiliation with the NBC Radio Network.  When NBC began cutting back on the hours of news broadcast, KFBK entered the talk radio world with talks shows including 'Talk of The Town'.  Within a few years, KFBK settled on the news and talk format still in use today, with news blocks in the morning and afternoon time periods, and talk show programming for the rest of the day.  

In the mid-1980’s, federal rules about ownership of multiple media outlets in the same market changed, forcing the McClatchy Company (as owners of The Sacramento Bee) to sell KFBK to the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company.  KFBK joined a family of legendary radio stations, including KDKA, the oldest licensed commercial radio station in the United States, and other ‘first stations’ and major market news talk stations WINS (New York), WBZ (Boston), KYW (Philadelphia), WMAQ (Chicago) and KFWB (Los Angeles).

Also in the 1980’s, KFBK’s talk show style evolved, with the hiring of a controversial talk host named Morton Downey, Jr.  Not yet nationally famous (as he later would be), his confrontational style created a large audience from his ‘love to hate him’ style of talk.  Downey was let go from the station in 1984, and replaced with a brand new, and a previously unknown radio host named Rush Limbaugh.

In March of 1972, KFBK launched the "Eye in the Sky" traffic reports incorporating air traffic reporters. The first airborne traffic reporter for KFBK was Bill Black. In 1980, USAF Colonel Bill Eveland was hired as 'Commander Bill' to provide airborne traffic reports during both the morning and afternoon commutes from Newsflight One. In the early 1990's, Joe Miano joined from another Sacramento radio station, for even more up-to-date traffic reports from Newsflight Two.

In October of 1984, the station debuted new talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who quickly achieved notoriety by declaring himself as ‘famous talk show host Rush Limbaugh’ in local endorsement advertising. Through his combination of humor and political commentary on air, he quickly became well-known around Northern California, and soon nation-wide." Less than four years later, Limbaugh was offered a nationally syndicated talk show program for 2 hours, with a special third hour for just KFBK to fill the rest of his prior three-hour time slot on the station.  Within a few months, the show expanded to three hours nationally, at the request of stations carrying the program.

IN THE NEWS

1972

Ferrell's Ice Cream parlor airplane crash

1973

Roseville Railyards explosions

1975

KFBK format changes to all news

1975

Squeaky Fromme attempts to shoot President Ford in Capitol Park

1976

The last Sacramento Solons game

1978

Blecher-Freeman murders on Yolo Causeway

1980

Harvey's Hotel Bombing in Lake Tahoe

1981

A West Sacramento man is part of the 44 hostages released in Iran

1982

B-52 crashes on takeoff from Mather AFB

1985

The Sacramento Kings start their move from Kansas City

1986

The 200-year flood almost overtops the American River levees

1987

Sacramento Regional Transit launches the light rail system

1988

Dorothea Puente mass murders

1988

Candi Talarico kidnapping and safe recovery six weeks later

1989

Cleveland Elementary School shooting that becomes known as the nation's first, and largest, mass school shooting until Columbine ten years later

1989

Rancho Seco closure

1989

Loma Prieta earthquake

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