KPFA

KPFA (94.1 FM) is a public, listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on the air April 15, 1949,^[4] as the first Pacifica Radio station and remains the flagship station of the Pacifica Radio Network.

KPFA

Berkeley, California United States
Broadcast area	San Francisco Bay Area
Frequency	94.1 MHz
Branding	Pacifica Radio
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	Free-form Progressive
Affiliations	Pacifica Radio Network
Ownership
Owner	Pacifica Foundation
History
First air date	April 15, 1949 (75 years ago) (1949-04-15)[1]
Call sign meaning	Pacifica
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	51246
Class	B
ERP	59,000 watts horizontal only
HAAT	405 meters (1,329 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	37°51′54.7″N 122°13′15.8″W
Translator(s)	94.3 MHz K232FZ (Monterey)
Repeater(s)	94.1 MHz KPFA-FM3 (Oakley)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	kpfa.org
Satellite station
KPFB
Berkeley, California United States
Frequency	89.3 MHz
Ownership
Owner	Pacifica Foundation
Technical information[3]
Facility ID	51243
Class	A
ERP	4,600
HAAT	72 meters (236 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	37°52′19.7″N 122°16′21.8″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

The station's studios are located in Downtown Berkeley, and its transmitter site is located in the Berkeley Hills.

History

Launched in 1949, three years after the Pacifica Foundation was created by pacifist Lewis Hill, KPFA became the first station in the Pacifica Radio network and the first listener-supported radio broadcaster in the United States.^[1][5][6] Previously, non-commercial stations were licensed only to serve educational functions as extensions of high schools, colleges, and universities. This departure into listener-oriented programming brought many detractors as KPFA aired controversial programming. The first interview with anyone from the gay political movement was broadcast by KPFA, as well as Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl in the 1950s. In 1954 the broadcast by a group of marijuana reform advocates extolling the pleasures of cannabis resulted in the tape being impounded by the California Attorney General. In the 1960s KPFA and Pacifica were accused of being controlled by the Communist Party, and several challenges to its license were waged, none of them successful.

KPFA was the first station to broadcast a radio show specializing in space music, with the debut of Stephen Hill and Anna Turner's Music from the Hearts of Space in 1973. Ten years later, the show – now known by the shorter title Hearts of Space – was syndicated in the U.S. to NPR stations, while remaining at its first home at KPFA.

In the 1970s and 1980s, it broadcast a weekly long-running radio program called Fruit Punch for gay and lesbian listeners.^[7]

Since 1981, the station is known for airing the pioneering culture jamming sound collage show Over the Edge. Originally hosted by Don Joyce of Negativland, it is the longest-running block of free-form audio collage in radio history.^[8]

KPFA is also known for Puzzling Evidence, the longest running radio program of the Church of the Subgenius hosted by Doug Wellman and Harry S. Robins. The program was the inspiration for the Talking Heads song of the same name from the band's film True Stories.

Labor disputes

In 1999 the station was effectively taken over by KPFA's governing Pacifica Foundation, after Dennis Bernstein, the long-established host of the station's Flashpoints news magazine, was forcibly removed by police for airing grievances on air over a labor dispute.^[9][10][11] A broad cross section of protesters joined in direct action outside of the station^{[12][13][14][15][16]} in a weeks-long lockout during which station management spent over half a million dollars on security measures.^[17] At one point, listeners created a separate fund to accept listener pledges that would be directed away from the Pacifica Foundation.^[18]

In 2007, KPFA derecognized its Unpaid Staff Organization. The staff claimed that Pacifica Radio had been making network more corporate, softening its voice of dissent, and attempting to get rid of some of the volunteers at the station. In 2008, a forcible removal by police of a KPFA volunteer highlighted the concerns between management and volunteer staff.^[19]

A member of the KPFA board suggested that it was problematic that there was no grievance procedure for unpaid staff at the station.^[20]

In November 2010, the management of Pacifica laid off most of the staff of the popular KPFA Morning Show. The union representing the paid staff of KPFA claims that the lay offs were done in violation of the union contract.^[21] Pacifica management says the lay offs were financially necessary and done according to staff seniority.^[22] Pacifica management replaced the paid staff of the Morning Show with an all volunteer crew.^[23]

Affiliated stations

KPFA's sister stations are WBAI New York, KPFT Houston, KPFK Los Angeles, and WPFW Washington. Pacifica continues today to be a listener-supported network of stations. The main KPFA transmitter is a 59 kilowatt class B, though there is a booster KPFA-FM3 in Oakley. KPFB 89.3 is a smaller station, also in Berkeley, that covers areas of Berkeley that are shielded from the main KPFA signal by the Berkeley Hills. It also carries some separate programming specifically for its Berkeley audience. KPFA programs are also rebroadcast by KFCF in Fresno. KZFR in Chico also carries KPFA's programming from 2:00-6:00 a.m. daily. KZSC Santa Cruz simultaneously broadcasts KPFA's Pacifica Evening News on weeknights. In the Bay Area, Comcast carries KPFA's broadcasts on cable channel 967, as part of its digital radio offering. The channel is labeled "Variety/Berkeley".

See also

• San Francisco Bay Area portal
• Liberalism portal
• Politics portal
• Radio portal
• Socialism portal

• Aimee Allison
• Charles Amirkhanian
• Larry Bensky
• Pratap Chatterjee
• Laurie Garrett
• Adi Gevins
• Matt Gonzalez
• Doug Henwood
• Don Joyce
• Pauline Kael
• Ramsey Kanaan
• William Mandel
• Richard Pryor
• Kenneth Rexroth
• Nicole Sawaya
• Bonnie Simmons
• Elsa Knight Thompson
• Alan Watts
• Negativland
• Over the Edge

References

1. Lasar, Matthew (2006). Uneasy Listening: Pacifica Radio's Civil War. Black Apollo Press. p. 117. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
2. "Facility Technical Data for KPFA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
3. "Facility Technical Data for KPFB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
4. "The History of KPFA". KPFA Official Website. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
5. Swanson-Hurley, Matt. "Pacifica Remembers Its Pacifist Roots", Pacifica Network. May 26, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
6. "History of Pacifica Radio Archives", Pacifica Radio Archives. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
7. Woolhouse, Bob (December 18, 1986). "Spiking Up Fruit Punch". Bay Area Reporter. Vol. 16, no. 51. p. 30. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
8. "Over the Edge Radio - Internet Archive". Retrieved October 25, 2023.
9. Henry K. Lee (July 14, 1999). "KPFA Broadcaster Dragged Away From Studio: Police arrest supporters of program host". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
10. Charles Burress (July 15, 1999). "Battleground at KPFA -- Employees Locked Out: Hundreds of fans protest changes at Berkeley radio station". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
11. Charles Burress, Janine DeFao (July 16, 1999). "Legislators Step Into KPFA Clamor: Hearing demanded as protesters besiege Berkeley station a third night". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
12. Michael Taylor (July 17, 1999). "Berkeley Gets Radical Over KPFA Lockout: Anyone with a cause welcome to protest". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
13. Julie Chao (July 29, 1999). "KPFA's owners reopening station in "goodwill gesture': Pacifica Foundation to take 6-12 month management hiatus". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
14. Dan Fost (July 29, 1999). "Silenced KPFA Dissidents Put Out the Rallying Cry in Cyberspace: Back in the '60s, it was mimeographs -- today, you just log on". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
15. Jim Herron Zamora, Larry D. Hatfield and Julie Chao (July 30, 1999). "KPFA olive branch sparks mass confusion: Station tells workers to return, but protesters want offer in writing". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
16. Robert Selna (August 3, 1999). "KPFA transmitter still off-limits to staff: Employees return, but tower continues to broadcast signal from Houston". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
17. Debra Levi Holtz (September 8, 1999). "Nearly $500,000 Spent During KPFA Lockout". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
18. Debra Levi Holtz (October 19, 1999). "KPFA Fans Create Separate Fund". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
19. Leslie Fulbright (September 2, 2008). "Tension high at KPFA after volunteer arrested". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
20. Judith Scherr (September 4, 2008). "Rough Arrest at KPFA Stuns Station, Community". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
21. David Bacon (November 18, 2010). "Behind the Layoffs at KPFA Radio". Labor Education and Research Project. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
22. Arlene Engelhardt (December 3, 2010). "Update regarding KPFA budget crisis and staff reductions". Pacifica Foundation. Archived from the original on January 1, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
23. "Pacifica replaces union workers with political allies". KPFA Worker. December 19, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2012.

Further reading

• Lasar, Matthew (April 2000). Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network. American Subjects Series. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-777-4. Archived from the original on June 14, 2006. Retrieved June 7, 2006.
• Lasar, Matthew (January 2006). Uneasy Listening: Pacifica Radio's Civil War. Black Apollo Press. ISBN 1-90035-545-0.
• Walker, Jesse (September 2001). Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America. NYU Press. ISBN 0-81479-381-9.
• Pacifica Radio Archives
• The Lengthening Shadow: Lewis Hill and the Origins of Listener-Sponsored Radio in America

External links

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 51246 (KPFA) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KPFA in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
• Facility details for Facility ID 51243 (KPFB) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KPFB in Nielsen Audio's FM station database