KRBQ
rhythmic adult contemporary radio station in San Francisco
KRBQ (102.1 FM) is a classic hip hop radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, and owned by Audacy, Inc. The station transmits its signal from Mount Beacon atop the Marin Headlands above Sausalito, California, while studios are located in the KPIX-TV building in the North Beach district of San Francisco.
History
Classical KDFC (1948–2011)
The station had its inception on September 1, 1948 by station owner Ed Davis and programmed a classical music format as KDFC. It remained a classical station for most of its history, though at one point during the 1950s, it featured a beautiful music format. The station also simulcasted on KIBE, a daytime-only 5 kW AM station in Palo Alto, California that began broadcasting in 1949 from a transmitter near the western approach to the Dumbarton Bridge. It is now a news-talk station. It also had a booster station in Concord, which filled in coverage gaps caused by topography issues.
In 1993, Ed Davis' company Sundial Broadcasting sold the AM and FM to Brown Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for $15.5 Million. In 1996 BBC sold the FM station and AM simulcast sister station AM 1220 to Evergreen Media, who in turn sold the FM to Bonneville Broadcasting and the AM to Douglas Broadcasting.
In 1997, new station management transitioned KDFC's programming to a more mass-appeal approach, which boosted ratings significantly, though was occasionally criticized for their new "top 40 of classical music" approach.
Bill Leuth, who had done mornings on rival classical station KKHI-FM, moved to mornings at KDFC in 1997, and also contributed to the station's rise and shift from automation to live hosts.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “KRBQ” as rhythmic adult contemporary radio station in San Francisco. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as rhythmic adult contemporary radio station in San Francisco. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6339844. Authority coordinates are 37.851, -122.499. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 2011, 1949 and 1993.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “KRBQ”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow KRBQ primary sources, KRBQ archive and KRBQ research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “KRBQ”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “KRBQ” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.