KSBR

KSBR

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City of license	Mission Viejo, California
Broadcast area	Orange County, California
Branding	Jazz-FM
Frequency	88.5 (MHz)
First air date	1975
Format	Jazz/Smooth Jazz /News
ERP	600 watts
HAAT	183 meters
Class	A
Callsign meaning	K SaddleBack College Radio
Owner	Saddleback Community College
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	www.ksbr.net

KSBR is a non-commercial radio station in Mission Viejo, California, broadcasting to the Orange County, California, area on 88.5 FM. KSBR airs a jazz music and smooth jazz format branded as "Jazz-FM" along with news programming.

History

KSBR signed on in 1975 as a Class D, 10-watt student-run station and a limited coverage area of only a few miles from the campus of Saddleback Community College. In 1979, with grants from CPB and NTIA, the signal was upgraded to a Class A, covering most of Orange County and the station signed on as Orange County's first National Public Radio affiliate with a mix of professional and student broadcasters. The program schedule at first employed an eclectic, free-form mix of rock music, drama and locally produced talk shows but, with a growing news and public affairs emphasis and a switch to an all jazz and smooth jazz format, the station gained critical recognition and a growing audience.

Budget cuts in 1984 returned KSBR to a student-run operation, most of the professional staff was laid off and the NPR membership was discontinued but the strong emphasis on jazz and public affairs continued.

The call letters were previously used by an FM station in San Bruno, California, which operated at 100.5 megahertz, from 1947 to 1959. The station was owned and operated by Eitel-McCullough, which moved to San Carlos, California in 1959 and merged with Varian Associates in 1965.

See also

• List of Jazz Radio Stations in the USA

External links

• Official Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KSBR
• Radio-Locator information on KSBR
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KSBR