KDFC San Francisco is one of the country's oldest and most listened-to classical radio stations. Until the beginning of 2011, it was a commercial station – a rare thing among classical stations.

KDFC had a strong transmitter with an antenna on top of a large hill in San Francisco, so it reached the entire San Francisco Bay area. Although it had a healthy audience size, its advertising revenue was not as high as its parent company wanted, so the company decided to switch the frequency – 102.1 – to a rock format. (How’s that for thinking outside the box?)

The switch occurred at the beginning of 2011 and KDFC moved to several other frequencies lower on the FM dial, with much weaker transmitters and shorter antennas at lower elevations. Large areas that could formerly receive KDFC over the air could no longer receive KDFC that way. In June of 2012, KDFC acquired the 104.9 frequency that restored their coverage to large areas of the South Bay.

Also at the beginning of 2011, KDFC became a non-commercial, listener-supported station.

KDFC is known for its less formal approach to the classical format, with its motto “Casual Comfortable Classical”, which may help explain its wide appeal.

Perhaps needless to say, this is a precarious time for classical music broadcasting. To support the station, go to their website: http://www.kdfc.com.


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