This video montage highlights how radio presentation has changed over the decades. At one time during the sixties and seventies,
radio content was shaped more by the jocks themselves than behind the scenes marketing people. KZAP's first Music Director Jeff
Hughson explains the early days of KZAP when jocks were allowed to play whatever they wanted, including long classical pieces
mixed with rock.
Tom Buck, whose voice was heard on KGMS and other local stations, talks about how he had worked at KXOA FM, which
called itself "Earth Rock Radio" prior to KSFM using the "Earth Radio"moniker starting in 1974. Don Wright had programmed KXOA FM
and brought the concept to Steve Rosetta's station KSFM. To avoid trademark issues, he left out the word "rock."
Meanwhile, in 1974 KXOA FM began branding itself as "K108," calling its format "mellow rock."
Dennis Newhall, who worked on air at KZAP then programmed Earth Radio, talks about how both stations based segues on music flow,
as opposed to specific rules shaped by market research. Eventually, many radio stations all over America were programmed by
national consultants, who used market research to determine playlists, with less attention paid to music flow.
In many ways this remains a primary defining difference between independently-owned stations prior to the 1980s and corporate
stations of the post-1970s era. KROY morning man Tony Cox adds that radio had more of a purpose and community connection in its
heyday.
