San Francisco Unified School District’s Public News/Talk/AAA 91.7 KALW San Francisco has unveiled a number of new initiatives as part of its 80th anniversary.
Credited as the first FM license to launch west of the Mississippi in 1941, KALW has announced that operations of the station have been transferred to a new nonprofit KALW Public Media. The school district will continue to own the station’s license, however the nonprofit that was formed in 2019 began managing the station for eight years starting December 8, 2020. KALW says the deal will allow the station more operations discretion and fundraising control.
KALW will debut a new weeknight block of electic music from 8pm-12am on July 19. In partnership with Oakland’s 25th Street Recording, Wonway Posibul will host from 8-10pm with a focus on local artists, while DJ Umami, >King Most, LadyRyan, J Boogie, and Margarita Azucar will rotate in the 10pm-12am slot.
KALW also debuted a new logo set today designed by design agency COLLINS.
KALW, the first FM station west of the Mississippi River, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, and with that milestone launches several exciting new initiatives. These include new music programming, a new broadcast studio at 25th Street Recording in Oakland, a new visual identity, a new non-profit status, as well as the development of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Impact Tracker.
KALW has long been a home for music discovery in the Bay Area with its long-running programs such as Tangents, Africa Mix, Music From Other Minds, Folk Music and Beyond, and Revolutions Per Minute. On July 19th, KALW will expand its music programming with the introduction of a new weeknight block of eclectic music from 8pm to midnight, featuring six new music programmers broadcasting from 25th Street Recording in Oakland.
In a new collaborative partnership with 25th Street Recording, KALW@25thStreet will introduce a team of new music programmers to reflect and serve additional and diverse listeners. The station seeks to deepen its commitment as an essential destination for music discovery and to serve Bay Area music lovers. KALW@25thStreet will also serve as a broadcast facility, an East Bay home, and a venue to feature artists and creatives in live performance and intimate interviews.
KALW’s new DJ lineup will spin an eclectic mix of Bay Area-focused music at KALW@25thStreet, anchored by Wonway Posibul, from 8pm to 10pm, Monday through Friday. The 10 pm to midnight slot on weeknights will feature a rotating roster of exciting Bay Area DJs: DJ Umami, King Most, LadyRyan, J Boogie, and Margarita Azucar.
“We’ve been breaking new ground for decades, from our music programming to our news reporting to our training programs. After 80 years in service to this community, KALW is focused on creating the next generation of public media, bringing new voices to the air and reaching out in a dedicated way to the diverse communities of the Bay Area,” explains KALW General Manager Tina Pamintuan. “As we look ahead, I believe KALW can bring in a public media listening audience that is truly reflective of the Bay Area and our increasingly diverse country, cultivating audiences and generations that public media hasn’t reached.”
Part of KALW’s commitment to a more inclusive and equitable public media includes the development of an Impact Tracker tool for its newsroom, which will track in real time the station’s performance and impact on DEI issues. The Impact Tracker will document whose voices KALW brings to the air — who is reporting, editing and featured in its stories — and how the communities the station serves are engaging with this reporting.
Beginning July 8th, as a kickoff of its 80th Anniversary, KALW Public Media will debut a new brand identity. The look and feel has been developed — pro bono — by the renowned design agency COLLINS. To honor the station’s history of innovation, the new identity is at once bold and complex. It is the latest local branding project undertaken by COLLINS, which also developed the new identities for SF Symphony and the East Cut neighborhorhood, as well as Match.com, Mailchimp and other Bay Area icons. As part of the rebranding effort, KALW will also partner with Bay Shooters for a photo contest that celebrates the spirit of the Bay Area. The work of five local photographers will be selected and featured in the station’s 80th Anniversary marketing campaign.
To prepare for the next 80 years, KALW formed a new nonprofit entity (KALW Public Media) in 2019 and entered into a Public Service Operating Agreement with the San Francisco Unified School District, to allow the station more operational discretion and fundraising control. This Agreement was entered into on December 8th, 2020, is valid for eight years, and renewable for an additional term with both parties’ consent. KALW Public Media received its tax-exempt IRS designation in June 2020. Although day to day operatIons will be handled by the new nonprofit, SFUSD will still hold the original non-commercial broadcast license.