KFRC (defunct) - Early History

Early History

The beginning of KFRC was largely due to the efforts of its first manager, Harrison Holliway. As a child, he was an amateur radio buff, and by 1920, he was operating his own amateur radio station, with the call sign 6BN. For a time, Harrison was on the air every day with 6BN, broadcasting record programs "for the sheer pleasure of it." He also worked as a part-time newspaper reporter, covering high school sporting news for the San Francisco Call.

Beginning in 1920, Holliway attended Stanford University. During the summer of 1924, Holliway was working at a radio shop called the Radio Art Corporation in San Francisco. A Western Electric salesman called on the owners, Jim Threlkeld and Thomas Catton, and sold them on the idea of starting a new radio station (and of course, buying a Western Electric transmitter). So, KFRC was born and Holliway became the manager.

KFRC went on the air on September 24, 1924 with speeches by local dignitaries, followed by a program with concert, symphony and dance orchestras. Although the signal was only 50 watts, reception proved exceptionally good. It was heard on the U.S. Atlantic Coast, and across the Pacific Ocean as far away as New Zealand.

In the following years, Holliway interviewed such personalities as baseball great Rogers Hornsby, French-Canadian heavyweight boxer Jack Renault, and actors William S. Hart, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and John Barrymore. Harry "Mac" McClintock who hosted a daily children's program, later wrote the hit song "Big Rock Candy Mountain."