Monday, June 6, 2016

SF Radio: KOSF 103.7 FM Goes Totally ’80s

iHeartMedia today announced the launch of iHeart80s in San Francisco. The all new ‘80s dedicated station will feature music from the most beloved icons of the decade including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran and more.

iHeart80s is a broadcast extension of the popular iHeart80s Radio station on iHeartRadio, the all-in-one streaming music and live digital radio service. iHeart80s kicked off at noon on 103.7 KOSF FM in San Francisco with eight days of commercial-free programming.

On the ninth day, June 14, Martha Quinn, queen of ’80s MTV video jocks, will become the morning host. Quinn will do her show from her home studio in Los Angeles for exclusive use on KOSF.

“I love everything about music from the ‘80s, and I’m psyched to relive the excitement of my favorite decade every morning with San Francisco’s ‘80s fans of all ages,” said Quinn. “This influential decade obviously holds a very special place in my heart, and every day I hear from people who remind me that I’m not the only one. Hosting the first iHeart80s Party earlier this year was a total blast, I knew I had to be involved with the launch of this trailblazing new station. Every day will be a boombox of awesome.”

Martha Quinn
iHeart80s began as an iHeartRadio original digital-only station that gained instant popularity as one of the most listened-to stations on the platform. The ’80s ranks as one of the most important American decades in terms of influencing today’s pop culture, and Millennials, 44 million of whom were born in the ’80s, are increasingly rediscovering the decade. In February, iHeartMedia held its first-ever iHeart80s Party, hosted by Quinn, which celebrated the unforgettable decade with performances by ‘80s superstars Tears For Fears, Culture Club, Billy Idol, Missing Persons, Rick Springfield, Loverboy and more.

“Following the major success of our iHeart80s Party, which sold out in minutes, we can certainly confirm that the ‘80s are having a moment, and iHeartRadio is celebrating the success of its resurgence,” said Don Parker, SVP/Programming, San Francisco Region for iHeartMedia.

“iHeartRadio has an unparalleled ability to connect with its audience through a variety of great music and top-billed live events like the iHeart80s Party. When we were discussing creating the first iHeart80s-branded FM station, we knew that San Francisco would be the perfect place for it to launch, and that Martha Quinn was the only person we wanted to launch it with.”

“We’re thrilled to be the first station in the U.S. to give listeners a 24/7 celebration of such an iconic decade as the ‘80s,” said Katie Wilcox, Market President for iHeartMedia San Francisco. “As the popularity of the music of the ’80s increases, the introduction of iHeart80s here in San Francisco shows our commitment to our listeners as well as to music variety. iHeart80s is undoubtedly going to be a popular addition to our line-up of exceptional stations.”

Following Quinn in the morning starting June 14 will be Christie James, who will come over from sister station 98.1 Kiss-FM, which recently switched from rhythmic oldies to rebrand itself as the Breeze, playing relaxing hits. Morris Knight, also a Kiss alumnus, will do afternoon drive with KOSF host Ron Michaels moving from afternoon to evening.

KOSF 103.7 FM (6.4 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area
The target audience will be adults ages 35 to 54. “That was the last generation where Top 40 radio played all different types of music,” Parker said. “After the ’80s, everything got splintered into niches.”

1 comment:

  1. ... "the first station in the U.S. to give listeners a 24/7 celebration of such an iconic decade as the ‘80s".

    I guess KRKE in Albuquerque from May 2014 through Septmeber 2015, which I programmed as "The Eighties Channel" doesn't count as "first" when you're great big iHeart.

    Nor does it count that Cumulus, based on KRKE's success, flipped KABQ-FM in that same market to all-80s a month before KOSF.

    Guess it's okay to lie in your media statements when you're iHeart.

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