The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had given a construction permit for KSFR on September 20, 1957, to H. Alan Levitt, who owned a San Francisco record shop.

Levitt was general manager and a chief announcer, known primarily for hosting "The Wolfgang" (a program devoted to early classical music) and for producing his own distinctive commercials.

Metromedia, the fourth largest broadcasting company in the nation, after NBC, CBS and ABC, also bought San Francisco station KEWB 910 AM, renamed KNEW, to be similar to its WNEW in New York.

Metromedia continued the classical music format for a couple of years, producing a special series of programs honoring conductor Arturo Toscanini during the 1967 centennial of his birth.

KMPX and KPPC owner Leon Crosby refused to cave in to his striking staff, and brought in replacements at both stations to continue the progressive rock format.

Several popular rock bands — including The Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead — insisted that the station not play their music, in a show of support to the picketers.

Hosted by Stefan Ponek, the four-hour show fielded calls from a range of people who attended the event and a few who helped organize it, including Rolling Stones personnel and members of the Hells Angels.

[9] When the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst, they used KPFA, a listener sponsored radio station in Berkeley to communicate their message and demands, via cassette tapes.

[14] Under the country format, KSAN thrived as a ratings leader thanks to Program Director Bob Hamilton, and then Lee Logan, Operations Manager from 1987 to 1994, and Head of Programming/West Coast for Malrite.

Just before midnight on July 3, 1997, air personality Rick Neal played "The Dance" by Garth Brooks as the last song of the country format on KSAN.

In 1993, a story was circulating that President Bill Clinton tied up traffic on an LAX runway for over an hour while getting a haircut on Air Force One from the hairstylist Cristophe.

KYLD's morning DJ Mancow Muller staged a parody of the incident on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge during rush hour.

As a result of this stunt, Muller was not only fired from the station, but prosecuted and subsequently convicted of a felony by a San Francisco Municipal Court.

[17] After Muller's departure, KYLD replaced his program with yet another successful—and yet later, another controversial—morning show, The Dog House, hosted by JV (Jeff Vandergrift) and Elvis (Dan Lay).

One stunt in particular had members of the show dressed up as escaped inmates (and law enforcement officials to fine them for the prank and endangering the public) and causing a walkout at a San Jose high school.

The final blow for The Dog House occurred on April 21, 2005, when station management terminated the show after its hosts made offensive remarks about two female members of the San Francisco Renegades Drum and Bugle Corps.

The band's members, Lisa Johnson and Robin Kinoshita, were at the station to promote an annual fundraiser when JV and Elvis allegedly made lewd remarks towards them.

In reality, the reference was a pun, and chicken breasts from KFC were awarded to the contest winner, who was not impressed and filed a complaint against the station.