KZDG

KZDG
Broadcast areaSan Francisco Bay Area
Frequency1550 kHz
BrandingRadio Zindagi
Programming
FormatSouth Asian
Ownership
Owner
  • Satish Chandra
  • (Factorial Broadcasting, LLC)
History
First air date
March 17, 1947
(77 years ago)
 (1947-03-17)
Former call signs
  • KHWA (1946)
  • KSMO (1946–1951)
  • KEAR (1952–1956)
  • KOBY (1956–1960)
  • KQBY (1960–1963)
  • KKHI (1963–1994)
  • KPIX (1994–1997)
  • KYCY (1997–2009)
  • KFRC (2009–2011)
  • KZDG (2011–2018)
  • KGMZ (2018–2022)
Call sign meaning
"Zindagi"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID25458
ClassB
Power10,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
37°31′59″N 122°16′27″W / 37.53306°N 122.27417°W / 37.53306; -122.27417
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websiteradiozindagi.com/sanfrancisco/

KZDG (1550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve San Francisco, California, and services the San Francisco Bay Area. Owned by Satish Chandra, through licensee Factorial Broadcasting, LLC, the station broadcasts a South Asian format known as "Radio Zindagi". Its transmitter facilities are located in the nearby suburb of Belmont. In addition to a standard analog transmission, KZDG is available online.

Established in 1947 at San Mateo as KSMO, the station ran into a turbulent history between 1951 and 1961 with a myriad of financial and labor union issues. As KKHI between 1961 and 1994, it and FM adjunct KKHI-FM 95.7 distinguished themselves as the commercial fine art/classical music voice for the Bay Area. Thereafter, the station underwent multiple format changes under subsequent owners Westinghouse Broadcasting, Infinity Broadcasting, CBS Radio, and Entercom (forerunner to Audacy, Inc.), including—as KYCY—becoming the first terrestrial radio station to devote the entire broadcast day to playing podcasts in 2005. Along with being a simulcast of KKHI-FM's successor, sports-formatted KGMZ-FM, the station—as KGMZ—carried Audacy's Channel Q service of LGBTQ-oriented talk and electronic dance from 2019 to 2021.

CBS Radio/Entercom originally leased out the station to Factorial Broadcasting from 2011 to 2018, where it carried a South Asian format under the "Radio Zindagi" name and KZDG calls. This format and call sign returned in January 2022 when Zindagi operator Factorial Broadcasting entered another lease arrangement, ultimately agreeing to purchase the station. Since KZDG's 1947 sign-on, the station's call sign has changed a total of eleven different times.

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KZDG". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.