KSTN (AM)
| City | |
|---|---|
| Branding | 105.9 The Bull |
| Frequency | 1420 kHz |
| Translator(s) | 105.9 K290AG (Stockton) |
| First air date | November 27, 1949 |
| Format | Country |
| Power | 5,000 watts day 1,000 watts night |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 58838 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°55′32″N 121°14′44″W / 37.92556°N 121.24556°W |
| Callsign meaning | K StockToN |
| Owner | Robert LaRue (KSTN, LLC) |
KSTN is an American radio station licensed as a Class B station broadcasting at 1420 kHz in , with a power of 5 kW daytime and 1 kW night time.
The station commenced broadcasting on November 27, 1949 at 6 AM. KSTN's first General Manager was Dave Greene and the original power was 100 watts. It was owned by the late Knox LaRue until his death on December 22, 2004. The current owner is Robert LaRue, through licensee KSTN, LLC.
The LaRues sold KSTN & KSTN-FM to Independence Media Holdings of Dallas, Texas, for $24.25 million in 2008. Due to the bad economy, the deal fell through.
The AM transmitter site is located at 2171 Ralph Avenue in Stockton, in a pasture adjacent to the station's studio and office complex.
At its inception, KSTN's programming was Big Band/Swing, with some Country western Music in the afternoons with Dusty Duncan as the host. Other early KSTN on-air personalities included Bud Hobbs, Bill Elliott and Paula Stone.
The station switched to a Top 40 format in 1957. In 1962, station owner Knox LaRue contracted with Top 40 radio programmer Bill Drake to program KSTN.
Upon leaving San Francisco's KYA in 1962, Bill Drake was hired to split time as program director of both KYNO in Fresno, and KSTN in Stockton, California.
KSTN owner Knox LaRue (December 18, 1922 – December 22, 2004) was a business partner with KYNO owner Gene Chenault in various ventures. They co-hired Drake upon the recommendation of Jane Swain, LaRue's general manager at KSTN, who had worked with Drake at WAKE in Atlanta. While the classic KMAK–KYNO battle of Fresno has been well documented, KSTN and LaRue are certainly owed their debt as well.
A pioneer of the Top 40 genre, LaRue built KSTN in 1949, and began playing the popular music of the day. As the rock era began, KSTN just stayed with it, providing a training ground for numerous talents. Among the audio exhibits on the ReelRadio.com site are the original deejay jingles from Drake's tenure at KSTN. These rare artifacts from his Stockton days are precursors to the Johnny Mann acapellas and Bill Drake-voiced jock intros and station IDs of the "Boss Radio" era. Other elements of the famed Drake format were also initiated and honed during his stint at KSTN in the early 1960s.
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