Broadcast Legends Celebrate
Media Pioneer James Gabbert
At September 20 Luncheon Event

Legends James Gabbert and Terry Lowry
Broadcast Legend and local media
pioneer James Gabbert was the guest of honor at the
quarterly Broadcast Legends Luncheon on Thursday, September 20, 2007, at the
DoubleTree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center on the Berkeley Marina.
The event celebrated Mr. Gabbert's
more than fifty years in broadcasting, which began as a teenager in Costa Rica
and flourished with his co-founding of Atherton-based KPEN
(101.3 FM) in 1957 while pursuing his degree in Electrical Engineering at
Stanford. Under Mr. Gabbert's direction, the small station was at the forefront
of high-fidelity sound, becoming the first station west of the Mississippi to
transmit in multiplex stereo in August 1961.
Transplanted to San Francisco from the Peninsula, KPEN became
KIOI ("K-101") in December 1968, and rose to even greater popularity.
In 1974, Mr. Gabbert purchased the San
Francisco radio station KSAY (1010 AM), which he
turned into KIQI. He sold K-101 FM in 1980 for
$12-million, a record at the time for an individual FM station, and later
purchased KOFY (1050 AM),
KEMO-TV (Channel 20) and KHIT (98.9 FM), all
of which became branded with the distinctive "KOFY" call letters under his
ownership.
While
still in command of the KOFY cluster, he bought the foundering
KDIA (1310 AM), once an institution among Soul Music stations, in attempt
to restore it to its former glory. After two years at the helm, Mr. Gabbert sold
KDIA to
ABC Radio, which made the station its local "Radio
Disney" affiliate as KMKY.
With his comfortable conversational
style and broad knowledge of people, places and events, Mr. Gabbert remains a
popular fixture on the air at KGO (810 AM) as an
occasional substitute for the station's regular talk show hosts. (You may also
hear some of his early KPEN broadcasts on the
Bay Area Radio
Museum's website.)
Mr. Gabbert shared stories and
photographs spanning his life and career, and included video of a special
edition of the popular "TV20 Dance Party" that he
hosted with Dick Clark.
The event concluded with the induction
of Mr. Gabbert into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame as a member of the initial
class of honorees, which was accompanied by a rousing standing ovation from the
appreciative crowd.
View Robert Mohr's photos from the
Broadcast Legends' Salute To James Gabbert.
Photographs courtesy of Dave Billeci