The Short Life of KLX-FM (1948-55)
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 LEFT: KLX-FM went on the air in 1948 from this 90 foot antenna atop the Tribune Tower building. RIGHT TOP: Chief engineer Roswell Smith sits at the new KLX-FM control console. RIGHT BOTTOM: Roswell Smith and Genney Nelson examine a tube from the new FM transmitter. |
KLX-FM
debuted on May 3, 1948. It broadcast an 18-hour schedule each
day, duplicating the KLX AM programs with 20,000 watts at 101.3 MHz on
the FM band. But FM radio in the 1950s was not successful venture
for most stations. Like many other FM stations of the time,
KLX-FM went off the air in 1955 and the license was voluntarily
cancelled by the FCC. In 1957, Stanford students James
Gabbert and Gary Gielow received a license for the vacant KLX-FM
frequency, and their station went on the air from Atherton as KPEN-FM
(now KIOI).