KFAX

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KFAX (1100 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, and heard across the Bay Area. Since 1984 it has been owned by Salem Media Group and airs Christian teaching and talk programs. The studios are in Fremont, with the transmitter located in Hayward near the San Mateo–Hayward Bridge.

KFAX runs at 50,000 watts, the maximum for AM stations, but because 1100 AM is a clear-channel frequency shared with WTAM in Cleveland, KFAX uses a directional antenna to avoid interference and sends most of its signal westward. It’s the most powerful Christian-formatted AM station west of the Mississippi.

History highlights:
- The station began in 1925 as KFUQ and first aired on January 3, 1925.
- It later changed to KJBS and moved through various formats and powers in its early years.
- In the 1940s, it was assigned to 1100 kHz, sharing time with WTAM, which required it to go off air at local sunset and return after WTAM signed off in the east.
- In 1959 it received a permit to increase daytime power to 50,000 watts, leading to a unique schedule: daytime with a four-tower directional array from Hayward, and late at night from a 1,000-watt Pine Street transmitter.
- In 1960 the call sign became KFAX and the station adopted the first all-news format in the United States, though this format was short-lived. It later switched to a religious format.
- By 1977 KFAX operated with 50,000 watts full-time using a directional array. In 1984 it was sold to Salem Media Group.

Programming includes Dr. Charles Stanley, Jay Sekulow, and Life! Line with Craig Roberts, noted as the Bay Area’s longest-running conservative talk show.

Sister stations are KDIA, KDOW, KDYA, and KTRB. KFAX is a Class B station on 1100 kHz.