KZSB is a commercial radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 located in Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

. The station airs local news and talk, mainly from news reports of the Santa Barbara News-Press

Santa Barbara News-Press

The Santa Barbara News-Press is a broadsheet newspaper based in Santa Barbara, California.-History:The News-Press asserts it is the oldest daily newspaper in Southern California, publishing since 1855...

. It also airs BBC World Service

BBC World Service

The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...

 reports at the top of each hour.

Previously, the station aired a nostalgia

Nostalgia

The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...

 format and was owned by Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart

George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...

 before being sold to Santa Barbara Broadcasting, Inc. and adopting its current format.

History

When Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart

George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...

 owned 1290 AM in the late 1970s he called it KSBB and later KBRT or "K-BOB." In 2005, Newhart sold it to Santa Barbara Broadcasting Inc., owned by Dennis Weibling, and the call sign was changed to KZSB. Although Weibling is a friend of Santa Barbara News Press owner Wendy McCaw, the News Press does not actually own 1290 AM.

The station offers locally produced, block programmed talk shows hosted by local residents. KZSB also features CNN Headline News

CNN Headline News

HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...

hourly.

The station went on the air in 1973 with a short-lived country music format. It was originally called KKIO -- "KK 10 - Country Radio 13" to indicate being close to the 1300 kHz or "13" dial on the AM band.

Formats

Country (1973-1984, 1991-1995)
Spanish Music (1984-1991)
Adult Standards (1995-2005)
Community/World Affairs (2005-Present)

External links

• Article mentioning KZSB's format change
• KZSB AM 1290 on Radio Station Zone - ratings, comments and listen live links