KCSM Jazz 91

A nonprofit, listener-supported FM radio station broadcasting at 91.1 MHz, dedicated exclusively to jazz music 24 hours a day with no commercial interruptions. Owned by the San Mateo County Community College District, the station operates from studios and transmitter facilities on the campus of the College of San Mateo, where it serves the San Francisco Bay Area. Its audio stream is also available online, extending its reach well beyond the local broadcast footprint. The station's origins trace to its establishment as a training facility for radio and television broadcasting students at the College of San Mateo. Between 1964 and 1980, the college offered an unusually comprehensive curriculum in broadcasting and broadcast electronics, more extensive than many four-year university programs of the era. The station was staffed and operated by students during this period, and a number of notable media figures received their training there, including San Francisco Giants broadcaster Jon Miller. The transition toward a professional jazz-focused operation began in earnest in 1985 and 1986, when station manager Anne Wietzel introduced jazz programming alongside NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Program director Clifford Brown, Jr. collaborated with Wietzel to gradually build out a full-time jazz format with professional staff. The rationale was that a dedicated jazz format would allow the station to serve a distinctive, underserved audience in the Bay Area rather than compete directly with other public radio broadcasters. Today the station operates entirely with professional broadcasters and has become one of the region's primary sources for jazz programming.