In the late 40's a group seeking to put the third AM station on the air in Modesto applied for a frequency of 1010 kcs and then amended their application for 970 kcs which was granted. The station came on the air on November 1, 1951 with the call letters KBOX.  The group incorporated as Stanislaus County Broadcasters, Inc. and included  Cecil Lynch; Cecil's dad Mat;  Ralph Brown, a state assemblyman from Modesto and Ralph Bowen an area rancher among others.  

In August 1956 the station was purchased by McClatchy Broadcasting and joined with their KBEE-FM station.  McClatchy sold the stations to Price Broadcasting of Utah who changed KBEE-AM to KHYV on Feb. 17, 1983.  Another call letter change to KOOK occurred on August 29, 1988.  The stations were sold to Citidel Broadcasting who changed KBEE-FM to KATM-FM.  The AM station became KESP on March 9, 2000.

Engineers preparing to take field strength readings during construction of  KBOX in 1951.  This jeep belonged to Jay Tapp of T&T Radio at Long Beach. He rigged an elevated platform for the meter, which we strapped in position and carried an external battery in the jeep. The field strength meter we used at that time was made by Federal Radio Company operated off a car battery. The antenna was in the lid with a bayonet connection into the instrument, so the antenna could be rotated to maximize of null the signal. 

The engineer standing is Carl Pendergraft. Seated, Jay Tapp, Cecil Lynch standing next to Jay. The man in the dark suit is Cecil Lynch's dad Mat Lynch. Next to him, with the cane, is John Boyer. John was indirectly an innovator of KBOX through his brother-in-law Harold Bowen. Harold is on the ground, next to the jeep. The other man holding the map is Ralph Brown. Brown was a lawyer, and State Assemblyman at that time and an original owner of KBOX.

November 1, 1951

KBOX  original 1 KW Collins transmitter in the 50's.

(Courtesy of Bob Pinheiro)

(Photo and information courtesy of Cecil Lynch)

Call Letters Are Given for Modesto's New Station

Call letters of Modesto's newest AM radio station are KBOX. They were assigned the Stanislaus County Broadcasters by the Federal Communications Com- mission. John Boyer, director of public  relations for KBOX, said the station is scheduled to be on the air around June 1st.

Construction of a downtown studio, on Tenth near O Street, will start  in a few days. It will be of modern architecture. Off street parking areas will be provided. Transmitter site of KBOX is on the Sylvan Road. There will be three transmitter towers. The station's signal will come in on  970 on the standard radio dials.  Boyer said all necessary equipment and materials have been acquired.

Newspaper archives dated 2-17-51

Around 1986 John Price Broadcasting Co. of Utah purchased this station (then KBEE AM)  and sister station KBEE FM  from the McClatchy Broadcasting of Sacramento.  Shortly thereafter the AM station call letters were changed to KHYV  (The Hive)   and programming switched to classical.   Contributor and listener  Floyd Perry, Jr. says they dropped  the Classical music format on April 18, 1988 and switched to 50's/60's/70's ROCK OLDIES utilizing the Satellite Music Network's PURE GOLD Rock Oldies Service. They retained the KHYV calls for awhile (even reviving the K-HIVE moniker) until dropping it for the KOOK call on August 29, 1988.

Through the years many ownership, call letters and programming changes occurred.   KBEE-970 changed calls to KHYV on February 17, 1983. They remained Adult Contemporary but dropped all local programming and utilized Satellite Music Network's STAR STATION Adult Contemporary Music Service.  They id'ed as "K-HIVE 970". This remained until 1985.

On April 30, 1985, They switched formats to CLASSICAL MUSIC. Even though they kept the KHYV call, they no longer used the K-HIVE moniker. They were home to "The Modesto Symphony" concerts as well as the syndicated "Metropolitan Opera".  In addition to Classical Music, KHYV continued to broadcast the Oakland A's  baseball games. They advertised as being home to  "The Three Classics, BACH, BEETHOVEEN AND BASEBALL! .

Courtesy of Floyd Perry, Jr. Stockton, CA