How the calls for KCBQ came to San Diego

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 by SDRadio.

The Man Who Established The KCBQ Calls

by David Leonard

Charles E. Salik, often spelled Salek, earned his Class I radio license as a teenager and became a technical supervisor for Armed Forces Radio after being drafted out of college during World War II. He remained in Occupied Germany as an Air Force officer for Armed Forces radio and gained the rank of Captain in the US Air Force Reserve. With family assistance, he acquired 5000 watt KSDJ in 1948, in his mid-twenties and served as its General Manager. He quickly gained a network affiliation with CBS radio, then acquired the KCBS call letters to emphasize the network affiliation. However, CBS wanted those calls for their larger market affiliate in San Francisco. Undaunted, Salik altered his station calls on January 1, 1949 to KCBQ-for Quality.

Salik was a forward-thinking man. In the announcement of the new station call letters, he noted that “KCBQ television is on the way.” Salik had applied to the FCC for a license in 1948, but he wasn’t alone. Jack O. Gross had acquired rival KFMB radio and also applied for the license. On May 16, 1949, San Diego had it’s first television station on the air. But this CBS affiliate was Gross’ KFMB, not KCBQ. (Click on image for full size)

The station had been located in the San Diego Journal building at 5th Street and Ash. In November 1951, KCBQ moved to new accommodations at the Manor Hotel on El Cajon Blvd. The transmitter was located on El Cajon Blvd. adjacent to the Campus Drive-in Theater. Programming included the Izetta Jewell show for women during the day, games shows in the afternoon and evening, dancing serenaded by the Jack Reid Orchestra every night, an the zany Red Blanchard on weekends. CBS network provided comedy, drama, music, and game shows to augment the local talent. They also provided the most respected news at that time anchored by Edward R. Murrow, with apprentices Charles Collingswood and Chet Huntley. KCBQ became an ABC network affiliate in early 1953.

Salik sold the station in 1954 to Stan Norman, who owned it briefly. From there, Salik’s trail runs cold. He appears to have served on the San Diego City Planning Commission in 1956 and is said to have owned an electronics corporation. He lived in La Jolla for many years before moving to Palm Springs. KCBQ flourished under the Salik ownership, but always rated behind other local stations. That would change under the next ownership.

(Sources: 1950 KCBQ Annual, Personal items from Ebay auction, Red Blanchard, Harry ‘Happy Hare’ Martin, Jack Vincent, San Diego Planning Commission Minutes, Ancestry.com)

© 2008 David M. Leonard, author of AIRCHECK, The Story of Top 40 Radio in San Diego, available at http://home.earthlink.net/~leonarddla//

[SDRadio note: David’s book is a good companion to your radio collection. Please contact David at his website, http://home.earthlink.net/~leonarddla.]

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