Archives West Finding Aid

by Keith B. Farr

In his young adult life, Floyd was a school teacher in the Weber County system in Ogden, Utah. In his spare time he did commercials at a theater in Ogden between movie reel changes. Management from KLO was in the theater and heard Floyd. Heading up to the projection booth, he asked Floyd if he might be interested in working at KLO as an announcer. He did, and soon after KDYL in Salt Lake City hired him. KDYL was an NBC affiliate. The NBC network often rotated station pick-ups across the country using affiliates. KDYL was chosen and Floyd happened to be on the air at the time. NBC San Francisco heard him and immediately phoned. He was hired at KPO for $300.00 per month as staff announcer.

Within a year or two, Floyd was positioned as Program Director of KPO, then Chief Announcer for the NBC West Coast Division. KGO was the blue network and KPO was the red network. Both were owned by NBC. There were live orchestras performing before audiences at 111 Sutter Street. A new building was established at Taylor and O'Farrell, downtown San Francisco in 1942.

Many NBC Radio shows originated from KPO/NBC. Included were: "One Man's Family", "Fibber McGee and Molly", "Lux Radio Theater", "The Great Gildersleeve" and "I Love a Mystery" and many others. Floyd worked with Jack Webb of "Dragnet", Art Linkletter, Hal Peary, Jack Benny, Howard Duff, Merv Griffin, Kate Smith and others. In addition to his weekly duties, Floyd was taken by boat to a nearby island near San Francisco Bay for short wave broadcast newscasts for overseas listeners.

Floyd was the nation-wide flagship announcer on that Sunday morning of December 7th, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. It was a world wide feed from NBC, San Francisco. Eventually, his long time associate, George Snell from KDYL, an engineer for KPO along with George Mardikian, an immigrant who owned Omar Khayyam's restaurant, an advertiser with KPO Radio fromed a partnership and founded KEEN in San Jose. KEEN , operating at 1370kc with 1000 watts from the second floor of the old Hotel DeAnza, downtown. The station eventually became a 24 hour country-western station with 5000 watts covering 30 counties in the Bay area and adjacent states. K-BAY fm stereo was added with 30,000 watts covering most of Northern California and adjacent states. KEEN began operating in 1947. KPO/NBC was known as RADIO CITY in San Francisco. KPO changed their call letters to KNBC about the same time KEEN went on the air. KGO, the blue network owned by NBC was sold to ABC Radio. Today, KNBC is known as KNBR.

Floyd was a faithful community San Jose leader. He was a bishop, then counselor in the original San Jose Stake. Also, he was instrumental in purchasing land development for the Latter-Day-Saints building projects. Floyd was also a bank director. Both Floyd and his wife, Jetta loved working for both San Jose community and the church.

In the early 1970s, KEEN had a total of seven West coast stations in California, Las Vegas and Hawaii. He secured an exclusive contract to broadcast the Oakland A's baseball during the times when they won the World pennant. In all, there were sixteen stations that carried A's baseball originating from KEEN in San Jose. Even as far as Alaska.

Floyd Farr died on Mother's Day, 1984.