Live 105 studio in San Francisco circa 2012, courtesy Dallas Osborn.

The first discussions to bring back Live 105 happened just a few months ago.

Station owner Audacy, which made the call in 2017 to drop popular San Francisco station KITS 105.3’s name for a more generic Alt-105, and in 2021 dropped the alt-rock format altogether for ’80s-hits-centric Dave FM, now had different people calling the shots.

The leadership team saw that Dave Random Radio wasn’t catching on with listeners or advertisers, while Live 105 fans were still voicing their demands. Audacy’s research in its other markets nationwide, meanwhile, showed that people everywhere were generally fatigued with the “new normals” of the pandemic and wanted to hear what made them feel good. In the Bay Area, that was Live 105.

“It was well-intended at the time, but if we’re going to be an innovative company, we have to be willing to admit when we get it wrong, and not be attached to the decision. We need to be attached to getting it right, not being right,” said Stacey Kauffman, Audacy’s regional vice president of San Francisco and Sacramento. “I’m really proud to work with a team of people that have the humility to say, “You know what? We gave it the college try, but it’s time to reevaluate.”

Kauffman wasn’t involved in the decision to jump from Live 105 to Alt-105, or to Dave FM. The company also brought back Kevin Weatherly, who’d left the company in 2020 to oversee its entire alternative rock portfolio (Weatherly had spent the previous two years at Spotify). Executive Dave Richards was promoted to oversee all music programming. Executive Vice President Jeff Sottolano, Regional Vice President John Allers and social media director Dallas Osborn were also involved in those initial “what-if” conversations.

“We do have a lot of different leaders in our programming team,” Kauffman said. “As a company strategy, we were [previously] looking to standardize. The intention was to identify the best product that we could put out there. But it just didn’t resonate here. For a city like San Francisco that has such a big music scene and so many radio stations … it really needs to be about what listeners here want. And there’s just such a demand in the craving for it.”

As Audacy’s leadership and alternative rock portfolio changed, so did people’s opinions.

“It wasn’t until recently where it felt like there was the ability to have that conversation just because of where our company strategy was,” Kauffman said. “We could bring the conversations like, ‘What if we did it differently? What if it wasn’t this standardized alt footprint? What if we brought it back to what was really successful?'”

Kauffman calls Live 105 her chicken soup for the soul.

She said the decision was partly motivated as a response to the difficulties the Bay Area has faced during the pandemic, with business closures, job losses, a health crisis and more. She wanted to give Bay Area radio listeners something familiar and positive back.

In case you missed it, here’s how we returned to 105.3fm! Thank you for your patience, alternative rock has a home in the Bay Area once again. #LIVE105isback pic.twitter.com/2R9thet7KT

— LIVE 105 (@live105fm) June 5, 2023

“It’s this iconic brand that we all love so much. And there’s so many positive things still happening in the Bay Area, but we’re not reminded of them often enough,” she said. “There’s such a vibrant music scene, and this is a station that’s been known for breaking music.”

She pointed out how much listeners’ behaviors have changed over the years, and how when Live 105 was last on the air, listeners didn’t have the company’s current app that allows them to stream the station easily. The station can engage with listeners in new ways, too.

The timing had to be right, though. And the station had to bring back certain people without whom a rebirth would not be the same. That list included former station program director and DJ Aaron Axelsen, Miles “the DJ” Anzaldo and “Party Ben” Gill.

The returning DJs will be a combination of full-time, part-time and contract employees. These relationships will likely evolve over time. In Axelsen’s case, he’s not leaving the venture he’s helmed since initially being laid off by Audacy, Flood FM, a streaming station. Flood FM, in many ways, took over where Live 105 left off, but Kauffman said her company supports the endeavor.

“There’s enough of all of this to go around for everyone to be successful, and that our success or his success with Flood FM; they’re not one at the risk of the other,” she said. “We’re continuing to have conversations on what his involvement will look like.”

Axelsen has said that he plans to bring back popular Sunday night show Soundcheck, featuring primarily new music from local and indie artists. His electronic music show, SUBSONIC, may also return to Saturdays.

“I’m returning to the station where I called home for over 25 years and which I grew up listening to as young new waver in Livermore on a part-time basis,” he said on social media.

Since returning at 10:53 a.m. on June 5, the station has solely been playing music. The returning DJs should make an appearance around the end of June, Kauffman said. It’s likely that the DJs will be working from remote locations, such as their homes, at least at first because Audacy is currently in the process of moving to a new office and studios at 88 Kearny St. in San Francisco in about a month. Going forward, broadcasting will likely happen from numerous locations.

“We’ve come a long way in terms of broadcast quality, out of necessity in the pandemic,” she said. “But I do think there’s something special to the energy that happens when you’re at a radio station.”

In the two weeks since announcing Live 105, Audacy has heard from numerous on-air hosts and DJs with interest to get involved, and the company has yet to post a job ad, Kauffman said, adding she hopes to add more talent. The station doesn’t have to be a complete mirror of what it once was, she added, and listeners will play a significant role in determining how it evolves. It’s why she didn’t want to have the station arrive “fully baked” but with plenty of opportunities to evolve—a term she used repeatedly.

Both listeners and advertisers have shown they’re excited to have the station back, she said.

One of the most common questions listeners have been asking since the radio station’s return is whether popular Live-105-produced concerts like BFD and Not So Silent Night would also return. Kauffman said everything is on the table if it makes sense financially and if the station can put out a quality product. Those conversations are being had now, even about the possibility of a show this year.

And for those who’re still jaded over losing Live 105 the first time and the alt-rock format altogether just a couple of years ago, Kauffman said she hasn’t even considered how long of a leash the station has.

“We’re focused on the momentum. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive. We’re very proud of it,” she said. “Expect more of the feel-good to continue. That’s what our goal here is; spreading more positivity out into the universe.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.