A Life In Radio

A LIFE IN RADIO

At 97 years old, Bob Kieve ’39 still reports to the office.

BY MICHAEL HAYES

Every day, 97-year-old Bob Kieve ’39 comes to work as the president of Empire Broadcasting in San Jose, Calif., which operates 1590 KLIV AM and 95.3 KRTY. Kieve says staying active professionally has kept him young at heart and mind.

Bob Kieve ‘39 (far right) broadcasts for KRTY during a Chamber of Commerce fundraising barbecue in 2018.

“Some people say, ‘Wow! You still go to the office?’” says Kieve, who has owned and operated the stations for 51 years. “My response is: Going to the office is what I do. I’ve always enjoyed what I’m doing, and I’m still doing it although I’m now really at the very end of it. It has been a wonderfully diverse and exciting career.”

Kieve still writes and delivers the occasional radio commentary and is deeply involved in presiding over the station’s real estate, as well as leading an effort to sell one of his stations, KLIV, which had its last broadcast at the end of January. Because of Kieve’s deep commitment and service to his community throughout his career, city officials recently declared December 9 as “Bob Kieve Day.”

After discovering radio as a freshman at Harvard University, where he earned a degree in English literature in 1943, Kieve’s professional career began when he was sent to the U.S. Embassy in Spain to serve as an information officer for the Office of War Information. “I was the one-eyed man in the country of the blind—at least in the field of radio broadcasting,” he says. “I was able to produce about five of my own shows every week, and I wrote Spain’s first book on radio broadcasting.”

When he returned to the United States, Kieve worked at radio stations in upstate New York and later as a writer for CBS in New York City. In between, he spent four years as a writer “of all sorts” for the Eisenhower administration. Eventually, the Weehawken, New Jersey native settled in Silicon Valley and started Empire Broadcasting Corporation, which has bought, sold, and operated six radio stations since 1967, including KLIV and KRTY.

Today, as Kieve reflects on a long and distinguished career in radio and public service, he can’t help but hold a special fondness for Berkshire School. Kieve credits his father for recognizing that he needed more structure and challenge, suggesting he attend Berkshire. His father was right; Kieve excelled academically and athletically for two years. He distinctly remembers the excitement of winning three events during a track meet with The Hotchkiss School: the 100m race, 220m race, and broad jump.

“Berkshire was really a turning point in my life,” Kieve says. “All of a sudden, I went from being a kid with poor grades who was involved with nothing outside of school to being editor of the student newspaper, running track and field, and becoming deeply involved in the drama club. And while I am deeply grateful to my father, I am grateful also to Berkshire.”