Which listeners relied most on KCBS for local updates?

Commuters in the Bay Area, especially those driving along the 101, 280, or 880, were glued to KCBS for that traffic and weather together every ten minutes. Anyone living in earthquake country-which is basically all of us-also tuned in religiously because they’re the fastest with breaking news on local shake-ups.

If the power grid failed or the Big One hit, you'd see everyone frantically twisting the dial to 740 AM. Small business owners and shift workers without cable news were the ones who kept that station on all day, because they couldn't afford to miss a wildfire evacuation zone or a BART delay. But it was really the non-English speaking households, especially in the East Bay, who depended on KCBS's straightforward bulletins when other sources were too chaotic. They knew the station wouldn't sugarcoat a disaster, so they'd get the raw facts first, then calm down and make a plan.