Radio AM to FM

Radio AM to FM: October 13, 2000

A Bit of Radio History

The other night while using my Mac's Sherlock search tool to find some information on the internet, I ran across a most interesting web sites.

It doesn't look like much, but Dave's Place, located at www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/5515, features a wealth of information on Los Angeles radio stations of the past, some of which you may not have known ever existed.

Sure the majors are there: KHJ, KRLA, and KTNQ. But look around and you find some of the stations that don't get mentioned much any more. Stations like KBIG-AM. KGBS. KGRB. And the old country-formatted KFOX, completely unrelated to the KFOX of Redondo Beach fame.

The list of station histories isn't exhaustive by any means, but the biographies are well-researched and interesting to read, at least if you're one of those strange radio junkies like me.

Also included are RealAudio files with segments I have not heard before ... and I thought I had head (or heard of) almost everything.

Site host and creator Dave Andrews is looking to expand his coverage of Las Angeles radio's past. His wish list includes information on KBCA, KFAC, pre-1968 KFWB, KLAC-FM, KGFJ, KDAY, KUTE, KXLA, pre-1966 KALI, KPPC and KWIZ. If you have information regarding these stations and want to help preserve the history of Los Angeles radio, contact Dave at laradio@hotmail.com.

Changes

KIKF (94.3 FM) in Orange County, which dropped country music this Summer in favor of contemporary hits and a new name: Cool 94,3, has changed its call sign to reflect the new format. The new call letters are KMXN (K-Mixin'?).

Cool is about best thing on the air right now, as far as (ok I'm dating myself) top-40 music goes. They're much like Mix before that demise and play a much wider range of music than Star (98.7 FM) and KIIS (102.7 FM). And unlike Star, you can actually listen to them in the morning. The only problem is that you have to live in Orange County, Long Beach, San Pedro, or a few limited parts of the rest of the South Bay to hear it due to a Spanish station broadcasting on the same frequency out of Ventura.

World Class Rock is on the AM dial, if you live in Thousand Oaks or Calabasas ... or don't mind a lot of static. Just tune in 850 AM. The AM signal complements the webcast at www.worldclassrock.com, formerly known as Channel 103.1.

Clear Channel has begin rearranging management duties for their gaggle of radio stations. Work is also being done on facilities movement, with the hope of eventually combining all eight stations into one big megaplex, served by one staff.

If you want to get into radio, you better move quickly ... within a few years, no jobs will be left. But the stories in the unemployment line ...

Supposedly unrelated: Clear Channel stock took a big hit over the past month. Perhaps investors are beginning to see problems with one-ownership radio.

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