Airwaves: March 20, 2009
Do Calls Matter?
A recent topic on the New York discussion boards of Radio-Info.com had a very
interesting question: do call letters matter any more?
To diehard radio freaks like me, its an easy question. Of course they
matter! Call letters have a lot of meaning behind them and many have a history
dating back to the beginnings of radio. KHJ (930 AM), for example, is
said to stand for Kindness, Happiness and Joy. KJLH (102.3 FM) is Kindness,
Joy, Love and Happiness. KFI (640 AM) was once the home of Farming Information.
Besides, call letters, when chosen right and used correctly, can help identify
a station and make it meaningful to its listeners. Its one reason people
still have fond memories of stations like Boss Radio KHJ, and progressive rock KMET (94.7
FM) years after they played their last song.
But the typical radio listener is not a radio freak. And non-radio-freaks may
have a totally different answer to the question. Which would explain the current
trend of stations using names that may not have anything to do with their call
letters. Some stations rarely even mention calls.
Jack-FM? Thats KCBS-FM (93.1). New top-40 Amp Radio (97.1
FM)? KLSX, which just dropped talk. Of course the KLSX calls were chosen to
spell classics, but they havent played that music in over
a decade. And while Movin 93.9 uses KMVN, I sincerely doubt many
listeners know.
So what do you think? Are call letters important, or are they dated?
Williams to KABC
Dave Williams, former morning drive reporter on KNX (1070 AM)
has been named news anchor for KABCs (790 AM) Doug McIntyre show,
heard mornings from 5:00 to 10:00. Its full-circle for Williams, who
moved to Los Angeles from Sacramento in 2000 to co-host the KABC morning show
with Amy Lewis.
Prior to moving South, Williams spent 19 years hosting the top-rated KFBK Morning
News. But whats even more fun is hearing Williams playing top-40 on Sacramentos KNDE in
1975. Hear that on reelradio.com by searching for Dave Williams.
Imus Battle
Syndicated talk host Don Imus, heard locally on KABC from 3 to 5 AM
each weekday, announced on his show this week that he has been diagnosed with
stage II prostate cancer. According to Imus, the cancer is confined to his
prostate and a bone scan was fine. The I-Man said his doctors expect
a full recovery; Imus is 68.
Whats on Your Presets
With recent format changes, I need to change my presets, write reader
Dean Edwards of Torrance. Im finding it hard to find six stations
worthy of being preset. Could you ask your readers for help?
Certainly. For background, Dean says he used to listen to Indie 103.1, and
years ago was a huge fan of the quirky KNAC during their rock and rhythm days.
Amy recommendations?
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Copyright © 2009 Richard Wagoner and Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
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