Radio Waves Podcast #20

KFI (640 AM) and KPCC (89.3 FM) were the big winners in the 64th Annual Golden Mike Awards presented January 25th by the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California. Each station ran away with seven Golden Mikes, the highest number of any stations winning awards for the year.

 

But that wasn’t the only big news. KNX (1070 AM) won six Golden Mikes, including Best Newscast Over 15 Minutes. Not to be outdone, little KCLU/Ventura (1340 AM, 88.3 FM) on the campus of California Lutheran University won four Mikes including Best News reporting, and little student-run K-BEACH out of Cal State Long Beach, broadcasting on the HD-3 digital sub-channel of KKJZ (88.1 FM) won a Mike for Best News Public Affairs Program via their program entitled “Daily 49er News.”

 

Other winning stations included KFWB (980 AM): two Golden Mikes; KVTA/Ventura (1590 AM): two Golden Mikes; Pomona College student-run KSPC (88.7 FM): two Golden Mikes; KHAY/Ventura (100.7 FM): one Golden Mike and KCSN (88.5 FM) from Cal State Northridge: two Golden Mikes.

 

The full list of awards, including the programs that won the awards, is available on the Radio and Television NEws Association’s website, rtna.org. 

 

Jarrin Honored by PPB 

 

Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarrin, who has done play-by-play for the Dodgers in Spanish since 1958, was honored with the Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award presented by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters at their monthly luncheon held January 24th at the Sportsmen’s Lodge.

 

Jarrin is the second-longest tenured broadcaster in Major League Baseball. The longest-running? None other than fellow Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully (with the Dodgers since 1950), who was on hand to help present the award.

 

Jarrin was born in Cayambe, Ecuador and began his broadcast career t the age of 16. He arrived in the United States in June of 1955 ... and he had never seen a baseball game in his life.

 

By 1958 he was the news and sports director at Spanish-language music station KWKW (then at 1300 AM, now at 1330 AM). When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn, New York, KWKW obtained the broadcast rights and Jarrin began his Dodgers play-by-play career.

 

The early years of Dodgers baseball for Jarrin did not include traveling to the actual ballparks. Instead, he would broadcast what might be called recreations or translations of games by listening to the English-language broadcasts of the games in a studio. Sometime in the early to mid 1960s, he began broadcasting directly from the games.

 

From 1962 to 1984, Jarrin called almost 4000 games without missing any of them during the 22 seasons. The string of games was broken only when he was put in charge of all Spanish-language radio coverage of the 1984 Olympic Games.

 

Today, the Dodgers are carried in Spanish on KTNQ (1020 AM).

 

Hull Signing

 

Longtime broadcaster Dave “Hullabalooer” Hull, associated primarily with the top-40 heyday of the original KRLA (now KDIS, 1110 AM) will be reading from and signing copies of his book, “Hullabaloo! The Life and (Mis) Adventures of LA Radio Legend Dave Hull” on Thursday, February 6th from 7 to 8 p.m. at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood.

 

Hull is one of the nicest guys I have ever met in radio, and he was in some ways a thorn in the side of the jocks at 1960s competitor KHJ (930 AM), which just couldn’t knock him down in the ratings in spite of KHJ’s overall dominance. I expect this to be quite a fun evening.