Thursday, March 19, 2015

Radio Waves Podcast #73

It’s been years since anyone paid attention to KLAC (570 AM). So long ago that many forgot that the station used to play music ... like most AM stations, music is the last format that attracted an audience large enough to be meaningful. In the case of KLAC, it was adult standards that immediately followed country.
 
But that was a long time ago. For the past decade or so KLAC has been sports. Not that anyone cares. Outside of the entertaining Petros and Money Show in the afternoon, none of the shows have been noteworthy. And the ratings have reflected that for seemingly ever ... such as in the most recent Nielsen Ratings that has KLAC at a 0.5 share of the audience. Put into perspective, if you combine the ratings of all the sports stations in town -- KLAC, KLAA (830 AM), KSPN (710 AM) and KFWB (980 AM) -- you have a 1.8 share of the audience ... good for 24th place. Combined.

Time was when you had a SINGLE station with signals as strong as these you’d be looking to change formats. 

But all that’s about to change ... owner iHeartRadio, formerly known as Clear Channel, has the answer. KLAC as we know it is gone. In it’s place: AM 570 LA Sports.

What’s new? Get this ... a brand new logo! A couple new shows, too. Oh, and did I mention the brand-new logo? It’s a really nice logo.
The day starts with Dan Patrick 6 to 9 a.m., followed by the all-new “LA Today” with Bill Reiter and Leann Tweeden from 9 a.m. to noon. Jay Mohr follows until 3:00, at which time Petros and Money take over.

Highlighting the co-ownership of the station with the Los Angeles Dodgers, “Dodger Talk” featuring David Vassegh and Kevin Kennedy will air every night all year long at 7 p.m., or following the Dodgers games when they are playing.

Letterbag

“Your  report should of been about how iHeart Radio changed nice family station Hot 92.3 from a station with loved DJs such as Art Laboe, who is a legend here in Los Angeles, honored by Angelinos ...  to a vulgar, thuggish, no class or respect station. This is a travesty. Our Latino culture was kicked to the curb ... total discrimination ... for a station that totally glorifies  thugs, drugs, and vulgarity. Sick. And Big Boy was totally in on it; he already had a million dollar job he walked out on, for 3.mill, knowing his fellow DJ's would be kicked to the curb. Los Angeles lost a fabulous station ... for a group of greedy low lifes.” -- Dorothy Ortega

I’ve gotten emails and read posts on Facebook stating pretty much the same thing. Losing Hot is particularly tough for fans because there is no replacement: no other station in town plays the same music. If you live in the right area you can hear old school -- and Art Laboe, whose syndicated show moved after Hot changed formats -- on KQIE/Riverside (104.7 FM). 

Of course what I really want is for Laboe to bring back the original 1110 KRLA (now KDIS, 1110 AM) and program the tunes as he did in the 1970s and early ‘80s. KRLA was the original old school station ... with ties to East LA going back decades. But that’s just me living in the past again.

“How do I go about letting KABC (790 AM) know that they did not make a good choice in replacing Brian Suits with Judge Christina Perez? While she appears to know her legal stuff, her voice -- which is all soft and sweet -- is annoying to listen to speaking about such heavy duty matters. Does anyone else feel the way I do? I change the station to KFI (640 AM) from the 9-10 a.m. spot when I am in the car during morning drive.” -- Fern Reisner 

No, you are not the only one. I’ve received a few letters such as yours, along with quite a few asking where they can find Suits (short answer: I cannot find him either). My hunch: I’m not expecting the show to last. 

Rumor Mill


John Phillips is on the short list to become the new host of the syndicated Red Eye Radio, to replace Greg Gutfeld. I unfortunately have not been able to catch Phillips to get his thoughts ... we keep missing each other. Next week, I should have the scoop. 

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