That was how Hamilton formatted KSFO/KYA-FM in San Francisco. KSFO was 50s-pre British Invasion music, while KYA-FM ran 64 and up. Hamilton did not allow the "O" word to be used on his stations - they were "Rock and Roll Classics."
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The old KRTH
- Thread starter David Shapiro
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LARR, I will be interested in contacting this Jim Hilliker and comparing notes. Everything he posted is spot on with my own account. During WW2 Mt Wilson was code-named Mt Anthony in KFI house organs for security reasbns. Thoms Lee, Klaus Landsburg and Anthony were searching for an ideal site after determining that their pre-ww2 sites were simply too low in the basin to reach the entire Los Angeles area. Lee had been near the Hollywood sign, Anthony's KSEE atop the Bekins Building in Hollywood and I don't know where what became KTLA was located.
The late Marv Collins, who posted in response to Mr. Hilliker in the link above, as I recall was one of the primary sources for my bio on Earle C Anthony. If memory serves right he was also a ham operator and the first thing I noticed in arriving at his home for our interview was the four character W6-- call sign on his license plate - hams in our family had five character call signs and I knew what he had was exceptional. But that was true of most KFI engineers of the day.
The late Marv Collins, who posted in response to Mr. Hilliker in the link above, as I recall was one of the primary sources for my bio on Earle C Anthony. If memory serves right he was also a ham operator and the first thing I noticed in arriving at his home for our interview was the four character W6-- call sign on his license plate - hams in our family had five character call signs and I knew what he had was exceptional. But that was true of most KFI engineers of the day.
A little clarification:
NARBA did not result in any new clear channels for the US, which had the same 1-A clears after NARBA as before. The treaty did attempt to regulate the "border blasters" from Mexico by achieving better cooperation from that Nation. It even gave a 1-B clear to the Bahamas, and regulated better the Cuban stations by giving them some higher power channels, too. In general, NARBA gave some protection and improved allocations to the other nations in the hemisphere.
To do this, pretty much all stations above 750 kcs moved in frequency.
T
Thomps2525
Guest
David, would my statement have made more sense if I had capitalized "clear channel"? No, never mind---they weren't around back then.
I have a 1926 radio log which shows these southern California stations. As David points out, most of them moved to a different frequency in 1941:
KFBC 789, San Diego
KFI 642, Los Angeles
KFON 1290, Long Beach
KFPR 1300, Los Angeles
KFQZ 1330, Hollywood
KFSD 1220, San Diego
KFVD 1460, San Diego
KFWB 1190, Hollywood
KFWO 1420, Avalon
KFXB 1480, Big Bear Lake
KFYF 1400, Oxnard
KHJ 740, Los Angeles
KMTR 810, Los Angeles
KNRC 1230, Santa Monica
KNX 890, Los Angeles
KPPC 1310, Pasadena
KTBI 1020, Los Angeles
KWTC 1150, Santa Ana
There was a WABC in 1926...but it was at 1180 in North Carolina and was owned by the Asheville Battery Company! David, any idea why KFBC and KFI were shown at a frequency that does not end in zero? The list has quite a few other stations at strange frequencies, including KFXF-Denver at 697, KGBX-St. Joseph at 862, KFQD-Anchorage at 999, KWCR-Cedar Rapids at 1013, WIL-St. Louis at 1162, WRAH-Provideence at 1276, and WRNY-New York at 802.
I have a 1926 radio log which shows these southern California stations. As David points out, most of them moved to a different frequency in 1941:
KFBC 789, San Diego
KFI 642, Los Angeles
KFON 1290, Long Beach
KFPR 1300, Los Angeles
KFQZ 1330, Hollywood
KFSD 1220, San Diego
KFVD 1460, San Diego
KFWB 1190, Hollywood
KFWO 1420, Avalon
KFXB 1480, Big Bear Lake
KFYF 1400, Oxnard
KHJ 740, Los Angeles
KMTR 810, Los Angeles
KNRC 1230, Santa Monica
KNX 890, Los Angeles
KPPC 1310, Pasadena
KTBI 1020, Los Angeles
KWTC 1150, Santa Ana
There was a WABC in 1926...but it was at 1180 in North Carolina and was owned by the Asheville Battery Company! David, any idea why KFBC and KFI were shown at a frequency that does not end in zero? The list has quite a few other stations at strange frequencies, including KFXF-Denver at 697, KGBX-St. Joseph at 862, KFQD-Anchorage at 999, KWCR-Cedar Rapids at 1013, WIL-St. Louis at 1162, WRAH-Provideence at 1276, and WRNY-New York at 802.
Originally, stations were assigned wavelengths, not frequencies. 570 kcs was 527 meters, for example. So what this sounds like is the old wave-length, pre-FRC reallocation, expressed in kilocycles.
More log books than you can ever read:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Radex_Master_Page.htm
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Whites_Master_Page.htm
Also the issues of Radio Guide, Citizen's Callbook, Radio News and others on the site had log sections.
T
Thomps2525
Guest
Thank you for those links. As for the old issues of Radio Guide and Radio News, I can probably find more of those magazines in Jim Hilliker's house than on the Internet! 
This listing also reflects the truth of what was told to me years ago about early call letter assignments. Note the large number of call signs beginnig with KF--
Many assume that KFI means some variant of "keeping farmers informed" or "farm information." According to KFI's co-chief engineer Headlee Blatterman (who with George Masion was with the station for over fifty years) this was simply legend; the station's call sign was a random accident. For a short time the government assigned California stations KF, KG and KH call letters arbitrarily to reflect location - although specific ones could be requested (KFWB and KEWB, for instance, were owned by Warner Brothers; KPPC was the Pasadena Presbyterian Church)). This supposedly facilitated identifying stations location when picked up at great distances. The system reportedly lasted less than a year.
In the late 1920's a Los Angeles newspaper radio columnist held a contest among readers over what KFI should mean and that is where the "Farm Information" term came from. Station founder Earle C Anthony himself didn't like KFI being used as an acronym - coming down hard on one newscaster for using the slogan "Keep Fully Informed with KFI" without getting perrmission.
Many assume that KFI means some variant of "keeping farmers informed" or "farm information." According to KFI's co-chief engineer Headlee Blatterman (who with George Masion was with the station for over fifty years) this was simply legend; the station's call sign was a random accident. For a short time the government assigned California stations KF, KG and KH call letters arbitrarily to reflect location - although specific ones could be requested (KFWB and KEWB, for instance, were owned by Warner Brothers; KPPC was the Pasadena Presbyterian Church)). This supposedly facilitated identifying stations location when picked up at great distances. The system reportedly lasted less than a year.
In the late 1920's a Los Angeles newspaper radio columnist held a contest among readers over what KFI should mean and that is where the "Farm Information" term came from. Station founder Earle C Anthony himself didn't like KFI being used as an acronym - coming down hard on one newscaster for using the slogan "Keep Fully Informed with KFI" without getting perrmission.
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Thank you for those links. As for the old issues of Radio Guide and Radio News, I can probably find more of those magazines in Jim Hilliker's house than on the Internet!
Actually, by next week http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Radio_News_Master_Page_Guide.htm will have all but 2 of the 574 issues of Radio News ever published... plus a bonus of the first four years of Electronics World, its sucessor. The Radio Guide section is missing a few more, but there are over 500 issues at http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Radio_Guide_Master_Page.htm.
In the case of Radio News, Radio Craft, Radio Guide and others they are searchable across the entire collection.
Same for Radio Digest, Radio Broadcast, Radio Age, Radio Varieties, Radio in the Home, Radio Doings, Radio Today, What's On The Air, Wireless Age, Popular Radio and quite a few more titles.
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T
Thomps2525
Guest
I have almost all the 1993-95 issues of San Diego Radio Guide and Los Angeles Radio Guide. They were published monthly at first, then bi-monthly, by Aljay Publishing (Shireen Alafi and Ben Jacoby). Each issue contained radio news, interviews, lots of photos, station profiles, program listings and stations' phone numbers. The March 1994 San Diego magazine had a cover story about Shotgun Tom Kelly, who was doing afternoons at KCBQ-FM. A year earlier, Rich "Brother" Robbin had installed a 1970s-80s format which he called "Modern Oldies." Huh? Kelly said he enjoys playing those songs because "they use real instruments, not the synthesizers of techno-pop." The rise of the Internet pretty much did away with the need for a bi-monthly radio magazine. And then there's syndication, which means we can hear the same few hosts in almost every city in America. *Sigh*
I've tried to reach Ben to borrow copies of the two publications to scan... but can't seem to find a working email address. I recall being interviewed for the publication when I was at KTNQ and K(K)HJ.
U
Unregistered
Guest
In my travels the only "Smokin' Oldies" station I recall was WHBO AM 1040 in the Tampa-St. Pete-Sarasota market in the mid to late 80s. AFAIK that station had no connection to the HBO cable channel. I do recall KHJ in Jan. '86 had an oldies format with frequent traffic reports and they called it "Car Tunes". They also ran Larry King's talk show after 9:00 p.m.
For about 20 plus years 93 KHJ and Famous 56 WFIL in Philly paralleled each other. Some DJs worked at both stations. For KHJ in May '65 and WFIL in Sept. '66 they became "Boss Radio." C. 1971 they dropped the "Boss" moniker. Around 1977 both went to a more AC format. Late '80 it was the Urban Cowboy craze and both stations went Country. (Although you might hear a Barry Manilow tune on the playlist). In Sept. 83 WFIL went to an oldies format with "The Boss is Back". That lasted 'til March '87 when the station was sold and they switched to The Oldies Channel national syndication. By 1990 they dropped oldies for simulcast of Easy 101 AC simulcast. By that time KHJ was Spanish.
As for KRTH, I recall in '71 they were KHJ-FM and carried Drake's Solid Gold format. IN '72 they became KRTH and were automated oldies. In '73 I heard the same format and jingle package at WITH-FM in Baltimore and WROR (FM) in Boston. On those stations you'd hear songs such as Lover's Island by The Blue Jays, Groovy Baby by Billy Abbott and Hooka Tooka by Chubby Checker.
For about 20 plus years 93 KHJ and Famous 56 WFIL in Philly paralleled each other. Some DJs worked at both stations. For KHJ in May '65 and WFIL in Sept. '66 they became "Boss Radio." C. 1971 they dropped the "Boss" moniker. Around 1977 both went to a more AC format. Late '80 it was the Urban Cowboy craze and both stations went Country. (Although you might hear a Barry Manilow tune on the playlist). In Sept. 83 WFIL went to an oldies format with "The Boss is Back". That lasted 'til March '87 when the station was sold and they switched to The Oldies Channel national syndication. By 1990 they dropped oldies for simulcast of Easy 101 AC simulcast. By that time KHJ was Spanish.
As for KRTH, I recall in '71 they were KHJ-FM and carried Drake's Solid Gold format. IN '72 they became KRTH and were automated oldies. In '73 I heard the same format and jingle package at WITH-FM in Baltimore and WROR (FM) in Boston. On those stations you'd hear songs such as Lover's Island by The Blue Jays, Groovy Baby by Billy Abbott and Hooka Tooka by Chubby Checker.
Off topic since this is about LA, but KSFO/KYA ran a simulcast much of the years rather than split programming, and ID'd as "KSFO/KYA"..but as the listeners called it, "the station with all the call-letters"....
True - at first they ran split programming, with 50s and early 60s on KSFO (AM), and 60s-early 70s on KYA-FM. But as soon as the FCC started allowing 24 hour simulcasting (1986, I believe), they became "KSFO/KYA-FM" with the 60s-70s format. They even had catchy jingles that sang both sets of call letters.
The reason, I'd speculate, is that both sets of calls had a lot of history and heritage behind them, and they wanted to capitalize on that, which they couldn't do if they were KSFO AM and FM, or KYA AM and FM. Also, KYA-AM had been on 1260 for many years until the early 80s, and that might have caused confusion in those years before stations changed frequencies so often.
U
Unregistered
Guest
Does anyone have, or know where can be found, an aircheck of the K-Earth all #1s weekend, or the all #2 weekend? It was mentioned on this board at some point, and I think it would make great listening.
Didn't notice your post, til today...sorry, hope you're still around.
The only aircheck I've been able to find is this:
http://airchexx.com/2012/08/30/quic...roll-weekend-krth-los-angeles-august-30-1986/
and it's only a small fraction of the whole deal.
Other than that, there is list that's been online for a few years now:
http://buff.ucsd.edu/music/krth/
If you need the #2's, please send a message.
Yeah, it would make for wonderful listening. Two great specials that aired in the 80's on KRTH.
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Brother John did not program the station, he was barely able to speak and I am surprised he was able to compose and write you a handwritten letter. Do you still have it? Phil Hall programmed the AM & the FM.
I would listen to KONG at Summer Camp when KONG was in Visallia. KYNO AM & FM Hit Parade 70 & 71 along with K-FRE. KONG had an FM too, I think it moved to Fresno. I had no idea offshoots of "Smokin' Oldies" were heard on any other station. It was truly a really bad station as Steve said. The Brother John liners were painstakingly edited together as Brother John was just with us in some sort of physical & spiritual presence. He had suffered a life changing stroke while on the air at KRTH FM and was never the same after. RKO had the best facilities and some of the worst people working there. Many were double dipping with an AM & FM Salary before the license was lost.
KRTH never lost its license.
No of course they didn't however they were pressured to sell it before it was lost? Interesting it went for 65% of the dollar to Beasley!
RKO General Sells KRTH AM and FM in Los Angeles
GEORGE GARTIES, Associated Press
Jan. 5, 1989 9:42 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AP) _ The parent of RKO General announced Thursday it would sell Los Angeles radio stations KRTH-AM and FM, the latest step in the FCC-ordered dismantling of the RKO network.
Beasley Broadcast Group of Goldsboro, N.C., will pay $86.6 million for the stations, which play rock oldies.
In keeping with a settlement between the Federal Communications Commission and RKO's parent, GenCorp of Fairlawn, Ohio, the seller gets to keep just $56.2 million, or 65 percent of the purchase price.
The balance, $30.4 million, will be divided among six companies that challenged RKO's and GenCorp's fitness to hold the KRTH broadcast licenses.
In the settlement, which ended a 23-year wrangle before the FCC, GenCorp didn't admit wrongdoing, but agreed to sell 12 radio stations and one television station, splitting the proceeds from each sale with those who challenged that particular license.
The dispute began in 1965, when a challenger disputed RKO's right to operate KHJ-TV in Los Angeles, citing billing irregularities and questioning the corporate character of GenCorp, the former General Tire & Rubber Co.
In a 1980 ruling that stripped RKO of one television license, the FCC noted that GenCorp, the former General Tire & Rubber Co., had been accused of improper domestic political contributions and of bribery overseas.
GenCorp, which makes aerospace and automotive products and plastics, has approval for the KRTH deal from Beasley Broadcast and the various challengers, but the transaction must be OK'd by the FCC.
Beasley has radio stations in Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami and elsewhere.
When the sale was announced late Thursday, Beasley officials weren't available to say if they planned to change the station's management or format.
GenCorp sold KHJ-TV to The Walt Disney Co. in December, with license challenger Fidelity Television Inc. getting 32 percent of the $320 million purchase price.
Similar sale agreements have been approved for RKO's WHBQ-AM in Memphis, Tenn.; WGMS-AM in Bethesda, Md.; WGMS-FM in Washington, D.C., and WRKO-AM and WROR-FM in Boston. The company is seeking buyers for WOR-AM and WRKS-FM in New York City; KFRC-AM in San Francisco; WAXY-FM in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; WFYR-FM in Chicago and WHBQ-TV in Memphis
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