The old KRTH

[Thomps2525]

In 1993, KALL-FM in Salt Lake City became Oldies 94.1 KODJ and a friend (and former DJ) who lives there sent me several airchecks. The DJs in the mid-'90s were Gary Zane, Brad Stone, Chuck McCartney, Scott Kenyon, Dick Shannon and J.C. Hackett and the format was 1960s-70s. Now the station plays only one '60s song per hour and focuses on 1970s-80s. KODJ no longer uses the "Oldies" identifier. It's now "94.1 KODJ, Salt Lake's Greatest Hits." Sound familiar? http://www.941kodj.com/main.html

K.M., there are thousands of callsigns that have moved from one station to another. Locally, there have been KDAY, KMET, KMPC, KRLA and many others. Four-letter callsigns are never "retired." What is the FCC's reason for not allowing a three-letter callsign to be re-used once a station gives it up?

 

[K.M. Richards]

Four-letter callsigns are never "retired." What is the FCC's reason for not allowing a three-letter callsign to be re-used once a station gives it up?

That answer may well be lost to history.

Four-letter calls started to be assigned in 1922, and the last three-letter calls (WIS Columbia SC) was issued in January, 1930. As near as I can tell, the reason was obvious ... not enough three-letter combinations (676 possible in each of the "K" and "W" series) to cover what was a growing radio industry.

I could not find anything specific in Broadcasting explaining why a retired three-letter call could not be reused, but it was rare back then to find even a discarded four-letter call being picked up elsewhere. Perhaps when the four-letter calls were starting to be reused in the 1940s and 1950s due to new TV and FM stations needing calls, someone decided to grandfather in the three-letter calls, creating the policy. What we have is a lack of documentation as to when and why.

However, I can tell you that only eight three-letter calls have ever been restored: KUT, WHN, WJZ, KYA, KRE, KDB, WGH and KHJ. Of those, WJZ was restored only to its television station, KUT only to its FM station, and KDB after only ten days in 1969.

So whatever the reason, the FCC has only rarely made exceptions to it.

 

[davideduardo]

In this case, I am "all-knowing" because I had researched the question back in 2000 when the Liberman request was made.

And that change was quite exceptional as it was based on a totally bogus presentation to the FCC based on the asseretion that the juxtaposed K's in the calls are pronounced as "ca-ca" in Spanish. Of course, KKHJ never gave the calls in Spanish, and never used call letters to identify.

But, the FCC in the same kind of nervous fear of all things Hispanic that they have displayed for decades and decades in Puerto Rico, essentially said "we did not know that and we don't want to offend you so we will do whatever you want if you will leave us alone." So KKHJ became KHJ, even though the FCC should have said, "So? Reality bites. We did not pick KKHJ as the calls. You picked them. If you don't like them, we have thousands of other combinations you could select."

An interesting aside to this is KUT in Austin, TX. It was granted the calls in 1925, and then the AM station was closed in 1927. In 1958, the University of Texas petitioned to have the original calls restored but on a new FM facility 31 years later. The FCC, always a supporter of all things non-commercial, granted the petition.

 

[kzpo]

Kind of the same situation at 1220 KKAR Pomona when it switched from country to regional mexican. Problem solved when they sold it to buy the more powerfull 1510 Ontario and rebranded it as KNSE.

 

[K.M. Richards]

I'm going to answer one question we pushed aside in trying to answer the three-letter calls question:

Why couldn't Oldies KODJ become 93 KKHJ or KHJ on 12/3/89 possibly using Bill Drake's short lived Satellite Boss Radio Format?

The KKHJ call letters were already residing on AM 930 under Liberman by the time KODJ debuted.

And I doubt CBS would have gone to a satellite-delivered format in Los Angeles. Corporate pride and all that.

 

[MadMan]

Let me try again.

The KHJ call letters had continued to be used on RKO-owned channel 9 after they gave them up on AM 930 concurrent with the sale to Beasley in 1986.

When Disney-Fidelity took over channel 9 they changed the call sign to KCAL-TV. At that point, RKO went out of business, as KHJ-TV was the last of their broadcast properties. RKO, as David points out, was the last holder of the KHJ calls and only they could reclaim them. Further, the calls would have to have been reclaimed by RKO on AM 930 ... which was not possible since the ownership changed simultaneously.

KODJ was (and still is, as KCBS-FM) owned by CBS. KODJ was on FM (and therefore was not AM 930), and not owned by RKO, therefore ineligible on both counts to take the calls KHJ-FM.

The recovery of the KHJ calls by Liberman in 2000 required special FCC action, and it still had to be AM 930 that got them.

In this case, I am "all-knowing" because I had researched the question back in 2000 when the Liberman request was made.

Now wait "All Knowing", what/which 1986 Beasley sale are you speaking about? Also Fidelity/Disney bought KHJ TV in July of 1988, renaming it KCAL 1.5 years later on December 2, 1989. I think you are reinventing history KM and making your "research" up as you go along?

CALIFORNIA | LOCAL


Jerry Dunphy Quits KABC to Join KHJ

July 8, 1989 | DIANE HAITHMAN, Times Staff Writer

Jerry Dunphy, anchor of KABC-TV's "Eyewitness News," has turned down a "multimillion-dollar" contract offer to stay at the station and instead will join Disney-owned KHJ/TV Channel 9 as chief anchor of a new three-hour prime-time newscast being developed for debut in January. Dunphy resigned from KABC Friday after a 14-year tenure; his resignation becomes effective Monday. Dunphy will join KHJ before the debut of the 8-11 p.m. news program as chief anchor of an expanded evening newscast.


FCC Approves RKO's Sale of KHJ-TV to Disney

July 21, 1988|PAUL RICHTER | Times Staff Writer



NEW YORK — The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday approved the sale of RKO General's KHJ-TV Channel 9 in Los Angeles to Walt Disney Co. for $324 million. The decision ends a 23-year broadcast license dispute that the commission called "the most burdensome proceeding in the FCC's history."

The approval will make KHJ Disney's first broadcast station and also clears the way for RKO parent Gencorp to begin the sale of the rest of its broadcast chain, a step that has been blocked for years by a battle over RKO's fitness as a broadcaster. The FCC said that, while questions of RKO's fitness linger, the "approval will put the station in the hands of an indisputably qualified licensee and avoid countless years of continued litigation."

Under the terms of the deal, Disney will pay $218.6 million to RKO and an additional $105.4 million to Fidelity Television, a Southern California investor group organized in 1965 to wrest the non-network station's license from RKO General. The $105.4 million is by far the largest settlement ever received by a license challenger, communications lawyers said.

RKO General's two television station and 12 radio station licenses have come under challenge because of alleged improper political campaign contributions and foreign payments. Last August, FCC Administrative Law Judge Edward Kuhlmann, ruling in one facet of the long-running case, said RKO was unfit to hold a license because of its dishonesty in dealings with the FCC and other questionable actions.

 

[semoochie]

That answer may well be lost to history.

Four-letter calls started to be assigned in 1922, and the last three-letter calls (WIS Columbia SC) was issued in January, 1930. As near as I can tell, the reason was obvious ... not enough three-letter combinations (676 possible in each of the "K" and "W" series) to cover what was a growing radio industry.

I could not find anything specific in Broadcasting explaining why a retired three-letter call could not be reused, but it was rare back then to find even a discarded four-letter call being picked up elsewhere. Perhaps when the four-letter calls were starting to be reused in the 1940s and 1950s due to new TV and FM stations needing calls, someone decided to grandfather in the three-letter calls, creating the policy. What we have is a lack of documentation as to when and why.

However, I can tell you that only eight three-letter calls have ever been restored: KUT, WHN, WJZ, KYA, KRE, KDB, WGH and KHJ. Of those, WJZ was restored only to its television station, KUT only to its FM station, and KDB after only ten days in 1969.

So whatever the reason, the FCC has only rarely made exceptions to it.

The situation with KYA was interesting(assuming this is the time to which you refer). KYA was selling and becoming KOIT. As KYA was discontinued on AM, it moved to just purchased, Golden West 93.3, becoming KYA-FM again.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Now wait "All Knowing", what/which 1986 Beasley sale are you speaking about? Also Fidelity/Disney bought KHJ TV in July of 1988, renaming it KCAL 1.5 years later on December 2, 1989. I think you are reinventing history KM and making your "research" up as you go along?

No, sir, I am not.

The 1988 date was the official FCC acceptance of a three-way agreement between RKO, Fidelity Broadcasting (which had challenged the license) and the Walt Disney Company, in which Fidelity bought KHJ-TV from RKO and then sold it to Disney.

There were several legal hurdles that still had to be met, not the least of which was Fidelity's role ... were they actually buying the station and then spinning it off (which would have required a waiver of the three-year rule still in effect) or were they simply an intermediary facilitating a sale between RKO and Disney? Or were they simply being compensated to withdraw from the proceedings?

Here, this should make you head spin. From August, 1988:
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1620/m1/201/

The above document (the FCC Record) shows the interlocking situation between the KHJ-TV license renewal from 1965, held up by the competing application by Fidelity, and the application to transfer control to Disney. There is no way Disney could have owned the station while that legal entanglement was being resolved at the FCC.

Disney could issue all the press releases about their plans that they wanted, but they did not close on the sale in the summer of 1988. They were in control by mid-1989, although I can't immediately pinpoint the closing date (and you're already making me waste a lot of time doing research that shouldn't matter, other than to prove to you that I don't "make things up").

So they kept the old calls in place until they were ready to launch the prime-time news and the "California 9" moniker? Irrelevant to when they closed on the deal. Stations have operated with old call letters during post-sale transition periods before and since.

Re Beasley: I over-simplified in my original statement. RKO changed AM 930's calls because they knew they would not be selling the radio stations along with channel 9, and opted to keep the KHJ calls on the television station. The sale to Beasley was subsequent (not concurrent as I misstated by simplification) but that point is a nitpick as it was still inconsequential to the original point, which was that the KHJ calls were not reclaimed for AM 930 before the sale to Beasley, the sale did take place before KNX-FM became KODJ, CBS wasn't RKO, and FM 93.1 wasn't (and still isn't) AM 930. Therefore, no matter how much you muddy the waters by challenging me, KNX-FM could not have become KHJ-FM in 1989. Period.

Now stop it, please.

 

[MadMan]

Re Beasley: I over-simplified in my original statement. RKO changed AM 930's calls because they knew they would not be selling the radio stations along with channel 9, and opted to keep the KHJ calls on the television station. The sale to Beasley was subsequent (not concurrent as I misstated by simplification) but that point is a nitpick as it was still inconsequential to the original point, which was that the KHJ calls were not reclaimed for AM 930 before the sale to Beasley, the sale did take place before KNX-FM became KODJ, CBS wasn't RKO, and FM 93.1 wasn't (and still isn't) AM 930. Therefore, no matter how much you muddy the waters by challenging me, KNX-FM could not have become KHJ-FM in 1989. Period.

Now stop it, please.

You must have been a tough child to play with? How do you know what RKO knew would happen in the future? You mention a Nineteen Eighty Six (1986) Beasley sale and even the reason why RKO changed format and call signs on KRTH AM, somehow connecting them to a 1988/89 sale. No one seems to know that except you and its not true. I get a kick KM that you always have to be right when you are plain making up things? Please point me to what RKO knew with Beasley?

 

[K.M. Richards]

You must have been a tough child to play with? How do you know what RKO knew would happen in the future? You mention a Nineteen Eighty Six (1986) Beasley sale and even the reason why RKO changed format and call signs on KRTH AM, somehow connecting them to a 1988/89 sale. No one seems to know that except you and its not true. I get a kick KM that you always have to be right when you are plain making up things? Please point me to what RKO knew with Beasley?

They might not have known about Beasley specifically, but they did know that the television and radio stations were going to be sold separately, because the deal with Disney was already in the works, and it didn't include AM 930 and FM 101.1. It should be obvious that the channel 9 deal was too complex to have been worked out over a shorter period of time (mainly because of the Fidelity application). Did you read that document I linked to? In the very first paragraph it says that the original paperwork for KHJ-TV was filed April 20, 1987. That's barely a year after the KHJ call letter change, and if you think the deal with Disney hadn't already started discussions at that time, then you're being incredibly optimistic about how long these things take.

So RKO changed the AM calls and left them on the TV station. Probably an educated guess on their part rather than a "know what would happen". But here is what you've overlooked in your zeal to somehow discredit me ... as if it mattered 25 years later: However RKO came to a decision about the call letters, it is obvious Beasley did not ask for RKO to have them changed back before the sale ... which RKO could have done if asked. So they guessed right.

And none of this alters the reality that CBS could not have changed 93.1's calls to KHJ-FM ... which, once upon a time in this thread, was your question.

 

[davideduardo]

You must have been a tough child to play with? How do you know what RKO knew would happen in the future? You mention a Nineteen Eighty Six (1986) Beasley sale and even the reason why RKO changed format and call signs on KRTH AM, somehow connecting them to a 1988/89 sale. No one seems to know that except you and its not true. I get a kick KM that you always have to be right when you are plain making up things? Please point me to what RKO knew with Beasley?

RKO did know in advance that they absolutely had to sell, that the same owner would likely not be allowed to have both radio and TV, and that generally TV stations kept the calls when combos were broken up.

 

[MadMan]

RKO did know in advance that they absolutely had to sell, that the same owner would likely not be allowed to have both radio and TV, and that generally TV stations kept the calls when combos were broken up.

Oh yes that is clear, I just said Beasley had nothing to do with the 1986 Format & Call Sign change or any Sale to KRTH AM as Beasley or the new owner most likely wasn't even in the picture yet until 1988 or 89. Besides RKO sold Liberman the AM so again I don't know why KM spoke about the Beasley sale relating to the AM 930 format and Call Sign change? I mentioned there was a terrible attitude during the last days of RKO's hold on KRTH AM & FM including a lot of double dipping of Salaries. I do understand why 93 KHJ FM would not have been possible, although I didn't understand why a call like KAHJ (Pronounced KHJ) couldn't be used on 93.1?

 

[davideduardo]

Oh yes that is clear, I just said Beasley had nothing to do with the 1986 Format & Call Sign change or any Sale to KRTH AM as Beasley or the new owner most likely wasn't even in the picture yet until 1988 or 89. Besides RKO sold Liberman the AM so again I don't know why KM spoke about the Beasley sale relating to the AM 930 format and Call Sign change?

Beasley did not want the AM and needed to pay down the cost of buying the FM. The negotiations to spin the AM to Liberman began almost as soon as the deal with Beasley came together. RKO, under immense pressure to sell and save something, paid a bit over $30 million to the competing applicants for the licenses in LA to get the deal through the FCC.

Beasley bought both the AM and FM from RKO, and the transfer was proposed in September of 1988. I'm guessing that Beasley was on the "short list" of suitors while RKO worked out agreements and settlements at the FCC. It would surprise me if they were not in those negotiations as early as 1985 or 1986. But they could not buy until the ability of RKO to sell was affirmed.

In October of 1989, the AM went to Liberman from Beasley and was reported in Broadcasting on 11/13/89. The negotiations began even before the FCC granted the transfer to Beasley of the AM and FM and the dismissal of the strike applications.

 

[MadMan]

Thank you. Still CBS FM could have used KAHJ or some variant for FM 93 which I felt you have already addressed. Appreciate the clearer understanding!

 

[Thomps2525]

K.M., you expressed your doubt that "CBS would have gone to a satellite-delivered format in Los Angeles." Until 1993, I never would have thought that any radio station in the nation's second largest media market would switch to satellite programming...and then Shamrock bought KLAC from Malrite and changed the format from country to adult standards, using Transtar's satellite-fed "AM Only" programming. I was outraged that a Los Angeles station would choose to have no local news and no local DJs. And newsman Dean Sander was fired after 31 years! Eventually he was brought back to do an occasional one-minute travel feature. Shamrock's chairman was Roy E. Disney, son of Roy O. Disney and nephew of Walt Disney, and he hated country music. Shamrock also bought KZLA and there were rumors that Roy wanted to change formats at that station too.

Perhaps CBS did not want to be the first company to run a satellite format on a Los Angeles station...but in 2005 they installed an automated format, "Jack-FM," on the aforementioned 93.1 FM. No local news, no sports, no weather, no DJs---automation isn't much different from a satellite feed, is it? But CBS did it and the format has lasted for almost ten years so far.

 

[davideduardo]

Perhaps CBS did not want to be the first company to run a satellite format on a Los Angeles station...but in 2005 they installed an automated format, "Jack-FM," on the aforementioned 93.1 FM. No local news, no sports, no weather, no DJs---automation isn't much different from a satellite feed, is it? But CBS did it and the format has lasted for almost ten years so far.

I'm pretty sure that from the first sign-on of Jack, they had board ops in the studio because most of the drops were listener voiced, and were not reused. They were recorded, edited and quickly dropped into the format... things like a Friday afternoon at 5 PM with a guy saying "we're on our way to Vegas on the 15 and listening to Jack".

There was a lot of buzz about how good the "board ops" were and it appears that at least some of them came out of the production end of radio.

All this came from research that showed a nice niche of people who hated DJs and mindless chatter.

 

[Thomps2525]

What about those of us who hate hearing the cocky arrogant annoying voice of Howard Cogan 24 hours a day? And the Jack-FM billboards are cocky and arrogant too!

 

[oldies76]

Beasley bought both the AM and FM from RKO, and the transfer was proposed in September of 1988. I'm guessing that Beasley was on the "short list" of suitors while RKO worked out agreements and settlements at the FCC.

This would finally explain why KRTH-FM dropped all their longer music specials in 1988. Licensing issues to the music was one factor after the sale. A much tighter rotation was the end result and Mr. Hamilton was history.

 

[TheBigA]

Licensing issues to the music was one factor after the sale.

Huh? Music licensing isn't a function of the owner. RMLC handles music licensing for all OTA radio stations regardless of owner.

My sense of it is that by 1988 radio was more competitive, and this new owner was free of the legal distractions that RKO had been operating under, so they were better able to focus on more competitive programming.

 

[oldies76]

Huh? Music licensing isn't a function of the owner. RMLC handles music licensing for all OTA radio stations regardless of owner.

Yeah, unfortunately I do not remember the source where I read this once about 10 years ago. The music weekends were discontinued in 1988 due to the sale to Beasley and something about restrictive licensing that only allowed the station to play only certain songs and nothing to the extent of pre 1988's presentations.

I wish I knew which source this was mentioned. Could have been an L.A. periodical at the time.