"Big Announcement" Regarding John and Ken on Monday

[TomásEstefan]

From 1926 until---I'm not really sure.

By 1970, KFI had ditched the network's newscasts and the weekend "Monitor" show and were simply airing the spots from within those programs. They were clearing network features in evenings, late nights and overnights.

IF I recall correctly, NBC finally jumped ship to KIIS-AM around '74 or '75---but I think that went south when KKDJ became KIIS-FM.

I'm probably wrong but in my foggy boomer memory I think that after 790 KABC dropped ABC News. KFI actually signed for it but for some reason they never used it. Michael or someone please clarify...

 

[michael hagerty]

I agree. When Lohman and Barkley split up, KFI teamed up Lohman with Gary Owens. The Lohman and Owens show lasted all of eighteen months.

When Lohman and Barkley split up, KFI let Lohman go.

PD Steve LaBeau took over mornings for four months until Gary Owens came aboard---as a solo act.

It was nine months after that (June 1987---a year and a month after L&B split) that it became Lohman and Owens. And that show actually lasted two years.

 

[michael hagerty]

I thought he lived in the South Bay. I've also heard Long Beach.

You're right---it's Hermosa and my brain wanted to say Huntington. Still, it's a 65-mile roundtrip, and if nobody's going to make you do it...

 

[Sean Cocca]

You're right---it's Hermosa and my brain wanted to say Huntington. Still, it's a 65-mile roundtrip, and if nobody's going to make you do it...

Seriously. I live in OC and my office is technically in Santa Monica. I'm glad I don't have to go in very often. Especially now with the 10 out of commission for the foreseeable future.

 

[michael hagerty]

That is a truly bad jingle package. No wonder the knock on KFI used to be that it was a "sleeping giant". Those jingles must've put everyone in a coma.

Here's the worst part----they ran for FOUR YEARS. Until 1973.

 

[TomásEstefan]

When Lohman and Barkley split up, KFI let Lohman go.

PD Steve LaBeau took over mornings for four months until Gary Owens came aboard---as a solo act.

It was nine months after that (June 1987---a year and a month after L&B split) that it became Lohman and Owens. And that show actually lasted two years.

If I recall Al Lohman later at one point actually went on to work at KWNK (now KIRN) in Simi Valley. At that time the stations studio was at the Fallbrook Mall in Canoga Park.

 

[michael hagerty]

I'm probably wrong but in my foggy boomer memory I think that after 790 KABC dropped ABC News. KFI actually signed for it but for some reason they never used it. Michael or someone please clarify...

When was this?

 

[Weiserguy]

If I recall Al Lohman later at one point actually went on to work at KWNK (now KIRN) in Simi Valley. At that time the stations studio was at the Fallbrook Mall in Canoga Park.

Hey, a job's a job. And Canoga Park's, well... Walnut Creek without the charm.

 

[michael hagerty]

I wonder if management was putting the screws to him to start showing up in person, and they reached a standoff.

Ken did mention "contract cycle". Would anyone be surprised if the offer for a year in middays was less than for a year in PM Drive?

 

[michael hagerty]

The dynamic changes -- especially if that dynamic has developed over several decades. The shows never really feel the same. Listen, I'm not the biggest John and Ken fan, but I can't deny they had good chemistry. I can't imagine John teaming up with someone else long term. It's going to feel weird to the legacy listeners and it probably won't attract the same caliber of new listeners.

Another example---Ken and Bob on KABC---forever. Ken and Barkley (Roger, ex of L&B), six years. Ken and Peter Tilden, two years.

 

[michael hagerty]

Another example---Ken and Bob on KABC---forever. Ken and Barkley (Roger, ex of L&B), six years. Ken and Peter Tilden, two years.

An example of it working----Klavan and Rayburn on WNEW lasted seven years. Klavan and Finch ran 16 years and when Finch retired, Gene Klavan did nine more years in morning drive solo.

But that's the only one I can think of.

 

[michael hagerty]

If I recall Al Lohman later at one point actually went on to work at KWNK (now KIRN) in Simi Valley. At that time the stations studio was at the Fallbrook Mall in Canoga Park.

That was convenient for Al, who lived out in Calabasas.

 

[TomásEstefan]

When was this?

Not sure of the year but I do remember after Roger left KFI and then Al disappeared I heard him tell a reporter that based on his "KFI contract" he said: "I can't work alone". And sometime down the road it was reported that what he was doing now was "reading scripts". Then sometime later he popped up on KWNK.

 

[michael hagerty]

Not sure of the year but I do remember after Roger left KFI and then Al disappeared I heard him tell a reporter that based on his "KFI contract" he said: "I can't work alone". And sometime down the road it was reported that what he was doing now was "reading scripts". Then sometime later he popped up on KWNK.

Tomas, I was asking about ABC leaving KABC and going to KFI.

 

[TomásEstefan]

That was convenient for Al, who lived out in Calabasas.

It was kinda funny back then but at that time KWNK 670 was only 1 kW directional and put a reasonable signal over the SFV, but at night you could be parked at the mall right next to the studio and clearly hear co-channel interference from KBOI in Boise.

 

[hotpatrick2004]

I think he's referring more to what happens when a team doesn't retire simultaneously. The one who stays tends not to stay long---Mark and Brian, Kevin and Bean....it's a pretty substantial list.

Good point. Time will tell but I think John will do fine solo. Very disappointed in ken never coming back to the studio. The woody show always worked from iheart studios in Burbank even during COVID.

 

[TomásEstefan]

Tomas, I was asking about ABC leaving KABC and going to KFI.

I wish I could remember the year, but I did read in one of the trades that since under the new ownership KABC was now no longer an ABC News affiliate and therefore dropped the top of the hour network newscasts. In the same article it was reported that KFI had then signed with ABC News and the affiliation was to begin "in January". This apparently never happened. My guess was that KFI expected KABC's new owners would drop those legacy call letters seeing that the station had nothing to do with ABC. But since this never happened, I figured that KFI thought it would be strange to air ABC news at the top of the hour when at the same time a competitor in the same market called itself "KABC".

 

[michael hagerty]

I wish I could remember the year, but I did read in one of the trades that since under the new ownership KABC was now no longer an ABC News affiliate and therefore dropped the top of the hour network newscasts. In the same article it was reported that KFI had then signed with ABC News and the affiliation was to begin "in January". This apparently never happened. My guess was that KFI expected KABC's new owners would drop those legacy call letters seeing that the station had nothing to do with ABC. But since this never happened, I figured that KFI thought it would be strange to air ABC news at the top of the hour when at the same time a competitor in the same market called itsel "KABC".

Oh, so this was after Disney sold the stations to Citadel in 2006?

No idea.

I doubt that the "ABC"/KABC thing was a factor. We didn't use ABC for newscasts at KFBK, either. It's a source of audio for your own locally-produced newscasts, provides special coverage in major news moments outside the market and gives you access to ABC News reporters and anchors for interviews. KFI may very well have had---or possibly even still has---the affiliation.

 

[Mark Roberts]

That is a truly bad jingle package. No wonder the knock on KFI used to be that it was a "sleeping giant". Those jingles must've put everyone in a coma.

Then again, you, and the rest of us, are listening to the jingles from the perspective of 2023, and judging them with "2023 ears", not "1970 ears". For what was going on in 1970, they sound somewhat dated but not all that out of place for a full-service station of its time.

 

[michael hagerty]

Then again, you, and the rest of us, are listening to the jingles from the perspective of 2023, and judging them with "2023 ears", not "1970 ears". For what was going on in 1970, they sound somewhat dated but not all that out of place for a full-service station of its time.

I heard ‘em when they aired. Even by that standard, KMPC’s (also done by Anita Kerr) were better. And that package (same year) had its cringeworthy moments.