Hurricane Hillary coverage on kfi

[Andy Ludlum]

I didn’t realize you were on Kfwb. But, y’all did amazing work there, and usually preferred 980 over knx. I wish Kfwb was around in some form. I even liked the Hollywood-centric format and Angels baseball broadcasts from 2009(?). Were you around for The Beast?

No I left KFWB when The Beast went on the air and KNX/CBS a couple of months later.

 

[TomásEstefan]

Correct, while owned by the same company, KNX was the "CBS" station in the market and KFWB was not. At KFWB we were in full local coverage from the beginning. The only "corporate" advantage we had is I could dial in (ISDN) to WCBS and WINS and we would clip and rebroadcast or even take some portions live. There were so many LA angles to the story - and we had the resources and expertise to cover the story well without yielding to a network. We always saw the lack of a formal network affiliation as an advantage to KFWB as we could always be covering the story we thought was of the greatest interest to the LA audience. Anyone who has been a west coast network affiliate knows how clueless and unresponsive network desks in New York can be.

As trivial as this may sound: I loved and still miss the "teletype" sound effect in the background on 'WB.

 

[Loverofradio]

I wasn't around for much of that, as I was out at the end of September. However, I was told "The Beast" was going to cost as much (if not more) than the previous format. I saw a group of people work very hard on a station that never really got going and was never going to be attractive to the ownership likely to buy the station. The first owner put on some sort of a "Bollywood" format. It was later sold to Lotus Communications whose "ranchera" format keeps creeping up in the ratings - I'm happy to see the historic call letters thriving.

As mentioned other posts, I’ve always loved Kfwb, including the beast format. Did the trustee owners not realize before how much a sports format would cost? I know they had the trust. But, why not let the format grow to see how much money could be made? Plus, why couldn‘t cbs have waited one short year before they sold to Entercom to keep 980 alive? Im sorry I have so many questions. I just want to pick your brain on this

 

[Andy Ludlum]

As trivial as this may sound: I loved and still miss the "teletype" sound effect in the background on 'WB.

You'll probably enjoy this. In 2008, for KFWB's 40th anniversary in the all news format, I brought back the teletype sound as stunt. Listeners would write emails asking what the "noise" was. When I wrote back saying that it was a teletype, many responded "huh?" I had to resort to attaching a picture of an old UPI teletype machine. Another complication was integrating the sound into a fully digital studio. In the old days, we used to hook up a live mike (or a recording) to the relay in the "on the air" light to have the teletype sound come on when mics were hot but not when you were in commercials. I had to have an engineer write about 3' of code to get the sound play at the right times.

 

[Andy Ludlum]

As mentioned other posts, I’ve always loved Kfwb, including the beast format. Did the trustee owners not realize before how much a sports format would cost? I know they had the trust. But, why not let the format grow to see how much money could be made? Plus, why couldn‘t cbs have waited one short year before they sold to Entercom to keep 980 alive? Im sorry I have so many questions. I just want to pick your brain on this

To be honest with you, I've suspected the sports format was somewhat of vanity indulgence on the part of the trustee who enjoyed the sports environment - we were the Clippers station at time. I'm certain she knew how much it would cost but she was not answerable to anyone, especially CBS. I don't know if she honestly believed she could make the format a success to a likely buyer. If she did it would have been naive to expect the, what was it, 4th sports station in the market without one of the major franchises to be a success in a market where sports stations were marginal performers. Waiting was not an option as sale of the station was overdue and the trustees responsibility. It was separate from CBS.

 

[davideduardo]

In January 2009, I came back as PD of both KFWB and KNX after a 4-month Roy Laughlin-induced "absence." By now Roy was gone and during my absence paid programming had been put on KFWB weekends. We tried briefly to keep the news format with a focus on the entertainment industry.

Can we have a separate thread about The Cowboy? 🤮

 

[Loverofradio]

Can we have a separate thread about The Cowboy? 🤮

I remember that name vividly. I remember he was supposed to flip Klsx, but then didn’t. I remember he made comments about that on Carrolla’s show one morning. from what I remember hearing, he didn’t last long right?

 

[TomásEstefan]

You'll probably enjoy this. In 2008, for KFWB's 40th anniversary in the all news format, I brought back the teletype sound as stunt. Listeners would write emails asking what the "noise" was. When I wrote back saying that it was a teletype, many responded "huh?" I had to resort to attaching a picture of an old UPI teletype machine. Another complication was integrating the sound into a fully digital studio. In the old days, we used to hook up a live mike (or a recording) to the relay in the "on the air" light to have the teletype sound come on when mics were hot but not when you were in commercials. I had to have an engineer write about 3' of code to get the sound play at the right times.

Those same folks even back then would probably not even know what "rip and read" was either, and today almost no one!

 

[davideduardo]

Those same folks even back then would probably not even know what "rip and read" was either, and today almost no one!

And it is sad that those tidbits of history are forgotten. A few days ago I had to clarify the "facts" posted here by a person who said that Casey Kasem had "created" American Top 40.

 

[michael hagerty]

I remember that name vividly. I remember he was supposed to flip Klsx, but then didn’t. I remember he made comments about that on Carrolla’s show one morning. from what I remember hearing, he didn’t last long right?

14 years at KIIS, two years at KDAY, five months at CBS.

Equity partner in Rincon Broadcasting in Santa Barbara, and of course, married to Ellen K., formerly of KIIS, now down the hall at KOST.

 

[michael hagerty]

You'll probably enjoy this. In 2008, for KFWB's 40th anniversary in the all news format, I brought back the teletype sound as stunt.

As a 67-year-old radio pro (52 at the time), how cool!

Listeners would write emails asking what the "noise" was. When I wrote back saying that it was a teletype, many responded "huh?" I had to resort to attaching a picture of an old UPI teletype machine.

But---everyone reading who wonders why we can't just "do it the old way and let the youngsters grow to like it the way we did"---that's a cautionary tale.

A modern audience has no point of reference for that sound. It may as well be "Oh, that? That's the blacksmith next door."

The teletype sound in the middle of the 20th century was cool because it was authentic---it was how news came into the newsroom. And people were familiar with it from movies and television. Today, the news comes in silently.

 

[ILOVERADIO]

I can understand that only if IHeart doesn’t have a news operation of their own in Hawaii. When deadly tornados hit my market a few years ago, there were several reporters from Dallas from different O&O stations there. I guess, companies rather get their own content rather than pay someone else for theirs? But, a plane ticket to Hawaii is expensive enough as it is. I can’t imagine how much it cost to send someone over there last minute

They sent Steve Gregory from KFI for a week to Hawaii to cover the weather disaster and recovery. He became a mini-controversy in Hawaii by challenging the elected officials with a critical tone. I believe Steve covered the disaster for the IHeart Stations nationwide. Interestingly, both KFI in LA and KOGO Radio in San Diego referred to Gregory as their own reporter "KOGO's Steve Gregory" which sounded weird to KOGO listeners like me who associate Steve with KFI. My guess is that IHeart felt it would beef up their coverage with a higher profile reporter covering the disaster for the IHeart Radio Network.

 

[Mark Roberts]

As a 67-year-old radio pro (52 at the time), how cool!

But---everyone reading who wonders why we can't just "do it the old way and let the youngsters grow to like it the way we did"---that's a cautionary tale.

A modern audience has no point of reference for that sound. It may as well be "Oh, that? That's the blacksmith next door."

The teletype sound in the middle of the 20th century was cool because it was authentic---it was how news came into the newsroom. And people were familiar with it from movies and television. Today, the news comes in silently.

On a trip to Albuquerque in 1982, I heard KZIA at 1580 doing a news/talk format. Under the news blocks, the station used the background sound of...a dot-matrix printer!

Different, but equally weird in my book, was the discovery upon my arrival in Houston in 1985 that KPRC, then news/talk in head-to-head competition with KTRH, had reverb under all its audio. Now I wish I had recorded that. It was just too weird. Suffice it to say that KTRH did not follow suit.

 

[michael hagerty]

On a trip to Albuquerque in 1982, I heard KZIA at 1580 doing a news/talk format. Under the news blocks, the station used the background sound of...a dot-matrix printer!

That was not a great choice on their part.

 

[radiofan2023]

At least they didn’t use the sound of typewriter bells

 

[Mark Roberts]

That was not a great choice on their part.

And look where they are now...1600 KIVA, if they can stay on frequency. (Remember back in May when I caught them operating on 1660?)

 

[pjc1961]

KFI will present a live program on Sunday 8/27/2023 from 2 PM - 4 PM Pacific Time entitled "Maui Island Inferno" hosted by reporter Steve Gregory (mentioned earlier in this thread). Will also be available live on iHeart Radio and later on via podcast.

Program includes interviews and reporting by Gregory during his 6-day visit to Maui.

Story link: Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News