Inland empire AM History

[thebeach33445]

Hey Guys:

As you can see I am now working on the I.E. AM history. Just have a few blanks:

1. Was KRNO 1240 Beautiful Music from 1959 to 1970? I do know that 1240 was Beautiful Music KBON from 1970 to 1980.

2. Would anybod know the format history of 1440 KPRO before it became Spanish KDIF in 1986?

3. During my research I see that KCAL 1410 has been a Spanish station for a long time. Would anybody know when it began as Spanish? Was it a Top 40 in the early 60's?

4. Was KACE 1570 Block programming from 1957 to 1969?

Thanks for your help on these questions.

T.J.

 

[RicoGregg]

2) MOR in Mid-70s, "Cloud 9" Beautiful Music mid-70s to late 70s (I still have bumper stickers and a plastic cigarette lighter holder with the "KPRO Cloud 9" logo on them), MOR again until '83 or '84, a sale from Howard Fisher & Dick Clark (Yes, that Dick Clark) to Milt Klein & Shale Ray affected a change to News/Talk, which turned out to be a ratings & financial disaster. Checks did more bouncing than a kangaroo farm. The station went dark at times, and at other times they would sign on only to broadcast Angel baseball, due to contractual obligations.

The story of KPRO 1440 in the 80s is truly a muddled mess of a tale.

 

[jonbruce]

1240 KRNO was basically MOR during the early years with heavy news. They did a very brief shot at Top 40 in 1962 with Norm Woodruff, but returned to MOR as 1290 KMEN won the top 40 battle. They were country with the change of calls to KDIG in the 80's.

 

[thebeach33445]

Hey Jon:
Was the MOR on 1240 the standards type or AC type?

Hey Rico:
Was the MOR on 1440 the standards type or the AC type?

Thnaks Guys.

T.J.

 

[emailfailed]

From what I understand KRNO in the late 50s to early 60s was some kind of top-40 station. I say "some kind" as I do not know if it was "chicken rock" or perhaps an outright top-40.

The legend goes in 1963 KRNO announced on the air "rock and roll is dead" and went to MOR before morphing into beautiful music.

When KBON signed on the station morphed into a very "KMPC-type" station, as I recall, and they carried programming from NBC Radio along with sport games (not too sure what teams).

In the mid-70s for one hour every weekday afternoon was "Afternoon's with Sinatra."

I think sometime in the mid-to-late 70s the owners moved KBON to their new 103.9 signal and provided an AM-FM simulcast for a short time (not too sure how long; maybe a year) and then 1240 became KDIG, a country format.

The KRNO/KBON/KDIG studios and transmitter are still there off the I-215 near the Inland Mall in San Bernardino. The studios now house KTIE 590, but the 1240 transmitter in the field still operates.

 

[RicoGregg]

Hey Rico:
Was the MOR on 1440 the standards type or the AC type?

In the mid-70s, KPRO brought in a PD named Joey Mitchell who tried to contemporize the playlist, mixing current pop hits with standards. I can remember Midnight at the Oasis by Maria Muldaur being followed by Louis Prima. I don't think that that was what anybody meant by "tweaking".

In the early 80s, they had more of a standards flow going, ballads, big bands and such. I was lucky enough to land a job there thanks to a fine radio brain named Jon Bruce. I learned invaluable radio lessons from him. He was a big help and became an excellent friend. I loved talking radio with the guy.

Thanks Jon.

 

[tperrin]

TJ -

I was a DJ at KPRO in '68-'69. My first commercial gig, actually. At the time, it was MOR. I remember Lana Cantrell, Brasil 66, Anita Kerr Singers, Vicki Carr, Sinatra, those kinds of singers.

Bob Steinbrink and Ralph Lawler handled mornings. John Rader did the mid-day. Nick Fanady did afternoons. I started on overnight, moved to 10 pm-1 am, and ended up 6-10 pm. Steinbrink ended doing the afternoon news shift on KMPC for 20+ years, commuting in from his place in Pedley every day. I heard John Rader one time as I was driving through the Central Valley on a small station. He still had one of the most beautiful voices on the air, deep and mellifluous, a classic "radio voice." I don't know what happened to the other guys.

As someone mentioned, Dick Clark was the primary owner. Howard Fischer was the GM. His son, Jack Fischer, worked there for a while but Jack quickly recognized that he was not meant to be a DJ. Very nice guy, however.

Oh yeah, the engineer was a brilliant young guy named Steve Gibson who had built the entire studio himself--custom mixer, great layout. Best studio I ever worked in.

I was a real radio nut in the late 60s so if you've got any more questions about those years in the IE, I can probably give you an answer. If not, I'm still in touch with some buddies who were also nuts on radio. They might know.

Tim Perrin
W. Kelowna, BC, Canada