KLAA - Angels Radio AM 830

[TheBigA]

My point is maybe running a liner wouldn't hurt, regardless of whether or not the word "live" is used. Better to play it safe, no?

I agree, and if there were broadcasters running the station, they'd probably feel the same way.

 

[K.M. Richards]

My point is maybe running a liner wouldn't hurt, regardless of whether or not the word "live" is used. Better to play it safe, no?

That one word "maybe" makes all the difference in interpreting your post. Thanks.

And yes, it's always better -- regardless of the business -- to err on the side of caution.

 

[TheBigA]

And yes, it's always better -- regardless of the business -- to err on the side of caution.

This gets back to the first few posts in this thread. When you're dealing with a radio station that's mainly run by PR people, they're not thinking about radio issues or regulatory issues. None of that is part of their training or knowledge base. All they know is they're in charge of a brand, and they need to promote that brand. As we move forward, there will be more radio stations like this. It'll be up to the FCC to decide how penny-ante they want to be, how many rules they want to enforce, because these operators aren't as concerned about them as traditional radio companies.

 

[michael hagerty]

Worth a note that the Angels aren't alone. The Dodgers have an ownership interest in KLAC (570).

 

[PTBoardOp94]

My point is maybe running a liner wouldn't hurt, regardless of whether or not the word "live" is used. Better to play it safe, no?

I agree with BigA. It is trivially easy to eliminate any potential liability. When they do the station ID each hour, just include the word "replay" or "encore"

 

[ercjncpr]

I carefully read all previous threads before contemplating starting a new one...then started this new one.

Anyway, during a recent visit to SoCal in early June I found myself listening to this station more than I thought I would. It so happened that my visit to Los Angeles/Orange County coincided with the Angels' series in New York against the Yankees, which saw them get swept three straight -- the middle games of that 14-game losing streak which turned their season around.

Since returning home to New York I've been sampling the station, and I need to be honest -- it has to be one of the worst programmed big-market sports talk stations I've ever heard. KLAA is essentially a boutique operation -- as mentioned in other threads, simply an arm of the Angels' public-relations department...that is, when they aren't transmitting ESPN Radio in all available time slots.

Their one local talk show, "The Sports Lodge", is basically an Angels post-post-postgame and pre-pre-pregame program. I don't know what they do during the offseason, but if one were listening in the middle of June you would come away with the impression that nothing else is going on. I'm listening to the program as I'm writing this, and substitute host Trent Rush has gone on and on (for at least the two hours I've been listening) about last night's (6/22) game and ceremony honoring the Angels' 2002 World Series championship team. And this is in spite of the Dodgers having played earlier in the day, and with the NBA Draft and NHL Stanley Cup Finals taking place. Oh, and I heard not one listener phone call taken on the air.

As for Roger Lodge? He may have hosted one of the best dating reality TV shows ever with Blind Date, but he leaves a lot to be desired on sports talk radio. Is this the best KLAA could have done, or is the best they could afford, or both? Furthermore, why is he also hosting the Angels' pregame show when he already did a preview of the night's game on his own show? In that case, then Trent Rush should be doing both pre and post. (The postgame show is a joke also -- who reads tweets and not take calls?) What Lodge really needs is a co-host and the green light to broaden the range of topics. Four hours of nothing but Angels talk gets old really quick.

The game broadcasts themselves...play-by-play man Terry Smith and color guy Mark Langston (former Angels' pitcher) do a fine job on their end. But what MLB team does a 20-minute postgame show these days? That is something you'd hear from a minor-league team and not a team in the second largest media market.

One unique feature is the station airs replays of the day's Angels game at Midnight...but there's one problem: no "pre-recorded" liners. And, the TOH ID says "Orange County, Los Angeles, and Inland Empire" Since when is all of Orange County considered a community of license? Those are two big FCC red flags.

I get it, the station is owned by the executive branch of the baseball team. But if Arte Moreno, Dennis Kuhl and company can dole out big bucks for players like Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Rendon, Josh Hamilton, and Albert Pujols -- and have very little to show for it in 19 years of ownership, couldn't they conceivably do the same for the radio station? To say it's being run on the cheap is an understatement. And the fact that Smith and Langston are still working road games remotely adds credence to that theory.

And I also get that Los Angeles isn't a big market for the sports talk format. But here is a situation where one station could stand out above the competition and it's being squandered in my opinion. KLAA needs a real radio person with experience in sports talk running the show, as well as a bigger budget. And, if they can do it, an FM translator.

Well I live here in Orange County and am
sort of a halfway fan of the Angels. I rarely listen to KLAA but I don’t think it’s that bad for what it does