Moving From AM to FM... A Question

[michael hagerty]

Michael....great post. Some follow up questions - what do you think was the cause of KHJ's decline? You hinted at John Sebastian's AOR-flavored approach being an influence in its decline. Is it that they were on AM, is it that their signal was a limiting factor as Southern California's suburban sprawl expanded widely during that era? Also, KIQQ was a terrific sounding CHR. Why do you think it did not strike gold?

David, I think KHJ fell victim to a bunch of different things, many of them common to other Top 40 stations in other cities.

Top 40 was the rating monster it was in the 60s because it was a mass appeal format...bringing in listeners from 12 (and younger) to 49 (and older).

But in the 70s, two new formats, Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) and Adult Contemporary (different from old Middle-Of-The Road, or MOR) started siphoning adults from the Top 40s.

AOR took older teens and adults into their early-mid 30s away from Top 40. Most of those rarely listened to Top 40 again, or at least rarely admitted to it.

AC rapidly became a competitor for Top 40 (I programmed AC from 1974 until 1981 and I don't remember having more than 6 or 7 songs in any given week that weren't on the local Top 40's playlist and vice-versa), though some sharing of audience took place.

At KHJ's peak in the fall of 1968, it had one direct competitor...KRLA, plus indirect competition from KGFJ (R&B)

Fast-forward five years to fall of 1973, and it's still one direct Top 40 competitor...KKDJ, plus indirect competition from KLOS (AOR), KIIS-AM (AC), KMET (AOR), KDAY (Top 40/AOR), KGFJ (R&B), KRLA (AC), KGBS (AC), KIQQ (AC prior to the Drake takeover) and KROQ (Top 40/AOR).

Five more years...the fall of 1978 (John Sebastian's lone fall book), and there are three direct Top 40 competitors...KFI, KTNQ and KIQQ, plus indirect competition from KMET (AOR), KMPC (AC), KNX-FM (Soft Rock), KRTH (AC), KUTE (Disco), KDAY (R&B), KLOS (AOR), KIIS-FM (Disco), KZLA-FM (AC), KWST (AOR), KIIS-AM (AC) and KROQ (AOR).

Hard to pin that on Sebastian...who, it should be noted...kept KHJ #1 in the Top 40 format. John's mistake was in trying to protect KHJ from KMET, which went from #19 to #4 between 1975 and 1978. He was right in that KMET was eating KHJ's teen base far more successfully than KFI or KTNQ. He was wrong in thinking that he could do anything about that.

But Sebastian's approach was just the latest (and arguably most radical) change in KHJ's sound...and the lack of consistency has to be considered as a weakness, too. For its first four years (1965-1969), KHJ had one program director, Ron Jacobs. In the following 11 years, it had nine PDs.

Now, PD changes were one thing when Bill Drake had the big picture covered...KHJ under Jacobs, Jim O'Brien, Ted Atkins, and Paul Drew had minor variations, but for the most part, it was, by Top 40 standards, a pretty stable sound (the same could be said for Sean Conrad, Drake-trained at KYNO, under Paul Drew when he became RKO National PD after Drake left).

But beginning in 1974, each PD made a significant difference in KHJ's sound. Gerry Petersen (Cagle) sped up the records, dirtied up the audio chain in pursuit of loudness and went for off-the-rack shotgun jingles. The last remaining heritage Boss Jocks, Bill Wade and Johnny Williams, left the building. Tony Mann, Machine Gun Kelly, Larry McKay, J.B. Stone and Billy Pearl were brought in.

Petersen lasted a year (until January, 1975), and Charlie Van Dyke put the records back to normal speed, brought Bob Kanner down from KFRC to clean up the audio chain, and broadened the jingles and production elements. He also, within a few months, fired every one of the jocks except two (Machine Gun Kelly and J.B. Stone) and brought back Mark Elliott, brought Bobby Ocean and Shana down from KFRC and Dr. John Leader in from WHBQ.

Van Dyke stayed for 2 and a half years after becoming PD (he'd been doing mornings since September of 1973), giving the station some much-needed consistency once his changes were made.

But when Charlie left for Dallas in May of 1977, that not only meant a PD opening, but a morning drive one as well. Michael Spears came down from KFRC to program, and brought back Charlie Tuna for mornings. Spears' approach was much more laid-back, and Billboard magazine articles indicate he and the GM butted heads early on. He lasted six months.

Which brings us to John Sebastian in late '77. And the format that caused almost a total turnover in staff (only Bobby Ocean survived).

And when Sebastian left in late '78, after just over a year, Chuck Martin took the station in a rhythmic direction and brought in yet another completely new air staff (this time Bobby Ocean didn't survive). Too little, too late...too much competition. Country in October, 1980.

I don't think the signal (in terms of coverage) became a factor until later. But the quality of AM compared to FM was a losing battle as more and more people discovered music on FM. The grunging up of the audio chain in '74 didn't help.

As for KIQQ, I think a couple of things kept them from going big. Outlet Communications didn't have deep pockets. Serious promotion money was never there. In the early days, the morale was horrible. Billy Pearl took the first opportunity to jump to KHJ. The Real Don Steele left after 10 months and stayed off radio for more than 2 years (Beaver Cleaver tells the story of Steele saying "You may ask yourself, why I...The Real Don Steele...am in a toilet like this"). Robert W. Morgan bailed after less than two years to do weekends at KMPC...for four years. Clearly, the stars didn't want to be there in those days.

The seasoned pros...the guys who were in it more for the love of the game...Jim Carson, Eric Chase...Bruce Chandler...hung in there (well, Chase bailed for KFI in '78) and gave it their all. And you're right...at times, it sounded very good.

But go back and read the paragraph about the competitive landscape in 1978. It applies to KIQQ, too. It had a ton of stations nibbling away at it...and it didn't have as far to fall as KHJ.

Ultimately, it took a station with an in-your-face morning show, a seemingly inexhaustible promotion budget and the ability to market itself as something completely new, fresh and exciting to become the first big Top 40 FM in Los Angeles. And that was KIIS-FM.

KFWB had 10 years (1958-1968) in the Top 40 format. Five years (1958-1963) as the leader.

KRLA had 11 years (1961-1972) in the Top 40 format. Two years (1963-1965) as the leader.

KHJ had 15 years (1965-1980) in the Top 40 format. 14 years (1965-1979) as the leader.

KIIS-FM? It'll be 30 years in the Top 40 (CHR, whatever) format come July...and the leader pretty much from the word go.

For all the time we spend talking about the legendary L.A. Top 40 stations, we need to remember that the biggest one is still there.

 

[michael hagerty]

Michael....great post. Some follow up questions - what do you think was the cause of KHJ's decline? You hinted at John Sebastian's AOR-flavored approach being an influence in its decline. Is it that they were on AM, is it that their signal was a limiting factor as Southern California's suburban sprawl expanded widely during that era? Also, KIQQ was a terrific sounding CHR. Why do you think it did not strike gold?

One of the biggest things happening in the 1976-1978 period is that KHJ went left and music went right. Good or bad, it was Bee Gees and Donna Summer-time in the US, and KHJ did not get on board. The fragmentation of the LA Top 40 FMs continued, with KISS creating a disruption when it did disco for a while. As things settled back after Funky Town, the historical preferences were broken and KIIS had its chance to take over #1.

I don't know that I agree, David. KHJ pretty much played the hits (including and especially Donna Summer and The Bee Gees) until John Sebastian's arrival...and that wasn't until very late 1977. So for all of that year and 1976 before it, KHJ was playing the disco records that were hits.

Interestingly, Michael Spears' replacement at KFRC, Les Garland, succeeded in '78 and '79 by avoiding most of those records.

 

[davideduardo]

I don't know that I agree, David. KHJ pretty much played the hits (including and especially Donna Summer and The Bee Gees) until John Sebastian's arrival...and that wasn't until very late 1977. So for all of that year and 1976 before it, KHJ was playing the disco records that were hits.

The problem is that they went off that track right at the height of the craze, driving listeners away or forcing them to share more with other stations and, thus, reducing any brand loyalty. Saturday Night Fever was released in December, 1977 and could be considered the high water mark for the genre; by then KHJ was leaning rock, and was perhaps perceived by the 18-34 female that is and even then was the core of the format to be too extreme. That was the era when guys had their component stereos and a gazillion watts of audio and AM, was, well, not happening for them

 

[michael hagerty]

I don't know that I agree, David. KHJ pretty much played the hits (including and especially Donna Summer and The Bee Gees) until John Sebastian's arrival...and that wasn't until very late 1977. So for all of that year and 1976 before it, KHJ was playing the disco records that were hits.

The problem is that they went off that track right at the height of the craze, driving listeners away or forcing them to share more with other stations and, thus, reducing any brand loyalty. Saturday Night Fever was released in December, 1977 and could be considered the high water mark for the genre; by then KHJ was leaning rock, and was perhaps perceived by the 18-34 female that is and even then was the core of the format to be too extreme. That was the era when guys had their component stereos and a gazillion watts of audio and AM, was, well, not happening for them

Okay....I understand better now and agree.

 

[MicroPhoney]

Long thread so I apologize if this has been said.

I had a short stint at KHJ in the late days of the 70s. It was not one of those 50kw Class A stations. It was a 5000 watt station that just happened to have amazing programming and talent for quite a few years. KRTH was the FM and did pretty well playing oldies even then (under Bob Hamilton). We were not even in the same building. We were on Melrose with KHJ TV and in my time there I never even saw KRTH. We were one of the AM Stereo test stations at the time too.

As to the AM to FM subject I'd add that radio, being a business, they were being pragmatic. FM was not a proven platform and owners saw good revenue and margin with these AMs and my guess part of it at least was this though, "let's see how this grows and see if we can have two high performing properties". There was a feeling that FM was going to be a different animal and that somehow what was on AM would remain. I think that's one place where a lot of people got caught, not seeing that FM would not compliment AM but eat it alive. Even the talent, for the most part, would've been really leary of moving to FM. Alot of people didn't even have FM in their cars yet. FM stations were attacking AM stations in the areas they held the advantage, less commercials, more open playlists etc. and the fact it was cool to listen to an FM station in stereo.

Keep in mind owners could have 1 AM, 1 FM and in some cases 1 TV in a market. It would've been a big risk to move the resources from a powerfully successful AM to FM "just like that". What they did instead was commit smaller resources to FM to see how it grew. By the time they realized it was going to destroy their AMs it was too late to make the move. One huge example is the dying days of WLS AM vs. WLS FM.

Hindsight is almost always 20/20. Even if an owner saw it coming and was completely sure... it would've been very difficult to determine when to "pull the trigger" and do it. Even then... what do you do with a heritage, successful, AM radio station you just picked clean to move to FM? What kind of signal does that send to advertisers and listeners? No one wanted to admit the total devastation that was coming to the AM band (from a music radio standpoint).

 

[michael hagerty]

There was a feeling that FM was going to be a different animal and that somehow what was on AM would remain. I think that's one place where a lot of people got caught, not seeing that FM would not compliment AM but eat it alive. Even the talent, for the most part, would've been really leary of moving to FM. Alot of people didn't even have FM in their cars yet. FM stations were attacking AM stations in the areas they held the advantage, less commercials, more open playlists etc. and the fact it was cool to listen to an FM station in stereo.

Hindsight is almost always 20/20. Even if an owner saw it coming and was completely sure... it would've been very difficult to determine when to "pull the trigger" and do it. Even then... what do you do with a heritage, successful, AM radio station you just picked clean to move to FM? What kind of signal does that send to advertisers and listeners? No one wanted to admit the total devastation that was coming to the AM band (from a music radio standpoint).

Exactly right. '78 was the first time I found myself with an FM competitor that played our playlist but with 8 minutes of commercials an hour instead of our 18 and in stereo.

Until that moment there was room for them and us...they'd been a beautiful music station. But not only did they end up eating us alive over the next four years...they also cannibalized their own AM Top 40 sister...because the difference between Top 40 and AC playlists was about six songs at any given time.

And the talent was right to be leery of a move to FM...at least in L.A. Charlie Tuna and Rick Dees were really the only KHJ jocks to do well on FM in L.A. until K-EARTH's 1992 Drake revival (and very few people heard Dees on KHJ). Morgan tried it twice (KIQQ and KMGG) but he did much better on KMPC, The Real Don Steele did it only once (KIQQ) then went back to AM at KTNQ and KRLA.

FM was, as you say, a different animal...a really hungry one.

 

[briancraig]

While KHJ would have completely succumbed to FM by 1980 or 1981, I think they could have had a few more years of high ratings despite competition from KFI and KTNQ.

Imagine if instead of John Sebastian, RKO had transferred WHBQ's PD John Long along with morning man Rick Dees to KHJ in 1977. I have no doubt they would have enjoyed 3 more years of solid ratings.

WHBQ during this period was the complete opposite of Sebastian's boring AOR approach. Besides Dees, they had a funny, entertaining afternoon guy (Bob Landree), the perfect teen shift jock (Dick Edwards), even the overnight guy (Paul Mayer) was an entertainer with a gorilla voice he called the Qrilla. The music mix was very urban oriented though they played plenty of rock and pop.

WHBQ during this period ruled Memphis radio despite having AM and FM top 40 competition and a very solid FM AOR.

I understand that Memphis and L.A. are about as different as you can get, but urban crossover records always have done well in L.A. and Dees was a L.A. ratings success for over 20 years so I honestly believe if KHJ had sounded more like WHBQ in the late 1970s, they could have held on for a few more years.

By the time RKO transfered Dees to L.A. it was too late for KHJ.

 

[Bryan Simmons]

The posts on this thread have been very insightful and historically rich.

I remember listening to KHJ under Sebastian and I thought it was a travesty. Hearing a great talent like Bobby Ocean say nothing but the call letters over a song intro was a total waste of talent and wattage. I understand now as I did then what he was trying to do, but felt that it was just wrong to do. As they say hindsight is 20/20, but even in the 80's I wondered why stations like KHJ weren't moving their programming to the FM. Top 40 had already been tried on FM in LA, but I always felt that moving heritage call letters, format and staff to FM would have worked. Of course the music needed to be right, and as we've heard in previous posts, KHJ sure didn't have it right under Sebastian. It was obvious that they ignored the ethnic audience. LA is a much different animal than San Francisco. For some reason more Rock worked at KFRC and not at KHJ, and I would say that it had to not only do with audience make up, but the terrain as well.

I've been told more than once that AM Top 40 kept going a little longer in the Bay Area because FM had so many problems overcoming the topography of the area. I grew up in Northern California and I can tell you that KFRC's audience was VERY loyal, but even for the Big 610 that would eventually fade. Getting back to KHJ, Sebastian most likely felt that with all the AOR's and KFRC's success playing more Rock that it would work in the Southland as well. John Sebastian is a successful and talented PD, but we all know now that he was wrong.

I have always wondered why Michael Spears' reign at KHJ was so short, especially considering his track record with KFRC, and now thanks to Michael I know. Thank you!

I sure do miss those stations and the wealth of talent that worked on them, they were so much fun to listen to.

 

[LKellerIII]

I've read many times on this website that AM endured longer in the Bay Area because of the topography - and that's always made me wonder. Yes - the Bay Area has hilly terrain, but compared to Los Angeles County, the peaks are mere bumps. Examples:

-Mt. San Bruno (where many TV and radio transmitters are located: 1,314 ft. above sea level.
- Mt. Loma Prieta - 3,795 ft
- Mt. Diablo - 3,864 ft.

I know little about the science of radio transmission, and I realize that there are probably important factors other than the elevation of peaks, but still...

Is it possible that 610/KFRC endured as a rock station until 1986 because it was a consistently excellent station? From what I keep hearing, KHJ ran out of gas years sooner.

For those who are interested, here's an excerpt of the the last Top 40 Dr. Don Rose program on KFRC in August 86. You'll hear Robert McCormack in there as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qrDoL64Qs8

My first memories of FM as a little kid in the late 50s and early 60s was KFAC. As with most 40 something adults of that era, my parents listened mostly to AM (KNX, KMPC, KABC). I still remember their agony when KHJ flipped from MOR to Boss Radio. We kids already had two stations full of that rock and roll crap - why did we need a third?

But my parents were also classical music fans. On the weekend, they would tune our 2 table top radios to KFAC-AM, but the big Hi-Fi in the living room would be tuned to the KFAC-FM simulcast for the sake of the higher fidelity sound and the better bass response from the HUGE speaker. One speaker - they didn't make the conversion to stereo until the very late 60s.

 

[emailfailed]

Kind of given to what we're talking about...

...check out this clip by KHJ/RKO on making top 40 AM radio more identifiable and accepting in the mid-1970s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwP_mpZTX8I

 

[Bryan Simmons]

I've read many times on this website that AM endured longer in the Bay Area because of the topography - and that's always made me wonder. Yes - the Bay Area has hilly terrain, but compared to Los Angeles County, the peaks are mere bumps. Examples:

-Mt. San Bruno (where many TV and radio transmitters are located: 1,314 ft. above sea level.
- Mt. Loma Prieta - 3,795 ft
- Mt. Diablo - 3,864 ft.

I know little about the science of radio transmission, and I realize that there are probably important factors other than the elevation of peaks, but still...

Is it possible that 610/KFRC endured as a rock station until 1986 because it was a consistently excellent station? From what I keep hearing, KHJ ran out of gas years sooner.

Perhaps it was the improvement in radio receiver technology. I remember my first FM radio. I got it for my birthday in 1971 and it had an "AFC Lock" feature that was supposed to keep your radio from drifting off frequency. I remember much more multipathing and picketing back then. Haven't had those problems in a long, long time. Could it be that FM radio's were improved and allowed for a better listening experience? I'm not an engineer, so I may be way off here.

KFRC did endure longer than KHJ, but I believe that fewer mistakes were made with KFRC. It's obvious to me that the management at KHJ screwed the pooch. I could be wrong, but looking at the station's history it would seem that they lost their way in LA and stayed on point longer in SF. The changes under Sebastian, plus the format change to Country didn't help and I remember listening to KHJ when they dropped Country and thought, this didn't sound quite right and the Car Radio format, while a novel idea in the car capitol of Boss Angeles, was I felt poorly executed. Having the jock do the traffic was a cost cutter, but didn't make for a compelling sound, plus by then it was too little too late, something that could have been said about KHJ after Sebastian but before Country as well.

 

[michael hagerty]

While KHJ would have completely succumbed to FM by 1980 or 1981, I think they could have had a few more years of high ratings despite competition from KFI and KTNQ.

Imagine if instead of John Sebastian, RKO had transferred WHBQ's PD John Long along with morning man Rick Dees to KHJ in 1977. I have no doubt they would have enjoyed 3 more years of solid ratings.

WHBQ during this period was the complete opposite of Sebastian's boring AOR approach. Besides Dees, they had a funny, entertaining afternoon guy (Bob Landree), the perfect teen shift jock (Dick Edwards), even the overnight guy (Paul Mayer) was an entertainer with a gorilla voice he called the Qrilla. The music mix was very urban oriented though they played plenty of rock and pop.

WHBQ during this period ruled Memphis radio despite having AM and FM top 40 competition and a very solid FM AOR.

I understand that Memphis and L.A. are about as different as you can get, but urban crossover records always have done well in L.A. and Dees was a L.A. ratings success for over 20 years so I honestly believe if KHJ had sounded more like WHBQ in the late 1970s, they could have held on for a few more years.

By the time RKO transfered Dees to L.A. it was too late for KHJ.

Well, remember that they were the #1 Top 40 until fall, 1979, so there wasn't a lot more time left to get to your 1980 or 1981.

If you'll permit one change to your theory, I'm going with the idea of John Long replacing Charlie Van Dyke as PD in May of 1977, sparing KHJ the instability of six months of Michael Spears as PD and Charlie Tuna in mornings only to have Long come in (instead of John Sebastian) in the fall.

I think John Long might have bought KHJ a better fall 1977 Arbitron (they fell 5.3-3.5 from the fall '76 book). But you have to remember that there were two FM AORs in L.A....KLOS, which had been a Top 10 station since Fall 1972 and which beat KHJ in the evenings from 1972-1975....and KMET, which exploded in 1978....and both built their base on teens. The erosion had been going on for five years and was only intensifying.

Then you had the AC's (and to some extent, KFI, which morphed from AC to Top 40 and kept Lohman and Barkley in mornings), eating away at the adult listening (parents who listened to KHJ with their kids were freed up to pick their own stations when the kids moved on to adult-unfriendly KMET).

Plus, if you think about it, KFI was the perfect storm...50,000 watts at 640, programmed by a certifiable legend (John Rook of WLS and WCFL), with an established morning show since 1968.

Dees? Obviously he became the most successful Top 40 morning man in the market's history. But Dees in 1977 wasn't the same Dees as 1982. I'm not sure people who'd been listening to Charlie Van Dyke for the past three and a half years would have warmed up to Dees quickly...radically different style. There's an aircheck of Dees sitting in with Van Dyke when he was doing the "Disco Duck" promo tour. Listen if you can...it's painful...especially to CVD.

Going from Van Dyke to Tuna wasn't a big stretch in terms of style and a sense of belonging at KHJ (Tuna had been there from 1967-1972 and did mornings for his final 14 months there), but Tuna still dropped to a 3.5 in fall '77 from Van Dyke's 5.6 (ironically, the 3.5 is exactly what Tuna had at KIIS-AM/FM in fall '76). Lohman and Barkley on KFI went from a 4.4 to a 5.3 and were the #1 Top 40 morning show until....Dees in 1982 on KIIS-FM.

I'm betting Dees' numbers in mornings would have been worse than Tuna's for the first year or two. And that would have dragged down the station average. RKO probably would not have let John Long empty out WHBQ's talent pool...so he would have had to work his magic with the existing staff of Mark Elliott, Bobby Ocean, Machine Gun Kelly, Dr. John Leader (a WHBQ alum) and Shana....or, like Spears and Sebastian, bring in replacements from elsewhere. Stability of the rest of the airstaff certainly wouldn't have been a bad thing.

 

[michael hagerty]

The posts on this thread have been very insightful and historically rich.

I always felt that moving heritage call letters, format and staff to FM would have worked. Of course the music needed to be right, and as we've heard in previous posts, KHJ sure didn't have it right under Sebastian. It was obvious that they ignored the ethnic audience.

I have always wondered why Michael Spears' reign at KHJ was so short, especially considering his track record with KFRC, and now thanks to Michael I know. Thank you!

Trouble is, Bryan...I can't find the time that it would have made sense to move KHJ to 101.1. Maybe early 1976. The staff was at its best (Van Dyke, Elliott, Ocean, Kelly, Leader, Shana, Stone), the production values were amazing, KFI hadn't started its transition to Top 40 yet and KTNQ wouldn't launch until December 26.

But...there was only a 3.2 in FM Top 40 shares in Fall, 1976. KHJ had a 5.4 on AM and not everyone had FM recievers...certainly not in cars. It would have been a HUGE gamble. And, from a purely business perspective, whatever they put on the AM (there was only a 2.3 in Country at that point) almost certainly wouldn't have produced the revenue that KRTH did once it went AC. So there's a net loss for RKO even if KHJ did as well on FM as it was doing on AM at that point.

As for Michael Spears (who was brilliant at KFRC), some details:

He got off on the wrong foot at KHJ. Part of KFRC's success under Spears (1973-1977) was that it was still what Top 40 was in the 60s...a mass-appeal monster, with as many adults as teens making up the audience. KHJ was like that, but less so. Spears was determined to make KHJ more mass-appeal.

Mistake one: He talked about it. To the press. The L.A. Times ran an article about it...illustrated with a drawing of a radio tuned to 930, adults (unnecessarily old-looking) leaning in and smiling and teens turning away and holding their noses. Not helpful. Especially with KTNQ six months old and aiming young and the two AORs, KLOS and KMET gobbling teens like M&Ms (it's worth remembering that there was a pyramid of hipness at work here. It wasn't just that AOR made Top 40 unhip...it was that KLOS had been doing that to KHJ since '72 and around '77, KMET started doing it to KLOS. That made KHJ a second level of uncool).

Apparently there were other mistakes. In a 1986 Billboard column, Paul Drew said KHJ GM Tim Sullivan went to RKO President Dwight Case and told him Spears had made too many errors and he wanted him gone after only four months on the job. Case said okay, but called Paul Drew first. Drew intervened, went to Sullivan and had a six-hour meeting in which he convinced Sullivan to keep Spears ("This guy is responsible for millions in revenue in his four years at KFRC and after four months at KHJ, he's out of the company?"). But Spears saw the handwriting on the wall and used his reprieve to line up another gig in Dallas.

 

[michael hagerty]

I've read many times on this website that AM endured longer in the Bay Area because of the topography - and that's always made me wonder. Yes - the Bay Area has hilly terrain, but compared to Los Angeles County, the peaks are mere bumps. Examples:

-Mt. San Bruno (where many TV and radio transmitters are located: 1,314 ft. above sea level.
- Mt. Loma Prieta - 3,795 ft
- Mt. Diablo - 3,864 ft.

I know little about the science of radio transmission, and I realize that there are probably important factors other than the elevation of peaks, but still...

Is it possible that 610/KFRC endured as a rock station until 1986 because it was a consistently excellent station? From what I keep hearing, KHJ ran out of gas years sooner.

Okay, Llew...first, peaks. Yes, the SF hills are smaller...but there are a lot of them...and tall buildings in the city's core...and reflective water.

Also, L.A.'s Mount Wilson is 5,712 feet...above a relatively flat basin that's at or near sea level. That's a major advantage in terms of line of sight for the signals on that peak.

Now...KFRC. Consistent, yes. KHJ had nine PDs from 1970-1980 (O'Brien, Atkins, Drew, Conrad, Petersen, Van Dyke, Spears, Sebastian and Martin). KFRC had five (Atkins, Drew, Sebastian Stone, Spears, and Les Garland). The longest-tenured of the KHJ PDs was Van Dyke at a shade under two and a half years. Spears did four at the helm of KFRC. Garland did three.

So even though there were different approaches under different PDs (just plain hits with Michael Spears, a more rock-oriented approach with Les Garland), they had time to build and establish those approaches.

Consistently excellent? Gerry Cagle (known as Gerry Petersen at KHJ) virtually re-invented the station as a rhythmic CHR with strong numbers from '81-'83...but when KFRC replaced him in early 1984, they did so with Mike Phillips, who took the station about as whitebread as you can get...and that's when the slide (which Phillips said was already underway when he got there accelerated.

From that point (March, 1984) until the format change in August 1986, KFRC was thrashing about, trying anything and everything (The Game Zone). I was a huge KFRC fan. But I heard the station shortly after Mike Phillips took over...and never tuned in again. Until airchecks many years later, I never heard any of the final two and a half years of KFRC.

 

[michael hagerty]

The Car Radio format, while a novel idea in the car capitol of Boss Angeles, was I felt poorly executed. Having the jock do the traffic was a cost cutter, but didn't make for a compelling sound.

Car Radio was mind-numbing. Two burned-to-a-crisp recurrents, backannounced, into a spot cluster, followed by a traffic report which ends with "Now another "Car-Tune" on Car Radio 93 K-H-J." followed by....exactly the same sequence. Repeated infinitely 24/7. It actively resisted any attempt to listen for more than 10 minutes.

Robert W. Morgan nailed it in his guest shot on the last night of KHJ. "Management here thought quarter-hour maintenance was a quickie janitorial service."

 

[LKellerIII]

A fascinating thread - thanks Michael, David and Bryan. A few miscellaneous responses that occur to me in no particular order. I loved the music of KFRC during the rhythmic CHR period (Gerry Peterson), but by that time, my listening habits probably reflected the move most people were making to FM. Now thoroughly equipped with a 100 watt wall-shaking stereo at home, and 2 good FM tuners in my cars, listening to music on AM was painful. As great as KFRC's programming might have been, it was like listening to music with an ear infection.

I don't even recall KFRC's last one or two "white bread" years (Mike Phillips) - by that time, my commute radio listening had morphed mostly to another AM - I had become a KGO talk radio junkie. At home, it was music on FM. I remember the promos for The Game Zone (voiced by Bobby Ocean, naturally), so I checked it out a couple of times. Probably the worst radio idea ever conceived - lots of looped sound effects - bells, whistles, gongs - and artificial "excitement" - enough to give anybody a migraine. It obviously involved taking calls from listeners who would win a prize if they won the quiz - usually a toaster oven, or something equally low-rent - in a time where TV game shows were giving away tens of thousands in cash or prizes. Just awful. The inevitable format flip to Magic 61 (MOR and standards) was probably the smartest move they could have made to give the frequency a few more years of life. Once Infinity came on board as owners (early 90s, I guess), 610 became the AM repeater for Oldies on the new KFRC-FM (99.7).

 

[michael hagerty]

A fascinating thread - thanks Michael, David and Bryan. A few miscellaneous responses that occur to me in no particular order. I loved the music of KFRC during the rhythmic CHR period (Gerry Peterson), but by that time, my listening habits probably reflected the move most people were making to FM. Now thoroughly equipped with a 100 watt wall-shaking stereo at home, and 2 good FM tuners in my cars, listening to music on AM was painful. As great as KFRC's programming might have been, it was like listening to music with an ear infection.

I don't even recall KFRC's last one or two "white bread" years (Mike Phillips) - by that time, my commute radio listening had morphed mostly to another AM - I had become a KGO talk radio junkie. At home, it was music on FM. I remember the promos for The Game Zone (voiced by Bobby Ocean, naturally), so I checked it out a couple of times. Probably the worst radio idea ever conceived - lots of looped sound effects - bells, whistles, gongs - and artificial "excitement" - enough to give anybody a migraine. It obviously involved taking calls from listeners who would win a prize if they won the quiz - usually a toaster oven, or something equally low-rent - in a time where TV game shows were giving away tens of thousands in cash or prizes. Just awful. The inevitable format flip to Magic 61 (MOR and standards) was probably the smartest move they could have made to give the frequency a few more years of life. Once Infinity came on board as owners (early 90s, I guess), 610 became the AM repeater for Oldies on the new KFRC-FM (99.7).

KFRC's was probably the best AM audio chain in existence. But yeah, after exposure to a good FM, even 610's sound was unnatural sounding and fatiguing after a while.

Basically, Phillips blew out all the rhythmic stuff Cagle had been programming and went to playing proven hits and a ton of recurrents. And the jock staff, apart from Dr. Don, went through a complete turn-over. About the only hires I can think of under Phillips that were worthy of KFRC were Big Tom Parker (back for a second tour) and The Slim One.

The other stations smelled blood in the water. KYUU morphed from an AC to a CHR and brought in Bobby Ocean and KMEL (the former KFRC-FM) went CHR in the summer...with a pronounced (though not as much as KFRC under Cagle) rhythmic influence and with Marvelous Mark McKay in afternoon drive.

Very few of us former KFRC fans listened to Magic 61 (most out of protest) but I'm glad I did. It was, under PD Harry Valentine, the best adult standards station I've ever heard....and yes, that includes 1980s KMPC. It was wonderful. They left the audio chain intact and once they got comfortable and gave up the idea of changing the call letters, they even had a Bobby Ocean/"You" series top-of-the hour ID: (Bobby)"Magic 61". (singers) "KFRC...San Francisco."

Bedford Broadcasting bought KXXX (the former KYUU) in April, 1991 and two weeks later purchased KFRC. That's when 99.7 became oldies KFRC-FM. Magic 61 continued on the AM.

In August, 1993, Alliance Broadcasting bought KFRC AM and FM and that fall, announced that it was too hard selling advertising for the upper demos of Magic 61, so they flipped the AM to a simulcast.

Infinity (later to become Westinghouse, Viacom and CBS) bought the stations in January, 1996.

 

[Bryan Simmons]

Wow, go to sleep for a few hours... But really, great posts Lew & Michael, very insightful, and I've got to agree with what you've both said. I will say however that the "Game Zone" on KFRC was probably one of the better sounding game show blocks around at the time. There were many AM's flirting with game shows for a few years and while not as good as it could have been, it was better than most. Personally, and I was a target demo back then, I never cared for Cagle's approach at KFRC even though it reaped great numbers, it just didn't feel like KFRC to me, but that's probably because I came of "radio age" around the time Eric Chase was on the Big 610 and was a big Drake fan. Guess we can all look back and see the mistakes and I guess we're discussing this because most of all we are big fans of those great stations and to me it hurt to watch them go out the way they did...

 

[michael hagerty]

Perhaps it was the improvement in radio receiver technology. I remember my first FM radio. I got it for my birthday in 1971 and it had an "AFC Lock" feature that was supposed to keep your radio from drifting off frequency. I remember much more multipathing and picketing back then. Haven't had those problems in a long, long time. Could it be that FM radio's were improved and allowed for a better listening experience? I'm not an engineer, so I may be way off here.

Nope. You're right on, Bryan. Receivers now have AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) built-in, so we don't have to throw those little black switches (mine, which I got in '68, had it too). AFC locks in on the center of an FM signal, avoiding drift.

As for the multipath and picketing, antennas have been improved, and (believe it or not) manufacturers have reduced sensitivity in their FM receivers, so the reflected signals simply aren't picked up.

 

[michael hagerty]

Wow, go to sleep for a few hours... But really, great posts Lew & Michael, very insightful, and I've got to agree with what you've both said. I will say however that the "Game Zone" on KFRC was probably one of the better sounding game show blocks around at the time. There were many AM's flirting with game shows for a few years and while not as good as it could have been, it was better than most. Personally, and I was a target demo back then, I never cared for Cagle's approach at KFRC even though it reaped great numbers, it just didn't feel like KFRC to me, but that's probably because I came of "radio age" around the time Eric Chase was on the Big 610 and was a big Drake fan. Guess we can all look back and see the mistakes and I guess we're discussing this because most of all we are big fans of those great stations and to me it hurt to watch them go out the way they did...

Well, and that's where I struggle with defining KFRC, Bryan. Because it really wasn't consistent in the purest sense. Grab airchecks five years apart from KFRC...1966, 1971, 1976, 1981...and it will sound like four different radio stations. But there was a consistency to the quality and level of performance...the overall excellence of the station. Whether you liked the basic Drake approach of Tom Rounds, the loose, fun "Hippie Thing" as Bobby Ocean calls it of Sebastian Stone, the near-blinding polish of Michael Spears or the rhythm and rhyme of Gerry Cagle's time (get Bill Lee to deliver that line, please!), you knew no one on earth was doing it any better...nor could they.