Mt. Rushmore of L.A. Stations

[michael hagerty]

Would they have needed work permits for Mexico?

Not sure. It was 1961-68. Would have been whatever Mexican law required. This wasn't new territory. Prior to McClendon, the station was XEAK and from 1957-1961, an American company had leased the program rights and done Top 40 as "The Mighty 690". The jocks commuted to the transmitter from San Diego to do their shows.

 

[Gregg.]

For a couple of months in 1968, KABC-FM tried all news. I remember that they said that they were the "all american" news station.

I was unaware of this. Even the newspaper ad was odd. It's advertising an All-News station on FM but it uses a cartoon of an orchestra conductor? Wikipedia's KLOS page says KABC-FM began its All-News format on Jan. 1, 1968 and ended after three months on March 11, 1968. Just like XETRA, it decided to flip the format when 980 KFWB became an All-News station.

So we should add KABC-FM to KFAX San Francisco and XETRA Los Angeles-Tijuana as the earliest U.S. All-News stations. And wasn't KABC-FM's sister station, WABC-FM briefly All-News during a New York newspaper strike? But again, it was just temporary.

 

[Gregg.]

Would they have needed work permits for Mexico?

I remember reading a story in Radio & Records about an XHRM disc jockey who had to commute from San Diego to Tijuana for his DJ shift. This was when XHRM was Urban. He said the shifts were six hours but only four days a week so the DJs didn't have to make that trip every weekday. Sometimes going through customs was quick but sometimes an hour or more.

The article didn't mention work permits as I remember. The license was and is held by a Mexican owner. But an American company leases the station and the DJs are employees of the American company.

 

[michael hagerty]

I was unaware of this. Even the newspaper ad was odd. It's advertising an All-News station on FM but it uses a cartoon of an orchestra conductor?

It was a clumsy allusion to the rest of FM being known for music. The first two lines of the copy:

"KABC/FM is out of key with other FM, but in tune with the world."

Wikipedia's KLOS page says KABC-FM began its All-News format on Jan. 1, 1968 and ended after three months on March 11, 1968.

Never buy food from a clown named Ronald, never trust a nun with a tattoo and don't take Wikipedia at face value on anything.

The Long Beach Independent, December 27, 1966:

Just like XETRA, it decided to flip the format when 980 KFWB became an All-News station.

By that point, it was a given that KNX was going to do the same. There was no point in staying in format.

So we should add KABC-FM to KFAX San Francisco and XETRA Los Angeles-Tijuana as the earliest U.S. All-News stations.

KFAX and XETRA, yes---and then WINS in New York (April of 1965). KABC-FM didn't make any investment in news to speak of. It ran ABC Network newscasts and features and did local cut-ins from KABC-AM news staff.

And wasn't KABC-FM's sister station, WABC-FM briefly All-News during a New York newspaper strike? But again, it was just temporary.

114 days in 1962. And they put a lot more in terms of effort and resources into it than they did with KABC-FM. I think it counts.

 

[davideduardo]

Would they have needed work permits for Mexico?

Yes. But that is not hard to get based on investment, contributions to the economy, etc.

A couple of decades later, I was offered the GM position at a group of stations in Mexico City. To be a manager, then, I needed to be a Mexican citizen. I was immediately told by the station owner that within a few days, I would have a Mexican birth certificate and all the other needed papers to qualify.

 

[davideduardo]

Never buy food from a clown named Ronald, never trust a nun with a tattoo and don't take Wikipedia at face value on anything.

This needs to be at the heading for this whole site!

By that point, it was a given that KNX was going to do the same. There was no point in staying in format.

And we know how little in-car penetration FM had back then. Even the terminally stupid network O&O management in the 60's knew that, and obviously backed off when an AM came on the scene. But the question ("stupid" topic again) is why they even tried all news on an FM in the mid-60's.

But then again, someone probably thinks that it's clever to open a Tastee Freeze in Nome.

114 days in 1962. And they put a lot more in terms of effort and resources into it than they did with KABC-FM. I think it counts.

The problem was that this was sort of like that reservoir in Pacific Palisades. Everything was perfect, except that it had no water in it.

 

[TomásEstefan]

This needs to be at the heading for this whole site!

And we know how little in-car penetration FM had back then. Even the terminally stupid network O&O management in the 60's knew that, and obviously backed off when an AM came on the scene. But the question ("stupid" topic again) is why they even tried all news on an FM in the mid-60's.

But then again, someone probably thinks that it's clever to open a Tastee Freeze in Nome.

The problem was that this was sort of like that reservoir in Pacific Palisades. Everything was perfect, except that it had no water in it.

Tastee Freeze in Nome eh!!! Well, you could probably make money opening one up in Murmansk as one of their favorite treats up there are Ice Cream Cones!!

 

[TomásEstefan]

This needs to be at the heading for this whole site!

And we know how little in-car penetration FM had back then. Even the terminally stupid network O&O management in the 60's knew that, and obviously backed off when an AM came on the scene. But the question ("stupid" topic again) is why they even tried all news on an FM in the mid-60's.

But then again, someone probably thinks that it's clever to open a Tastee Freeze in Nome.

The problem was that this was sort of like that reservoir in Pacific Palisades. Everything was perfect, except that it had no water in it.

Tastee Freeze in Nome eh!!! Well, you could probably make money opening one up in Murmansk as one of their favorite treats up there are Ice Cream Cones!!

 

[Loverofradio]

Every single one of you on here spelled Indie 103.1 wrong

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

GrooveRadio _ 103•1 is my top pick.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Every single one of you on here spelled Indie 103.1 wrong

OK, but we were talking about the Mt. Rushmore of SoCal radio stations, not the statue in front of the kiddies' penny wish pool at Lego Land.

 

[davideduardo]

Would they have needed work permits for Mexico?

It took me several months to research this and I'm still missing decade-specific data.

But in the 70's and 80's when several Tijuana stations were operated via a lease by U.S. companies, at times when staff had to commute from the U.S. to the Tijuana area, they were paid in the U.S. Technically, they were not employed in Mexico but in the U.S. and the American job required them to visit Mexico.

One person I know who occasionally had to do her show at the transmitter site of one of those stations said that all she did was drive across the border and say she was visiting for that day.

Mexico was glad to have people come across and spend a bit of money.

The answer may really be, "nobody cared".

 

[ILOVERADIO]

Apparently, the early days of The Wave were not the usual David Sanborn/Sade segues. There was a lot of singer-songwriter and jazz fusion stuff in the playlist. KEZX-98.9 in Seattle had a similar approach, closely related to adult album alternative, and they ironically would become a very popular smooth jazz station (which this poster grew up with regularly in Seattle's northern suburbs). I recall my family had David Sanborn's "Time Again" CD on the rack. My eclectic father was a HUGE Jeff Beck fan (even saw him at the Puyallup Fair...and had me in the stroller, I think I was 2 years old), but didn't mind some of the more "mature" instrumentalists on KWJZ as well. He couldn't stand Kenny G. To this day, the average Joe thinks of smooth jazz as "sleepy elevator music" that Kenny G mastered.
My dad was also a big fan of 88.5 KPLU's Saturday night Blues show. I'm happy to see that John Kessler is still doing the show on Saturday and Sunday night at what is now KNKX. I can still remember the John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughan CDs...he LOVED all of these artists! (Way off topic)

Before the PPM, KTWV, WQCD, KWJZ, WNUA, KKSF, and other smooth jazz stations were often in the top 5 in Arbitron ratings (sometimes even #1). When the PPM was introduced, the ratings dropped like a rock, and smooth jazz faded quickly from FM airwaves.

Yes, I was amazed and a little saddened by how quickly smooth jazz went from
popular on major signals to off the air. Some great DJs like Mike V in San Diego, Yvonne Daniel’s in Chicago, and Pat Prescott in Los Angeles helped make smooth jazz radio important for about 15 years. Pat still has a show on the NYC jazz station.

 

[ILOVERADIO]

I promise you, in sixteen minutes, you'll have had enough (February 2, 1964):

19640211 XETRA.mp3

drive.google.com

Thanks Michael, The Carlton cigarettes commercial around 3 minutes in, was pretty funny, partly because it’s so bad. The newsreader has a very good voice, but it seems to be all rip and read with no reporters. I agree it’s hard to listen to. Given the great signal of 690 AM in Tijuana, was McClendon a cheapskate to have no reporters or even many sound effects? In my native Chicago, we had a similar station WNEWS in the 60s for a few years until the CBS owned WBBM radio became a similar news fixture in Chicago. It still is a top rated Chicago station. The great Dick Helton (recently of KNX) was there for many years.

 

[michael hagerty]

Given the great signal of 690 AM in Tijuana, was McClendon a cheapskate to have no reporters or even many sound effects?

Gordon was never going to spend more than he could make. This was uncharted territory. And ultimately, it was not a cash cow. Run the way Gordon ran it, he probably made a few bucks.

 

[Intheairnevada]

Read the Bio of Bob Crane by his son, on KNX making $50 a year in 50s..would edit taped interviews with celebs, sound effects the old school way, horse collar microphone…

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

OK, but we were talking about the Mt. Rushmore of SoCal radio stations, not the statue in front of the kiddies' penny wish pool at Lego Land.

what grooveRadio did and who they had on-Air with how brief it was on terrestrial FM with a weak signal....

they are on my Mt Rushmore.

 

[K.M. Richards]

what grooveRadio did and who they had on-Air with how brief it was on terrestrial FM with a weak signal....

they are on my Mt Rushmore.

They weren't even on Mount Wilson.

Beyond that, what @ChannelFlipper said in post #71.

 

[Radio-Bored-Op]

They weren't even on Mount Wilson.

That was funny........

 

[BoredOp23]

Might be a tad late to the show but has PIRATE 100.3 been mentioned? For about a year there was nothing better- and my bud;s dad was the voice of Pirate