Rickradio said: "But I could've sworn that KECA-AM became KABC around '63 or '64, but I have nothing to back that up. Furthermore, I hadn't even thought about when KABC-TV first hit the air. Was it KECA-TV first? And if so, when did ABC change it to KABC? Since you grew up in LA, I figured you would know. Maybe NBC got the idea to change KRCA to KNBC from ABC"
Rick - according to Wikipedia - which we all know is 100% reliable all of the time - the call letters for both Channel 7 LA and 790 AM were changed from KECA to KABC on February 1, 1954. So it was KECA-TV first, but made the switch about 8 years before Channel 4 made the switch from KRCA to KNBC. This squares with my memory - my parents didn't own at TV until 1956, and I was only 2 years old in 54, so I wouldn't have remembered KECA first hand.
The "ECA" was for Earl C. Anthony. Anybody around my age who grew up in LA will remember the dramatic top of the hour ID for "50,000 Watt clear channel Kay - Eff - Eyyyyyeeee , Los Angeles, an Earl C. Anthony station!". So I guess old Earl owned two radio network affiliates at the same time in the 1940s. KFI was LA's NBC affiliate in those days, but was never owned by NBC.
Earl was a pioneering broadcaster who started as a car dealer (Packards), and was originally attracted to radio as a medium for advertising his cars. Not unlike Don Lee - the car dealer (Cadillacs) who owned both KHJ and KFRC.
Rick - according to Wikipedia - which we all know is 100% reliable all of the time - the call letters for both Channel 7 LA and 790 AM were changed from KECA to KABC on February 1, 1954. So it was KECA-TV first, but made the switch about 8 years before Channel 4 made the switch from KRCA to KNBC. This squares with my memory - my parents didn't own at TV until 1956, and I was only 2 years old in 54, so I wouldn't have remembered KECA first hand.
The "ECA" was for Earl C. Anthony. Anybody around my age who grew up in LA will remember the dramatic top of the hour ID for "50,000 Watt clear channel Kay - Eff - Eyyyyyeeee , Los Angeles, an Earl C. Anthony station!". So I guess old Earl owned two radio network affiliates at the same time in the 1940s. KFI was LA's NBC affiliate in those days, but was never owned by NBC.
Earl was a pioneering broadcaster who started as a car dealer (Packards), and was originally attracted to radio as a medium for advertising his cars. Not unlike Don Lee - the car dealer (Cadillacs) who owned both KHJ and KFRC.