Just a few more notes here, as I try to catch up on some of these posts from the past few weeks. Haven't had any time to get on here and write anything lately. Somebody mentioned 96.7 FM in Santa Ana. It was first KVOE-FM and went on the air during 1948 simulcasting KVOE-1480. The AM, which went on the air in late-1926, changed calls to KWIZ in 1954. So, the FM changed from KVOE-FM to KWIZ-FM at that time.
Another post mentioned the pre-World War II use of 1430-AM. I probably did something on this before, but here it is again, and is a matter of public record. KFI owner Earle C. Anthony bought station KPLA (which began in 1925 as KFXB in Big Bear Lake, of all places!), and changed the call letters to KECA in November of 1929, when he purchased the station. It was on another frequency, and was moved to 1430 kilocycles on 11-15-29, when other L.A. stations were also moved around the dial.
Unhappy with the signal coverage of 1430, in 1938-'39, ECA bought out the Hearst Radio station KEHE-780. KECA then moved from 1430 to 780-AM in the summer of '39, as KEHE went dark, as did 1430. (A new station, KWKW-1430 went on air in Pasadena in 1942, but that's another story).
KECA-780 moved to 790 on the dial March 29, 1941.
Due to a new FCC rule barring anybody or a company from owning 2 or more stations in a market, Earle C. Anthony had to sell his beloved KECA to the Blue Network in 1943. The Blue Network soon became the American Broadcasting Company/ABC, and KECA-790 changed calls to KABC in 1954.
Another mention was made of history of 107.5. When it was KBBI, it was owned by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles or BIOLA. The word BIOLA was misspelled earlier. It is now Biola University in La Mirada, and they put the first all-religious station on the air in the USA in 1922, KJS, which became KTBI in 1925. It lasted till they had to sell KTBI to E. L.Cord in 1931, when he changed the calls of 1300-AM to KFAC, which lasted till January 17, 1989. The KFAC-1330 license was bought by KWKW-1300, and they moved to 1330-AM at midnight that evening, as 1300-AM became KAZN.
I too have seen my share of discrepancies and wrong information in Broadcasting Yearbooks and other sources over the years. For instance, some older BCYB's said that KNX began in October of 1924. They actually went on the air as a licensed station, KGC in December of 1921 and changed to KNX in May of 1922. The 1924 date was when the first owner, Fred Christian, sold KNX to the Los Angeles Evening Express newspaper, owned by Guy C. Earl.
Again, I've done over 25 years of L.A. radio history research and writing, and I still have a lot to find out and learn and discover, and a few mysteries yet to solve. While a lot of the radio history is now online, I did much of mine the hard way before the internet, so I'm cautious about giving out too much information for free. I've seen some of my material ripped off from other websites, copied and pasted elsewhere without my permission, so I'm a bit more careful now as to what answers I give, mostly what can be looked up by anybody these days.
Jim Hilliker
Early Los Angeles radio historian
Monterey, CA
Another post mentioned the pre-World War II use of 1430-AM. I probably did something on this before, but here it is again, and is a matter of public record. KFI owner Earle C. Anthony bought station KPLA (which began in 1925 as KFXB in Big Bear Lake, of all places!), and changed the call letters to KECA in November of 1929, when he purchased the station. It was on another frequency, and was moved to 1430 kilocycles on 11-15-29, when other L.A. stations were also moved around the dial.
Unhappy with the signal coverage of 1430, in 1938-'39, ECA bought out the Hearst Radio station KEHE-780. KECA then moved from 1430 to 780-AM in the summer of '39, as KEHE went dark, as did 1430. (A new station, KWKW-1430 went on air in Pasadena in 1942, but that's another story).
KECA-780 moved to 790 on the dial March 29, 1941.
Due to a new FCC rule barring anybody or a company from owning 2 or more stations in a market, Earle C. Anthony had to sell his beloved KECA to the Blue Network in 1943. The Blue Network soon became the American Broadcasting Company/ABC, and KECA-790 changed calls to KABC in 1954.
Another mention was made of history of 107.5. When it was KBBI, it was owned by the Bible Institute of Los Angeles or BIOLA. The word BIOLA was misspelled earlier. It is now Biola University in La Mirada, and they put the first all-religious station on the air in the USA in 1922, KJS, which became KTBI in 1925. It lasted till they had to sell KTBI to E. L.Cord in 1931, when he changed the calls of 1300-AM to KFAC, which lasted till January 17, 1989. The KFAC-1330 license was bought by KWKW-1300, and they moved to 1330-AM at midnight that evening, as 1300-AM became KAZN.
I too have seen my share of discrepancies and wrong information in Broadcasting Yearbooks and other sources over the years. For instance, some older BCYB's said that KNX began in October of 1924. They actually went on the air as a licensed station, KGC in December of 1921 and changed to KNX in May of 1922. The 1924 date was when the first owner, Fred Christian, sold KNX to the Los Angeles Evening Express newspaper, owned by Guy C. Earl.
Again, I've done over 25 years of L.A. radio history research and writing, and I still have a lot to find out and learn and discover, and a few mysteries yet to solve. While a lot of the radio history is now online, I did much of mine the hard way before the internet, so I'm cautious about giving out too much information for free. I've seen some of my material ripped off from other websites, copied and pasted elsewhere without my permission, so I'm a bit more careful now as to what answers I give, mostly what can be looked up by anybody these days.
Jim Hilliker
Early Los Angeles radio historian
Monterey, CA