MsMusicRadio said:
In 1965 I was in LA and KGIL was Adult Standards. I remember that the signal was poor compared to it's competition at 710. Why should this time work?
It's called "adult standards" now, but back then, the format was called MOR (Middle of the Road), and much of the music was brand new at the time. The listeners were in their 30s and 40s - members of the generation Tom Brokaw refers to in his book as the "greatest generation" because many of them fought in World War II. The
parents of baby boomers, in other words.
As I remember it, MOR stations played pop music only as far back as the 50s - they rarely if ever played pre-war or Big Band music, and there was a lot of current hits from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Jack Jones, etc.
There was a lot of competition within that format in the 60s -there were probably more MOR stations in LA than any other format - I'd guess that KMPC (710) was the highest rated, but at various times, the format included KHJ (pre "Boss"), KLAC, KNX in some day parts. Bob Crane was KNX's morning DJ before he got his big acting break with
Hogan's Heroes, and his music was MOR. Rock and Top 40 was popular in those days, but did not dominate music radio by any means.
I don't know how high KGIL's ratings were (calling Michael Hagerty), but it was an excellent station with a considerable audience - at least in the San Fernando Valley. Personalities included the brilliant Dick Whittington (not to be confused with Dick Whitting
hill on KMPC), Larry Van Nuys, and many other high profile DJs of that era. I'm blanking on the name of their very popular night-time DJ - my father loved him. He was reportedly Sinatra's favorite DJ, and Frank would stop by to visit on occasion.
Obviously, this is a very different era, but in that era, the station was a success, marginal signal, or not.