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website = [http://www.kfwb.com/ www.kfwb.com] |
website = [http://www.kfwb.com/ www.kfwb.com] |
callsign_meaning = Sequentially issued<br> (unofficially means '''K'''eep '''F'''ilming [[Warner Brothers|'''W'''arner '''B'''ros.]])|
callsign_meaning = Sequentially issued<br> (unofficially means '''K'''eep '''F'''ilming [[Warner Brothers|'''W'''arner '''B'''ros.]])|
sister_stations =[[KCBS-FM]], [[KAMP (FM)|KAMP]], [[KNX (AM)|KNX]], [[KROQ-FM|KROQ]], [[KRTH]], [[KTWV]]|
sister_stations =[[KCBS-FM]], [[KAMP (FM)|KAMP]], [[KNX (AM)|KNX]], [[KROQ-FM|KROQ]], [[KRTH]], [[KTWV]]<br>''part of CBS Corp. cluster w/ TV stations [[KCBS-TV]] & [[KCAL-TV]]''|
|
}}
}}
'''KFWB''' is a [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], [[California]] [[Amplitude modulation|AM]] radio station operating on 980 [[kHz]] with 5,000 [[watt]]s of power from a transmitter site near Lincoln Park (East Los Angeles). The station has had a mostly [[All-news radio|all-news format]] since 1968.
'''KFWB''' is a [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], [[California]] [[Amplitude modulation|AM]] radio station operating on 980 [[kHz]] with 5,000 [[watt]]s of power from a transmitter site near Lincoln Park (East Los Angeles). The station has had a mostly [[All-news radio|all-news format]] since 1968.
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==Studios and transmitter==
==Studios and transmitter==
The original KFWB studios and transmitter location were at the Warner Bros. Studios, which is now [[KTLA-TV]], at 5800 Sunset Blvd. One of the two original towers still stands prominently out front. Due to RF interference getting into the movie studio's "talkies" sound equipment, the transmitter was moved in 1928 to the roof of the Warner Theater, now the [[Hollywood Pacific Theatre]], at 6423 Hollywood Blvd. Eventually the studios were also moved to the Warner Theater. Those two towers are still there, as well. Years later, when KFWB was sold to KFWB Broadcasting Co. (Harry Maizlish), the studios moved to 6419 Hollywood Blvd. (now demolished), and the transmitter moved to the area near La Cienega and Rodeo Blvd., about 3 blocks south of the KECA/KABC plant. In the mid 1950s, the transmitter moved, again, to its present location, diplexed with KLAC in East LA. The studios moved in 1977 to 6230 Yucca St., also in Hollywood. In June 2005, KFWB abandoned its longtime [[Hollywood]] studios to move into new studios on Wilshire Boulevard in the [[Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California|Miracle Mile]] district, sharing facilities with its sister [[CBS Radio]] stations [[KNX (AM)|KNX]], [[KTWV]], [[KLSX]] and [[KRTH]].
The original KFWB studios and transmitter location were at the Warner Bros. Studios, which is now [[KTLA-TV]], at 5800 Sunset Blvd. One of the two original towers still stands prominently out front. Due to RF interference getting into the movie studio's "talkies" sound equipment, the transmitter was moved in 1928 to the roof of the Warner Theater, now the [[Hollywood Pacific Theatre]], at 6423 Hollywood Blvd. Eventually the studios were also moved to the Warner Theater. Those two towers are still there, as well. Years later, when KFWB was sold to KFWB Broadcasting Co. (Harry Maizlish), the studios moved to 6419 Hollywood Blvd. (now demolished), and the transmitter moved to the area near La Cienega and Rodeo Blvd., about 3 blocks south of the KECA/KABC plant. In the mid 1950s, the transmitter moved, again, to its present location, diplexed with KLAC in East LA. The studios moved in 1977 to 6230 Yucca St., also in Hollywood. In June 2005, KFWB abandoned its longtime [[Hollywood]] studios to move into new studios on Wilshire Boulevard in the [[Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California|Miracle Mile]] district, sharing facilities with its sister [[CBS Radio]] stations [[KNX (AM)|KNX]], [[KTWV]], [[KAMP (FM)|KAMP]] and [[KRTH]].


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 21:24, 6 July 2009

KFWB
File:Kfwb logo.png
Broadcast areaLos Angeles, California
Frequency980 kHz (HD Radio)
BrandingKFWB News 980
Programming
FormatNews/Talk/Sports
Ownership
OwnerCBS Radio
KCBS-FM, KAMP, KNX, KROQ, KRTH, KTWV
part of CBS Corp. cluster w/ TV stations KCBS-TV & KCAL-TV
History
First air date
1925 (on radio); March 11, 1968 (all-news format)
Call sign meaning
Sequentially issued
(unofficially means Keep Filming Warner Bros.)
Technical information
ClassB
Power5,000 watts
Transmitter coordinates
34°4′11″N 118°11′35″W / 34.06972°N 118.19306°W / 34.06972; -118.19306
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.kfwb.com

KFWB is a Los Angeles, California AM radio station operating on 980 kHz with 5,000 watts of power from a transmitter site near Lincoln Park (East Los Angeles). The station has had a mostly all-news format since 1968.

History

The station's history goes back to 1925, when it was launched by Sam Warner, the founder of Warner Brothers. The station launched the careers of such stars as Ronald Reagan and Bing Crosby. The station was the first to broadcast the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.

Although some think its call letters stand for Keep Filming Warner Bros., actually the callsign was sequentially issued by the Department of Commerce, predecessor to the FCC (March 1925) at the same time as KFWA in Ogden Utah (Feb 1925) and KFWC for San Bernardino (also Feb 1925). [1]

A 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon, produced by Warner Bros. (and directed by Chuck Jones), entitled "Bedtime for Sniffles," has Sniffles the mouse trying to stay awake for Santa Claus, and a radio announcer signs off for the night identifying the station as KFWB. Another cartoon of the same year, "The Timid Toreador," co-directed by Bob Clampett, shows an announcer broadcasting on this station. (A good trick, since the action takes place in Mexico, which has a totally different ITU prefix block.) However, the Merrie Melodies cartoon for "I've Got A Torch Song" released in conjunction with "Gold Diggers of 1933" has KFWB written on the microphones in the scenes of the torch singers.

In 1946, KFWB imported two disc jockeys from New York City: Maurice Hart of WNEW, whose drive-time show Start the Day Right was described as "Words and Music Straight from the Hart", and Martin Block, who coined the phrase "Make-Believe Ballroom", which was later used by Al Jarvis when Block returned to New York. In those days, disc jockeys selected their own music, either from KFWB's extensive record library, or new songs brought to them by "song pluggers". Old and new, vocal and instrumental were mixed together to the disc jockey's choice.

KFWB was sold to its long-time general manager, Harry Maizlish, in 1950,[2] and soon after moved off the Warner Brothers lot to join Maizlish's FM station, KFMV, on Hollywood Boulevard.[3]

In 1958, under new owners Crowell-Collier Broadcasting, Chuck Blore transformed the station into a Top 40 format called Channel 98 Color Radio. The station became one of the most highly listened to stations in the Southland and in the nation. But alas, times changed, and in the mid-60's, KFWB was overtaken by rival KRLA. Then KRLA was put in second place by the launch of Boss Radio at 93/KHJ, and this relegated KFWB to the position of the third-place pop music station in the L.A. market.

KFWB was later purchased by Westinghouse in 1966. On March 11, 1968, the station was relaunched as an all news radio station. The station promoted itself with its slogan, "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world", as first used by New York Westinghouse station WINS. Its goal was to give a full newscast every 22 minutes, the average commute time in Los Angeles.

Current station

Today KFWB is owned by CBS Radio, a subsidiary of CBS Corporation that owns several CBS affiliates. CBS also owns KNX, the only other all-news station in Los Angeles. This is ironic, because KFWB and KNX famously feuded for years, both on radio and in television advertising. Like its former Westinghouse, now CBS Radio, sister stations (and fellow all-news stations) 1010 WINS in New York and KYW News Radio 1060 in Philadelphia, KFWB has a running teletype sound effect in the background during regular newscasts.

In the spring of 2003, KFWB began to broadcast the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games over the radio. These games are not available on KFWB's internet stream due to league restrictions. For this reason, the station had to abandon its other slogan, "All news, all the time." In comparison to KNX, KFWB runs more sports stories, has longer traffic reports, and updates top headlines every ten minutes instead of KNX, which updates headlines at the top and bottom of the hour.

KFWB once aired not only the Dodgers games, but also many National Football League games from Westwood One. The NFL broadcasts stopped after the 2007 Pro Bowl, and the Dodgers left KFWB after the 2007 season, some months later, to return to KABC. With that, the slogan "all news, all the time" has returned. However, in 2008, the NFL broadcasts returned, but from the Sports USA Radio network, which airs only regular season games.

On January 10, 2009, the all-news format that had been a staple for almost 40 years was significantly amended with the move to paid programming on Saturdays. The Saturday programming represents a "self-help" infomercial format built around such topics as real-estate, health supplements, tax advice, etc. In this format during entrances and exits from commercial blocks, listeners began to hear the station identify itself as "KFWB - 980" sans the "news" reference.

KFWB also changed its anchor lineup in January 2009 and is reopening the Orange County bureau. "With an estimated 3.1 million people, Orange County cannot and should not be ignored," wrote news director Paul Gomezin in an internal memo obtained by laradio.com.

"We're taking the former Saturday reporter shift and one of the former weekend anchor shifts and using them to reopen the O.C. bureau part time. The bureau likely will be staffed during the middle of the week. ...Ed Mertz will pick up the bulk of these shifts," he wrote.

As of January 2009, the on air anchor shifts will be as follows: 5-9 a.m., Jack Popejoy and Judy Ford (Penny Griego, former KCBS/Channel 2 anchor, has been filling in); 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Susanne Whatley and Phil Hulett; 3-7 p.m. Tracie Savage and Steve Kindred; 7 p.m.-1 a.m., Tammy Trujillo; 1-5 a.m., Bob Howard. Further changes were made on March 1, 2009. The anchors are: Phil Hulett & Penny Griego (5 a.m. - 9 a.m.); Paul Lowe & Susanne Whatley (9 a.m. - 3 p.m.); Tracie Savage & Steve Kindred (3 p.m. - 7 p.m.); Tammy Trujillo (7 p.m. - 1 a.m.). Additionally, the two CBS news stations are sharing reporters.

Also beginning with the 2009 season, KFWB will broadcast the baseball games of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.[4]

Studios and transmitter

The original KFWB studios and transmitter location were at the Warner Bros. Studios, which is now KTLA-TV, at 5800 Sunset Blvd. One of the two original towers still stands prominently out front. Due to RF interference getting into the movie studio's "talkies" sound equipment, the transmitter was moved in 1928 to the roof of the Warner Theater, now the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, at 6423 Hollywood Blvd. Eventually the studios were also moved to the Warner Theater. Those two towers are still there, as well. Years later, when KFWB was sold to KFWB Broadcasting Co. (Harry Maizlish), the studios moved to 6419 Hollywood Blvd. (now demolished), and the transmitter moved to the area near La Cienega and Rodeo Blvd., about 3 blocks south of the KECA/KABC plant. In the mid 1950s, the transmitter moved, again, to its present location, diplexed with KLAC in East LA. The studios moved in 1977 to 6230 Yucca St., also in Hollywood. In June 2005, KFWB abandoned its longtime Hollywood studios to move into new studios on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile district, sharing facilities with its sister CBS Radio stations KNX, KTWV, KAMP and KRTH.

References

  1. ^ http://jeff560.tripod.com/chrono1.html | A Chronology of AM Radio Broadcasting 1900-1960
  2. ^ Taishoff, Sol (1951). "Letter to Harry Maizlish, September 27, 1950". Broadcasting Yearbook. Broadcasting Publications, Inc.: p. 83. We rejoice with your host of friends in congratulating you on the acquisition of KFWB by your new company…. To almost everybody in the radio fraternity … KFWB for almost two decades has been synonymous with Harry Maizlish {{cite journal}}: |format= requires |url= (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |quotes= ignored (help)
  3. ^ "Directory of AM, FM and TV Stations of the United States". Broadcasting Yearbook. Broadcasting Publications, Inc.: pp. 85–96 1952. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |quotes= ignored (help)
  4. ^ LA Radio News
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