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KWVE (AM)

Coordinates: 34°6′50″N 117°59′51″W / 34.11389°N 117.99750°W / 34.11389; -117.99750
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KDIS
Broadcast areaGreater Los Angeles Area
Frequency1110 kHz (HD Radio)
BrandingRadio Disney Los Angeles
Programming
FormatContemporary hit radio
AffiliationsRadio Disney
Ownership
Owner
KABC-TV, KSPN
History
First air date
1942
Former call signs
KPAS (1942-1945)
KXLA (1945-1959)
KRLA (1959-2000)
KSPN (2000-2003)
Call sign meaning
Kids DISney
Technical information
Facility ID25076
ClassB
Power50,000 watts day
20,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
34°6′50″N 117°59′51″W / 34.11389°N 117.99750°W / 34.11389; -117.99750
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitewww.radiodisney.com

KDIS (1110 AM) is a children's contemporary hit radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving the Greater Los Angeles Area. The station is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. The KDIS broadcast license is held by ABC Radio Los Angeles Assets, LLC.[1]

KDIS was broadcast in the HD (hybrid) format until late 2014 when all Radio Disney affiliates were sold except for the Los Angeles station which returned to analogue transmissions.[2] KDIS is still licensed for digital (HD) operation.[3]

History

The station initially signed on as KPAS in 1942,[4] a station featuring popular music. In 1945 they took the call sign KXLA, playing country music.[4] On-air personalities included Tennessee Ernie Ford and Stan Freberg.[5] The station originally broadcast from its El Monte transmitter site, near Santa Anita Ave and the Pomona, or "60" Freeway, in the vicinity of the Peck Road exit.

KRLA (1959-2000)

The station later became KRLA, "The Big 11-10", on September 1, 1959 and became one of the top radio stations in the Los Angeles area, competing with KFWB and later KHJ to be L.A.'s dominant top 40 station. The air personalities that made KRLA such a memorable station to Baby Boomers included Dave Hull (The Hullabalooer), Emperor Bob Hudson, Ted Quillin, Reb Foster, Jimmy Rabbitt,[6] Casey Kasem, Bob Eubanks, Dick Biondi, Sam Riddle, Dick Moreland, Jimmy O'Neill, Wink Martindale, Johnny Hayes, and others too numerous to mention. In 1968, news director Lew Irwin created The Credibility Gap which broadcast topical comedy along with the news.[7] In 1969, John Gilliland debuted the Pop Chronicles music documentary.[8] The 1969 film The Model Shop features a radio newscast by Ralph Thompson, KRLA.[citation needed] During the 1960s, the KRLA studio was just off the parking lot of the old Huntington Sheraton Hotel[5] on Oak Knoll in Pasadena, making it possible to drop by and watch the on-air DJ do his show.[9] When the station switched to oldies, KRLA was noted for its prominence in Southern California Chicano culture. One of the highlights of this station was the "Big 11 Countdown Show" hosted by Johnny Hayes, with stories and facts about the songs and the artists, as well as the historical events that were going on at that time. The show also included a trivia question that Hayes asked for people to call in with their answer in order to win a prize. The show counted down the top 11 songs on the Southern Californian charts as well as a few extras. Some of the shows were a tribute to a rock legend or a producer.

The station evolved to an Adult contemporary format by 1982, and focused on Oldies by 1983. They dropped current music in 1984, electing to play the oldies of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

By 1994, KRLA leaned towards an Urban Oldies format. KRLA abandoned music entirely in 1998, and went all talk.[5] As a Talk radio station, KRLA featured many cast-offs from KABC, such as Michael Jackson and Ken Minyard.[10]

KSPN (2000-2002)

However, the format was low-rated and the station was sold to The Walt Disney Company, which at first programmed the ESPN Radio format (as KSPN) on December 1, 2000.[11][12]

KDIS (2003-present)

AM 710 and 1110 swapped formats on January 1, 2003, with the sports format moving to 710, and Radio Disney moving to 1110 (a change made reportedly because the 1110 signal could not be heard in Orange County at night, when Anaheim Angels games are played).[13]

Sometime in May 2014, Mediabase has moved KDIS, along with other Radio Disney-affiliated stations to the Top 40/CHR panel. Although Radio Disney is still considered a Children's station.[14]

On August 13, 2014, it was revealed that all of Radio Disney's remaining stations, excluding KDIS, were to be sold in an effort to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network. KDIS will be retained to serve as the originator of Radio Disney's programming, and its operations will be assumed by the network's national staff.[15][16]

As of December 14, 2015, KDIS is the only station affiliating with Radio Disney.

Transmitter

In 1987 KRLA moved its transmitter site from South El Monte to Irwindale, where a similar antenna array was installed.[17] During the 1990s, KRLA was authorized to increase nighttime power from 10,000 to 20,000 watts. When the power increase went into effect, KRLA started broadcasting from a new transmitter site in Irwindale, California. This is a few miles north of the old El Monte site.[17]

The El Monte transmitter building still stands as a shell. The entire inside is burned out, however there are still clues to its historic past, namely the first incarnation of its directional antenna arrays (four in-line 135 degree towers, one days, four nights), the second incarnation (four 135 degree towers in a parallelogram, days and a 90-, two 135-, and a 180-degree towers, nights), and the last incarnation, with seven total towers, four days and four nights, with one tower in common, days and nights). There are numerous ducts to keep the equipment cool and an underground channel to divert the cooling water for the transmitters. A well nearby supplied the water. Still visible is the wooden archway where the transmission cables gently bent toward underground conduits running to the transmission towers in the nearby field. All that remains of these towers are the concrete pylons, all aligned as described.

The present Irwindale site includes five 135 degree towers, two days and four nights, with one in common. The significantly northern location, relative to the old El Monte site, allows the large "Inland Empire" to be served with 50,000 watts and only two towers. not four, days, and the greater Los Angeles metro to be served with 20,000 watts and four towers, nights.

References

  1. ^ "KDIS Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  2. ^ http://www.hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=36 HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles
  3. ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=25076
  4. ^ a b "Oldies 1110 KRLA". Geocities.com. Archived from the original on 2005-07-17. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  5. ^ a b c Hochman, Steve (November 16, 1998). "KRLA's Switch to Talk Will End Rock Era on AM Dial in L.A.; Radio Some are nostalgic about a station that retained family appeal to the end. Others say change is overdue". L.A. Times. p. F4.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  6. ^ Jimmy Rabbitt biography
  7. ^ Deming, Mark. "( The Credibility Gap > Biography )". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  8. ^ "John Gilliland - Pop Chronicles: The Forties". Sfradiomuseum.com. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  9. ^ Eubanks, Bob; Hansen, Matthew Scott, eds. (2004). It's in the Book, Bob!. Benbella Books. pp. 36–38. ISBN 1-932100-28-8. Retrieved 2010-04-03.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  10. ^ Best of www.laradio.com 1998, by Don Barrett. Valencia, CA: db Marketing, 1999.
  11. ^ "KDIS Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  12. ^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2000/RR-2000-12-01.pdf
  13. ^ Angels Shift Radio Stations - Los Angeles Times
  14. ^ Mediabase Announces Panel Changes (Published April 22, 2014, Retrieved August 8, 2014)
  15. ^ Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  16. ^ "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  17. ^ a b Mishkind, Barry. "KRLA Broadcast History". oldradio.com. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

Template:Radio Disney

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