KFWB

980 AM KFWB was put on the air in Los Angeles, California in 1925 by Sam Warner, the founder of Warner Brothers Studios. However, the "WB" in the call letters did not stand for Warner Brothers as some think--the Department of Commerce assigned the calls sequentially at the same time as KFWA in Ogden, Utah and KFWC in San Bernardino, California. KFWB was an all-News station from 1968 until 2009 when they converted to their current News/Talk format.

The KFWB call letters can be heard signing off in this cartoon produced by Warner Brothers in 1940. It appears at around the 5:25 mark.

KABC

KABC (K American Broadcasting Company) is a News/Talk station from Los Angeles, California. Their history dates back to 1925 when they went on the air as KVFV. They switched calls to KABC in 1954 and became one of the first "all-talk" stations in the country in 1960. 790 AM is also the flagship station of the Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network, whose games have been voiced by the incomparable Vin Scully since 1950.

KPWR

"Power 106 FM" KPWR is a Hip Hop/Urban Contemporary station from Los Angeles, California.

KKLA

KKLA has been a Religious Teaching station in Los Angeles, California since 1985. According to this Los Angeles Times story, Arbitron statistics show that KKLA's combination of mostly brokered and syndicated programming make them the largest Christian "teaching and talk" station in the country.

KKGO

KKGO is a Country station from Los Angeles, California. Through most of the 1980s they carried a Jazz format before switching to Classical as "K-Mozart" KMZT in 1990. In 2006 long-time Country station KZLA switched to Rhythmic AC leaving Los Angeles without a Country music station. Six months later KKGO dropped Classical and became "Go Country 105."

Radio in the Movies #1 - "Pirate Radio"

I watched the movie "Pirate Radio" this afternoon. It's directed by Richard Curtis who also wrote "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill." British radio in the 1960s was completely controlled by the government which refused to air rock music. This spawned a group of illegal ship-based broadcasters programming popular music from international waters, the most famous of which was Radio Caroline (generically named Radio Rock in the movie.) The ensemble cast was underwhelming even with Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the lone American DJ called The Count. Kenneth Branaugh's performance as a government suit bent on outlawing pirate radio is absurdly over-the-top and a subplot about a character named Carl finding his father is just lame. Sometimes it seemed like Curtis wrote the screenplay based on songs used on the soundtrack (Leonard Cohen's "So Long Marianne" fit just a little too perfectly into the script.) Given the subject matter I really wanted to like this film but didn't. Apparently "Pirate Radio" came out in Britain last spring under the title "The Boat That Rocked" and totally bombed at the box office. They trimmed 20 minutes for the American release but no amount of cutting can save this turkey.

KQLZ "Pirate Radio 100.3 FM" was a "Rock 40" station in Los Angeles, California from 1989 to 1993. They aired a mix of pop hits and rock songs claiming to play everything from Madonna to Metallica to Milli Vanilli. The station was masterminded by Scott Shannon who found great success in the 1980s with Z100 WHTZ in New York City. Unfortunately, the ratings never materialized, Shannon was fired in 1991 and KQLZ is now known as one of the most high profile failures in the history of radio.

Here's a t-shirt I received from Radio Caroline who were, amazingly, still broadcasting in 1998.

Sunday Sticker - KFSG

KFSG (named after the International Church of the FourSquare Gospel) was an Adult Contemporary Christian station in Los Angeles, California. KFSG started out at 1080 AM back in the 1920s before ending up at 96.3 FM around 1970. In 2001 KFSG moved again, this time to 93.5 FM where they dropped the music and went to Religious Talk. This lasted until 2003 when they were sold to the Spanish Broadcasting System. 96.3 FM is currently KXOL, a Rhythmic Latin station known as "Latino 96.3."

KRTH / Earth Day

The first Earth Day was on April 22nd, 1970. It was organized to bring awareness to environmental problems and with a goal of a healthy, sustainable planet. Earth Day grew partially out of the Zero Population Growth movement of the late 60s but now focuses mostly on clean energy, global warming and pollution control as well as household duties such as recycling and composting. Earth Day is celebrated every year on this date in 175 countries by more than half a billion people.

KRTH is an Oldies station from Los Angeles, California. It was named "K-Earth" after the first Earth Day which occurred about two years before. KRTH is known for an extremely tight playlist at one point only numbering 175 different songs. They've tweaked their format over the years, shifting from 50s and 60s oldies to gradually introducing hits from the 1970s and now even playing some from the early 1980s.

KWKW

The 1330 AM frequency in Los Angeles, California is one of the oldest in the United States having gone on the air in March, 1922. For decades they played Spanish-language music before focusing on a Regional Mexican format in the 1990s as "La Mexicana." In 2004 they dropped music and became affiliated with ESPN Deportes, airing Spanish-language sports talk as well as Los Angeles Lakers games en español.  KWKW is currently all-Sports "Tu Liga Radio".

Market #1s - Los Angeles - KIIS

KIIS "KISS FM" has been a CHR/Top 40 station since 1975. They were #1 in the latest Arbitron ratings book for Los Angeles. Clear Channel Communications, which has owned the station since 1998, uses KIIS FM's distinctive red and yellow lettering for its many KISS FM stations across the country. Examples of that tomorrow..... 

KLSX

CBS Radio has decided to blow up 97.1 FM Talk in favor of Top 40 "AMP Radio" starting tomorrow at 5 PM. I'll miss listening to the Adam Carolla Show podcast and hope he reappears at another station soon. Carolla had the unenviable task of taking over for Howard Stern in Los Angeles after he bolted for Sirius Satellite Radio. The above stickers are from when the station was using the "Free FM" branding. In 2007 the station added the dreadful Danny Bonaduce to the morning show which stunk it up for an entire year. In protest, Carolla was a no-show on his own program until Bonaduce was moved to another timeslot. KLSX (KLaSiX-in reference to an earlier Classic Rock format) is licensed to Los Angeles, California.