KABC (AM)
Greater Los Angeles Area | |
Frequency | 790 kHz |
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Branding | 790 KABC |
Programming | |
Format | News/talk |
Affiliations | |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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History | |
First air date | August 1925 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Formerly owned by the American Broadcasting Company |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 33254 |
Class | B |
Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 34°1′10″N 118°20′44″W / 34.01944°N 118.34556°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | |
Website | www |
KABC (790
KABC is the
History
Early years
In August 1925 the station first
On November 15, 1929, KPLA was sold to Earle C. Anthony, a Packard automobile dealer and owner of rival radio station KFI; Anthony changed KPLA's call letters to KECA, representing Anthony's initials.[3] KECA and KFI were located in studios at 1000 Hope Street. KFI, then and now, transmits with 50,000 watts, while KECA broadcast at 1,000 watts.
In August 1939, Anthony purchased KEHE (780 AM, formerly KTM) and took that station off the air so he could relocate KECA to that station's frequency. In 1941, KECA moved one step up the dial to 790 kHz as part of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), which shifted the frequencies of many radio stations.[4] The power was increased to 5,000 watts, with a directional antenna used at night.
ABC buys 790
In 1944, new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules went into effect prohibiting any person or company from owning more than one radio station in the same media market. Anthony decided to keep KFI, and divested KECA to the Blue Network for $800,000 in July 1944; the FCC approved the transfer on July 18.[5] The studios and offices were then moved to 1440 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood.[6] (A Chick-fil-A restaurant now stands on the site.)
KECA became the
In 1949, ABC put
Pioneering talk radio
KABC became a pioneer of the
Along with co-owned
The talk radio duo
Changes in ownership
ABC Television and Radio were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 1996. Disney sold off its radio division to Citadel Broadcasting in 2006. Citadel later merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[10] After Cumulus Broadcasting took over, airborne traffic reporter Jorge Jarrín, son of Los Angeles Dodgers Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín, was let go after 26 years. Also fired were imaging voice Howard Hoffman and news director/morning newscaster Mark Austin Thomas, who joined KNX.
A lawsuit alleged that school employees of Academia Semillas del Pueblo (ASDP) received death threats, and that the school was the target of a bomb threat, because of Doug McIntyre's extensive on-air criticism of the school, in which he accused ASDP of espousing a racist and separatist anti-American philosophy.[11] The suit was dismissed in January 2008.
On March 31, 2016, KABC was granted an FCC
As of August 2018, KABC was the 40th-ranked station in the market in a 50-station survey, tied with Persian language station KIRN; in intervening years Cumulus stopped reporting KABC's ratings for services that made their rankings public.[14] Jillian Barberie, Drew Pinsky, Leeann Tweeden, and Peter Tilden were all dismissed at the end of 2019 as KABC changed to an all-syndicated talk lineup; John Phillips, Randy Wang, and Larry O'Connor (from WMAL-FM in Washington, D.C.) were the lone local hosts retained.[15]
Sports
From 1974 to 1997, KABC was the flagship station of the
KABC aired USC Trojans football and men's basketball games during the 1970s.[8] On May 2, 2019, the University of Southern California announced play-by-play coverage of its football and men's basketball teams would return to KABC.[17]
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KABC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Radio-Locator.com/KABC
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1935 page 22
- ^ "Story of KABC-790-AM license a complicated one/call lettere history". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
- ^ "Seven Station Transfers Granted by FCC". Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising. 27 (4). Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc.: 14 July 24, 1944.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1946 page 74
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 83
- ^ a b c Station Profiles: KABC
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1961-1962 page B-18
- ^ "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Apr. 19, 2007, page B4
- ^ Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station - Federal Communications Commission
- ^ Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station - Federal Communications Commission
- ^ "Nielsen Audio Ratings - Los Angeles July 2017 Ratings". Radio-Online. August 6, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^ "KABC Cuts Most Of Local Lineup". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. December 6, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Oct. 24, 2007, page D8
- ^ "USC Sports Move To KABC". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. May 2, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
External links
- FCC History Cards for KABC
- Official website
- KABC in the FCC AM station database
- KABC in Nielsen Audio's AM station database