KHJ (AM)
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Affiliations | Relevant Radio |
Ownership | |
Owner | Relevant Radio, Inc. |
History | |
First air date | April 13, 1922 |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | Randomly assigned, later adopted the slogan "Kindness, Happiness, and Joy"[1] |
Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 37224 |
Class | B |
Power | 5,000 watts |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen Live |
Website | relevantradio.com |
KHJ (930
KHJ broadcasts at 5,000
KHJ was a
History
1920s and 1930s
Effective December 1, 1921, the U.S. government adopted regulations formally defining "broadcasting stations". The wavelength of 360 meters (833 kHz) was designated for entertainment broadcasts, while 485 meters (619 kHz) was reserved for broadcasting official weather and other government reports.[3]
KHJ was first licensed on March 18, 1922, to C. R. Kierulff & Company in Los Angeles, for operation on the 360 meter entertainment wavelength.[4] The Kierulff company acted as contractors responsible for installing the station in the Los Angeles Times building at First and Broadway, and in November the newspaper's owner, the Times Mirror Company, became the official licensee.[5] The KHJ call letters were randomly assigned from a roster of available call signs, although the station quickly adopted the slogan "Kindness, Happiness and Joy".[1] Test transmissions began on April 8.[6] The station's formal debut broadcast was held on April 13 from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m., featuring, in the words of the newspaper, "the powerful baritone voice of Joseph Schwarz of the Chicago Grand Opera Company in the prologue from 'I Pagliacci', and a dulcet tonal treat by Edith Mason, diva of the same company, and flashing the news of the world to the Southwest".[7]
1922 saw a rapid expansion in the number of broadcasting stations, most sharing the single entertainment wavelength of 360 meters, which required progressively more complicated time sharing schedules among stations in the same region. In September 1922 the Department of Commerce set aside a second entertainment wavelength, 400 meters (750 kHz) for "Class B" stations that had quality equipment and programming,[8] and KHJ was assigned to this more exclusive wavelength,[9] where it was later joined, on a timesharing basis, by KFI.[10] Along with the 400 meter authorization, KHJ was also authorized to broadcast on the 485 meter "market and weather reports" wavelength. In May 1923 additional "Class B" frequencies were made available, with Los Angeles allocated 640 and 760 kHz,[11] and KHJ was assigned to 760 kHz, while KFI moved to 640 kHz.[12]
In early 1925, KHJ was assigned to 740 kHz.[13] The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was formed in early 1927. That fall it moved KHJ to 720 kHz,[14] and in early 1928 the station was reassigned to 750 kHz.[15] On November 11, 1928, the FRC made a major reallocation under the provisions of its General Order 40, which moved KHJ to 900 kHz, a frequency designated for "regional" service,[16] with 1,000 watts of power
For a short time during the late 1920s and early 1930s KHJ was the Los Angeles affiliate and West Coast production hub of the fledgling
On December 18, 1934, KHJ was one of four stations granted permission to increase power to 5,000 watts.[19] In 1941, a major reorganization of the AM band by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, successor to the FRC), due to the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, moved the station to 930 kHz, where it continues to operate.
During Lee's ownership KHJ became the West Coast
"Boss Radio"
In April 1965, programming consultant
KHJ's call-in request number used the Los Angeles
In mid-1970, a KHJ contest led to a fatality and a large legal judgment against RKO General. That summer, the station ran a series of contests known as the "Super Summer Spectacular". In the contests, the Real Don Steele drove a red car to a particular area and announcers encouraged listeners to find him with clues as to his whereabouts. The first person who found Steele and fulfilled a condition received a cash prize and was interviewed by Steele. The conditions varied, from answering a question to possessing certain items of clothing. An example of an on-air clue was: "The Real Don Steele is moving into Canoga Park — so be on the lookout for him. I'll tell you what will happen if you get to The Real Don Steele. He's got twenty-five dollars to give away if you can get it ... and baby, all signed and sealed and delivered and wrapped up."[21] At the time, KHJ had the largest teenage audience in the Los Angeles area (48 percent, compared to its nearest competitor's 13 percent).
On July 16, 1970, two teenagers, following Steele in separate cars, drove at speeds up to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) so they could be closest to him when the next clue was announced. One of the teenagers forced another motorist, 32-year-old Ronald Weirum, off the road; Weirum was killed when his car overturned.[22] Weirum's wife and children filed a wrongful-death suit against both teenagers, the manufacturer of Weirum's car, and RKO General. One of the teenagers settled the case before the trial for the limits of his insurance policy. A jury found in favor of the car's manufacturer, but found both the second teenager and RKO General liable for the accident and awarded the plaintiffs $300,000 in damages. RKO General appealed to the California Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict in 1975. The higher court ruled that KHJ negligently created an undue risk to the public by causing a situation in which its listeners were encouraged to race on the roads, and that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that the contest's risk of harm to the public (including Weirum) was foreseeable.[21]
End of an era
The format brought high ratings to the station until the late 1970s, when
On the evening of January 31, 1986, "Car Radio" DJ Dave Sebastian Williams was joined in the studio by
Switch to Spanish and call-sign problem
RKO General had been under investigation by federal regulators since the 1960s for unethical conduct at its television stations, including KRTH's television sister
Program director Alfredo Rodriguez and chief engineer Jerry Lewine wished to bring back the original KHJ call sign; however, the FCC stopped issuing three-letter call signs to radio stations in the 1930s. Rodriguez and Lewine conceived a plan to convince the FCC to change the station's call sign. Since the Spanish pronunciation of KKHJ's first two letters ("kah-kah") sounded like caca (slang for "feces" in that language), the call letters were pronounced in English for a decade. This was awkward, so the station collected letters from listeners and lobbied the FCC to allow the station to drop one of its letters. The commission allowed the station to return to its original call, KHJ, on March 15, 2000.[35][36]
On August 21, 2007, the Los Angeles Dodgers reached a deal with KHJ to broadcast the team's games in Spanish for the 2008 season, moving from KWKW after 20 years there.[37][38]
Switch to Catholic Radio format
On July 15, 2014, Liberman reached an agreement to sell KHJ to
KHJ switched to the
Legacy
A low-power FM (LPFM) station in Madras, Oregon, KHJA-LP (102.1 FM), aired an oldies format as a tribute to the 1960s–1970s era KHJ and used the Los Angeles station's logo, jingles, and "Boss Radio" slogans. (In 2008, it changed its call sign to KGBZ-LP and started re-broadcasting a Spanish Christian network called "Ondas de Vida" from California.) In 2016, a new LPFM in Albany, Oregon, was issued the call sign KHJJ-LP on a frequency of 105.3 FM. It adopted the nickname KHJFM[43] as a tribute to the original "93 KHJ" as programmed by Bill Drake. Los Angeles area "Boss Jocks" who worked at the original 93 KHJ are heard on this station.
The KKHJ call sign used during the 1990s by Liberman was assigned to an FM station in American Samoa.[44] That station broadcasts on 93.1 FM and uses the "93 KHJ" on-air name and jingles.
An
The 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood features the Boss Radio era of KHJ. The movie and official soundtrack album include airchecks of boss jocks Humble Harve and The Real Don Steele as well as original 93 KHJ jingles and advertisements.[45]
References
- ^ a b "The Man Who Is Uncle to a Million", Wireless Age, July 1925, page 55.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KHJ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Miscellaneous: Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, April 1, 1922, page 3. Limited Commercial license, serial #339, issued for a three month period to C. R. Kierulff & Company, Los Angeles, California for operation on 360 meters.
- ^ "KHJ" by Robert M. Ogles, The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio, 2010, page 403.
- ^ "Radio Station Is Installed", Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1922, Part II, page 1.
- ^ "'The Times' to Dedicate Radio Station Today", Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1922, Part II, page 1.
- ^ "Amendments to Regulations: Regulation 57", Radio Service Bulletin, September 1, 1922, pages 10-11.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, December 1, 1922, page 6.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, February 1, 1923, page 7.
- ^ "Radio Conference Recommendations: New Wave Lengths", Radio Age, May 1923, page 11. Beginning with these assignments radio stations ended the practice of broadcasting their market reports and weather forecasts on the separate 485 meter wavelength.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1923, page 10.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, March 2, 1925, page 7.
- ^ "Broadcasting stations, by frequencies, before clearing 600 to 1,000 kilocycles, effective November 1, 1927", Jurisdiction of Radio Commission, 1928, page 14.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, January 31, 1928, page 5.
- ^ Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration of Northern California (1939). California: a guide to the Golden State. New York: Hastings House. p. 207. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
- ^ Kaufman, J.B. (June 8, 2020). "When's Your Birthday?". Cartoon Research. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ "Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, November 30, 1927, page 8.
- ^ "Four Stations Get 5 kw.", Broadcasting, January 1, 1935, page 18.
- ^ Braxton, Greg (May 9, 1990). "These Jocks Once Ruled Boss Angeles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
- ^ a b Weirum v. RKO General, Inc., 15 Cal.3d 40, 539 P.2d 36, 123 Cal. Rptr. 468 (1975). From Google Scholar. Retrieved on August 4, 2012.
- Modesto Bee. August 21, 1975. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2022 – via Google News.
- ^ a b McDougal, Dennis (January 31, 1986). "The Sound of Silence at KHJ Radio". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
- ^ "Thompson Named VP/GM At KHJ" (PDF). Radio & Records. June 22, 1984. pp. 1, 27. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ http://www.jimmyrabbitt.com/rabbittbio.htm Jimmy Rabbitt biography
- ^ "93 KHJ Los Angeles Final Hour Before Station Switch to KRTH". SoundCloud.
- ^ Grace, Roger M. (December 5, 2002). "KHJ Enveloped in Scandal". Metropolitan News-Enterprise. p. 18. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. January 9, 1989. p. 96. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
- ^ "KRTH(AM) Sold, Soon To Go Hispanic" (PDF). Radio & Records. October 13, 1989. p. 3. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
- ^ "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada" (PDF). The Broadcasting Yearbook 1991. Broadcasting Publications Inc. 1991. p. B-36. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- ^ "Beasley Douses KRTH's 'Smokin' Oldies'" (PDF). Radio & Records. September 29, 1989. p. 3. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. April 30, 1990. p. 73. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- ^ Baxter, Kevin (November 20, 1997). "All-News Is News : KKHJ-AM becomes the nation's only Spanish-language station with the format". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- ^ Baxter, Kevin (July 22, 1999). "A Change for the Better". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- ^ Harvey, Steve (July 12, 2009). "Early radio call letters had a suggestive air about them". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "The 'All Intolerance' Issue" (PDF). Radio & Records. March 17, 2000. p. 26. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ "Dodgers en Espanol Makes Move to KHJ". Los Angeles Business Journal. August 26, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Aug. 22, 2007, page D6
- ^ Venta, Lance (July 22, 2014). "Immaculate Heart Radio Acquires KHJ". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- ^ Venta, Lance (November 5, 2014). "La Ranchera Moves To FM In Los Angeles". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- ^ "Relevant Radio and Immaculate Heart Radio Complete Merger - Immaculate Heart Radio". Archived from the original on 2017-07-02.
- ^ "Federal Communications Commission AM Broadcast License". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database. Federal Communications Commission. May 2, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
- ^ "KHJFM.com".
- ^ "93KHJ - South Seas Broadcasting".
- ^ Reed, Ryan (July 25, 2019). "Deep Purple, Simon & Garfunkel Highlight 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Soundtrack". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
External links
- KHJ in the FCC AM station database
- KHJ in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for KHJ (covering 1927-1980)
- Official website (Relevant Radio)
- Reel Radio KHJ 1931 Exhibit (one of the earliest known surviving sound checks of any radio station)
- Boss Radio Forever
- Inside Boss Radio (commercial)
- KHJA-LP in Madras, Oregon
- 93/KHJ Boss Radio: A Look Back A collection of promotional material from KHJ's Boss Radio years