KHJ (930 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California. Owned and operated by Relevant Radio, Inc., the station broadcasts Roman Catholic religious programming as the network's West Coast flagship station.
KHJ broadcasts at 5,000 watts, with a non-directional signal by day but using a directional antenna at night to protect other stations on 930 AM. KHJ's transmitter is triplexed to three of the six towers of KBLA (1580 AM), near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Alvarado Street in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Radio station KYPA (1230 AM) also uses two of KBLA's towers for its signal. KHJ's former towers at the intersection of Venice Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Mid-City were removed in February 2013.
KHJ was a top 40 station from 1965 to 1980. The station switched to a country music format in 1980 and back to pop music in 1983. In 1986, KHJ changed its call letters to KRTH, adopting an oldies format as a sister station to KRTH-FM (101.1 FM). Three years later, the station was sold to Liberman Broadcasting who aired Spanish-language formats from 1990 to 2014, using the call letters KKHJ until 2000, when it regained its original calls.
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."Miscellaneous: Amendments to Regulations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 3, 1922, page 10.
KHJ was first licensed on March 18, 1922, to C. R. Kierulff & Company in Los Angeles, for operation on the 360 meter entertainment wavelength."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. 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."KHJ" by Robert M. Ogles, The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio, 2010, page 403. 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". Test transmissions began on April 8."Radio Station Is Installed", Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1922, Part II, page 1. 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"."'The Times' to Dedicate Radio Station Today", Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1922, Part II, page 1.
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,"Amendments to Regulations: Regulation 57", Radio Service Bulletin, September 1, 1922, pages 10-11. and KHJ was assigned to this more exclusive wavelength,"Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, December 1, 1922, page 6. where it was later joined, on a timesharing basis, by KFI."Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, February 1, 1923, page 7. 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,"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. and KHJ was assigned to 760 kHz, while KFI moved to 640 kHz."Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, June 1, 1923, page 10.
In early 1925, KHJ was assigned to 740 kHz."Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, March 2, 1925, page 7. The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was formed in early 1927. That fall it moved KHJ to 720 kHz,"Broadcasting stations, by frequencies, before clearing 600 to 1,000 kilocycles, effective November 1, 1927", Jurisdiction of Radio Commission, 1928, page 14. and in early 1928 the station was reassigned to 750 kHz."Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, January 31, 1928, page 5. 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, 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 CBS radio network, the originating station for Bing Crosby's first national network radio show in 1931. On April 29, 1934, the cartoon character Donald Duck made his first appearance, on the California Melodies radio program of KHJ, a few days before he debuted in animated form in the Silly Symphony short The Wise Little Hen. CBS would eventually purchase a more-powerful West Coast flagship station, 50,000-watt KNX, and part company with KHJ. The station was purchased in the fall of 1927 by Don Lee,"Alterations and corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, November 30, 1927, page 8. a local automobile dealer who also owned KFRC (610 AM) in San Francisco and eventually accumulated 21 radio stations. In 1949, the broadcasting company, including KHJ, merged with RKO General.
On December 18, 1934, KHJ was one of four stations granted permission to increase power to 5,000 watts."Four Stations Get 5 kw.", Broadcasting, January 1, 1935, page 18. 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 flagship station of the Mutual Broadcasting System, one of the "big four" radio networks (with CBS, NBC, and ABC) from the 1930s to the 1970s. George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Steve Allen appeared on KHJ, and at one point the station employed a 50-piece orchestra to accompany its musical guests. On a 1931 broadcast (a portion of which survives) KHJ introduced an up-and-coming singer, Bing Crosby. Pat Weaver (president of NBC, creator of The Today Show and The Tonight Show, and father of Sigourney Weaver) was a KHJ announcer.
Throughout the 1950's, before becoming a successful television game show host, Bob Barker, along with his wife, Dorothy Jo, hosted a weekly audience participation show, sponsored by Southern California Edison Company. Dorothy Jo Barker also served as the program's producer, and sang the commercial jingles for the power company. It was on this program where Bob was discovered by emcee Ralph Edwards, who hired him to host a daytime version of Truth or Consequences starting on New Year's Eve, 1956, which lasted for almost two decades, and which led to his 35 years as host of The Price is Right, starting in 1972 until his retirement in 2007.
"Boss Radio"
In April 1965, programming consultant Bill Drake crafted KHJ's contemporary hit radio format. Drake hired program director Ron Jacobs, who had created formats in Hawaii and California. The format, known as "Boss Radio", featured a restricted playlist and restrained commentary by announcers (although a few, such as Robert W. Morgan, Charlie Tuna, Humble Harve Miller, and The Real Don Steele, were allowed to develop on-air personas). Other DJs from this era (1965–1980) included Roger Christian, Gary Mack, Dave Diamond, Beau Weaver, John Leader, Sam Riddle, Johnny Williams, Frank Terry, Johnny Mitchell, Tommy Vance, Scotty Brink, Steve Clark, Bobby Tripp, Tom Maule, and Bill Wade. One defining characteristic of Boss Radio was the jingles by the Johnny Mann Singers. Drake's format spread throughout North America, bringing high ratings to KFRC in San Francisco, WFIL in Philadelphia, KGB in San Diego, WQXI in Atlanta, WRKO in Boston, and CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, Canada (serving Detroit). Drake and his business partner Gene Chenault brought many of their announcers from the other Boss stations, using those stations as a farm system to develop talent.
KHJ's call-in request number used the Los Angeles area code 213 and a 520 exchange, followed by the current year. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the station competed with three other local stations with similar formats: KFI, KTNQ, and Tijuana-based border blaster XETRA-AM (The Mighty 690). KHJ also competed with three "soul radio" stations serving the Los Angeles radio market: KDAY, KGFJ, and, from Rosarito, Mexico, XERB.
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."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. 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 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. 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.
End of an era