KIEV (AM)

Infobox Radio station
name = KIEV


city = Culver City, California
area = Los Angeles, California
branding =
slogan =
airdate = October 10, 1951
frequency = 1500 AM kHz
format = in testing stage
power = 5,100 watts (daytime)
13,000 watts (nighttime)
erp =
class = B
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns = KROQ, KRCK
owner = Royce International
webcast =
website =
affiliations =

KIEV (1500 AM) is a radio station licenced to Culver City, California and serving the Los Angeles area. The station is currently owned by Royce International Broadcasting, which was issued a construction permit on March 27, 2001 and has held it ever since.

During the week of Memorial Day 2008, KIEV sent out test signals to measure the strength of its signal. During that time, it aired a syndicated talk show hosted by Tammy Bruce and simulcast Monica Crowley's show from "77 WABC" in New York City. KIEV also aired some news updates from USA Radio Network. But the test ended shortly after the holiday, and whether the station will return to the air and with what format is not yet known.

The current KIEV should not be confused with the previous station possessing the KIEV call letters. Both stations are separate entities.

History

The birth of 1500 AM in Los Angeles had its origins in 1947. The 1490 kHz channel became available when KVOE-Santa Ana moved from 1490 to 1480 in 1945. A new station was licensed to Burbank on 1490 by the FCC on May 8, 1947, with the call letters KWIK. The station was known then as "The Voice of the San Fernando Valley".

On December 12, 1949, the FCC demanded that KWIK surrender its license due to repeated technical rule violations. But, KWIK stayed on the air for two more years, while they appealed the FCC ruling through the courts. The station finally went silent and its license deleted by the FCC May 15, 1951.

KBLA, a completely different station licensed to Burbank, California, started on 1490 AM a few months later, on October 10. In 1964, the owners obtained FCC approval to relocate 1500 AM, with a power upgrade. The owners encountered problems finding a location to build their six-tower AM directional array in Burbank, and wound up on Verdugo Peak, a rocky hilltop not conducive to AM broadcasting. At the time of the switch, KBLA aired a Top 40 format.

The small station could not compete with more established and powerful competition, so they switched to country music as KBBQ in June 1967. KBBQ was also not successful, and the station switched back to Top 40, hired established disc jockeys, and became KROQ, "The ROQ of Los Angeles" on September 2, 1972.

In 1973 KROQ's owners bought the struggling KPPC-FM from National Science Network, which was forced by the FCC to sell their stations due to compliance issues 1. The AM station was sold to a company called Universal Broadcasting. The FM station became KROQ, and initially programmed a short-lived big band format. Soon, the two stations switched to a freeform rock format as "The ROQs of L.A.".

The two stations were mildly successful with the format, but poor money management by the general manager resulted in more bounced paychecks, and in 1974, the entire staff walked out, shutting the stations down. In 1976, the FCC ordered KROQ to return to the airwaves or surrender the stations' licenses. With barebones equipment, KROQ returned to the airwaves, broadcasting initially from the transmitter location, followed by a penthouse suite in the Pasadena Hilton Hotel, then across the street from the Hilton. At the time, Rodney Bingenheimer was introducing many new and local bands, including The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The Runaways on his Sunday night show.

By 1978, the stations' owners encountered more money problems and decided to pare down to one station , keeping the FM station and selling the weak-signalled KROQ-AM. The AM station eventually became KRCK and limped along with a poor signal and limited finances.

The owners of KRCK returned the station's license back to the FCC on September 19, 1986, but requested a renewal for a construction permit for 50,000 Watt daytime/14,000 Watt nighttime station from a different site. The license renewal was granted in December 1988, but KRCK has yet to return to the airwaves, as the construction permit has been extended numerous times. The most recent amendment to the construction permit was on March 24, 2006 by Royce International Broadcasting, who purchased the station's license and obtained the call letters KIEV (originally on 870 AM) on March 27, 2001.

The KBBQ call letters moved to AM 1590 in Ventura, California when the Burbank station dropped them in 1972, then were assigned to an FM station in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1985 (continuing to the present time) when the Ventura station changed to KOGO. They were also briefly used by AM 990 in Santa Barbara, California in 1988 under an FCC rule that allows call letters to be used in different communities by stations in different broadcast bands (AM, FM, TV).

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/5515/kroqam.html KROQ-AM history]
* [http://gallery.bostonradio.org/2006-04/la/ Historic Los Angeles Hilltops (includes a history of 1500 AM]
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