KLAA (AM)

Infobox Radio station
name = KLAA


city = Orange, California
area =
slogan =
branding = "AM 830"
frequency = 830 kHzHD Radio
airdate = January 9, 1986
share =
share as of =
share source =
format = News/talk/sports
power = 50,000 watts day
20,000 watts night
erp =
haat =
class = B
facility_id = 50516
coordinates = coord|33|55|43.00|N|117|36|57.00|W|region:US_type:city
callsign_meaning = Los Angeles Angels
former_callsigns = KSRT (1986-1991)
KPLS (1991-2003)
KMXE (2003-2006)
owner = Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
licensee =
sister_stations =
webcast = [http://amber.streamguys.com:5350/listen.pls listen live]
website = [http://www.am830.net am830.net]
affiliations = NBC Radio (a subsidiary of Westwood One)

KLAA is a talk radio station licensed to the city of Orange, California, and broadcasting at 830 AM. It is owned by LAA 1, LLC, comprised of the owners of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team.

The current format is a mix of sports talk and general talk programs. Roger Lodge hosts a morning show and Dave Smith is the host in mid-afternoons and evenings. The two came to the station on March 31, 2008, and hosted a show together at that time. Shows about fishing and horse racing air on weekends. The eventual plan is to make the station into an all-sports station to compete with KSPN and KLAC.cite news|url=http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/archives/2008/03/just_another_ha.html |title=Just another Halo radio format change |author=Tom Hoffarth |publisher="Los Angeles Daily News" |date=2008-03-28 |accessdate=2008-03-30] There was also a report that Joe McDonnell would host the afternoon show, but he has remained at KLAC (and also KTLK).

However, KLAA still has some general talk shows like those hosted by Michael Reagan and Rusty Humphries as well as a brokered program from the ROEX Nutrition company. Previous hosts on KLAA included Glenn Beck, Dr. Roy Masters and Michael Savage. Also on the station lineup is "Insight", a talk show that seems to have a politically independent perspective.

KLAA broadcasts as a full-power 50,000 watt AM radio station during the daytime. However, at nighttime it drops to 20,000 watts and switches to a directional antenna which projects most of the signal to the west. This is done to protect "clear channel" WCCO in Minneapolis. As such, it is the only Orange County station that decently covers Los Angeles County.

The station does not have a general manager or program director as traditionally defined in the radio business. The station's GM is the Angels' vice president of sales and marketing, and the PD is team president Dennis Kuhl.

History

830 AM first came on air on January 9, 1986 as KSRT, a Spanish language news station. The station was directional day and night, with day power of 2,500 watts and 1,000 watts night. Former National Football League placekicker Danny Villanueva was co-owner and general manager. The transmitter site was at Oak Flat in the Santa Ana Mountains between Sierra Peak and Santiago Peak. While mountain tops are good for FM transmission, AM stations need low, flat land for best signal propagation. The low power and Oak Flat location yielded a poor signal for KSRT.

In 1991, the station became KPLS "Radio AAHS" and was part of the first nationwide network of radio programs for children. The downfall of Radio AAHS came when the Walt Disney Company established a competitor, Radio Disney. After the sign off of Radio AAHS, the parent company, Children's Broadcasting Company, needed programming for the network of station until they could find buyers. KPLS and the rest of the former Radio AAHS stations flipped to "Beat Radio", which carried electronic dance music ("aka" techno) 24 hours a day. Later that year, KPLS was sold and flipped to Catholic talk. During this period, the station was owned by John Lynch, father of the veteran National Football League cornerback of the same name. Lynch was former CEO of Noble Broadcasting of San Diego.

In 2000 the station was granted a power increase by the FCC. A new transmitter site was built east of Orange in Chino, California that broadcasts 50,000 watts non-directional day and 20,000 watts directional nights.

KPLS was later sold again, at which time it flipped to a conservative talk station as "HotTalk 830 – LA's Conservative Voice" which featured Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage. KPLS had close ties to the Orange County community and was the flagship station of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey team.

In 2004, it flipped to a Spanish-language station that operated as KMXE. It was the Angels' flagship station in that language. Its slogan was "¡Así Se Habla!".

KLAA added English-language programs in the summer of 2006 and gradually phased out Spanish-language shows except for some sporting events. The general talk format lasted from fall of 2007 to March 30, 2008.

Today, KSRT is a Spanish-language station in Cloverdale, California and KMXE is a classic rock station near Billings, Montana.

ports

In 2006-07, it assumed the broadcast rights for the Anaheim Ducks, a National Hockey League team.http://www.anaheimducks.com/press/release/topstory.php?dir=200604&id=1396] That team went on to win the Stanley Cup in June 2007.

In October 2007, the Angels announced that KLAA would carry Angels games in English starting with the 2008 season. [cite news | first= | last=Carlisle | coauthors= | title=: East county fans still cranning ears : Columnists : | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/oct/19/no-headline---sc2fccarlislecol19-fc/ | work =Ventura County Star | pages = | accessdate = 2008-05-04 | language = ] Some Angels games had already been aired in English, the first of which was on September 16, 2006. They aired the team's Saturday games during September and October when KSPN, the flagship from 2003 to 2007, carried USC Trojans football. Before that, it aired Angels games in Spanish, as well as some games of the pro soccer team the Los Angeles Galaxy, to fulfill contractual obligations to both teams. KLAA was believed to be the only station in the U.S. to broadcast play-by-play of sports events in two languages. (In 2008, Angels and Galaxy games in Spanish moved to KWKW, and the Dodgers relocated from KWKW to KHJ.)

On September 10, 2007, KLAA began carrying games of the NFL on Westwood One on Monday nights. [wayback|http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-spw-tvcol7sep07,1,7366834.column?page=2&coll=la-headlines-sports-columnists|] However, it did not carry the full schedule because of some conflicts with the Ducks. KLAA has chosen not to air MNF games in 2008 (they are now on KSPN), but has picked up the local broadcast rights to Notre Dame Fighting Irish football.

The Ducks will be moved to another station if they and the Angels are playing at the same time. The first such conflict occurred on March 28, 2008, the night of the Angels' spring training game at the San Diego Padres. The Ducks-San Jose Sharks game was heard instead on KTLK.

References

External links

*amq|KLAA
*aml|KLAA