There are changes coming to Southern California radio

If your radio is sounding a little funny, at least in range of clear reception of KMZT (1260 AM), it’s not a mistake: There are changes in the air. If all goes to plan, by the time you read this, classical music will be gone and the station will be stunting with a month of nothing but Taylor Swift. What happens after that? You might be surprised.

“During September, 1260 AM will play Taylor Swift nonstop 24/7,” station owner Saul Levine told me. Then, on October 1st, the new KKGO (AM) will go gold “playing country hits of the 1980s, ’90s, and early 2000s”  he said. I don’t know if they will have a special name for the station, but “Gold Country” seems like an obvious winner.

Go Country 105 will thus officially become KKGO-FM (105.1) when the AM call letters change from KMZT to KKGO (expected sometime in September), and will continue focusing on current music (which I personally like) along with a mix of gold from the ’90s and up. Listeners may have noticed a few such songs over the past few weeks; more will be added to the playlist and will continue to be featured three or four times per hour.

Interestingly, 1260 will not be streamed on the FM digital channels you can hear if you have an HD Radio. But the AM signal will continue to be broadcast in HD itself. Levine’s engineering staff has made that station sound amazing in HD, though you do have to be fairly close to the Valley to hear it. If you aren’t close, you can hear it on the regular analog AM signal, and it will be available on an app.

The classical music formerly heard on 1260 will switch to FM only, using a low-powered transmitter at 98.3 FM but primarily on the digital streams of 105.1 HD2, a second version at 105.1 HD2, on apps, and at KMozart.Com. The remaining stream at 105.1 HD4 will likewise stay as LA Oldies K-Surf.

Levine has put a lot of money into the transmitter of 1260 and is one of just two local HD signals still on AM … the other being KBRT (740 AM). The station broadcasts a full 20,000-watt signal, but is unfortunately restricted by its location in the San Fernando Valley. I can hear it in San Pedro, for example, but I can’t get a good HD lock in my truck until I approach West Los Angeles on the 405 freeway. I’d love to see how the signal reaches in an all-digital mode, but that’s probably years away.

Super Seventies Souvenirs

Bob Goodman is back on Sunday nights at The SoCal Sound (KCSN, 88.5 FM). This time he’s playing oldies from the 1970s.

“I’m back with a brand-new show, ‘Super Sounds Of The ’70s,’” Goodman told me.

You can hear it from  2 – 4 p.m. between Mimi Chen and Gary Calamar … just like old times.

“It will not be another Classic Rock clone” he insists. “I was asked if I’d be interested in getting back to my cherished Sunday afternoon airtime and creating a new show with total freedom to curate it.

“It occurred to me that the ’70s was a much maligned and overlooked decade of music. It was caught between the amazing ’60s with the British Invasion and the new wave, MTV & punk ’80s. When you mention the ’70s, many people immediately associate disco and American Top 40.

“The reality is, it introduced to an entire generation so many talented and influential artists with many still performing today. It was the rise of the singer-songwriter genre.”

This is so true. So much great music was released that it often gets lost, but it was that music that propelled stations such as the late-great KMET (now KTWV, 94.7) to the top of the local ratings.

“My promise to listeners is simply this,” Goodman continued. “It will never devolve into the typical Classic Rock formats. I will put the music together as I always have with handcrafted sets including many songs not appearing anywhere else but staying within the decade of the 1970s. It’ll be just like when I began my career in College Radio in 1970 and Commercial Radio in 1974.

“So far, the reception has been terrific and it’s great to be back on Sundays,” Goodman concluded.

Now Online

Local low-powered KCLA (100.7 FM) — licensed to San Pedro — now has a full website with an online listening link, so you can hear it everywhere, not just east of Western Avenue. Go to https://kcla.fm and check it out. The station has a great mix of music and is currently operating as more of a “sneak preview” — the official ribbon-cutting ceremony at the downtown San Pedro studios is scheduled for October 3rd.

Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com