KKGO

KKGO (105.1 FM) – branded Go Country 105 – is a commercial Country music radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California. Owned by Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, the station serves Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. The KKGO studios are located in Los Angeles' Westwood neighborhood, while the station transmitter resides on nearby Mount Wilson. Besides a standard analog transmission, KKGO broadcasts over four HD Radio channels, and is available online.

KKGO
CityLos Angeles, California
Broadcast areaGreater Los Angeles
Southern California
Frequency105.1 MHz (HD Radio)
BrandingGo Country 105
SloganSouthern California's Country Station
Programming
FormatCountry
Subchannels
Ownership
OwnerMount Wilson Broadcasting
History
First air date
February 18, 1959 (1959-02-18) (as KBCA)
Former call signs
KBCA (1959-1979)
KKGO (1979-2000)
KMZT (2000-2007)
Call sign meaning
the word "GO"
Technical information
Facility ID43939
ClassB
ERP18,000 watts
HAAT880 meters
Transmitter coordinates
34.229°N 118.069°W / 34.229; -118.069
Links
WebcastListen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Listen Live (HD4)
Websitegocountry105.com (HD1)
kmozart.com (HD4)

KKGO is notable in being the lone remaining full-power commercial FM signal licensed to Los Angeles, and one of a very few remaining nationwide, that is still locally owned and operated.[1][2]

History

Saul Levine launched the station at 105.1 FM in February 1959 as KBCA, one of the first FM stations to broadcast from Mount Wilson. In 1979, the station changed its call sign to KKGO.[3] This was prompted by a court challenge from KABC, according to one local podcaster.[4] The station aired a traditional jazz music format until 1989.

After Evergreen Media's record-setting purchase of KFAC (92.3 FM) on January 15, 1989,[5] followed by rumors and publicity stunts[6] suggesting it would abandon their long-running fine arts/classical music format (one which had its roots in KFAC (1330 AM), itself divested prior to Evergreen's purchase of the FM[7][8]), KKGO announced that it would switch formats to classical music effective January 1, 1990, with the jazz format being transferred to KKGO (540 AM).[9] Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters chairman Saul Levine made an initial bid for KFAC's music library, one which dated back to the 1940s, but withdrew his bid when presented with an asking price upwards of $1 million; a combination of KUSC, the Los Angeles Public Library and Stanford University acquired it instead.[10] In the time between KFAC-FM's switch on September 20, 1989 and KKGO's switch the following January 1, KKGO offered classical programming for part of the day, with former KFAC host John Santana hired as a part-time announcer.[11]

KKGO celebrated the complete conversion to classical by playing selections from Franz Lehár's operetta The Land of Smiles. Another KFAC programming staple would be revived on KKGO that March: the Gas Company Evening Concert, which ran on KFAC and KFAC-FM between 1940 and 1989; former KFAC announcer Tom Dixon was hired as host of the new program's incarnation.[12]

In 2000, the call letters were changed to KMZT to reflect on their rebranding as "K-Mozart". The KKGO call letters were then moved to the co-owned station at 1260 AM.

When longtime country station KZLA flipped formats in August 2006, it left the two largest media markets in the United States and three of the top four without a full-time country music station. The New York City market had been without a country station following the format change of WYNY and three repeaters in 2003, while the San Francisco Bay Area was without one following KZBR's 2005 format change. The other top-three market, Chicago, is served by WUSN.

On February 26, 2007 at 5:00 a.m., in a surprise move announced only three days earlier, Mount Wilson Broadcasters flipped KKGO from K-Mozart to country as "Go Country 105".[13] The company cited declining advertising revenues for the classical format. Saul Levine swapped the formats of 105.1 FM with 1260 AM, bringing the country format and the KKGO calls back to FM while moving the classical programming and the KMZT calls to the AM signal.[14] (XESURF continued to play country music, first simulcasting KKGO's format, but later splitting its programming from that of KKGO). After playing Mozart's "String Quartet no. 23 in F major, K. 590", Los Angeles was left once again without a commercial analog FM classical music station.

KKGO brought country music back to the FM dial after a six-month absence, much to the delight of Southern California country fans who had spent that time petitioning the radio community to restore country radio in Los Angeles. Such activity included writing letters, making phone calls, wearing "I Want My Country Music Back" shirts, and distributing ribbons reading "Save Country Music".[15] Their goal was to assure broadcasters and others that the country music format would be a valuable asset to a local radio station. The first song on Go Country 105 was "Only in America" by Brooks & Dunn.

K-Mozart returned to KKGO on April 4, 2011, this time on the HD2 subchannel.[16] As of March 2017, K-Mozart is heard on KKJZ-HD2 (88.1 FM) while KKGO-HD2 airs an oldies format.

On May 8, 2013, KKGO began limiting access to the online stream of Go Country 105 to listeners in California due to rising royalty rates from the exponential growth of the streaming audience. KKGO's sister stations and HD subchannels did not restrict their respective streams.[17] As of 2015, this restriction has been lifted; access to the stream is available to all United States residents via the KKGO website as well as through iHeartRadio.

Until 2015, KKGO was simulcast on KGIL (FM) in Johannesburg, California, extending Go Country 105's reach into the Mojave Desert. The simulcast ended after Mount Wilson's sale of KGIL to Adelman Broadcasting closed.[18]

In addition to its K-Mozart AM sister stations, KKGO also had an AM radio station on 540 Kilocycles.

Christmas music

On November 15, 2016, KKGO began its annual tradition of airing Christmas music around the clock in November and December, rebranding itself as "105.1 Your Christmas Destination". With this move, the station competes directly with KOST, which also switches to a 24/7 Christmas format. During this time, KKGO's regular, non-seasonal country music remains available online only. Although the station is formatted as a country music station year-round, KKGO plays Christmas songs from both country and non-country artists.[19] The station reverted to its basic country format on December 26, 2016. It has continued switching to Christmas music every November–December 26 since.[20] KKGO often has notable music figures host Christmas programming, past guests have included Carrie Underwood, Idina Menzel,[21] and Martina McBride.[22]

HD Radio

KKGO began broadcasting an HD Radio digital signal in 2005. As of 2020, KKGO's HD subchannels carry the following content:

In 2005, Mount Wilson Broadcasting started simulcasting the programming of its two AM stations at the time, KKGO in Beverly Hills and XESURF-AM in the Tijuana, Mexico-San Diego border area were carried on KKGO's HD2 signal, hosting an adult standards format known as "Unforgettable 540 & 1260". While the AM signals combine to cover much of the Southern California area, they were still weak, especially at night in the Orange County area, and the FM HD2 simulcast helped boost the reach of the format.

Unforgettable

In March 2015, the HD3 subchannel flipped from Country Classics to "Unforgettable", an adult standards format with music consisting of what is known as "The Great American Songbook". Artists representative of this genre are Nat King Cole, Barbra Streisand, Harry Connick, Jr., Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Bublé. This took the subchannel back to a format similar to the one it aired a few years prior under the banner of "Retro 105". However, Retro 105 was only heard in Los Angeles whereas Unforgettable is classified as syndicated and is heard in Monterey, California on KNRY as well.[24] Later, Unforgettable moved to KKGO's HD4 subchannel.[25] Unforgettable would be dropped altogether later.

References
  1. "Saul Levine: FM Radio Pioneer". The Telos Alliance. Cleveland, Ohio: TLS Corp. July 31, 2004. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  2. Satzman, Darrell (May 5, 2003). "Little guy won't fold in format scrap with Clear Channel station". Los Angeles Business Journal.
  3. "Chuck Niles, 76; Voice of L.A.'s Jazz Radio". Los Angeles Times. March 17, 2004.
  4. "Smooth Jazz In Los Angeles".
  5. Sandoval, Rick (January 18, 1989). "L.A. classical music station sells for $63.7 million". UPI. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  6. "A New Radio Mystery". Los Angeles Times. August 11, 1989. p. 21. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  7. "For the Record: Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 18, 1988. p. 73. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  8. "For the Record: Ownership Changes" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 29, 1988. p. 68. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  9. Wagoner, Richard (July 28, 1989). "Changes likely at KFAC, but new owners remain mum". San Pedro News-Pilot. pp. E8-E14. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  10. Puig, Claudia; McQuilkin, Terry (August 24, 1989). "KFAC Parcels Out Classical Library". Los Angeles Times. pp. V1, V4-V5. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  11. Pasles, Chris (September 21, 1989). "KFAC Refugees Look for a New Place to Call Home on Radio Dial". Los Angeles Times. pp. V10–V11. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  12. Puig, Claudia (January 30, 1990). "Gas Company Show to Return". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  13. "Johnny Cash Would Have Been Proud -- KKGO 105.1 Flips Over to Country". PRWeb. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  14. "Martina McBride Replaces Mozart" (PDF). Radio and Records. March 2, 2007. p. 3. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  15. "Save Country Music Ribbons".
  16. Venta, Lance (March 28, 2011). "K-Mozart Returns To Los Angeles". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  17. "LA's KKGO Limits Online Stream Coverage". AllAccess.com. All Access Music Group. May 8, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  18. Venta, Lance (October 20, 2015). "The Secret Format Changes Of 2015". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  19. Venta, Lance (November 15, 2016). "Go Country 105 Los Angeles Goes All-Christmas". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  20. "KKGO/Los Angeles Set for All-Christmas Flip on November 20th". AllAccess.com. All Access Music Group. November 16, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  21. "Underwood to Guest Host Afternoons on KKGO Los Angeles". news.radio-online.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  22. "KKGO (Go Country 105)/Los Angeles Goes All-Christmas". All Access. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  23. Venta, Lance (April 25, 2018). "Domain Insight 4/25: Who's Turning On A Lite In Los Angeles?". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  24. Venta, Lance (March 29, 2015). "KNRY Flips To Adult Standards". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  25. "HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles (Archived copy)". Archived from the original on January 28, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2015.

General references
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.