KHJ (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.
[6] 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".
[15] 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,[16] 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.
[17] CBS would eventually purchase a more-powerful West Coast flagship station, 50,000-watt KNX, and part company with KHJ.
[19] 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.
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.
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.
On November 7, 1980, at 9 p.m., during Bob Shannon's show, and after the song "Rock and Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life)" by Mac Davis was played, KHJ switched from top 40 to a country music format with the slogan "We all grew up to be cowboys".
The change attempted to capitalize on the rise of pop-driven country, a trend driven in part by the film Urban Cowboy which was released that year.
In 1984, KHJ launched "Car Radio 93", a top 40 variant targeting driving commuters, featuring traffic reports every ten minutes.
Kelly, Bobby Ocean, and Jimmy Rabbitt,[25] and program director Ron Jacobs) phoned in for a farewell broadcast, playing the songs which had made KHJ a popular AM station in the 1960s and 1970s.
[31] Upon closing, KRTH became a full-time Spanish-language station broadcasting a regional Mexican music format branded "Radio Alegria".
[35][36] On August 21, 2007, the Los Angeles Dodgers reached a deal with KHJ to broadcast the team's games in Spanish for the 2008 season, moving from KWKW after 20 years there.
[37][38] On July 15, 2014, Liberman reached an agreement to sell KHJ to IHR Educational Broadcasting for $9.75 million; the sale was consummated on November 6.
[39] At that time, KHJ began Catholic-oriented religious programming; the "La Ranchera" format moved to KWIZ (96.7 FM) in Santa Ana, California.
KHJ switched to the Relevant Radio branding when IHR Educational Broadcasting and Starboard Media Foundation consummated their merger on June 30, 2017.
[41] On May 2, 2018, the FCC granted Immaculate Heart Media's request to switch KHJ's license from non-commercial educational to commercial status.
The movie and official soundtrack album include airchecks of boss jocks Humble Harve and The Real Don Steele as well as original 93 KHJ jingles and advertisements.
