Boss Radio Birthday
I’m a few weeks late, but its still worth a mention: May 2025 is the “official” 60th anniversary of the launch of “Boss Radio” KHJ (930 AM), the station credited with revolutionizing top-40 radio throughout the country.
In reality it wasn’t truly the station that began it all … one could easily point to others, including KGB (now KLSD, 1360 AM) in San Diego, which beat KHJ to the format by about a year. Being in Los Angeles, however, and going against the formidable competition of KRLA (now KWVE, 1110 AM) and KFWB (980 AM), KHJ helped prove the validity of the fast-paced top-40 format in a large market.
So popular was KHJ that within six months it led the ratings; within two years, KFWB left the format and went all-news; and the station dominated the Los Angeles ratings for most of its first ten years, falling only when a revolving door of program directors and a loss of focus finally brought it down.
I used the word “official” earlier; May 5th was supposed to be the launch day but KFWB had gotten hold of some elements of the station and was trying to steal the thunder. So KHJ began a “sneak preview” on April 27th, and then morphed in to the new format over the next week.
The station was not immediately accepted by all. Many observers wrote it off completely … how could a 5000-watt station make a dent in the ratings against the well-established KFWB, let alone ratings leader KRLA? KHJ was a has-been “Middle of the Road” station for years, and the newest format would do nothing to change that fact, they said. Or worse.
“Whether KHJ moves into the hallowed ratings circle is unimportant. It remains that purposeful programming has lost at KHJ,” wrote Don Page, longtime radio reporter for the Los Angeles Times, on May 2nd, 1965
“Perhaps you’ve been sampling KHJ’s interim format, which has been excellent,” he continued. “The boys who’ll be rockin’ this week are the same pleasant chaps you’ve heard during the transition period. You will, if tradition holds firm, hear them sacrifice themselves to rock ‘n’ roll standards. You probably won’t recognize them.
“One thing you have to say for RKO-General (the owners). By eliminating personalities such as Michael Jackson, Joe Dolan, Red McIlvaine, Paul Compton, Army Archerd, Steve Allen (plus good music and news) and replacing them with rock ‘n’ roll, it showed class. All third.”
And yet, it lasted until 1980, when the station made the ill-fated move to country right after a brief return to glory and high ratings under the programming expertise of Chuck Martin, who brought Rick Dees to Los Angeles … and who believes that KHJ is still one of the best jobs he ever had. As well, memories — and recordings — of the station abound, and the influence it had on the format still applies today, even on stations that are not hit-music based.
You can hear old airchecks on YouTube, MixCloud, ReelRadio.Com, and more … just search and ye shall find.
Quick takes:
Classical music is in, country gold out as 1260 AM becomes K-Mozart KMZT once more, simulcast on 105.1 digital HD2. The country gold remains available on 105.1’s HD4; LA Oldies on HD3 …
KLOS (95.5 FM) is making moves against Jack-FM (KCBS-FM, 93.1), running promos featuring “Jack” calling the KLOS suggestion line. It is akin to the friendly competition once found between stations in the earlier days of radio, such as when KMET (now KTWV 94.7 FM) and KLOS would rib each other, mostly in fun, to gain a little street cred among listeners.
“Hey, KLOS, it’s Jack. Please play more cheesy MTV ‘80s songs … that’s what I want,” says one. “Nobody works here,” says another. In total there are four, running at various times throughout the day …
Do phone apps helps radio? Yes, it seems. According to InterTechMedia.Com, “with an app, listeners can tune in to their favorite station wherever they are without worrying about losing the signal or finding a specific radio frequency.” Some observers see a day when apps overtake over the air listening, similar to the revolution seen with television …
That awful thumping music some stations use during the news or certain interviews? It’s all designed to help ratings. It turns out the special encoded signal that stations send over the air to be “heard” by the Nielsen meters doesn’t work well with voices, especially female voices. So the obnoxious, irritating music overcomes the limitation. Left unknown is how many people like me tune out because the music is so awful …
Chuck Street — longtime airborne traffic reporter with KIIS-FM (102.7) and others (and one heckuva good guy) has been selected to lead the Hollywood Media Professionals/Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters as President for the second time. Good to have a broadcaster back in the saddle …
Have to say, radio is getting fun again. There is competition among stations again, and the morning and afternoon shows among various popular stations — along with innovation from the small ones — is validation of radio’s entertainment potential. Overall, radio right now sounds better than in many years; I hope this trend continues …
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