The Story of KZC/KOG, Los Angeles
By Jim Hilliker, © 2023
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The Story of KZC/KOG, Los Angeles By Jim Hilliker, © 2023 |
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www.theradiohistorian.org Copyright 2023 - John F. Schneider & Associates, LLC (Click on photos to enlarge)
Jim Hilliker, author
 KOG advertisement, Los Angeles Evening Express, February 25, 1922, page 9  Western Radio advertisement, "Radio Doings" Magazine, August 19, 1922  KOG concert schedule, August 1922
KOG concert schedule, December, 1922
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Introduction Radio
station KOG was owned and operated by the Western Radio Electric Company of Los
Angeles. During its short year or so on
the air, KOG had its first broadcast studio at the Kinema Theater in downtown
Los Angeles at 7th and Grand, and its final broadcasting location
was at the Los Angeles Evening Herald. KOG
started as an experimental radio station, 6XD, which was licensed on April 1,
1920. This was one of the earliest radio telephone stations to get on the air
in Southern California. Amateur radio operators, radio operators at sea or in
Los Angeles Harbor, plus boys and young men who built their own crystal sets or
tube radios, were thrilled to hear music from phonograph records transmitted
over the air by wireless telephone. In
the November 1921 issue of Radio, an article on page 149 said that
Western Radio (Electric Company) was broadcasting in 1920, “…with the first
vacuum tube telephone transmitter in this locality.” The article was about the
development of the radio telephone in Southern California. The
Start of Experimental Station 6XD In
December of 1919, two men who had been military radio operators arrived in Los
Angeles. Harold Nunan came from San Francisco. Les E. Taufenbach arrived from
New York. Both men were licensed radio amateurs. After attending a meeting of
the Southern California Radio Association, the two men decided to start a radio
business. Les Taufenbach became the president of the Western Radio Electric
Company. It is believed to be the first radio store to open in Los Angeles at
550 S. Flower Street. The store later moved to 637 S. Hope Street. Hall
Berringer was sales manager of the Western Radio Electric Company. In the
October 14, 1922 issue of Radio Doings, Berringer said it was Harold
Nunan’s idea to get an experimental radio station on the air. On Thursday, July
21, 1921 in the Los Angeles Times, an advertisement appeared for a
“Victor Record Concert by Wireless.” Station 6XD’s broadcast of the Victor
records for July, took place on Friday evening, July 22, 1921, from 8 to 9 p.m.
The records were provided by Richardson’s Music Shop on West 7th
Street, and 6XD would announce the phonograph records and plug the music store
for providing the music. The store also sold Victrolas and pianos. It is believed that 6XD had been broadcasting
similar phonograph music concerts experimentally for several months. However, this July 22, 1921 broadcast is the
first time I could find a public announcement of the 6XD wireless broadcasts in
any publication. The
September 15, 1921 issue of “The Talking Machine World” ran an article that
seems to be a similar report on 6XD, without giving the call sign. The headline given reads, “Records
Demonstrated by Wireless.” “A
novel arrangement has been made by Richardson’s Inc., with the Western Radio
Electric Co., by which a Victrola has been placed at the open transmitter of a
wireless telephone and enables hundreds of operators at a thousand-mile radius
to “listen in” and hear the latest jazz or grand opera records. Many commendations have been received from
all over the country, particularly from lonely stations, and Richardson’s Inc. are
receiving orders from all directions.” Another
story on 6XD’s experimental broadcasts for Richardson’s Music Shop was featured
on page 48 of “Pacific Radio News” in September of 1921. The story talked about the radio telephone
concerts transmitted by the station on Tuesday and Friday evenings. A photo of the transmitter was included with
the story. From
Experimental Station to the New Broadcasting Service On
December 9, 1921, the Western Radio Electric Company was notified by the
Department of Commerce that they had been given a broadcasting license with the
call letters KZC. KZC was licensed to
operate on the entertainment wavelength of 360 meters, equivalent to 833
kilocycles. On
December 17, 1921, the Los Angeles Evening Herald ran a story with the
headline, “Kinema Installs Radio Telephone To Transmit Music.” While the story does not mention the call
letters KZC, the article does indicate that the radio station was owned by the
Western Radio Electric Company of 550 S. Flower Street and was doing the entire
installation work. The article states, “A radio telephone station
is being installed in the Kinema Theater.
Work on the station has been going on for some time and it is expected
that it will be in actual operation after the first of the new year. By means of the powerful 50-watt continuous
wave transmitter, the orchestra selections and organ solos will be broadcasted
through space. These may be “picked up”
and faithfully reproduced by anyone within a radius of over a thousand miles,
who has a simple receiving set, for which no government license is necessary.” Call
Letter Change to KOG On
February 2, 1922, the call letters KZC were changed to KOG. (The Department of
Commerce did not list the call letter change until the April 1, 1922 issue of
its Radio Service Bulletin). Known as
the Kinema Theater Radio Phone, KOG’s transmitter and broadcast studio was
inside the Kinema Theater building on Grand Ave. at 7th Street. I am guessing that this was a requested call
sign. I have a possible theory that the
new call letters from KZC to KOG may possibly have stood for “Kinema On
Grand.” I have not been able to find
any articles on why the Western Electric Radio Co. changed the call letters of
their broadcast station from KZC to KOG.
I have no proof to back up my guess about the call letter change. During
the month of January, the Los Angeles newspapers had very little information
about radio broadcasting stations, and almost nothing on the Southern California
radio telephone stations that were licensed.
I could not find anything about KZC or any news about when the station
would go on the air. Meanwhile, in
Pasadena, the Star-News reported that Mr. J.J. Dunn had received a broadcast
license for radio station KLB on January 4, 1922, but I didn’t see any
information on KGC or KZC. During
the month of February, the Los Angeles Times and other area newspapers began
running articles about the sudden interest in radio broadcasts in the area and
when the wireless phonograph concerts could be heard by those with a radio. By mid-February, the stories on radio
broadcasters in Los Angeles included news on station KOG, the Kinema Theater
radio station. On February 24, 1922, an
article was published in newspapers in Venice and Pomona about KOG. The report said that KOG was broadcasting
concerts each day from 4 to 5 p.m. and again from 8 to 9 p.m. The article also publicized two upcoming
lectures to be heard on KOG. Mr.
E.M. Sargent, sales manager of the Western Radio Electric Company, was quoted
by the reporter: “With the perfection of this organization, it may be said that
radio-telephony has been definitely launched here on a practical basis,” as he
adjusted the phonograph record of “I Love You, California” for broadcasting
from the Kinema radio station. On
Friday March 10, 1922, KOG had an official dedication program. The Los Angeles Times said, “The Kinema
Theater-Brack-Shops radiophone, will be formally opened tonight by Mayor George
B. Cryer, who will broadcast a message of greeting over the entire 1500-mile
radius covered by the sending apparatus.”
The April 15,1922 issue of “Moving Picture World” also had a write-up
about the radio station inside the Kinema Theater. Their article said movie actress Colleen
Moore was there and spoke over KOG during the station dedication. Movie impresario Sol Lesser also made a
speech over KOG. The
Times newspaper story also indicated that the public could witness the
broadcast from the street, because the radiophone room is “located in a
convenient part of the theater, adjacent.” The article added that KOG had already served
many important purposes, such as the broadcasting of concerts, including the
recent visit of Victor Herbert. Current
local news was also a daily feature of the Kinema radio station. On
April 5, 1922, several Los Angeles area newspapers announced that KOG on 360
meters would broadcast a lecture by Major William T. Morgan, a famous war
veteran and lecturer. The 8 p.m. talk
was on the topic of “Why Men Fail.” The
regular concert from the Kinema Theater was heard before the lecture. The press release said, “This inspirational
lecture will be of wide interest, it is declared, and it is anticipated that
all radiophones within 1,000 miles will be able to pick it up.” By the end of April, KOG was on the air daily
except Sunday from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8
to 9 p.m. with the Kinema Theater concert.
The
following day, on April 6th, in the Los Angeles Times and the Los
Angeles Evening Post-Record, a letter which was mailed to radio station KOG was
published. It was from a forest ranger
who worked by himself, in the mountains near Big Bear Lake in San Bernardino
County. The newspaper referred to KOG as
“The Kinema Theater Brack Shop Radiophone Station.” Mr.
J.C. Cavanaugh described his nights in his forest ranger shack, before and
after the radiophone came along and broke down barriers of isolation and
loneliness. He explained that with a
radiophone, antenna and headphones, “Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver are
right here in the shack shortly after sundown.”
Cavanaugh wrote about the clear reception he got from KOG in the
evening. He also described that in the past week, he
took his radio set to a new camp and installed a ground system and temporary
antenna. Cavanaugh wrote, “Just as I
thought. In comes old KOG (The Kinema
Station). It was a clear, cold night,
and yet the air was filled with the strains of melodious syncopated
music.” Ranger Cavanaugh added, “Abe
Lyman’s orchestra was keeping the air current alive. The entire evening was devoted to sending out
their first radio concert over the entire Pacific coast.” In
the June issue of the Los Angeles “Radio Journal” magazine, there is a picture
of Mr. L.E. (Les) Taufenbach seated in front of the KOG station equipment,
speaking into a microphone and wearing headphones. Another
incident involving station KOG was reported in the July 1922 issue of “Radio
News.” The detailed story describes a
specially scheduled broadcast by KOG to be received on a Southern Pacific
passenger train, the Creole Special.
This event took place the morning of April 9, 1922. (By the time this article was published, KOG
had moved from the Kinema Theater to the Evening Herald building). The
article went into great detail how and why the special radio and antenna were
set up for this particular train trip. The
train was scheduled to leave the Los Angeles Arcade Station at 8:35 a.m. Fifteen minutes before departure, the Kinema operator’s
voice began the special broadcast. “This
is the Kinema Theatre Broadcasting Radio Station, located at 642 South Grand
Avenue, Los Angeles, California, operated by the Western Radio Electric Company,
Los Angeles. We have arranged a special
concert for your benefit this Sunday morning.
We will give you an hour of the finest music we can select on the first
100 miles of your long journey. We hope
that your efforts to establish a record for reception by broadcasting music by
radio on the rear car of a passenger train while in motion will be a pronounced
success. The first selection will be a
piece on the player piano entitled ‘Smilin’ Through.’” KOG
Location Change Regular
radio broadcasting schedules from station KOG were printed daily in the Long
Beach Telegram and Daily News in May and June of 1922. On June 28, 1922, the radio column of this
paper reported that KOG was moving. “The
Evening Herald-Kinema Theatre radio station, Los Angeles, is being moved from
its old location at the Kinema Theatre to the roof of the Evening Herald, which
is in the Chamber of Commerce Building, at 136 South Broadway. It is thought by effecting the change, the
station will have a greater range, mainly because the aerial in use will not be
surrounded so much by tall buildings which absorb the radiated waves. The Evening Herald will have complete charge
of the station.” While KOG was silent
during their moving process, the California Theatre station (KNX) was given their
timeslots to broadcast on 360 meters, until KOG’s new studio and transmitter
were in working order. By the end of July, The Evening Herald Broadcasting
Station was back on the air with a regular broadcasts. During
the week of August 21 to August 27, 1922, the KOG program schedule in “Radio
Doings” magazine shows that this station was broadcasting on 360 meters Monday
through Saturday for a total of 6 hours per week. The time on the air was usually from 30
minutes a day to 90 minutes per day. A
late afternoon broadcast consisted of Herald news bulletins, baseball scores
and closing market reports. Three
evenings per week, KOG featured one hour of singers and instrumentalists
performing live in the studio. On
August 29th, an election day in California, the Los Angeles Times
radio page reported that KOG and four other Los Angeles stations were scheduled
to announce election results. The election night returns were announced from
9 p.m. until midnight, or until the various election counts were complete. Stations KHJ, KYJ, KOG, KFI and KWH took turns
broadcasting the election returns, every ten minutes, in the order given here. After 50 minutes, each station went on the air
again for 10 minutes apiece, and continued announcing election results, until the
final results were known. In
October and November, the Southern California Broadcast Association was
assigning less hours on the air to KOG. By
late-October and into November, KOG began a 15-minute program of code practice. The November 18, 1922 issue of “Radio Digest”
ran a short article with the headline, “Dot and Dash Lessons Are Started In
West---KOG Launches Series of Lessons In Code Signals.” The story said that the code lessons had
started “a few days ago by station KOG, the Los Angeles Evening Herald. The lessons in telegraphy are the result of
the desire of many amateurs to learn the code.
A vote conducted by the Evening Herald, showed that many radio fans were
interested in them.” The daily code
lessons over KOG were broadcast from 5 to 5:15 p.m., except Wednesday, when the
code lesson started 15 minutes earlier. During
the week before Christmas, December 18 to December 24, 1922, KOG was only on
the air for 1 hour a day, except Sunday.
The six hours a week of broadcasts were 30 minutes of the code lessons
and 30 minutes of world and local news, sports and market reports. Then, KOG reportedly went off the air over
the holidays. In January of 1923, newspaper
radio columns had very sketchy information about KOG. In a search of the Los Angeles Times, I
discovered two days of listings for KOG on the air, January 17 and January 25,
1923. Both days, KOG’s time on the air
was from 5 to 5:30 p.m. The
Beginning of the End for KOG A
front page article in “Radio Digest” dated February 10, 1923 from Los Angeles, had this headline: “KOG Returns to Ether After
Holiday Layoff---Continues Service Halted For Reconstruction of Studio.” The report said, “After an absence of several
weeks during the holiday season, station KOG, the Evening Herald here, returned
to the ether with the advent of the new year, by the recommencement of its
afternoon broadcasting programs of news matter, market reports and other
features. The station is not, however,
presenting entertainment programs at this time. The suspension of the station’s broadcasting
features was caused by the desire to re-construct its radio studio, located on
the seventh floor of the Chamber of Commerce Building, together with other
preparations, which are being concluded in the form of arrangements to operate
KOG as a Class B, 400-meter plant.” If
indeed KOG was planning to become a Class B station on 400 meters/750
kilocycles, Western Radio Electric Co. would have needed to invest in a new
500-watt transmitter and would have been required to use all live
entertainment. For whatever reason, KOG
did not make the needed improvements to share 400-meters with KHJ and KFI. The radio studio inside the Herald newspaper
building was improved and KOG was merged into KFI’s broadcasts each day,
through a remote telephone line. The
Evening Herald remote programs became part of KFI’s Radio Central Super-Station
set-up of several remote program feeds into KFI. The
March 17, 1923 issue of “Radio Digest” printed a story that was several weeks
old, but explained what became of KOG.
The headline proclaimed, “Dedicate KOG As Sub-Station of KFI. Los Angeles Evening Herald Has No
Transmitter, But Works As Remote Control.” The article describes part of the broadcast of
Monday, January 29, 1923 at 5:00 p.m., when KFI’s new 500-watt Class B
transmitter went on the air on 400 meters/750kilocycles. Radio
listeners who were tuned to 400 meters at that time heard, “This is the Evening
Herald, broadcasting through the Central Radio Station at (Earle C.) Anthony’s,
Los Angeles.” The article explained, “This was the re-dedication of KOG. This station is now only a remote control for
KFI, the 500-watt plant of Anthony’s, Los Angeles.” The
radio station was apparently keeping its old call letters for awhile and going
on the air through KFI each afternoon and every other evening. The article stated however, that the daily
code lessons from the Evening Herald were suspended, until plans could be
worked out to continue the code lessons at a later date. But this never happened. Otherwise, the
programs broadcast from the Evening Herald over KFI kept many of the former KOG
artists. I have found that the remote
Evening Herald programs over KFI continued at least through April of 1925. The
broadcast license for KOG Los Angeles, owned by the Western Radio Electric
Company, was deleted by the Department of Commerce on March 9, 1923. This was 8 days before the “Radio Digest”
story of March 17th was printed.
The owner probably had decided to get out of broadcasting back on
January 29, when the old KOG was absorbed by KFI. Three out of the first four licensed radio
broadcasting station in Los Angeles were now defunct. But, from its days as an early experimental station
to the first years of radio broadcasting in the United States, it was an
interesting journey for station KOG.
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