Los Angeles Area AM Radio Stations
Listed in Chronological Order By Date of License Issued

As Researched and Compiled by Jim Hilliker

www.theradiohistorian.org

Copyright 2022 - John F. Schneider & Associates, LLC

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(Click on photos to enlarge)

 
Meyberg station KYJ is received by electrical department employees at Universal Studios,  ca. 1922

This was KFI's first 100-watt transmitter in the
Earle C. Anthony building, Tenth and Hope Streets in Los Angeles, 1922.

By 1924, KFI was broadcasting with 5 kW from these towers on the roof of the Anthony building. 

This was the KFI studio in the Anthony building in 1924.

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Earle C. Anthony at the KFI microphone, 1920's

QSL card from KFWO, at the home of Lawrence Mott on Catalina Island, 1925.

 
 The radio towers of KFSG rose above the Angelus Temple in this 1935 image.

Interior viewe of the KFSG control room and transmitter in the Angelus Temple, about 1930.

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Remote broadcast vehicle of KEJK, circa 1928. The station would become KMPC in 1930.

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Exterior view of the KFWB towers at Warner Brothers Studios, circa 1926.

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The KHJ towers atop the Don Lee Cadillac building, circa 1927.

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This was KHJ's 500-watt transmitter in the Don Lee Cadillac building, 1927.

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A view of the KHJ studio, with station manager and announcer
"Uncle John" Daggett, about 1927.

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The KMPC building at 9631 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills (WPA photo, 1938)

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This postcard image shows two views of the KMTR towers atop the Hollywood Storage Building, 1925.

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Postcard view of the KMTR (later KLAC) studios at 1522 N. La Brea in Hollywood, 1939.

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Paul O'Hana at the KNX transmitter controls, 1926.

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The KNX studio building on Sunset Blvd., circa 1935

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Comedians Laurel & Hardy in the studios of KFVD at the
Hal Roach Motion Picture Studio

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QSL card for KFVD circa 1930

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In 1936, KFAC was located in the penthouse of the E.L. Cord automobile dealership, 3443 Wilshire Blvd.

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KFOX studio and transmitter, 220 Anaheim Street in Long Beach, 1938.

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Postcard view showing the KIEV antenna and tower
at the Glendale Hotel

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The Pasadena Star-News building, with the
KPSN towers on the roof, 1925.

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This was the main studio of KPSN in Pasadena, 1926.

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A view of the KPPC transmitter room at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church, showing the RCA 100-watt transmitter; December, 1934.

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NOTES ON LOS ANGELES AREA RADIO STATIONS

(Please reference the station number in the above list to the paragraphs below)

1.                    KQL    KQL made at least one broadcast of a wireless phonograph concert from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. on 360 meters, on November 1, 1921.  This came from page 3, (Los Angeles Times ad for Wiley B. Allen music store, on South Broadway, page 3.)  Arno A. Kluge died at the end of 1921.  KQL was licensed October 13, 1921 until June 9, 1922.

2.            KGC began under an amateur radio license, 6ADZ, on September 10, 1920.  Its first broadcast call letters were KGC, issued 12/8/1921.  KGC changed call letters to KNX on May 4, 1922, after moving from Hollywood to the California Theater at 801 S. Main Street in Los Angeles.  It is the oldest radio station on the air in Los Angeles today and the seventh oldest radio station in the United States

3.             KYJ was owned by the Leo J. Meyberg Company, with its broadcast studio located at the Hamburgers Department Store at 8^th and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.  The Meyberg Company also operated station KDN at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

4.           KZC was operated by the Western Radio Electric Company, which had first experimented with broadcasting music in 1920.  KZC was licensed 12/9/1921, and quickly changed its call letters to KOG in January of 1922.  The first KOG broadcast studio was located at the Kinema Movie Theater, Seventh and Grand in Los Angeles, and it later moved to the Evening Herald newspaper building.   KZC was licensed December 9, 1921 until March 9, 1923.

5.                  KLB in Pasadena was located at the J.J. Dunn battery shop, later moving to the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.  KLB was licensed January 4, 1922 until April 25, 1923.

6.         KGF began in June of 1921 as an experimental wireless broadcaster to promote the sale of radios and radio parts at the Pomona Fixture and Wireless Company.  KGF was issued its broadcasting license on February 8, 1922, but it is unclear when the first broadcast as KGF took place.  The earliest public mention of the station was in April of 1922, when J.F. Rambo, owner of the Pomona Fixture & Wiring Company, told a local newspaper about his broadcasting hours fitting in with other Southern California stations on 360 meters.  It maintained a schedule of weekly phonograph concerts during much of 1922, but it had disappeared from the airwaves in September of that year and its license was deleted on December 31. 

7.       KJS first operated with the slogan “King Jesus Saves,” but its call letters were changed in the summer of 1925 to KTBI, representing its station owner, The Bible Institute of Los Angeles.  In 1931, KTBI was sold to the Los Angeles Broadcasting Company, owned by automobile manufacturer Errett Lobban Cord, and it became KFAC, which operated until January of 1989.  Today, it is KWKW-1330.  KJS was first licensed March 10, 1922.

8.            KGO was located at the home of Paul Franklin Johnson in Altadena.  It soon moved to Johnson’s radio store in Pasadena but had ceased broadcasting by August of 1923.  KGO was owned by the Altadena Radio Laboratory from March 15, 1922 until April 21, 1923.   In 1924, the KGO call letters were reassigned to the General Electric Company’s new station in Oakland.

9.                    KHJ was first owned and operated by the C.R. Kierfulff Company, a radio store in Los Angeles.  They installed KHJ’s first 50-watt transmitter in the Los Angeles Times tower in April 1922, and the newspaper then took ownership of KHJ that October, installing a new 500 watt Western Electric transmitter.   KHJ was licensed March 18, 1922, and made its first broadcast on April 13, 1922.

10.               KFI was licensed to Earle C. Anthony on March 31, 1922, and made its first broadcast on April 16.  KFI was an original NBC affiliate in 1927 and has been broadcasting with 50,000 watts of power on the clear channel frequency of 640 kHz since July of 1931. 

11.               KJC was owned and operated by the Standard Radio Company, with its equipment and studio located at the Barker Brothers Store in downtown Los Angeles.  KJC had disappeared from the airwaves by October of 1922.

12.               KNR was an irregular broadcaster operated by the Beacon Light Company.  The station made at least one advertised broadcast in 1922, but it was off the air at least four months later.

13.               KNV never publicized a regular broadcast schedule.  It was probably only used by the Radio Supply Company to broadcast voice and music for short periods to demonstrate radio sets to potential customers.  The station continued renewing its license until it was deleted on April 2, 1924.

14.               KSS in Long Beach started in 1922 with a fairly regular schedule of daily or weekly broadcasts.  But soon the radio dealer’s radio programs were heard less and less, and finally on an irregular basis.  This small station was deleted on April 2, 1924.

15.               KXS in Los Angeles was a short-lived station started by the Braun Corporation at 363 New High Street, headed by W.B. Glasby.   The company’s early plans were to operate as an educational station providing information to farmers.  The store handled radio supplies and the station may have been used to advertise the store.  KXS lasted from April 1922 until March 1923.

16.               KZI was licensed for just four months, from April to August in 1922, but there is no evidence that KZI was ever on the air.  The station’s planned purpose was to broadcast services from The Church of St. Albans in Hollywood at 2041 N. Argyle Ave., one block north of Franklin.  St. Albans was a new “liberal” Catholic Church.  KZI was licensed to Irving S. Cooper, who was a bishop at the new church. 

17.               KUS was established by the Los Angeles City Dye Works and Laundry Company, at 3000 Central Ave. in Los Angeles.  It was licensed from April 1922 until April of 1924.

18.               KWH was owned and operated by the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper, and Bertram O. Heller was the chief engineer and station manager.   KWH was licensed from April 1922 until March 1925. 

19.            KNN was the “Bullock’s Radiophone,” owned and operated by Bullock’s Department Store at Seventh and Broadway in Los Angeles.  KNN was located in the radio department on the 5^th floor.  Its purpose was to advertise Bullock’s and its new radio department, but the broadcasts included music and talks.  KNN was on the air by May 11, 1922, but went off the air in December of 1922.  Its license was deleted in June of 1923.

20.           KUY was located in El Monte, owned by the Coast Radio Company of El Monte.  It did its best to promote El Monte and its local talent, but also advertised the radio and supplies of this radio dealer.  KUY was on the air between April 1922 and September 1924.

21.               KDYR was licensed to the Pasadena Star-News newspaper from May 1922 until December 1922, but research indicates that KDYR never got on the air as planned.

22.           KDZD was licensed to a W.R. Mitchell of Los Angeles.  Radio stations listings of the local newspapers in June of 1922 indicate that KDZD was operated by the Los Angeles County Bible Students Associated at 1113 Doris Street in Los Angeles.  There is no evidence that KDZD ever got on the air, but the license was renewed twice before being deleted in November, 1922.

23.           KDZF was owned by the Automobile Club of Southern California.  It was probably an irregular broadcaster, as no schedules or programs can be found in local newspaper radio pages.  KDZF was licensed from May, 1922, until April, 1924.

24.               KDZP was licensed by the Newberry Electric Corp. from May, 1922, until January, 1923.  It was likely only on the air for advertising purposes, such as the sale of radios to its customers.  No programs were ever listed on newspaper radio pages.

25.         KFAC was owned by the J.A. Newton Electric Co. and had their studio and transmitter at the Glendale Daily Press building.   It was on the air between June 1922 and January 1923.  (Note that this is not the same station as KJS, which took the call sign KFAC in 1931.)

26.         KFAR was licensed to the Hollywood Studio Lighting Service Co. in Hollywood, owned by Otto K. Oleson.  The station was probably used to promote this business, and it had an irregular broadcast schedule, never appearing in the newspaper radio pages.

27.               KFAV was located at the Venice Ballroom in Venice and was licensed from July of 1922 until January 8, 1924.  The first owner was the Cooke and Chapman radio store.  By November of 1922, KFAV was owned by the Abbott Kinney Company of Venice. 

28.               KFAW in Santa Ana was owned by The Radio Den store, with W.B. Ashford and Howard T. White listed as co-owners.  This local 10-watt station was licensed from July, 1922, until November of 1925.  The KFAW studio was located in the Santa Ana Daily Register building, at Third and Sycamore Streets in Santa Ana.  KREG was later in the same building, and heavily publicized by that newspaper.

29.               KFCL at the Los Angeles Union Stockyards was licensed in late 1922 and active in 1923.  It was relicensed in 1924, but was not on the air regularly.  It was deleted on March 5, 1925.

30.               KFMY in Long Beach was licensed to the Boy Scouts of America, which also operated a licensed amateur station.  However, there are indications that its radio broadcasting station was either not used much or never built.  The station was licensed from January to June of 1924.

31.               KFSG operated from Angelus Temple in Echo Park in Los Angeles.  It was licensed in January, 1924, and broadcast on the AM band until June 8, 1970, when KFSG moved to the former KRKD-FM frequency of 96.3 MHz

32.               KFOC was licensed to the First Christian Church in Whittier.  The station license was in effect from February 1924 until July 1925. 

33.             KFON was licensed February 29, 1924 to the Echophone Radio Shop in Long Beach, owned by Hal Nichols.  It first broadcast on Wednesday night, March 5, 1924.  At the end of December 1928, the call letters were changed KFOX, and the station operated under those call letters until 1977, when it was sold to Family Radio and became KFRN.

34.         KFPG  was licensed on March 19, 1924.  It became KMTR in late 1925, with the call sign representing its new owner, the K.M. Turner Radio Corporation.  After operating under the ownership of several companies, KMTR became KLAC 570 in March of 1946 and continues to operate today.

35.               KFPR was licensed to the Los Angeles County Forestry Department in April of 1924.  However, this station was nothing more than a radio system to dispatch emergency personnel to fires.  It had no scheduled broadcasts and did not send out any entertainment or news programs.  The station was deleted by the Federal Radio Commission on August 1, 1928.

36.               KFQG was licensed to the Southern California Radio Association from June, 1924, until to May, 1925.  But no information has been found regarding this radio station, and it is unknown if the station ever broadcast.

37.               KFQI was licensed to the Thomas H. Ince Corporation from June, 1924, until November, 1924.  But there is no indication that KFQI was ever on the air, and the owner, a movie director, died on November 19, 1924.

38.            KFQZ was licensed to the Taft Radio Company, owned by L.E. Taft of Hollywood.  He was a radio manufacturer and broadcasting engineer.  KFQZ was licensed from August 1924 until April 14, 1930.

39.               KPPC was licensed to the Pasadena Presbyterian Church in Pasadena from December, 1924, until July 11, 1997.  During its first 61 years on the air, KPPC was a 50- to 100-watt station, on the air only on Thursdays and Sundays.

40.        KFWB was licensed to the Warner Brothers Motion Picture Studio on February 10, 1925, and still operates today with Spanish language programming.

41.         KFVF was licensed on February 16, 1925, to Clarence B. Juneau of Hollywood.  The station went through five call letters changes after 1928, including being known as KTM and KEHE.  In 1939, the Earle C. Anthony station KECA took over the frequency and station license.  The station came under the ownership of the ABC network in 1944, and became KABC-790 in 1954. 

42.               KFVD was licensed on March 13, 1925, to the McWhinnie Electric Company in San Pedro. In 1955, the call sign changed to KPOP, and then from 1960 to 1976 is was known as KGBS.  This station is still on the air today as KTNQ-1020 in Los Angeles.

43.               KFWO was licensed to Lawrence Mott , with its studio and transmitter in Mott’s home on Catalina Island.  This station, whose slogan was “Katalina For Wonderful Outings” was licensed from April of 1925 until January 17, 1929.

44.               KPSN was licensed to Pasadena Star-News from July 1925.  In 1931, the station was cited by the Federal Radio Commission for not staying on its assigned frequency and for not using the latest radio equipment.  KPSN’s request to renew its broadcast license was denied, and the Star-News turned in the license and took KPSN off the air without further objection on June 16, 1931.

45.               KFXB was licensed in August of 1925 to broadcast from Big Bear Lake, California.  The station moved to Los Angeles in 1927 and changed its call letters to KPLA.  It was sold to Earle C. Anthony in November, 1929, and became KECA-1430.  In 1939, the license for KECA-1430 was deleted, and KECA moved to 780.  That station became KABC-790 in 1954.

46.               KWTC was licensed to Santa Ana amateur radio operator and optometrist Dr. John Wesley Hancock in October of 1926.  KWTC went on the air December 10, 1926.  After four call letter changes (KREG, KVOE, KWIZ and KVNR), this Santa Ana station continues to operate today as KVNR-1480.

47.               KGEF Was licensed from December of 1926 until May 1, 1932.  KGEF was owned and operated by the Rev. Bob Schuler from Trinity Methodist Church in Los Angeles.  In November of 1931, the Federal Radio Commission revoked KGEF’s license due to the character of Shuler’s broadcasts and his use of the station for personal attacks.  Schuler appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, but was rejected, and his license revocation became final in February 1933

48.               KGER This Long Beach radio station was founded by C. Merwin Dobyns, and licensed on January 7, 1927.  The station continues on the air today on 1390 kHz as KLTX.

49.               KGFH was put on the air by Frederick Robinson in La Crescenta in January of 1927, and moved to Glendale in 1928.  After management and money problems, the FRC took KGFH off the air.  Its license was deleted on May 10, 1929.

50.               KELW was licensed in January of 1927 to Earl L. White, a real estate promoter and developer.  KELW had financial troubles and licensing troubles, and ownership of the station changed hands after a short time.  For eight years, KELW shared time on 780 kHz with Los Angeles station KTM/KEHE.  Finally, on January 5, 1937, KELW’s license was taken over by KEHE, giving KEHE (now KABC-790), fulltime use of the 780 frequency.

51.          KMIC was licensed on January 17, 1927, to James R. Fouch, owner of the Universal Microphone Company, and it operated from the Inglewood Chamber of Commerce Building in Inglewood.  KMIC was licensed on January 17, 1927, although its first day on the air, according to contemporary newspapers, was January 10.  In 1930, KMIC changed its call letters to KMCS, and then changed again to KRKD in 1932.  Between late-1928 and 1961, KRKD shared time on its 1150 kHz frequency with KFSG, the Angelus Temple station.  In 1970, KRKD became KIIS, and it then underwent five more call letter changes until becoming today’s KEIB in 2014.  KEIB-1150 is the twelfth-oldest radio station in the Los Angeles market.

52.               KGFJ was licensed February 5, 1927 to Ben S. McGlashan, who continued to own KGFJ-1230 until 1964.  In 1996, the station changed call letters to KYPA, which is still on the air today on 1230 kHz.  KGFJ was known for many years as “the original 24 -hour station.”  While it shared its frequency with KFVD during daytime hours, KGFJ  began broadcasting phonograph music from midnight to 6 AM in November of 1927.  On March 1, 1928, KGFJ became the first radio station in the United States to broadcast 24-hours a day.

53.           KRLO  Although FCC records state that KRLO was first licensed on June 1, 1927, it had been broadcasting since February 19.  This was shortly before the creation of the Federal Radio Commission, at a time when federal power to regulate broadcasting was in legal limbo.  KRLO was founded by Freeman Lang and A.B. Scott at 218 N. Larchmont in Los Angeles, and operated on an irregular schedule.  It became KEJK in 1928 when Lang sold the station to Ernest J. Krause, and he in turn sold it to the R.S. MacMillan Petroleum Company four months later.  On March 14, 1930, the station’s call sign became KMPC, and it raised its power to 50,000 watts in 1947.  KMPC was purchased by Gene Autrey’s Golden West Broadcasters in 1952, which operated it successfully until selling to ABC/Disney in 1994. The station’s call letters have changed three times since 1997, and it is currently known as KSPN 710, the home of ESPN radio.

54.               KGFO was a 100-watt portable station, having its transmitter and studio in a truck that broadcast from various locations around Southern California.  The station operated from May 1927 until August 1, 1928, when the Federal Radio Commission ceased to allow the licensing of portable stations.

55.               KGGM was another portable radio station that was licensed to Inglewood, California, on August 17, 1927.  When portable stations were no longer allowed to operate on August 1, 1928, the station’s equipment was moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where it became a permanently-located station.  Today, it is KNML-610 in that city.

56.            KPWF was a construction permit issued to the non-profit Pacific Western Broadcasting Federation.  The license was issued in November of 1929 but the station was never built, and it was deleted by the Radio Commission on June 30, 1931.

57.               KIEV  was licensed in Glendale on February 21, 1933. Originally, KIEV operated daytime-only on 850 kHz with just 100 watts of power.  In 1941, it moved to 870 kHz as part of the nationwide NARBA frequency shift. In 1984, KIEV built a new transmitter site and was allowed to broadcast 24 hours a day.  In 2001, KIEV changed its call sign to KRLA and is known today as KRLA-870 “The Answer”.  It operates with a daytime power of 50,000 watts, and 3,000 watts at night.  This is the fifteenth-oldest radio station operating today in the Los Angeles market.