 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Southern California |
| Frequency | 830kHz |
| Branding | Angels Radio AM 830 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | January 9, 1986 (39 years ago) (1986-01-09) |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | Los Angeles Angels |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 50516 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 33°55′43″N117°36′57″W / 33.92861°N 117.61583°W /33.92861; -117.61583 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | am830 |
KLAA (830kHz "Angels Radio") is acommercialAM radio stationlicensed to the city ofOrange, California, and broadcasting to theGreater Los Angeles Area. The station is owned by LAA 1, LLC, composed of the owners and executives of theLos Angeles Angelsbaseball team, and is held separately from the baseball club. KLAA's studios and offices are located on the grounds ofAngel Stadium inAnaheim, California.[2]
KLAA'stransmitter operates from a three-tower facility inChino, off McCarty Road.[3] It broadcasts as a full-power 50,000-watt station during the daytime from a single tower, using anon-directional signal. Because 830 AM is a United Statesclear-channel frequency, on whichWCCO inMinneapolis is the dominantclass A station, KLAA must reduce power to 20,000 watts from sunset to sunrise. At night it feeds power to all three towers in adirectional pattern, projecting most of the signal westward to protect WCCO.
KLAA mostly carriesESPN Radio network programing, as an alternate for primary stationKSPN, except for coverage of Angels andLas Vegas Raiders games and a local afternoon sports show,The Sports Lodge withRoger Lodge.
AM 830 firstsigned on the air on January 9, 1986, as KSRT, aSpanish-language news and information station. The station was directional day and night, with a daytime power of 2,500 watts and 1,000 watts night. FormerNFLplacekickerDanny Villanueva was co-owner and general manager. The transmitter site was at Oak Flat in theSanta Ana Mountains nearSantiago Peak. While mountain tops are good for FM transmission, AM stations need low, flat land for the best signal propagation. The poorground conductivity yielded a less-than-optimal signal for KSRT. (Today,KSRT is aRegional Mexican music station inCloverdale, California.)
In 1991, the station changed its callsign to KPLS, and began airing a Spanish languagetalk radio format as "La Voz" in January 1992. On February 11, 1993, after a brief period of silence, the station switched to achildren's radio format, becoming "Radio AAHS". It was part of the first nationwide network of radio programs for children. The downfall of Radio AAHS came whenThe Walt Disney Company established a competitor,Radio Disney. After thesign-off of Radio AAHS in January 1998, the parent company, Children's Broadcasting Corporation, needed programming for the network of stations until they could find buyers. KPLS and the other nine CBC-owned and operated Radio AAHS stations flipped to "Beat Radio", which broadcastelectronic dance music 12 hours each night. (As of 2020, theKPLS call letters are used by a Christian radio-formatted station inLittleton, Colorado.)
KPLS was sold in late October 1998 to Catholic Family Radio and adopted aCatholic talk format.[4] During this period, the station was owned byJohn Lynch, father of the veteranNational Football Leaguecornerbackof the same name. Lynch was former CEO of Noble Broadcasting ofSan Diego.
In 2000 the station was granted a power increase by theFCC, allowing it to operate with 50,000 watts during the day and 20,000 watts at night, giving it a signal comparable to the major AM stations in Los Angeles. It also moved to its current tower site in Chino.
Despite the power increase, KPLS' programming foundered. It transitioned to aconservative talk radio format as "HotTalk 830 – LA's Conservative Voice" which featurednationally syndicated shows fromLaura Ingraham andMichael Savage. KPLS had close ties to theOrange County business community and was theflagship station of theAnaheim Duckshockey team.
In 2003, the station was sold to Radiovisa Corp. for $37.5 million.[5] It flipped to KMXE, with aSpanish-language talk format. KMXE was the Angels' flagship station in that language. Its slogan was"¡Así Se Habla!" or "Well Said!" (KMXE is now anadult hits station nearBillings, Montana.)
The station sold again in February 2006 for $42 million.[6] The new owner was LAA1, LLC, headed by Angels Baseball ownerArte Moreno. The callsign switched to KLAA for Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The station added English-language programs in the summer of 2006 and gradually phased out Spanish-language shows except for some sporting events. The general talk format lasted from fall of 2007 to April 4, 2010, when the station went to full English-language programming, mostly sports talk, live sports and some paid programs. Talk show hosts includedRusty Humphries,Glenn Beck,Dr. Roy Masters andMichael Savage. The brokered shows includedRidin' Dirty,ROEX Health Show, which soldnatural health remedies, andThe American Advisor, which offered the sale ofgold coins andbars.
On April 5, 2010, KLAA added additional programs from ESPN Radio, shows hosted byScott Van Pelt andDoug Gottlieb, which were previously unavailable in the Los Angelesradio market. In exchange, KSPN agreed tosimulcast about 60 Angels games in the2010 season. KSPN replacedKFWB (980 AM) as the team's simulcast partner. KLAA carried some game broadcasts from ESPN Radio when KSPN could not air the games due to conflicts with a local team or talk show. Also heard on KLAA are theAnaheim Ducks, as well as additional sports talk shows. Weekend shows include programs abouthorse racing,bass fishing,motocross andNASCAR. Other talk shows include seasonal programs about the Angels and Ducks and a weekend interview program hosted by former Angel player and broadcasterRex Hudler.
In2006–07, the station assumed the broadcast rights for theAnaheim Ducks of theNational Hockey League. That team went on to win theStanley Cup in June 2007. The partnership extended until the2021–22 season; the next season, the Ducks chose to move their audio broadcasts exclusively to a team-focused online radio station, Ducks Stream, available viaTuneIn, becoming the last California-based NHL to do so after theLos Angeles Kings andSan Jose Sharks moved their broadcasts to online-only in 2018 and 2022, respectively,[7]though the former has since returned to broadcast radio viaKSPN for a reduced schedule of broadcasts.
In October 2007, the Angels announced that KLAA would carry Angels games in English starting with the2008 season. Some Angels games had already been aired in English, the first of which was on September 16, 2006. The station aired the team's Saturday games during September and October when KSPN, the flagship from2003 to2007, carriedUSC Trojans football. Before that, it aired Angels games in Spanish, as well as some games of thepro soccer team theLos Angeles Galaxy, to fulfill contractual obligations to both teams. KLAA was believed to be the only station in the U.S. to broadcast play-by-play of sports events in two languages. (In 2008, Angels and Galaxy games in Spanish moved toKWKW, and the Dodgers relocated from KWKW toKHJ.)
On September 10, 2007, KLAA began carrying games of theNFL on Westwood One on Monday nights.[8] However, it did not carry the full schedule because of some conflicts with the Ducks. KLAA aired selected NFL Sunday games in 2009
KLAA is the flagship station forUC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball.
In 2020, KLAA became the Los Angeles affiliate for theLas Vegas Raiders.
| |
| Franchise | |
| History | |
| Personnel |
|
| Arena | |
| Rivalries | |
| Affiliates | |
| Media | |
| Culture and lore | |
