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| Broadcast area | Greater Los Angeles Area |
| Frequency | 95.5MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 95-5 KLOS |
| Programming | |
| Format | Mainstream rock |
| Subchannels | |
| Affiliations | Westwood One |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | December 30, 1947; 77 years ago (1947-12-30) |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies | 99.5MHz |
Call sign meaning | "Los" Angeles |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 35078 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 63,000watts |
| HAAT | 954 meters (3,130 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°13′37″N118°04′01″W / 34.227°N 118.067°W /34.227; -118.067 |
| Translator | 98.9 K255BZ (China Lake) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | |
| Website | |
KLOS (95.5FM, "95-5 KLOS") is a commercial radio stationlicensed toLos Angeles,California, and serves theGreater Los Angeles area. The station is owned byMeruelo Media. KLOS airs amainstream rockradio format and has broadcast rock music in some form since 1969. Thestudios are on West Olive Avenue inBurbank.
Thetransmitter is atopMount Wilson. The station is rebroadcast onFM translator K255BZ inChina Lake, California.[2] KLOS broadcasts usingHD Radio technology. The KLOS morningdrive time show,Heidi & Frank, is featured on thenationally syndicated television programDish Nation and is rebroadcast around the clock on KLOS-HD2. The HD3digital subchannel carries a simulcast ofKIRN.
The station firstsigned on the air on December 30, 1947; 77 years ago (1947-12-30). The originalcall sign was KECA-FM,simulcasting the programming ofAMsister stationKECA. The two stations were owned byABC Radio. In 1954, thecall letters of the AM and FM stations were changed to KABC and KABC-FM, to reflect their corporate ownership. In 1960, KABC-AM-FM adopted anall-talk format.
On January 1, 1968, due to newFederal Communications Commission (FCC) rules requiring FM stations to have separate programming from their AM counterparts, KABC-FM tried something new. It became the first station in Los Angeles with anall-news format. This experiment did not last long. KABC-FM dropped all-news programming on March 11, 1968, the same day thatKFWB 980 AM switched to the format.
In early 1969, KABC-FM adopted aprogressive rock format known as "Love". Under the direction of Allen Shaw, head of ABC FM Special Projects, theautomated programming aired on ABC's otherowned-and-operated stations—KGO-FM in San Francisco,KQV-FM in Pittsburgh,WABC-FM in New York City,WLS-FM in Chicago, andWXYZ-FM in Detroit.[3] The syndicated format wasvoice-tracked by Brother John Rydgren.
Not long after its debut, Love was dropped in favor of live, locally programmedfreeform rock music at KLOS and its FM sister stations. In 1971, the station adopted the KLOS call letters.[4] The switch was made to avoid confusion with its AM talk station.[5] In late 1971, the freeform progressive rock sound ended, as Shaw and KLOS program director Tom Yates launched the firstalbum-oriented rock (AOR) station in the United States. Under AOR, KLOS played only the top tracks from the best-selling rock albums and used the slogan "Rock 'N Stereo". The initial slate ofdisc jockeys on KLOS includes Jeff Gonzer,J. J. Jackson,Jim Ladd, and Damion. By 1972, KLOS had become the top-rated FM rock station in Los Angeles.[6] The station promoted an outdoor rock concert called "California Jam" held on April 6, 1974, at theOntario Motor Speedway inOntario, California.
KLOS has sponsored ablood drive in conjunction with theAmerican Red Cross annually since 1982. Blood donation centers are set up throughout the station's listening area for several days, usually in the summer months, when donation levels are typically low.[7] In 2014, the blood drive collected approximately 7,900 units ofwhole blood, which can be separated into red blood cells and plasma. As a token of gratitude, the station has given donors rewards such as T-shirts and vouchers for concert tickets.[8]
In the spring of 1987, KLOS general manager Bill Sommers hired longtime rock radio programmer Charlie West to be the station's new program director. West hired Stephanie Mondello as music director for the station. By fall, West broughtthe Mark & Brian Show (Mark Thompson andBrian Phelps) to KLOS for themorning drive. The station'sArbitron ratings grew steadily under West's direction; by 1988, KLOS emerged as the leader among Los Angeles album rock stations, finishing fifth overall in the market with a 4.3share, up from a 3.6 in the previous rating period.[9] When West left KLOS in early 1989, Mondello assumed programming duties, directing all key decisions and overall revenue and ratings strategies. The station maintained its fifth-place ranking overall in the market and reached the number-one position in its target young maledemographics, defeating main rivalsKLSX,KROQ-FM, and the upstartKQLZ (Pirate Radio). Mondello left KLOS in late 1990.
By 1994, KLOS was facing increased competitive pressure from KROQ-FM with the rise of itsgrunge-basedmodern rock format as well as KLSX andKCBS-FM (Arrow 93) which focused onclassic rock. The station altered its format in response, dropping its existing DJs and most of the classic rock music in favor of morealternative rock content.[10] This format and personnel change lasted about three years, after which most of the alternative music was jettisoned and classic rock returned. In 1997, KLOS hired John Duncan, previously atKYYS inKansas City, Missouri, as program director and took the station in an adult rock direction. As part of his efforts to turn around the station, Duncan brought back Jim Ladd and hired Garth Kemp and other longtime Los Angeles radio personalities. During this period, KLOS ran a billboard campaign with lines such as, "We lost our mind for a moment, but we're okay now". Within eight months, the station moved from number 18 to fifth place among Los Angeles adults ages 25–54, reclaiming its status as the market's top adult rock station. Duncan left KLOS in late 1998.
In 2005, classic rock rival KCBS-FM flipped toadult hits as "Jack FM".[11] The switch made KLOS the market's only full-time classic rock station until the launch ofKSWD (100.3 The Sound) in April 2008.
In October 2006, KLOS restructured its daily lineup of radio hosts, Cynthia Fox, "Uncle Joe" Benson, and Jim Ladd saw each of their daily air shifts increase by one hour. However, this resulted in the temporary dismissal of former evening DJ Gary Moore; he returned in late 2007. Former overnight jock Mark Miller, previously from the long-defunct KQLZ, hostedThe Best of Mark & Brian Saturday Special shows Saturday mornings. Miller's overnight shift was replaced with automated programming, billed as "KLOS After Hours". This show follows the usual classic rock format, though occasionally KLOS plays deep cuts and live versions of songs that are not usually played during the daytime.
In 2007, the station came under the ownership ofCitadel Broadcasting after it merged withThe Walt Disney Company's ABC Radio.
Occasionally, KLOS abandoned its format to air an "A to Z" special, where songs from the KLOS library were played alphabetically by title. Running 24 hours a day (with breaks only forMark & Brian and Jim Ladd's show), it generally lasted about two weeks with no songs repeated. Unlike the station's regular playlist featuring primarily classic rock hits, the A to Z also included a large number of obscure album tracks. In its final years, the A to Z special aired around the Christmas holidays. Since the dismissal of program director Rita Wilde in 2009,[12] the A to Z countdown has not aired on KLOS. However, then-classic rock competitor KSWD, which hired Wilde, revamped the idea with a very similar, though shorter, compilation of familiar hits and deep tracks.
On September 16, 2011,Cumulus Media purchased Citadel, acquiring KLOS and sister stationKABC.[13]
On August 17, 2012, Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps appeared on KLOS for the final time, effectively endingThe Mark & Brian Show after 25 years (including two years on previous stationWAPI inBirmingham, Alabama).[14] Three days later, on August 20, Cumulus announced that Heidi Hamilton and Frank Kramer, former hosts onKLSX and KABC, would host morning drive beginning September 4 asThe Heidi & Frank Show.[15] On August 15, 2016, Cumulus announced that Frosty Stillwell, with whom Hamilton and Kramer have co-hosted at the same two stations, would join the duo weekday mornings effective September 6.[16]
In February 2016, KLOS launchedHorns Up, a Saturday evening program hosted by Stew Herrera[17] that featuredheavy metal music. The show has since been replaced with a regular classic rock mix.
Canadian radio personality and comedy writerGreg Beharrell joined KLOS in January 2017 as a weekend host and social media content producer.[18] He moved to weeknights in January 2019.[19]
On February 8 and 9, 2018, KLOS was one of 14 Cumulus-owned rock radio stations to take part in the "St. Jude Rocks" nationwide fundraising campaign. KLOS listeners contributed more than $725,000 toSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital inMemphis, Tennessee as part of the over $2 million total raised by participating Cumulus stations.[20]
On April 15, 2019, Cumulus announced the sale of KLOS toMeruelo Media for $43 million. This brings KLOS under common ownership withrhythmic top 40 stationKPWR, classic hip-hop outletsKDAY andKDEY-FM, andregional Mexican stationKXOS (which itself would be purchased by Meruelo over a month later; it is nowSpanish rhythmic contemporary-formatted KLLI, "Cali 93.9"), as well as two Spanish-language television stations,KBEH andKWHY-TV. Meruelo began operating KLOS under alocal marketing agreement beginning on April 16;[21] the transaction closed on July 17.[22][23] The sale of KLOS to Meruelo comes shortly after the sale of the former sister stationWPLJ in New York City, as both stations were initially owned by ABC. Under the aegis of Allen Shaw, both stations were given the "Love" format followed by, in 1971, the live-and-local AOR format, together retaining the latter for 12 years (WPLJ flipped to top 40 in 1983; it became a non-commercialChristian music station as "K-Love" in 2019).
Further changes came to KLOS over the next year. On September 6, 2019, the station shifted its format to classic rock full-time, eliminating post-1990s modern rock tracks. On September 30, at 12:01 a.m., KLOS began broadcasting from its new studios at the Meruelo Media building inBurbank, leaving behind its previous location on Lindblade Street inCulver City (to which it and KABC relocated from their longtime La Cienega Boulevard studios in December 2016). The station also marked the return of the classic rock format to Los Angeles for the first time since KSWD flipped to the "K-Love" Christian music network in November 2017 asKKLQ. In late January 2020, KLOS switched back to mainstream rock and changed its slogan to "Southern California's Rock Station"; the station reintroduced post-1990s rock into the playlist while still maintaining a heavy focus on classic rock tracks. In a cost-cutting move prompted by theCOVID-19 pandemic, Meruelo dismissed several members of the KLOS staff in mid-2020, including Frosty Stilwell, Gary Moore, and Frazer Smith;[24]Frosty, Heidi & Frank reverted to its previous titleHeidi & Frank.
On August 3, 2020,The Greg Beharrell Show enterednational syndication, with KLOS serving as the flagship station.[25]
On October 3, 2020, the nationally syndicatedJohn Clay Wolfe Show joined KLOS on Saturday mornings.
FormerKROQ-FM morning personality Kevin Ryder, half of the iconic duoKevin & Bean, joined KLOS in the afternoons on February 18, 2021. Co-hostingKevin & Sluggo, he reunited with Doug "Sluggo" Roberts after having worked together previously at KROQ andKZZP in Phoenix.[26] Kevin and Sluggo were given their walking papers on September 6, 2024.[27]
On April 1, 2025, KLOS briefly stunted withyacht rock branded as 95.5 So'Cal's Yacht Rock as anApril Fools Day joke.[28]
KLOS broadcasts inHD Radio with threedigital subchannels:
Throughout its history as a rock station, KLOS has been home to many prominent progressive rock and AOR DJs.
Chris Carter hosts a locally produced version ofBreakfast with the Beatles on Sunday mornings. Prior to landing at KLOS, Carter was heard onKACD-FM (Channel 103.1) in 2000 when it playedadult album alternative (AAA) music. He is also the former bass player and producer forDramarama and produced and supervised the music for the filmMayor of the Sunset Strip, a rock documentary about influential Los Angeles DJRodney Bingenheimer ofKROQ-FM.
Bob Coburn (1980–1994), a former program director inChicago and an assistant program director atKMET hosted the syndicated programRockline. He later worked atKLSX,KCBS-FM (Arrow 93), andKZLA before returning to KLOS. Coburn died of lung cancer on December 17, 2016, at age 68.[30]
Marc Coppola, who moved on toKGB-FM inSan Diego, was on KLOS in 1977 and reappeared when it airedWestwood One'sRock 'N Roll Never Forgets. Damion andSteve Downes both co-hosted with Marc from 1986 to 1990.
Dion hosted late nights on a part-time basis for several years. He also hosted atKLSX during its classic rock era. In 2005, Al Ramirez, another longtime late-night DJ at KLOS, died of natural causes at the age of 54.
Cynthia Fox, former KMET and KLSX personality hosted the weekday showIn Tune at Noon, featuring a daily celebration of events in rock and roll history and the news. She left KLOS in July 2013 and eventually joined rival classic rock stationKSWD.[31][32]
Jim Ladd presented his shows in a freeform manner, interrupting the regular classic rock format during his show middays and Sunday evenings. Ladd picked the music personally, often based on listener requests, and played it in thematic sets. On Thursday mornings at midnight, Ladd devoted an hour to "Headsets", which combines music with a slightly more "sonic" quality (designed to be heard with headphones, or with no background noise interfering), spoken-word poetry, and audio clips from movies and television. On Sundays, Ladd presented "Theme of Consciousness", with all songs within a three-hour window devoted to a singular word or "theme" and chosen entirely by the listening audience.[33] In addition to his work with KLOS, Ladd also appeared onKNAC during its progressive era, KMET, and KLSX. Often dubbed "The Last DJ", after theTom Pettysong that was written about him, Ladd was allowed unusual latitude in selecting the music for his program. His show was routinely the number-one music-based show in its time slot. Ladd left KLOS in October 2011 and joinedSiriusXM the following January, hosting daily on theDeep Tracks channel.[34]
Jerry Longden, who worked as a DJ from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. from 1972 to 1977, worked with Jim Ladd at KNAC 105.5 FM, Long Beach, California from 1969 to 1972. Longden won Billboard Magazine's 1971 Air Personality Award for Progressive Rock and the KLOS Station of The Year award in 1974. Longden and Ladd produced the successful 1974–1975 public service radio public service announcement program voiced by many prominent Rock recording artists of the day regarding hard drug abuse awareness, "Get Off" and "Get Off II", including thirty TV PSAs, (now in the Library of Congress) and were founders of The National Association of Progressive Radio Announcers. Longden was also the announcer for ABC's "In Concert" rock simulcast shows 1974-5 as well as the announcer forRock Concert from 1973 to 1980. Longden worked evenings at KWST-FM, mid-days at KROQ-FM, and afternoons at KGIL-FM.
Joe Reiling (1977–1981, 2003–2009) started theLocal Music Show (later renamedLocal Licks). Most of Reiling's time away from the station found him hosting his own alternative rock show worldwide on AFN (American Forces Network, formerly AFRTS, Armed Forces Radio and Television Services). He was also involved in managing, producing, and programming the in-flight audio entertainment for many domestic and international airlines as well asAir Force One. Joe died on October 7, 2017.[35]
Frank Sontag hosted a public affairs call-in talk show that aired Sunday nights and early Monday mornings. He was part of theMark & Brian morning team and ran the control board, also contributing to the show at times. Sontag left the station in 2009; in 2013, he became the host of aChristian talk and discussion program,The Frank Sontag Show, onKKLA-FM.[36]
Mark Thompson andBrian Phelps were the titular co-hosts ofMark & Brian, a morning drive sketch comedy show that aired from September 8, 1987, until August 17, 2012. Highlights from the show aired on weekdays for one hour before each regular weekday program. A recap edition, featuring the best ofMark & Brian each week, aired Saturday mornings.
Shana Livigni (1952–2015) was one of the first women to break into major market rock radio in the mid-’70s. She started at KLOS in 1980. She took over the morning drive on KLOS, the first woman to do that.[37]
Other former KLOS personalities include Geno Michellini, "Uncle" Joe Benson, Steve Downes, and full-time fill-in Lynda Clayton. Denise Westwood (2000–2016), formerly at KMET, was heard on KLOS handling weekends and fill-in shifts. During her last few years at KLOS, Westwood also hosted the Sunday morningpublic affairs showSpotlight on the Community. Former program director Rita Wilde, who later went on toKSWD, had been choosing the music on KLOS for decades;[12] afternoon DJ Joe Benson also left for KSWD.
Since 1991, KLOS has won twoMarconi Radio Awards, as well as threeCrystal Radio Awards for its community service efforts.
| Year | Awards | Category | Recipient | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | NAB Marconi Radio Awards | Major Market Personality of the Year | Mark & Brian | Won | [38] |
| Major Market Station of the Year | Nominated | [39] | |||
| AOR/Classic Rock Station of the Year | Won | [38] | |||
| NAB Crystal Radio Awards | Won | ||||
| 1999 | NAB Crystal Radio Awards | Won | |||
| 2005 | NAB Crystal Radio Awards | Won | |||
| 2006 | NAB Marconi Radio Awards | Legendary Station of the Year | Nominated | [40] | |
| Network Syndicated Personality of the Year | Mark & Brian | Nominated | [40] | ||
| NAB Crystal Radio Awards | Nominated | [41] | |||
| 2021 | Gracie Awards | Host Non-Morning Drive (Music DJ/Personality) Major Market, Radio – Local | Marci Wiser | Won | [42] |