 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 94.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 94.7 The Wave |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Rhythmic adult contemporary |
| Subchannels | HD2:Dance/EDM HD3:Persian-language programming |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | September 1948 (77 years ago) (1948-09) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "The Wave" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 25437 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 58,000watts |
| HAAT | 863.0 meters (2,831.4 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°13′30″N118°03′50″W / 34.225°N 118.064°W /34.225; -118.064 |
| Translator | 96.7 K244AM (China Lake) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | |
KTWV (94.7FM) is acommercialradio stationlicensed toLos Angeles, California, and broadcasting to theGreater Los Angeles area. The station is owned byAudacy, Inc., and airs arhythmic adult contemporaryradio format. KTWV hasstudios onWilshire Boulevard in theMiracle Mile district of Los Angeles. As "94.7 The Wave," the station was known for pioneering thesmooth jazz radio format in the late 1980s.
KTWV has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 58,000watts. Thetransmitter is shared with formersister stationKTTV, and is onMount Wilson.[2] KTWV broadcasts usingHD Radio technology, with adance/EDM format on its HD2digital subchannel andPersian-language programming currently on its HD3 subchannel.
On March 7, 1961, KLAC-FM firstsigned on the air over the 102.7 frequency. It served as an FMsister station toKLAC (570 AM),simulcasting its programming.[3] KLAC-AM-FM were purchased byMetromedia in 1963. The FM station would later switch frequencies in 1965 withKRHM (94.7 FM).[4] By the mid-1960s, the FCC wanted FM sisters to AM stations to air separate programming; thus, KLAC-FM became an automated station, playing a mix of middle-of-the-road and big band music like other FM stations owned by Metromedia. In order to separate itself further from its AM sister, the station changed itscall sign to KMET in 1966.[5]
A few years after the station adopted its new call sign,Tom Donahue convinced Metromedia to establish afreeform rock format on KMET andKSFR in San Francisco (which then became KSAN) after a dispute with the owners ofKPPC-FM. Donahue brought over most of those who went on strike at KPPC, including his Los Angeles tag team partner in formerKFWB "Swinging Gentleman"B. Mitchel Reed. He had become enamored with the underground rock sound after attending theMonterey Pop Festival and shortly afterward bonded with fellow top 40 veteran Donahue over their increasing unhappiness with AM radio and its restrictions.
KMET was owned byMetromedia (hence the "MET" in its call sign) that broadcast at94.7MHz beginning on May 2, 1966.[6]
The KPPC format was only mildly successful. After leavingKROQ AM/FM,Shadoe Stevens was hired by General Manager L. David Moorhead in 1974 to create something new for the struggling format KMET had put in place. With a staff that included B. Mitchell Reed, Stevens, Jimmy Rabbitt,[7] Brother John, and Mary ("The Burner") Turner, Stevens introduced a new rock format that retained some of Donahue's progressive freedom but gave it energy and consistency that featured programming and high production values similar to those that had been integrated at KROQ. Stevens also designed a futuristic billboard campaign called "Hollywood as seen from Mulholland Drive in the year 2525."
ArtistNeon Park did ads for KMET as well as the famous billboards. With this new programming design and branded marketing, in 1975 KMET became the number one radio station in Los Angeles.http://www.shadoe.com/kroq-kmet-fm.html[citation needed]
KMET'sstation identificationjingle, "A Little Bit of Heaven, Ninety-Four Point Seven - KMET - Tweedle-Dee" was originally written by Shadoe Stevens and the song was sung by the Pointer Sisters during an interview on his show. This ID "jingle" came to be emblematic for KMET.
KMET often mixedcounterculture comedy skits bythe Firesign Theatre andthe Credibility Gap with the music. The Credibility Gap broadcastsatirical skits during Pasadena's Tournament of Roses Parade in the 1970s.[8]
The 1978 movieFM, written by former employee Ezra Sacks, was reportedly loosely based on KMET. The lead character was based aroundMike Herrington, the program director for much of the era preceding the film. Much of the history of KMET is documented in Jim Ladd's bookRadio Waves, where the station is referred to as Radio KAOS and many of the DJs are given pseudonyms.[9] Arguably, 1978 was the pinnacle year at the station. The line-up was impressive. Jeff Gonzer, Bob Coburn, Cynthia Fox, Jack Snyder, Mary Turner, and Jim Ladd. Ace Young and Patrick 'Paraquat' Kelley provided the breaking news and views of the day.
KMET became legendary and popular as "The Mighty 'MET" for its freeform style in letting DJs choose the music without genre restrictions and an irreverent, loose and laidback presentation of the music. In the early 1980s, however, Metromedia changed the presentation and sound of KMET to a more conventionalalbum-oriented rock (AOR) format. In the process, KMET quickly became a shell of its former self: playlists were tightened and hit-oriented, disc jockeys became less personal in their presentation, and the station was heavily constructed by outside consultants.
This drove KMET's ratings down to the point of being well behind established AOR pioneerKLOS as well as behindKROQ-FM, a station that rose from the ashes of KPPC-FM to become the trademark radio home in Los Angeles for thenew wave andpunk scenes in the 1980s. Then, in 1986, KMET got two new competitors that hurt the station irrevocably:KNAC, who targeted younger listeners via the buddingheavy metal genre that KMET wouldn't touch and more aggressively than KLOS and KROQ, andKLSX, who targeted older listeners with the music that KMET made famous through the newly createdclassic rock format. Both stations ate further into KMET's ratings immediately.
Additionally in 1986, Metromedia — which already sold off its TV stations (includingKTTV) toNews Corporation — sold KMET and eight other stations for $250 million to a group of investors who renamed the company Metropolitan Broadcasting.
KMET is also notable for broadcasting the program The Mighty METal Hour, which was hosted by Jim Ladd on Friday nights from 10PM to midnight,[10] and showcased the music of many then-up-and-coming hard rock and heavy metal bands, includingMetallica,Slayer,Megadeth,Anthrax,Iron Maiden,Queensrÿche,Mötley Crüe,Motörhead,Y&T,Metal Church,Great White,Armored Saint,Dio,W.A.S.P.,Ratt,Quiet Riot,Twisted Sister,Saxon,Riot,Loudness,Warrior andAgent Steel.
The new competition combined with the existing double threat of KLOS and KROQ-FM all drove KMET's ratings to a low of 1.6 by January 1987. While a plan was considered to refocus the station on newer rock with a suggested "94.7% Pure Rock" branding, it would be met with considerable backlash, with programming director Frank Cody recalling finding on the station's parking lot a visual metaphor someone had left as to how it would look for the station- aHeinz ketchup bottle filled with mustard. Cody, with the assistance of VP/GM Howard Bloom, then set out to research a new format for 94.7 FM. They arrived at a format that mixed new age, compatible jazz/fusion, and soft vocals. It became known in the trade as New Adult Contemporary (NAC).
On February 6, 1987, four days after making the format decision, the entire KMET air staff was summoned one by one to the Sheraton Premiere Hotel inUniversal City where they were told by Bloom and Cody they were being let go and the station was changing formats. The last live jock on the air that day was morning man Paraquat Kelly. He got word of what was happening, and at the end of his shift played "Beautiful Losers" byBob Seger (dedicated to his co-workers) and "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" byThe Rolling Stones (for KMET itself). Choked with emotion, his last words were "We all love you. Goodbye, Southern California. This is KMET, the Mighty 'MET."[11][12] At that time, the station went jockless and automated while playing an ominous countdown to noon on February 14, 1987 set to the opening bars ofTangerine Dream's "Sunset Drive".
Valentine's Day 1987 would be known as the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" for Los Angeles rock fans. The last hour featured sentimental songs "My Generation" byThe Who and "You're All I've Got Tonight" byThe Cars, and California-inspired songs "L.A. Woman" byThe Doors and "Hotel California" byThe Eagles wrapped around classic KMET IDs byTom Donahue andB. Mitchel Reed. Nearly 19 years of rock came to an end with "Funeral for a Friend" byElton John, "Born to Run" byBruce Springsteen, and then the second half of theAbbey Road medley byThe Beatles with "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight" and then ending with (appropriately) "The End".[13]
The fired KMET jocks were given the chance to give a full goodbye to listeners via on-air tributes from their former rivals KLOS and KLSX. They then were split between those two andKSCA, which would be launched byGene Autry's Golden West Broadcasters that fall. KSCA and future eclectic rock stationKSWD (which notably had multiple on-air tributes to KMET during its run) would both pay tribute to KMET's closing by themselves closing withAbbey Road with the former repeating KMET's closing (and signing off after playing the hidden finale "Her Majesty") and the latter playing all of Side 2 from "Here Comes the Sun" through "The End".
It signed off permanently on February 14, 1987 after a 21-year run on air.[14] It signed off its album rock format at noon with The Beatles' "Golden Slumbers Medley" (Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End).
A KMET sign was shown in the outro ofLupin the 3rd Part III, alongside other locations from Los Angeles at the time.
On June 21, 2009, Los Angeles radio stationKSWD ("The Sound 100.3") announced that on July 10, 2009, it would do a one-day revival of KMET complete with the originalairchecks and many of the on-air staff from the station's heyday.[15] The Sound had another KMET reunion from November 1 to 3, 2013.[16]
Notable on-air staff included:
On February 14, 1987, at Noon, the station flipped to the new format initially dubbedNew Adult Contemporary (NAC) as "94.7 The Wave" with the new callsignKTWV. The first songs on "The Wave" were "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" bySting followed by "Maputo" byBob James andDavid Sanborn. The KMET call letters were picked up a few weeks later byan AM station in the nearby Riverside-San Bernardino market that currently airs a Talk format.
In its first 19 months, management referred to The Wave as a "mood service" rather than a radio station; the only live voices were those of personalities fromFinancial News Network doing news updates and traffic reports. In lieu of an airstaff, listeners were encouraged to call a special "Wave Line" to learn what music was being played and the music itself was wrapped around pre-recorded vignettes dubbed "Playlets" featuring "ordinary people" (actors) in unique everyday situations based upon the date and time they played.
The launch of "The Wave" prompted stations in other markets to adopt the NAC format. Markets that flipped to the NAC format over the course of 1987 included San Francisco (KKSF), Chicago (WNUA), Seattle (KNUA), San Diego (KIFM), Dallas/Fort Worth (KOAI), Washington, D.C. (WBMW), and New York (WQCD), albeit all with a more traditional radio presentation with airstaff. Metropolitan Broadcasting also began offering a syndicated version of the "Wave" format via theSatellite Music Network to other markets, many ironically competing against these traditional stations, including in San Diego (KSWV), Kansas City (KCWV), Denver (KHIH), Chicago (WTWV), Detroit (WVAE), and Cleveland (WNWV). Additionally, from 2000 to 2011, there was a station inHamilton, Ontario, Canada modeled entirely after KTWV,CIWV-FM (which also served nearbyToronto). That station used the moniker "The Wave" with a similar logo to KTWV and also broadcast on 94.7 FM.
Ratings for KTWV's initial presentation were weaker than initially hoped, and the "Playlets" soon began to be limited to only the top of the hour by June. Eventually, Frank Cody left to be a radio consultant for the budding NAC format (and he also later created the term "smooth jazz"), and John Sebastian (former programmer ofKHJ who had launched similar soundingWBMW in Washington, D.C. months prior) was hired as KTWV's new program director. He promptly dropped the playlets entirely, expanded the playlist, and hired an airstaff of live jocks who started on September 19, 1988. The core group of these included Danny Martizen, David Hirsch, Don Burns, Talaya Trigueros, Keri Tombazian, Amy Hiatt and Bob Dearborn. The syndicated "Wave" began to wind down (although it did copy KTWV in adding live jocks before the network's closure); only Cleveland's WNWV remained with the format under local operation until 2019 (excluding from 2009 to 2011, when it was aired on an HD Radio subchannel of WNWV).
By the early 1990s, like most NAC stations launched at the same time as KTWV, the station began dropping its new age and jazz fusion elements in favor of a simpler blend of contemporary jazz, softR&B vocals, and softadult contemporary crossover hits; this new mix would define the newsmooth jazz label for the format going forward. The format continued to be modestly successful and would get another national expansion in the mid 1990s as well. As the 21st century dawned, however, the same things that led KMET down ratings-wise (tightly formatted playlists and blanding presentation, among other things) would start to plague the Smooth Jazz format led by KTWV, made fully clear until the industry's adoption of thePPM system in the mid 2000s which changed the way listenership was measured. Many of the stations that launched in KTWV's 1987 shadow promptly began flipping out of the format as a result.
In February 2010, KTWV, under formerKOST Program Director Jhani Kaye, moved the station to asmooth adult contemporary direction directly competing with KOST by increasing the amount of crossover vocals and dramatically reducing the number of instrumentals played (with those remaining being pop covers or format basics) with all references to "Smooth Jazz' dropped. With this change, original Wave airstaffers Don Burns (who had transitioned toVoice-tracking from his home in Palm Springs)[19][20] and Keri Tombazian were both let go. From May 2010 to June 2012, formerKOST morning host Kim Amidon co-hosted mornings with Pat Prescott, who previously had co-hosted with bothDave Koz andBrian McKnight.
In November 2013, KTWV introduced a revamped logo, still utilizing the font from the 1987 logo while dumping the original "Wave" graphic, and increased the amount of R&B vocals under the "Smooth R&B" branding. June 2014 saw the return of longtime assistant PD Ralph Stewart, who became program director and reintroduced mainstream AC/pop crossovers into the playlist. In February 2015, after the flip of KHHT fromrhythmic oldies tourban contemporary asKRRL, KTWV shifted further tourban adult contemporary by adding more classic soul and classic and current R&B to fill the void of KHHT's departure, adopted a new "Soul of Southern California" slogan, and dropped most of the mainstream AC/pop crossovers, firmly positioning KTWV againstKJLH. It also adopted a new logo that removed all remaining elements of the original 1987 Wave logo. Following these changes, KTWV's ratings drastically improved to the point it now consistently rates among the Los Angeles market's top five or ten stations in monthly demographics.
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge withEntercom.[21] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and closed on November 17.[22][23]
In April 2019, Talaya Trigueros exited KTWV in a round of budget cuts at the station after over 30 years in middays. Trigueros, who originally began under just her first name, had been the last remaining jock from the original group hired by John Sebastian in 1988.[24]
On March 30, 2021, Entercom renamed itself asAudacy to clarify its position as a multi-platform audio entertainment company.
KTWV broadcasts inHD Radio on three digital subchannels:
KTWV is a "Superpower" grandfathered Class B FM station. Under normal FCC regulations, KTWV would be allowed to broadcast with a maximum ERP of 930 watts at the same antenna height of 863 meters. The station currently broadcasts at 58 kW, more than 20 times as much as the power they would be allowed today. This station, along with several other L.A.-area FM stations, went on the air before power regulations took effect in 1962.