4-10-13
On April 15, 1968, CBS-owned KNX-AM significantly increased the time it devoted to news coverage, essentially launching an all-news format that continues today. KNX will celebrate its 45th anniversary in the all-news format on Monday. At the time, the new station had two major national tragedies to devote news coverage to: the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. Today, the station has more than 1.5 million weekly listeners.
KNX-AM in Southern California is managed by Senior VP and Los Angeles market manager Steve Carver. Andy Ludlum is director of news programming and Julie Chin is news director. Over the years, the station and its anchors, reporters, writers, producers, and editors have amassed hundreds of awards for broadcast excellence.
Ludlum says, ?Since 1968, we?ve seen eight U.S. presidents, six California governors, and five L.A. mayors. We?ve had riots, fires, earthquakes, mudslides, hosted the Olympics, lost a couple of football teams, rooted the Lakers to 11 titles, watched OJ run wild on the freeways and recently endured a nightmarish hunt for a fugitive cop-killer. And through it all, KNX has embodied trust, integrity, and credibility. We all feel a sense of responsibility to follow in the footsteps of so many great KNX news people like Bill Keene, Alex Sullivan, Jon Goodman, Barry Rohde, Beach Rogers, Dave Zorn, and Harry Birrell, to name just a few. You hear the pride in the great heritage of KNX in the work of today?s anchors like Dick Helton, Vicky Moore, Tom Haule, Linda Nunez, Diane Thompson, Jim Thornton, and Chris Sedens.?
KNX now utilizes many innovations that did not exist 45 years ago, broadcasting with HD technology, disseminating news and streaming live on cbsLA.com, offering podcasts and videos, and breaking news via text alerts and social media. According to broadcasting historian Jim Hilliker, the station began broadcasting in 1920 and was originally granted its license in 1921, making it the oldest radio station in Los Angeles. Historical documents trace the birth of KNX?s call letters to May, 1922.
(4/11/2013 8:34:17 PM)
XTRA beat KNX to the punch by seven years. See
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/01/local/la-me-then-20100501
Of course, it was just "rip and read" from the teletype but, hey, that's more than you get from most stations these days.
I worked for one of the people who put the station on the air, the late Homer Odom.
But I'm much better now, thank you.
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