Just another Halo radio format change
The continuing shift of Angels owner Arte Moreno’s radio station, KLAA-AM (830) from political talk and infomercials goes to ramping up into sports-talk mode starting Monday with a tweaked lineup as the 2008 season launches.
Dave Smith and Roger Lodge have been hired to do a 6-to-9 a.m. morning drive show, leading into a new syndicated version of the Tony Bruno show, airing from 9 a.m. to noon. An announcement about an afternoon drive host leading into Angels games coverage will be made later today.
The station, which Moreno purchased in 2004 and changed formats to accommodate the Spanish-language broadcast of his team’s games, eventually changed the call letters from KMXE to KLAA – an abbreviation of his Los Angeles Angels. Since it will be the new home for the Angels’ English-language broadcasts after five years with KSPN-AM (710), the Anaheim-based station has been slowly moving away from the conservative political talk format (with syndicated shows hosted by Glenn Beck, Michael Reagan and Michael Savage). The Angels’ recent spring training games were eventually carried live in the middle of March, replacing infomercials that the station had normally aired in the afternoons.
KLAA is also the home station for the Anaheim Ducks, which could pose some scheduling conflicts once the NHL playoffs begin in two weeks.
Steve Physioc, who with Rex Hudler will move over from TV duties to call 75 games on the radio station this season, will handle pre- and post-game Angels talk as well.
The potential issue the team faces could be with its signal coming out of Orange County, which goes from 50,000 watts during the day down to 20,000 watts at night. An Angels spokesman said the team continues to look for affiliates, particularly in the San Fernando Valley and beyond.
The team recently finished building a state-of-the-art broadcasting facility inside Angels Stadium for all of its original sports-talk programming. The station also operates without a traditional general manager or program director. Angels team president Dennis Kuhl has been in charge of hiring and forming sports-talk related programming. John Carpino, the Angels’ senior VP of sales and marketing, is also the general sales manager at 830-AM.
“Imagine the shock waves going through this industry if a station can succeed without a GM or PD,” said Smith, who spent the last five years employed by The Sporting News Radio Network, going back to when it was heard locally on 1540-AM The Ticket.
The launch of the new format must be a soft one. There's no mention of it on either the team or the 830-AM website.