Kabc Radio
A pioneer of the talk radio format, the station went "all-talk" in 1960 and was one of the first stations to do so. KABC is one of many Disney/ABC Radio stations that has now merged with Citadel Broadcasting but remains an ABC affiliate.
KABC first went on the air on April 14, 1925 as KVFV.
In the early 1940s, new FCC rules prohibited any entity from owning more than one radio station. While he owned the station, Anthony changed the call letters to reflect his initials, KECA.
ABC bought the station in 1944, changing the call letters to KABC in 1954.
KABC has been the base of operation for many influential radio hosts, including early talk polemicists Joe Pyne and Louis Lomax, Ira Fistel, Michael Jackson, whose talk show attracted celebrities, politicians, and newsmakers of all types, pioneering radio psychologists Dr. Toni Grant and David Viscott, and more recent syndicated hosts including Dennis Prager (now with NewsTalk 870 KRLA and the Salem Radio Network), John and Ken (on KFI before their stint on KABC and now currently back on KFI) and Larry Elder.
In the 1980s, Jackson, Grant and Viscott were also heard nationwide on ABC Radio's Talkradio network.
From 1974-97, it was also the station of the Los Angeles Dodgers and their hall-of-fame broadcaster Vin Scully. In 2008, the Dodgers Radio Network returned to KABC.
Though still a prominent Los Angeles station, KABC, during the past decade, has declined in the ratings.
It now consistently ranks behind KFI, the other major talk station in Los Angeles.
In April 2007, administrators at Academia Semillas del Pueblo (ASDP) in the El Sereno community of North East Los Angeles filed a defamation lawsuit against KABC 790 AM and Doug McIntyre, claiming that the host of "McIntyre in the Morning" "targeted the school for destruction because the children were Latino, the teachers were Latino, the principal director was Latino," as stated in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that school employees received death threats and that the school was the target of a bomb threat because of McIntyre's extensive on-air criticism of the school, in which he accused ASDP of espousing a racist and separatist Anti-American philosophy.
On November 6, 2007, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ralph W. Dau took the case under submission, and it is currently pending in his courtroom.
Current programming
Current personalities on KABC include Elder, Doug McIntyre, Bill O'Reilly, and Al Rantel.
In 2008, the Dodgers returned to KABC.
Current Hosts
Don Imus (early mornings)
Doug McIntyre (mornings)—occasionally fills in for Bill O'Reilly
Rob Marinko (news/"McIntyre in the Morning")
Jorge Jarrin (traffic)—his father, Jaime Jarrin, broadcasts in Spanish for the Dodgers.
The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly
Richard Santiago (news)
Sandy Wells (news)
Richard Santiago (news)
Paul Harvey (news/comment twice daily)
Al Rantel (mid-mornings/early evenings)
Tommy in Glasgow (with talksport mendoza show/islamic bhoy)
Sean Hannity
Larry Elder (afternoons)
Mark Levin (evenings)
Moneytalk with Bob Brinker (weekends/financial)
Joe Aldeguer (weekends/financial)
Ric Edelman (weekends/financial)
Compound Stock Earnings (weekends/financial)
Leon Kaplan (weekends/automotive)
Dr. Blackwell
Geoff Witcher
Joe Pyne (overnights/deceased 1970)
Ray Briem (overnights)—last known to be on KRLA-AM
Dr.
Toni Grant (afternoons/in Dallas)
Dennis Prager (mornings/now syndicated; currently at KRLA-AM)
John and Ken John Kolbylt and Ken Chiampou (returned to KFI-AM)
Louis Lomax
Bud "The Steamer" Furillo (sports/last reported to be in Northern California)
Tom Hawkins (sports)
Dr. Susan Forward
Kelly Lange (last seen on KNBC-TV)
Dan Avey (left the station 2007)
Gloria Allred (co-hosted "Allred and Taylor" with Mark Taylor)
Mark Taylor (co-hosted "Allred and Taylor" with Gloria Allred)
Peter Tilden (overnights/came from KZLA in 2006/fired February 2008 in a cost-cutting move)
Elmer Dills long-time restaurant critic(from the late 1970s to 2000?;deceased as of Tuesday, September 16, 2008);was succeeded by his son, Peter
Logos
Fred Wallin-Left station in 1990..Sportstalk and Dodger Talk
.