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I Was There:
2002-Present
Station Information:
Freq: 980 kHz
Power: 5,000 Watts Day & Night
Height/DA: Non-Directional
Class: B (formerly III)
City Of License: Los Angeles, CA
TX Site: East LA; 3 towers near 5/10 freeways.
Format: News
Previous Owners: Warner Bros., KFWB Broadcasting Co. (Harry Maizlish),
Cowell-Collier Broadcasting, Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS Corp.
Owner: CBS Radio division;
GM/Stn Mgrs.: Pat Duffy, Roger Nadel, Dan Weiner
CEs: Richard Rudman, Paul Sakrison
PDs: David G. Hall, Crys Quimby (PD/News Director), Andy Ludlum
(ND/PD),
SMs: Tom Roe, Matt Mallon, Steve Youlios, Sean O'Neill,
Engineers: Michael Tosch, Dow Jones, Romie Jagminas, Kevin Graham,
Silas Marshall, Kent Oliver, Robert Arak, Alex Roman, Michael Duffy,
Scott Mason, Rick Sietsema; Jim Blakely;
Talent: Allen Lee, Andi Marshall, Arianna Ortiz, Bill Nesbitt,
Bill Seward, Bob Donley, Bob Harvey, Bob Howard, Bret Lewis, Brian Humphrey
,Carlos del Valle, Cindy Dole, Claudia Peschiutta, Colleen Ryan, Dave
Williams, Dick Uliano, Ed Mertz, Eric Tracy, Gail Bolin, Gary Baumgarten,
Geoff Witcher, Hettie Lynne Hurtes, Jack Popejoy, Jane Monreal, Jeff
Baugh, Jennifer Bauman, Jennifer Burns, Joe Cala, John Bisney, John
Brooks, Judy Ford, Ken Jeffries, Larry Carroll, Laura Gregory, Lori
Kelman, Lourdes Navarro, Lyle Kilgore, Michael Shappee, Mike Lundy,
Nancy Plum, Paul Lowe, Penny Griego, Pete Demetriou, Phil Hulett, Rhonda
Kramer, Richard Saxton, Rick Monday, Rick Reece, Ross Crystal, Ross
Porter, Royal Oakes, Scott Green, Sergio Quintana, Sharone Rosen, Steve
Kindred, Steve Lentz, Susanne Whatley, Tammy Trujillo, Ted Sobel, Tom
Storey, Tracie Savage, Vicki Cox, Vin Scully, Zoe Walrond, Jim Asendio,
Bill Cooper, Ron Kilgore, Larry King, Gustavo Almodovar,
A Martinez, Charlie Steiner,
Sales: Lara Baskin, Leslie Greene,
Mark Warlaumont, Ken Steele, Todd Kaufmann, Debbie Primo,
Office/Others: Jennifer Baker , Jacque Orsi (HR), Pam Baker (Promotions
& Website), Jose Monreal (Controller), Byron Warren, Marlene Lew,
Lindsay Trumbull; Anabel Magana
Vehicles: 7 news vehicles, 1 Bell 206B JetRanger helicopter
Call Letter History-AM: KFWB for all of its history (1925)
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KFWB has a rich,
long history, since going on the air in Los Angeles March 4, 1925. It is,
today an all-news station and has been since 1968. KFWB is also the flagship
station for the Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network. The call letters connect
back to the year it was built by the Warner Brothers motion picture studio.
It was owned for many years by Westinghouse Broadcasting ("Group W"),
a premier operator. In the late 1990s Westinghouse Broadcasting was merged
into CBS/Viacom. In the necessary reorganization of properties, the radio
stations were brought under a divisional umbrella, called Infinity Radio.
KFWB has maintained the same call letters for all of its many years. |
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KFWB Wilshire Broadcast Center Newsroom
This is a big room where the various news writers and reporters
work The large window and door are Studio 2, KFWB's Main Studio. This
facility went on the air 6/24/2005.
The Editor is here on a raised platform, in command, bringing all
the elements together. The center TV is a 37-inch High Definition monitor.
KFWB NPA Area
This is where feeds from reporters in the field, over the telephone, 2-way
radio or ISDN are fed live to air (closer position) or recorded
(farther position) to Newsboss the newsroom computer system
 KFWB's Jetcopter 980
is the station's Bell 206B JetRanger. Used mostly for traffic reports,
sometimes covers news.
KFWB Transmitters
Harris DX-10 in the foreground and the Harris MW-5 backup farther away.
Dodgers Radio Network
Control Room
This is where all Dodgers broadcasts are produced, including Dodger
Talk .
Commercial Production
Studio
where all commercials on KFWB and KFWB.com are produced and input
to Audiovault, which plays back the commercials as scheduled on the
program log.
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KFWB broadcasts to Southern California
with 5,000 watts, non-directional full-time. The site is shared with KLAC
on 570kHz, which uses the north and south towers for its directional nighttime
pattern.
I was hired as Chief Engineer for KFWB on April 30, 2002 and I started
there on May 20th. I took the reins from Richard Rudman, who had held
this position since 1975. I was asked to add Chief Engineer responsibilities
for co-owned KNX in mid-October 2003.
Being the Chief Engineer at 24/7 news stations is challenging some days,
but brings great satisfaction getting important information to the public
in times of emergency.
My responsibilities include:
•All Broadcast Technology equipment in the 25 studios, the newsroom, the
transmitter site and the 7 vehicles;
•All Broadcast Information Technology equipment and systems, which includes
68 computers, 8 servers, 12 printers for KFWB/KNX ;
•The seven vehicle Mobile Unit fleet;
•The 11-site 2-way radio system;
•All engineering aspects of the Dodgers Radio Network;
•Design, setup and operation of remote broadcasts, town hall meetings
and seminars such as the KFWB Power Breakfast series.
9/27/2002 During a broadcast from Dodger Stadium I met Vin Scully.
2/27/2003 Dodgers broadcasts commence
from new Yucca Street Studio & Control Room C feeding KFWB and the
Dodgers Radio Network to 22 affiliates. The Control Room was assembled
and operational from an empty room in two weeks and two days.
4/23/2003 After a huge power surge from
DWP and a fire in the basement, Stan Chambers from KTLA who was reporting
on our emergency condition, patted me on the back and said "Good
job, son."
2/2004 Began design of new studio and office facilities at 5670 Wilshire
Blvd. to be known as Wilshire Broadcast Center
6/24/2005 Moved KFWB to 5670 Wilshire Blvd. at the conclusion of a Dodgers
game. Improvements due to the all-digital studios operational capabilities
and audio quality are remarkable.
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