KMPC (1540 AM, "Radio Korea", 라디오코리아) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. It is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean–language programming, a blend of talk, news, information, and music for the largest Korean–American community in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and the largest Korean community outside Korea. KMPC is one of four radio stations in the greater

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

area that broadcast entirely in Korean. The others are 1190

KGBN KGBN (1190 kHz) is a Korean Christian brokered time AM radio station licensed to Anaheim, California. It serves Orange County and Greater Los Angeles. Rev. Young Sun Lee serves as the president of the Korean Gospel Broadcasting Network, wh ...

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, 1230 KYPA Los Angeles and 1650 KFOX Torrance. KMPC broadcasts at 50,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s by day, the highest power permitted for commercial AM stations. At night, to reduce interference to other stations on AM 1540, KMPC drops its power to 37,000 watts. It uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performanc ...

at all times. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is off Carter Drive in the El Sereno district of Los Angeles.

History

KPOL

On September 22, 1952, the station

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

with the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

KPOL. It ran 5,000 watts and was originally a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-co ...

, required to be off the air at sunset. It was owned by Coast Radio Broadcasting Corporation. In 1958, it added an FM station at 93.9 MHz, KPOL-FM (now KLLI). Then in 1965, it put a television station on the air, Channel 22 KPOL-TV (now KWHY-TV). KPOL 1540 went on the air 10 minutes after receiving

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) approval. The following year, its power was increased to 10,000 watts. Full time operations were added in 1958, with a power of 10,000 watts at night using a directional

antenna array An antenna array (or array antenna) is a set of multiple connected antennas which work together as a single antenna, to transmit or receive radio waves. The individual antennas (called ''elements'') are usually connected to a single receiver o ...

. Daytime power was increased to 50,000 watts in 1961. In its early years, KPOL aired several

polka music Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The t ...

programs. That gave the station its call letters.

Tom Kennedy Thomas or Tom Kennedy may refer to: Politics * Thomas Kennedy (Scottish judge) (1673–1754), joint Solicitor General for Scotland 1709–14, Lord Advocate 1714, Member of Parliament for Ayr Burghs 1720–21 *Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassilis ...

, later a popular TV

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

host, was a polka DJ on the station during this era. In 1959, KPOL advertised on a billboard at Los Angeles's

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

, which can be seen in the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

'' Home Run Derby''. In 1966, KPOL-AM-FM were sold to Capital Cities Broadcasting for $7.8 million. For many years, KPOL aired an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...

format on both AM and FM.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1977
',

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

, 1977. p. C-22. Retrieved April 29, 2019. In the late 1970s, the station switched to a

soft adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet sto ...

format. In August 1978, it began carrying the syndicated '' Larry King Show'' overnight.

KZLA

In 1979, the station's call sign was changed to KZLA while airing a more upbeat

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

format,

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

with 93.9 KZLA-FM.History Cards for KMPC
fcc.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2019. But with several other AC stations in Los Angeles, KZLA-AM-FM had trouble achieving significant ratings. In 1980, with no

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

station on FM in Los Angeles, KZLA-AM-FM flipped to a country format.

Spanish language era

In 1984, the station was sold to Spanish Broadcasting System for $5 million. In December 1984, the station's call sign was changed to KSKQ, and it adopted a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in the ...

format as "La Super KQ".Call Sign History
fcc.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2019. On August 4, 1992, its call sign was changed to KXED, and it aired a Mexican pop/contemporary format branded "La Grande" or The Big One. On March 29, 1996, the station's call sign was changed to KXMG. In late 1996, its format was changed from

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mex ...

Spanish oldies Latin ballad ( es, balada romántica) is a sentimental ballad derived from bolero that originated in the early 1960s in Los Angeles, California and Southern California. Some of the best known artists of the Latin ballad are Julio Iglesias, Moc ...

Sports era

In 1997, One on One Sports Inc. of Northbrook,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, purchased the station and changed its format to

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

, as an owned-and-operated

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or ...

of One-on-One Sports, later known as Sporting News Radio, a nationally syndicated 24/7 sports network. On December 19, 1997, its call sign was changed to KCTD. One on One Sports also bought AM stations in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

areas, so it would have its programming available in the largest, second largest and third largest radio markets. On March 28, 2000, the call sign was changed to KMPC. In 2000, One-on-One Sports was acquired by

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, whic ...

's Vulcan Ventures, and ownership of KMPC was transferred to Paul Allen's Rose City Radio Corporation. The KMPC call letters had long been used in Los Angeles on AM 710 (now KSPN). On February 10, 2003, the station began to be branded "1540 The Ticket", concurrent with the launch of a new local morning show, hosted by

Roger Lodge Roger Lodge (born March 12, 1960) is an American TV game-show and sports-radio host and actor. He is known for hosting the syndicated dating show ''Blind Date''. Lodge's acting credits include appearances on the ABC sitcom ''Full House''; CBS' ...

. The station covered Southern California sports teams, including the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. It also aired select

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The compan ...

sports programming not carried by

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

KFWB KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios i ...

and KLSX. Among the many Westwood One games KMPC carried include

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

basketball,

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

golf tournament updates (mostly those covered by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

television), the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

and NFL football (including

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...

on occasion). In 2006, KMPC lost the broadcast rights to

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Trojans basketball and football to rival 710 KSPN. KMPC acquired the local broadcast rights of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

's football games from

. The station also stopped covering

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

races after having done so for several years. The station's regular talk-show hosts included Tony Bruno, who began his morning show in April 2005 following the departure of Roger Lodge;Stewart, Larry.
Bruno's Return Could Be KMPC's Ticket to Success
, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''. March 25, 2005. Retrieved April 30, 2019. Dave Smith, Fred Roggin, and former USC football player Petros Papadakis. Former Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Ross Porter filled in for Roggin in May 2005.Stewart, Larry.
Impressive, but It's Not Rocket Science
, ''

''. May 28, 2005. Retrieved April 30, 2019. Roger Nadel, former GM of all-news

in Los Angeles, was General Manager.
Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2006
',

Broadcasting & Cable ''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcas ...

, 2006. p. D-81. Retrieved May 1, 2019. In June 2006, former afternoon host and KNBC-TV sports director Fred Roggin left KMPC, resulting in a shift in the station's daily programming lineup and the addition of a new program, the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

-based

2 Live Stews The ''2 Live Stews'' was an American syndicated sports talk radio show originating from WQXI (AM) 790 The Zone, in Atlanta, Georgia hosted by brothers Doug and Ryan Stewart. The hosts and cast Both brothers were born and raised in Moncks Corne ...

. On September 5, 2006, it was announced that Sporting News Radio would be sold to

American City Business Journals American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor New ...

for an undisclosed price. In October 2006, the station fired all local on-air staff.Stewart, Larry.
All Local KMPC Employees Fired
, ''

''. October 19, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2019.KMPC/L.A. Drops Local Staff
, ''All Access Music Group''. October 19, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2019.

Radio Korea

In 2007, the station was sold to P&Y Broadcasting for $33 million, and it began to air

Korean language Korean (South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographica ...

programming as "Radio Korea". In April 2013, KMPC began airing Korean language broadcasts of

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

games.Dodgers announce official Korean radio partner Radio Korea
, MLB.com. April 2, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2019.

References

External links

Radio Korea Website

Tony Bruno Show
{{Authority control Korean-American culture in Los Angeles MPC News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1952 1952 establishments in California Korean-language radio stations in the United States