KCBS-FM (93.1 FM) is a

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

station in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, serving

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the eas ...

. It is owned by

Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corp., it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning over 220 radio stations across 47 media ...

, and broadcasts an adult hits music format branded "93.1

Jack FM Jack FM is a radio network brand that is licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits radio format, format, in most cases not using disc jockey, DJs. F ...

". Unlike most radio stations airing the Jack FM formula, KCBS-FM runs a fairly focused

playlist A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player, either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs that can be played once or in a loop. ...

of popular

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

and

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

tracks. Currently, the station has no DJs. The only voices heard on Jack-FM are Crystal Z and Dr.Cranfill with "Jacktivities" (events and whatever announcements deemed worthy by "Jack") and Howard Cogan supplying prerecorded quips and ironic remarks between songs. Unlike most other stations in this format, 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 as ...

does not include any form of the word "Jack", opting instead to keep call letters tied to the station's former CBS corporate identity. Although Jack proclaims that the station is run "in a dumpy little building in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

", the KCBS-FM studios and offices are actually located at 5670 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, after moving from a previous location at the corner of Fairfax and Venice in 2018. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is atop Mount Wilson. KCBS-FM broadcasts using

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

technology. Two digital subchannels carry

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

and

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Sports bettors place their wagers either legally, through a sportsbook or bookmaker (colloquially known as "bookies"), or illegally through priva ...

formats.

History

The Young Sound and mellow rock

On March 30, 1948, the station signed on as KNX-FM. In its early years, KNX-FM was mostly a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of 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, simultaneously) ...

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

KNX (1070 AM). In the mid-1960s, KNX-FM, along with other CBS-owned FM radio stations, began airing an

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

format branded as "The Young Sound". It played mostly instrumental cover versions of popular songs, but it was a bit more uptempo than competing beautiful music stations. In 1973, KNX-FM switched to a mellow rock format, featuring artists airing on other rock stations but choosing softer selections than heard on rivals

KLOS KLOS (95.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "95-5 KLOS") is a commercial radio station City of license, licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Group, Meruelo Media. KLOS airs a mainst ...

and KMET. (Volunteers launched an internet stream recreating the KNX-FM format of the 1973-1983 era in 2019, now calling itself "TheMellowSound.net, a KNX-FM 93 tribute". Another tribute website is simply "mellowrock.com" with a similar mix of mellow rock and classic features.)

Hitradio 93

On August 25, 1983, KNX-FM adopted a

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

music format, similar to the other CBS Radio FM stations, and branded as "Hitradio 93 KKHR". The heritage KNX-FM

switched to KKHR. KKHR was not a traditional top 40 music format of the time, as the playlist was more stringently limited to 30 songs. The original KKHR disc jockey staff consisted of Lou Simon, Dave Donovan (whose real name is Joe Cipriano), Chris Lance, Todd Parker (replaced by Jack Armstrong several months later), and Mark Hanson. Rich Fields, who would later become the announcer on ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is an American television game show where contestants compete by guessing the prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. A 1972 revival by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman of their The Price Is Right (1956 American game ...

'' for over six seasons, also joined KKHR in the station's last year with the "Hit Radio" format. Until 2023, the KKHR call sign was now used by an Americana/ Texas country/

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

hybrid station serving

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

. That station is now known as KABT.

Mellow rock returns

Due to the station's lackluster ratings, the mellow rock format and heritage KNX-FM call letters were returned under the new branding "Quality Rock" in 1986. KNX-FM struggled with low ratings, and was not able to re-capture its original audience. On March 2, 1989, at 12pm, following a day-long stunt with a ticking clock during songs and an announcement from vice president and general manager Charlie Seraphin, an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

music format was introduced and the heritage KNX-FM call sign was dropped yet again. (The KNX-FM call letters returned to the Los Angeles airwaves on December 21, 2021, when they were picked up by co-owned 97.1, formerly KNOU).

Oldies 93.1

With the new oldies format, the station switched its call letters to KODJ and the branding changed to "Oldies 93.1". KODJ competed with crosstown oldies rival KRTH, which later came under common CBS Radio ownership when limits were relaxed by the FCC. KODJ focused more on the 1950s and the early 1960s era of oldies music than KRTH. DJs on KODJ were The Real Don Steele, Charlie Tuna, Rich Fields, Machine Gun Kelly and Jeff Serr. In response to KODJ's debut, KRTH gradually reduced and eventually faded out the number of newer songs from its playlist, focusing mainly on the 1960s decade of oldies with a few songs from the late 1950s. In addition, KRTH brought in Bill Drake as consultant while featuring all new jingles by the

Johnny Mann John Russell Mann (August 30, 1928June 18, 2014) was an American arrangement, arranger, composer, Conducting, conductor, entertainer, Singing, singer, and musician, recording artist. Career Johnny Mann began his music career in the late 1940s i ...

Singers, which helped it reach higher ratings. The Real Don Steele left KCBS-FM in mid-1992 to join KRTH. Charlie Tuna, the morning host at KODJ/KCBS-FM from 1989 to 1993, would later work at KRTH from 2008 to 2014. After his tenure at ''The Price is Right'', Rich Fields was also on KRTH for a time as well. On July 12, 1991, at 2pm, KODJ changed to its present call sign, KCBS-FM, as part of a re-imaging marketing campaign to bring in new listeners believing the "CBS-FM" call letters had a stronger association with the oldies format. These call letters had previously been used by two CBS-affiliated stations (now KSOL and

KLLC KLLC (97.3 FM, Alice @ 97.3) is a commercial radio station located in San Francisco, California, and broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios and offices are co-located with formerly co-owned KP ...

) in San Francisco. KCBS-FM still kept the oldies format, but shifted its focus mainly to the 1960s decade of oldies with a lesser selection of 1950s oldies, and more early-1970s rock oldies to better compete with KRTH. (Since December 3, 1993, the KODJ calls have been assigned to a classic hits station in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

Arrow 93.1

KCBS-FM struggled with low ratings, while KRTH continued to hold the majority share of the oldies market. On September 10, 1993, at 3pm, KCBS-FM flipped to a mixed

and classic hits format, and branded itself as "Arrow 93FM, All Rock and Roll Oldies". The moniker "Arrow" stood for "All Rock and Roll Oldies". The new format focused on the late 1960s and the entire 1970s decade with an emphasis on only classic rock oldies, not including

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

hits,

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, bubblegum,

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

. The

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

ratings for KCBS-FM went from 18th to 3rd place by the end of 1993, making the new format an immediate success. The station kept the KCBS-FM call letters, but would only quickly identify its call sign once at the top of the hour per FCC

station identification Station identification (ident, network ID, channel ID or bumper (broadcasting), bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand na ...

requirements. The format would later evolve towards classic rock of the late 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, and re-branded itself as "Arrow 93FM, All Rock & Roll Classics" in 1996.

Jack-FM

In 2005,

Infinity Broadcasting Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Im ...

(as CBS Radio was known at the time) won the licensing rights to brand its adult hits music formatted radio stations as "

". This led to yet another format change for KCBS-FM. On March 17, ( St. Patrick's Day), after an all-day

stunt A stunt is an unusual, difficult, dramatic physical feat that may require a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually for a public audience, as on television or in theaters or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Befo ...

with music from U2 (as that band is from Ireland), the classic rock format was dropped, as "93.1 Jack FM" debuted in Los Angeles, airing an adult hits format that started in Canada and was getting picked up in numerous U.S. markets. The Jack format was a break from the heavily niched formats that had developed beginning in the 1970s. Jack was also unusual in that it employed no DJs, and had a much larger playlist than the typical classic hits or classic rock radio station. The Los Angeles incarnation of Jack includes more modern rock titles than most Jack outlets, reflecting the local influence of

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

during its alternative heyday. Initially, KCBS-FM played a blend of pop and rock hits from the late 1960s to late 1980s, with a sprinkling of newer, sometimes almost current, tunes. Eventually, the newer songs and pop songs were phased out in favor of mostly classic rock and classic alternative. KCBS-FM is the longest-serving of all of CBS' Jack stations. CBS also introduced the Jack FM format in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. Though the station has no DJs, KCBS-FM will occasionally respond to current events, such as playing all

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

songs following his death, or spinning a celebratory tune or two following a local sports victory (especially with the Rams). The "voice" of Jack FM is a real person named Howard Cogan. His quips which are heard between songs are created by a team of writers. As Jack became popular, Cogan moved to Los Angeles to record his comments more easily. He is also the

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

artist for other "Jack FM" stations around the country. In October 2008, CBS Radio chose not to move the KCBS-FM call letters to its sister station at 106.9 FM in San Francisco, after that station flipped from classic hits to an all-news simulcast of KCBS. That station remains

KFRC-FM KFRC-FM (106.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It currently simulcasts sister station KCBS, which carries an all-news format. The station transmits its signal from Mount Beac ...

, heritage calls in themselves.

Entercom and Audacy

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. The merger was approved on November 9, and was consummated on November 17. As part of the agreement with CBS, Entercom was given the rights to use the brand and trademarks for KCBS-FM along with sister stations WCBS-AM now WHSQ and WCBS-FM in New York City, KCBS-AM in San Francisco for a 20-year period after which Entercom (or succeeding entity) will be required to relinquish using those call-letters. As part of the merger, the FM radio rights to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

were moved to KCBS-FM from KSWD, which was sold off as part of the deal when it flipped to

Christian adult contemporary Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC, CAC, or Christian Adult Contemporary Airplay, is a form of radio-played contemporary Christian music, ranging from 1960s Jesus music and 1970s Christian soft rock music to predominately ...

format as KKLQ on November 16, 2017. The Rams broadcasts were FM only, and regular programming was exclusive to the Audacy app during game broadcasts, including in Los Angeles. On March 30, 2021, Entercom rebranded to the corporate name "Audacy". KCBS-FM programming is found on the Audacy.com website and app. On June 6, 2024, KCBS-FM temporarily rebranded as 93.1 Blade FM in honor of Richard Blade receiving a star on the

Hollywood Walk Of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

KCBS-FM HD

In addition to the main Jack FM format on HD1, KCBS-FM-HD2 simulcasts KFRG, its co-owned

station in San Bernardino. Before KLSX switched from talk to CHR in 2009, 93.1 HD2 carried a CHR format with the "AMP Radio" branding. Former sister station KFWB had been broadcasting on the KCBS-FM HD3 signal, but due to that station's sale, its signal is no longer heard on KCBS-FM. As of December 6, 2018, that signal began simulcasting

all-news All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...

KNX (AM 1070). It has since carried KFRG/KXFG. On January 25, 2021, KCBS-FM-HD3 started carrying a nationally syndicated

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

network, the

BetQL Network The BetMGM Network (known on air as The Bet) is a radio network owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. that focuses on the world of sports betting. It is heard on the Audacy app as well as Audacy's portfolio of sports stations. The network was laun ...

, as "The Bet".

References

External links

*
FCC History Cards for KCBS-FM
* {{Los Angeles Rams 1948 establishments in California Adult hits radio stations in the United States Audacy, Inc. radio stations Jack FM stations Radio stations established in 1948 CBS-FM