 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1580 kHz |
| Branding | KBLA 1580 AM Talk Radio |
| Programming | |
| Format | Urban/progressive talk |
| Affiliations | Black Information Network Compass Media Networks |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Tavis Smiley (Smiley Radio Properties, Inc.) |
| History | |
First air date | July 30, 1947 |
Former call signs | KOWL (1947–1956) KDAY (1956–1991) |
Call sign meaning | Business News L.A. (previous format) or Black |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 34385 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°5′9.65″N 118°15′28.46″W / 34.0860139°N 118.2579056°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kbla1580 |
KBLA (1580 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to Santa Monica, California, KBLA serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting, through licensee Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Licensee, LLC, and operated by pending owner Tavis Smiley with an urban/progressive talk format.
For much of its early history, the station had music formats and was aimed towards a black audience. The station was founded in 1947 as KOWL and played middle of the road music; Gene Autry was an early investor in the station. From 1956 to 1991, the station had call sign KDAY and had top 40, rock, and R&B formats through the early 1980s. In 1983, KDAY became the first station in Los Angeles to play hip hop music; as a result, KDAY became the most popular station among black listeners in the area.
KDAY went through multiple ownership and format changes in the 1990s, beginning with a purchase by Fred Sands in 1990. A year later, KDAY changed its call sign to KBLA and its format to business news. The business format lasted just one year, as KBLA changed to a Korean format afterwards. Keymarket Communications purchased KBLA in 1993; subsequent mergers of its parent company landed KBLA under the ownership of River City Broadcasting in 1995 and Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1996. KBLA was sold in 1998 to Radio Unica, which added KBLA to its national Spanish radio network. Multicultural Broadcasting bought KBLA in 2003 and converted KBLA to a Spanish Christian format. Tavis Smiley bought KBLA in 2020 and launched a progressive talk format on the station.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KBLA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.