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Friday, May 4, 2018

L-A Radio: KNX Celebrates 50-Years As All-News


Entercom and Newsradio KNX 1070 AM  in Los Angeles are celebrating 50 years as Southern California's only 24-hour news and traffic station.

According to the company, more than 1.5 million people tune in to KNX every week for its coverage of local, national and international news in addition to its traffic and weather updates every 10 minutes on the 5's. Traffic and news content is provided daily by the area's largest team.

"We are proud to be a part of the fabric of the Los Angeles community," said Senior VP/Market Manager Jeff Federman. "We look forward to continuing to inform and engage with Southern California listeners for the years to come."



"Since 1968 we have seen nine presidents, six governors, and six mayors" added Entercom Los Angeles Director of Programming Ken Charles. "Through it all, KNX has been that one consistent source for integrity, trust and credibility."

During its first 18 months on-air, KNX covered the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, the Manson murders and man's landing on the moon. The station has also covered the 1984 Olympics, the Rodney King trial, The Northridge Earthquake in 1994 and the O.J. Simpson trial, in addition to numerous other major news events.

CBS purchased and began operating KNX as its West Coast flagship station in 1936, ending CBS's eight-year affiliation with KHJ. In 1938, the CBS Columbia Square studios were dedicated for KNX as well as West Coast operations for the entire CBS radio network. That October, the station carried Orson Welles' celebrated version of The War of the Worlds . Several legendary performers from the Golden Age of American network radio broadcast from there, including Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Edgar Bergen, Gene Autry and TV situation comedy star Bob Crane, who was KNX's morning host between 1957 and 1965 at the same time he was appearing as a featured supporting player on the ABC television network's The Donna Reed Show.

KNX was a strong competitor in the Los Angeles market while Crane was a morning personality, but began declining in popularity after he left to star in the CBS television series Hogan's Heroes. Following the example of corporate sister station WCBS in New York City, which had enjoyed renewed success with an all-news format, KNX then became an all-news station in the spring of 1968.

Entercom acquired KNX when it merged with CBS Radio in 2017.

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