Since its modest beginning 20 years ago in a small North Hollywood studio, KKLA-FM (99.5) has grown to become the nation's largest Christian teaching and talk radio station.
Now based in a spacious Glendale office, the 50,000-watt station that calls itself the "Spirit of Los Angeles" offers around-the-clock broadcasting that emphasizes conservative evangelical values. And while growing in religious influence, KKLA also has done so well financially that the station is now worth at least $250 million, according to the Southern California Broadcasters Assn.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday January 04, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 103 words Type of Material: Correction
Radio station -- An article in the Dec. 27 California section about the Christian-focused station KKLA-FM (99.5) described it as a 50,000-watt station. KKLA is licensed for as much as 50,000 watts but broadcasts at 10,500 watts. The article also said the station's previous call letters were KHOE; they were KHOF. In addition, the article gave the surname of Yorba Linda real estate brokers George and Lisa Haines as Raines. Also, the article failed to note that Los Angeles trial lawyer Carol Vallely, a listener who uses her maiden name professionally, is the wife of the Rev. Clay Schmit, who was also quoted.
Throughout the last year, more than 12,000 listeners attended various 20th anniversary events and lectures featuring popular celebrity program hosts, including Chuck Swindoll, former president of the Dallas Theological Seminary, of "Insight for Life"; child psychologist James Dobson of Focus on the Family; and Frank Pastore, a former Cincinnati Reds pitcher who leads a popular afternoon show.
"We feel like we can really make a difference in people's lives," said Terry Fahy, vice president and general manager of KKLA and its four sister stations. "We believe it inspires people to live better lives. We are constantly exhorting people to reach out more to their fellow men, be more giving to the poor."
Pastore's three-hour, live, drive-time talk show is produced locally. Most of the other programs are produced elsewhere by ministries and firms that buy their time on KKLA. More than two dozen regularly scheduled programs include Bible studies, sermons by theologians and segments dealing with health, finance and the law.
Their common thread is that they all are from a conservative Christian perspective. "Our goal is to have a consistent program voice as much as possible," said Fahy, who has been with KKLA since its start two decades ago.
The station is the flagship of Camarillo-based Salem Communications, owners of 105 radio stations throughout the country, Fahy said.
Salem Communications acquired the 99.5-FM signal, then KHOE, after its previous owner, the Rev. Gene Scott, lost a seven-year court battle with the Federal Communications Commission, which did not renew his license because he refused to reveal financial records after the agency alleged that designated contributions were not spent as intended.
KKLA's subsequent success -- both financial and as a conservative voice -- is apparent inside its posh fifth-floor quarters in Glendale. Also operating out of the studios on Brand Boulevard and in satellite facilities in Orange County and the Inland Empire are four sister stations: KRLA-AM (870) and KTIE-AM (590), both general talk radio stations; KFSH-FM (95.9), a Christian contemporary music station; and KXMX-AM (1190), which broadcasts Christian programs in Korean and Vietnamese.
More than 250,000 listeners in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura counties tune in every week to KKLA's programs on the Bible, morality and public affairs, and to its many lucrative commercials, according to Arbitron, the national radio rating service. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has the nation's largest number of evangelicals -- nearly 1 million adults -- according to the Barna Research Group, a Ventura-based firm that tracks trends related to values, beliefs and attitudes.
The Rev. Clay Schmit, professor of preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary, said the radio station's impact was far-reaching, especially in the evangelical community.
"People are looking in every conceivable direction for answers that deal with life and real-life situations and concerns and issues," said Schmit, who was pastor of a Lutheran church in Northern California for 15 years. "It's very useful for Christians to be able to find trusted voices on radio that can help them seek answers from a biblical perspective."
At the same time, Schmit also noted that some people might say that KKLA presents an overly conservative perspective out of step with most Christians.
"They're obviously targeting a particular kind of Christian audience," he said. "That audience may not include all Christians. But there is a spirit of care that you get in these programs -- to help children through World Vision, to help homeless people in Los Angeles, to meet various needs here and internationally -- and that's the kind thing all of us as Christians can embrace."
Schmit said KKLA also meets an important need of people who are unable to attend church or not affiliated with one.
Longtime listeners said the station offered a much-needed counterpoint to what they view as the liberal bias of many media outlets.
"If you listen to [National] Public Radio and you listen to Christian radio, that's the two ends of the spectrum," said Los Angeles trial lawyer Carol Vallely, who tries to catch Alistair Begg's "Truth for Life" sermons during her morning commute because "he is a great preacher" and because starting the day with the program "gives you a foundation and a daily reminder of how life should be lived."
