Kabc Radio Station

In many ways, it looked like a typical scene at the packed Ed Debevic's diner in Beverly Hills: two casually dressed celebrities sitting around talking, struggling to be heard above the din of restaurant noise and trying to politely ignore the attentions of eager fans. But there was a hyperactive oddness to this scene.

When David G. Hall first went to work at KFI-AM (640) in 1989, the station had just adopted a talk format and people were scoffing at the notion of an upstart thinking it could challenge the dominance of KABC-AM (790), the nation's first talk-radio station. When he gave up the program director's job in 2002, KFI was one of the most popular outlets in Southern California, and KABC wasn't even a close runner-up. Can he now turn the tables and do for KABC what he did for KFI?

The Dodgers will switch their flagship radio station next month with their broadcast team of Vin Scully, Rick Monday and Charley Steiner intact. On the day that Dodgers owner Frank McCourt announced a deal that would make KABC 790 the team's flagship station, the club revealed that Monday and Steiner were signed to contract extensions through the 2009 season.

Larry Elder, the African American talk-show host on KABC-AM (790) who often angered black listeners with his conservative views, said he would be departing the station today. Elder, who started at the station 15 years ago and called himself "The Sage of Los Angeles," announced during his afternoon show Thursday that he and station management had mutually decided to part ways. He did not elaborate. He added that he was looking forward to new opportunities, and that he would inform fans on his website, larryelder.

Longtime KABC-AM (790) talk-show host Ira Fistell has been dropped from his nightly 11 p.m.-4 a.m. show and replaced by Art Bell, who had a midnight to 5 a.m. slot on sister station KMPC-AM (710). A KABC spokesman said Thursday that the firing was unrelated to Fistell's legal problems. Fistell is charged with leaving the scene of a two-car collision last February that left a 15-year-old girl dead.

It was no April Fool's joke when popular overnight radio host Art Bell told his "Coast to Coast AM" audience around midnight Friday: "I am going to retire, and it is going to be a permanent retirement." He told listeners on the 460 stations around the country that carry his show, including those tuned into KABC-AM (790), that with the ongoing torment he and his family have been suffering because of personal events, leaving the program was necessary. His final broadcast will be April 26. Kraig T.

After 27 years on the graveyard shift, KABC-AM's Ray Briem says he'll miss the political patter and the crusades he conducted on the air, but he's ready to give it all up for a good night's sleep. "I'm 65 and my body says staying up all night ain't the right thing to do," said Briem, whose midnight-to-5 a.m. talk show on KABC (790) is one of the longest-running in the market. "You never get used to it. Your biological clock, your circadian rhythms are always upset.

It's a picture-perfect Sunday in the backyard of Dennis Prager's spacious West Valley home. Water cascades into the pool. Kids jump on a trampoline and climb a knotted rope. Chickens and horses issue the occasional cluck and whinny from pens up the hill. The radio talk show host, essayist and theologian leans into his patio chair, draws smoke from his pipe and says, "Isn't this heaven?" Indeed. Dennis Prager is happy and should be.

Conservative KABC talk-show host Larry Elder is taking his controversial show national. Elder signed a deal this week with Synergy Broadcasting--the Newport Beach-based syndicator behind the top-rated Dr. Laura Schlessinger show--in a move he hopes will bring him a national audience, though Los Angeles' KABC-AM (790) will remain his flagship station.

Stephanie Miller, whose radio talk show is syndicated in about 20 markets by ABC Radio Today, learned late Monday that the syndicator was pulling the show at least temporarily, if not indefinitely. The action, according to sources close to the show, was taken so that ABC's legal department could investigate whether recent comments she made on her Web site and to various print and television media put her in breach of contract.

After being off the air at KABC-AM (790) for more than four months this year to undergo treatment for lymphoma, veteran talk-show host Al Rantel is sidelined again -- this time for a fall in which he fractured his hip and shoulder. "I am working through this situation with the support of my doctors at Cedars-Sinai," Rantel said in a statement released by the station. He said he expects to return to work "after a few weeks of recovery." Rantel is heard weekdays from 11 to 11:45 a.m. and from 7 to 10 p.m. In his absence, Curtis Sliwa will host the morning shift and John Phillips will fill in at night, KABC said.

The Dodgers will switch their flagship radio station next month with their broadcast team of Vin Scully, Rick Monday and Charley Steiner intact. On the day that Dodgers owner Frank McCourt announced a deal that would make KABC 790 the team's flagship station, the club revealed that Monday and Steiner were signed to contract extensions through the 2009 season.

A year-long feud between a talk radio personality and an L.A. charter school is ending up in an unusual court case. School administrators filed a lawsuit this week against KABC-AM (790) and Doug McIntyre, alleging the host of "McIntyre in the Morning" targeted the school in a slanderous, racially motivated campaign last summer that resulted in a bomb threat to the school and ongoing security risks.

Peter Tilden, a morning host at country music station KZLA-FM (93.9) until it changed formats (and call letters) last August, is rejoining talk station KABC-AM (790), where he toiled for most of the 1990s. Tilden will be heard weeknights from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., starting April 9. Although the hours are different, he is replacing Marc Germain, who had billed himself as Mr. KABC. Germain left in February and now works weekday afternoons at talk station KTLK-AM (1150).

Police arrested a Boyle Heights man on suspicion of assaulting a reporter from a radio station that has criticized an El Sereno charter school for allegedly promoting racial separatism for Latinos. Ramon Flores, 31, was arrested about 8:15 a.m. Thursday near the Academia Semillas del Pueblo Charter School, Los Angeles Police Lt. Paul Vernon said. Flores was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery, he said.

A Los Angeles radio reporter was assaulted outside a charter school Thursday morning by a man driving a sedan who first tried to run him down and then stole his audiotape, police said. The incident occurred after the reporter, Sandy Wells of KABC-AM (790) radio, had just finished interviewing parents, students and administrators of the Academia Semillas del Pueblo Charter School in El Sereno.

A KABC radio talk show host who left the scene of a fatal traffic collision and reported to his late night broadcast shift was free on bail Friday after his early morning arrest on suspicion of felony hit-and-run. Ira Fistell, 53, was taken into custody by Los Angeles police after finishing his five-hour broadcast at 4 a.m. Friday.

Michael Jackson, after nearly 32 years as a talk-radio host at KABC-AM (790), resigned Thursday from his weekend show. Jackson, 63, who had had a daily presence on the station until July 1997, when he was reassigned because of low ratings against Rush Limbaugh on KFI-AM (640), said he has another job that will allow him to be on the air weekdays. Jackson said he had received several job offers. "I have decided, but I cannot announce it. It's not fair to the one that I accepted to say that."

Kevin James, a former legal analyst and substitute host at KABC-AM (790), has been chosen to host the talk station's night-owl show, "Red Eye Radio," beginning Tuesday. James is a former assistant U.S. attorney who has hosted a morning show in Oklahoma City. On "Red Eye Radio," which airs Tuesdays through Saturdays from midnight to 5 a.m., he replaces Doug McIntyre, who now hosts the weekday morning show on KABC.

No more red eyes for Doug McIntyre. McIntyre, 46, host of the overnight show "Red Eye Radio" at talk station KABC-AM (790) for the past 23 months, was named Thursday to take over the station's morning drive-time shift when Ken Minyard retires Oct. 15 after 35 years on the air in L.A. "McIntyre in the Morning" will be heard weekdays 5-9 a.m. beginning Oct. 18. A native of Glen Cove, N.Y.