Kcbs Radio Station

Callers to the new Jack FM radio station in San Diego are greeted by a smug voice with this message: "If you want to request a song, call somebody else. We play what we want." A radio station telling listeners to buzz off would have been heretical a few years ago. Now it's just business.

Nine voices scream out in quick succession, "You rock!" Then, another yells, "You [do something we won't say in a family newspaper]!" The irreverent radio self-promotion, which finishes with "Nine out of 10 ain't bad," demonstrates part of the formula that helped rocket the new "Jack" format at KCBS-FM (93.1) up the ratings charts last week.

When 11-year-old classic-rock station KCBS-FM (93.1) changed formats, it went from an arrow to a shotgun. The playlist for the new station, dubbed "93.1 Jack FM," is so scattered -- by design -- that listeners can hear current heartthrob singer-songwriter John Mayer following '80s heavy-metal band Def Leppard, for example. "It's like the ultimate CD collection on shuffle.

Callers to the new Jack FM radio station in San Diego are greeted by a smug voice with this message: "If you want to request a song, call somebody else. We play what we want." A radio station telling listeners to buzz off would have been heretical a few years ago. Now it's just business.

The oldies station KCBS-FM (93.1) named a new program director Friday, a day after the fall Arbitron ratings ranked the CBS-owned station a soft No. 24 in Los Angeles. The station drew a 1.4 share of the audience, about the same as last summer's Arbitron rankings of 43 of the greater Los Angeles area's roughly 80 stations.

Nine voices scream out in quick succession, "You rock!" Then, another yells, "You [do something we won't say in a family newspaper]!" The irreverent radio self-promotion, which finishes with "Nine out of 10 ain't bad," demonstrates part of the formula that helped rocket the new "Jack" format at KCBS-FM (93.1) up the ratings charts last week.

Radio stars Jonathon Brandmeier and Scott Shannon are returning to Southland airwaves this month. Chicago institution Brandmeier takes over the morning show at classic rocker KCBS-FM (93.1) -- "Arrow 93 -- on April 19. Until 1997, Brandmeier spent 14 years at classic rock and talk station "The Loop," WLUP-AM and FM, topping the Second City ratings with interviews, frenetic humor, song parodies and prank phone calls. He was last heard in L.A. on talker KLSX-FM (97.

Former KNBC anchor Tritia Toyota was hired Monday to join the anchor lineup at KCBS-TV Channel 2. Toyota, who left Channel 4 March 1, will begin work at the CBS-owned station Monday and will make her first appearance on the air June 17, KCBS general manager Frank Gardner said. However, a decision has not yet been made as to which newscast she will anchor, a KCBS spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman said that Toyota is an addition to the KCBS anchor team and will not be displacing anyone.

More than 87 million homes in the United States have television sets. Each of them is on an average of more than seven hours a day, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co. For at least part of those seven hours, most of those sets are tuned to a local newscast. According to one oft-quoted study by the Roper Organization, 64% of the American public turns to TV for most of its news. Fifty-three percent rank TV news as the most believable news source.

When 11-year-old classic-rock station KCBS-FM (93.1) changed formats, it went from an arrow to a shotgun. The playlist for the new station, dubbed "93.1 Jack FM," is so scattered -- by design -- that listeners can hear current heartthrob singer-songwriter John Mayer following '80s heavy-metal band Def Leppard, for example. "It's like the ultimate CD collection on shuffle.

Radio stars Jonathon Brandmeier and Scott Shannon are returning to Southland airwaves this month. Chicago institution Brandmeier takes over the morning show at classic rocker KCBS-FM (93.1) -- "Arrow 93 -- on April 19. Until 1997, Brandmeier spent 14 years at classic rock and talk station "The Loop," WLUP-AM and FM, topping the Second City ratings with interviews, frenetic humor, song parodies and prank phone calls. He was last heard in L.A. on talker KLSX-FM (97.

The oldies station KCBS-FM (93.1) named a new program director Friday, a day after the fall Arbitron ratings ranked the CBS-owned station a soft No. 24 in Los Angeles. The station drew a 1.4 share of the audience, about the same as last summer's Arbitron rankings of 43 of the greater Los Angeles area's roughly 80 stations.