ENTERTAINMENT
August 16, 2012 | By Steve Carney
Mark Thompson started his radio career at 16, as a janitor at a station in his hometown, Florence, Ala. On Friday, in his white Mercedes convertible, he'll pull away from KLOS-FM (95.5) on his own terms, having finished his final stint as co-host of the "Mark & Brian" show. " "It's just time," said Thompson, now 56. "Guys my age, they're dropping dead. There are other things I want to do. " His departure will mark the end of what is the longest-running morning radio show in the Los Angeles-Orange County market - one that has consistently been among the most popular for more than two decades, a collection of comedy bits, banter and celebrity interviews.
ENTERTAINMENT
August 7, 2012 | By Steve Carney
Radio ratings for July remained much the same as the previous month, with pop-music station KIIS-FM (102.7) once again having a strong summer, and closing in on 4 million weekly listeners - a milestone it hasn't reached since July 2011. KIIS, whose Top 40 playlist features Rihanna, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and other pop stars, led all stations among Los Angeles and Orange County listeners age 6 and older, according to figures released Monday by the Arbitron ratings service. KBIG-FM (104.3)
ENTERTAINMENT
November 5, 2011 | By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times
Jim Ladd can drop rock-star names like nobody's business — no surprise considering music's been his business for four decades. Or it had been until late last month when the new owners of L.A. rock radio station KLOS-FM (95.5) gave the boot to Ladd, who had been holding court behind a microphone there for the last 14 years. And that was just his latest stint at the station. Ladd logged a total of 20 years during three separate tours of rock 'n' roll radio duty at KLOS. A fixture on the Southern California airwaves, Ladd also chalked up nine years at the defunct station KMET-FM before it dumped rock for an easy-listening format dubbed "The Wave," as well as time at L.A.'s short-lived KEDG-FM ("The Edge")
ENTERTAINMENT
November 1, 2011
Ten leading crime writers are competing for the honor of having a morgue named after them. Scotland's University of Dundee said Monday that it would name its new morgue and research facility after whichever writer gets the most votes in an online poll and fundraising effort. Kathy Reichs, Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Harlan Coben, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid are among the authors taking part in the "Million for a Morgue" campaign. Each person who votes donates $1.60 to a money-raising campaign.
ENTERTAINMENT
January 23, 2009 | Lee Margulies
After 25 years at KLOS-FM (95.5) -- as a DJ, then music director and most recently as program director -- Rita Wilde is departing the classic rock station today. In a statement issued by the station, neither Wilde nor KLOS President John H. Davison offered an explanation, and Wilde didn't say what she'd be doing next. Davison praised her passionate devotion to the station and Wilde said she was departing "with my dignity and integrity intact." She'll be replaced by Bob Buchmann, former program director at classic-rock station WAXQ-FM in New York.
ENTERTAINMENT
September 9, 2008 | Randy Lewis
"Breakfast With the Beatles," the long-running L.A. radio staple devoted to the music of the Fab Four, makes the jump to satellite radio starting this Sunday, when it premieres on Sirius XM Satellite Radio as part of Little Steven's Underground Garage lineup. The show, broadcast in Los Angeles on KLOS-FM (95.5) and hosted by Chris Carter, will go out Sundays at 6 a.m. Pacific time on Sirius XM Channel 25, (with a repeat at 9 p.m.) while remaining in its 9 a.m. slot at KLOS. Each show will be different, Carter said Monday.