Kzla Radio Station

The Southland on Thursday lost its only country radio station, long-running KZLA-FM (93.9), which introduced a new pop format known as Movin 93.9, where veteran radio personality Rick Dees is poised to return to the local airwaves as the station's morning host. A date has not been set for Dees' debut at the new station, which will replace the twangy hits of Toby Keith, Shania Twain and Tim McGraw with dance-ready music of Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, Gnarls Barkley and other R&B-minded performers.

Talk about your quick career shifts. At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Peter Tilden and Ashley Paige were still morning-drive hosts at KZLA-FM (93.9), billed as "America's most listened to country station." At 10:15, they were notified that the station's format was changing immediately from country to pop and that they were out of work. "We're all fully aware of this possibility in radio, especially in such a volatile market the size of L.A.," Paige said later.

Cowboy crooners know that more country music is sold in Los Angeles than anywhere else, a distinction on display Thursday night when singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw opened the first of three sold-out shows at the Staples Center. But Los Angeles listeners would have trouble finding Hill, McGraw or any other twangy troubadours on the radio dial: On Thursday, the city lost its last country music broadcaster when KZLA-FM (93.

Former listeners to radio station KZLA 93.9 are calling Aug. 17 "Black Thursday." That's the day the FM station abruptly changed from country music to a pop format focusing on beat-heavy rhythm and blues. The day also marked the end of a brief relationship between the station and the Motor Racing Network, commonly known among NASCAR fans as MRN. MRN had switched L.A. affiliates after last NASCAR season, going from all-sports KMPC 1540 to KZLA. Then came Black Thursday.

Three months after Los Angeles' only country radio station, KZLA-FM (93.9) switched to a rhythmic pop format, leaving the nation's largest market for country music with nowhere to tune on the radio dial, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Toby Keith and the rest of the twang gang are back on the air. But now they're heard on the AM dial. In fact, when the country music broadcasts started recently on XSUR-AM (540) -- transmitting from just across the border in Tijuana -- the effect in L.A.

In 1993, poor ratings prompted radio station KLAC-AM (570) to drop its country music format of 24 years in favor of one emphasizing "adult standards." Meanwhile, KZLA-FM (93.9) gamely persevered with country in its longtime struggle to become a heavyweight contender.