Radio Industry California

Announcing indictments against four people, authorities in Los Angeles acknowledged for the first time Friday that a 2-year-old federal grand jury investigation into cocaine-and-cash payola by record promoters to radio programmers has become national in scope. U.S. Atty. Robert C.

Jacor Communications Inc. signed an agreement to buy three Southern California radio stations from Lancaster-based Antelope Broadcasting Co. for $4 million in cash. The deal to buy KAVL-AM of Lancaster, KAVS-FM of Mojave and KYHT-FM of Yermo is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission. The stations will complement Jacor's presence in Southern California, the company said. With these deals, Covington, Ky.

Here is the general rule of thumb regarding radio talk-show wars: When everybody concerned says they couldn't care less about the other station--Bingo!--you have a genuine airwave brouhaha on your hands. Which brings us to San Diego-based XTRA (690 AM) and Los Angeles-based KMPC (710 AM), stations undergoing serious denial. "We don't need to look to anybody else to show us what to do," said Howard Freedman, vice president of programming for Noble Broadcasting Group, XTRA's parent company.

There is a policy at XTRA: Never mention another radio station, especially KMPC, on the air. Off the air is another story altogether. Off the air, Howard Freedman, vice president of programming for Noble Broadcasting Group, which owns XTRA, will calmly accuse KMPC management of trying to steal his talk-show hosts and producers.

Westwood One Inc., the fast growing but beleaguered broadcasting concern that in five short years as a public company has become the nation's second-largest radio network owner behind ABC, said Friday that it expects to report a record loss of about $24 million for the latest fiscal year.

After spending the better part of two weeks listening to XTRA and KMPC, staff writer and former talk - show enthusiast Gene Wojciechowski offers his very subjective rankings of the stations' on-air talent. The results: 1) LEE HAMILTON (XTRA) Strengths: A radio voice to die for. . . . The most distinctive sports talk show in the local market (KMPC's Jim Healy would win if all categories were included). . . . A work ethic second to none. . . .

The first step in an ambitious, two-pronged plan to establish a new statewide radio news network will be taken today with the broadcast premiere of "CALNET," a half-hour California news magazine patterned roughly after National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." The Monday-through-Friday news program debuts at 5:30 p.m. over KLON-FM (88.

Thomas Root, the Washington lawyer whose light plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while he sat at the controls apparently unconscious last week, has dozens of California clients who have invested money in applications for radio station licenses. Root, an attorney for Sonrise Management Services Inc., of Georgia, represents limited partners seeking FM band licenses in 16 outlying population centers in Northern and Central California.

Jacor Communications Inc. signed an agreement to buy three Southern California radio stations from Lancaster-based Antelope Broadcasting Co. for $4 million in cash. The deal to buy KAVL-AM of Lancaster, KAVS-FM of Mojave and KYHT-FM of Yermo is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission. The stations will complement Jacor's presence in Southern California, the company said. With these deals, Covington, Ky.

After spending the better part of two weeks listening to XTRA and KMPC, staff writer and former talk - show enthusiast Gene Wojciechowski offers his very subjective rankings of the stations' on-air talent. The results: 1) LEE HAMILTON (XTRA) Strengths: A radio voice to die for. . . . The most distinctive sports talk show in the local market (KMPC's Jim Healy would win if all categories were included). . . . A work ethic second to none. . . .

In the most sweeping challenge of the broadcast industry since the early 1970s, civil rights groups over the past 20 months have asked the Federal Communications Commission to revoke the licenses of more than 200 radio and TV stations that allegedly have not met FCC minority employment obligations. On July 2, the NAACP and the National Hispanic Media Coalition filed their latest round of challenges--opposing the license renewals of 24 Texas radio stations.

Westwood One Inc., the fast growing but beleaguered broadcasting concern that in five short years as a public company has become the nation's second-largest radio network owner behind ABC, said Friday that it expects to report a record loss of about $24 million for the latest fiscal year.

Thomas Root, the Washington lawyer whose light plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while he sat at the controls apparently unconscious last week, has dozens of California clients who have invested money in applications for radio station licenses. Root, an attorney for Sonrise Management Services Inc., of Georgia, represents limited partners seeking FM band licenses in 16 outlying population centers in Northern and Central California.

The first step in an ambitious, two-pronged plan to establish a new statewide radio news network will be taken today with the broadcast premiere of "CALNET," a half-hour California news magazine patterned roughly after National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." The Monday-through-Friday news program debuts at 5:30 p.m. over KLON-FM (88.