KROQ-FM

KPPC logo used during the freeform period

On April 23, 1962,[1] KPPC-FM signed on the air. It was owned by the Pasadena Presbyterian Church as a companion to its KPPC, a limited-hours AM radio station that had broadcast since 1924. In 1967, the Pasadena Presbyterian Church sold KPPC-AM-FM to Crosby-Avery Broadcasting for $310,000. The church had been attempting to sell the radio stations for a year; station manager Edgar Pierce said the church found commercial radio incompatible with the noncommercial nature of its other efforts.[2] Crosby-Avery was owned by Leon Crosby, a general manager of San Francisco's KMPX, a station that had just gone to a full-time freeform progressive rock format, and Lewis Avery, former partner in a national ad sales firm. With KMPX soaring to success but KPPC, with its middle-of-the-road format, ailing, Crosby and Avery brought in the architects of KMPX, Tom and Raechel Donahue, to turn around their new station in Southern California.[3]

Hosts included B. Mitchel Reed, Steven Segal (a.k.a. "The Obscene Steven Clean;" not related to the similarly named actor), Susan Carter (a.k.a. "Outrageous Nevada"), Barbara Birdfeather,[4] Jeff Gonzer (a.k.a. "Bonzo" Gonzer), Tom Donahue, Program Director (2014 Rock Radio Hall of Fame inductee) and DJ Les Carter, novelty music historian Dr. Demento, Charles Laquidara, Ted Alvy (a.k.a. "Cosmos Topper"), Elliot Mintz (whose late-night Sunday show played everything from Baba Ram Dass lectures to listener-created recordings), blues archivist Johnny Otis, Bernie Mitchell, "The Anonymous One", comedy troupes The Credibility Gap (featuring Harry Shearer, Richard Beebe, David L. Lander, Michael McKean), and The Firesign Theatre. Station promos were sung by the a cappella singing group The Persuasions. Other staff members included: Don Hall, Larry Woodside, DJ and production wizard Zachary Zenor, Joe Rogers (a.k.a. Mississippi Fats), Sam Kopper, Steve Fasching (a.k.a. "Stereo Steve"), the Pierce Family, and Ron Johnson (a.k.a. "Dr. Sound"). The following year, after a few bounced paychecks, dress code regulations, and other rules changes, The Donahues and the disc jockeys at both KMPX and KPPC walked out on the stations in what was called by some at the time as "The Great Hippie Strike." The former KMPX and KPPC staffers were later hired at Metromedia-owned KSAN in San Francisco and KMET in Los Angeles. KPPC hired new staffers and kept the freeform format, though the station floundered for several years following the strike.

In 1969, Crosby sold KPPC-AM-FM and KMPX to the National Science Network for $1.2 million.[5][6][7] Crosby used the funds to buy a then-silent San Francisco television station, KEMO-TV.[8] National Science Network's management of the KPPC stations was turbulent, capped by an October 1971 mass firing of the air staff,[9] but the period also included technical upgrades. NSN moved the studios out of the church basement and to 99 Chester Street in Pasadena and the transmitter to Flint Peak, with a slight power increase to 25,700 watts.[10]

KPPC-FM was the first station in Los Angeles to broadcast a stereo simulcast with a television station (a one-hour program with 'Leon Russell and Friends' in collaboration with PBS station KCET), and the first to broadcast with Sansui quadraphonic sound. It was also the first FM station in Los Angeles to use two transmitters simultaneously to produce sufficient power.

In 1971, Ludwig Wolfgang Frohlich, founder of the National Science Network and previous owner of an ad agency, died.[11][12][13][14][15][16] On his death, control of the estate was transferred to Ingrid and Thomas Burns.[17][18]

Country music station KBBQ (1500 AM) in Burbank became KROQ in September 1972, changing its format to Top-40 and hiring established disc jockeys from other stations.[19] The new KROQ called itself the "ROQ of Los Angeles". In 1973, with National Science Network's estate selling off its assets, KROQ's owners bought KPPC-AM-FM (immediately divesting the AM station to meet then-current ownership limits), changed the calls to KROQ-FM and hired Shadoe Stevens to create a new rock format described as high-energy "all-cutting-edge-rock-all-the-time" and began simulcasting as "The ROQs of L.A.: Mother Rock!" Meanwhile, KPPC on 1240 AM was sold to Universal Broadcasting, a religious broadcaster, and remained on the air with its limited-schedule of Wednesday evening and Sunday operation until subsequent owners took the station off the air permanently in 1996.

The two stations were wildly successful initially with the new format, but poor money management plagued the enterprise. When concert promoter Ken Roberts (1941–2014) booked Sly and the Family Stone for one KROQ-sponsored show at the Los Angeles Coliseum and the station found itself unable to cover expenses, Roberts agreed to pay for the band to play the show in exchange for a small ownership stake in the station.[20] Roberts joined a sprawling ownership group which included a doctor, two dairymen, a political lobbyist, a secretary, and several other minor investors.[20] Roberts with his background in the music industry made him a logical choice for president of the struggling company in the minds of the other shareholders, and he was elected such at the first meeting he attended in 1974.[20]

Unfortunately, by 1974 the station's finances were already untenable following a year of commercial-free programming — a stunt implemented in an effort to gain market share.[20] The stations' debt load reached $7 million;[20] paychecks began to bounce and Shadoe Stevens and the bulk of the staff walked out, shutting the stations down. The closure would last for nearly two years.

In late 1975, the FCC ordered KROQ to return to the airwaves or surrender the stations' licenses.[21] With barebones equipment, KROQ returned to the airwaves, broadcasting initially from the transmitter location, followed by a penthouse suite in the Pasadena Hilton Hotel, then across the street from the Hilton (117 S. Los Robles).

Ken Roberts returned to the reborn station in a more forceful ownership role, buying out his partners one by one until he remained the sole owner of the station.[20] Shadoe Stevens was re-hired as a programming consultant and air personality with others like Los Angeles radio legends "The Obscene" Steven Clean and Frazer Smith.

KROQ's 1976 rebirth was perfectly timed with the emergence of punk rock in the late 1970s and new wave, and KROQ quickly became the voice of the burgeoning Los Angeles punk and new wave scene. When disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer joined the station, he introduced many new bands on his massively influential shows such as The Ramones, Stray Cats and L.A.-based favorites The Runaways and The Go-Gos.[22] As punk expanded its hold on the music scene during the mid to late 1970s, and KROQ steadily adding more of it to their freeform format, this cemented their place in the Los Angeles market.[23] The station's proximity to Hollywood and the Los Angeles punk rock scene gave it a unique place in the development of this newer music and much later with the alternative rock genre. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, KROQ was quickly becoming one of the most influential radio stations in broadcast history.

In 1979, Shadoe Stevens once again left the station, with Rick Carroll taking over as program director, and took all of the new music and combined it in a Top 40 formatic structure.[23] By 1980, the station had fully committed to a post-new wave modern rock orientation. KROQ became an even greater success as the "Rock of the 80s" evolved. During that decade, the station mixed punk rock, such as The Ramones, The Clash and X, with New Wave, such as U2, Oingo Boingo, Talking Heads, The Police, The Cars, Devo, The Weirdos, Sparks, Fear, Berlin, Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, Blondie, Ska and similar genres with artists such as English Beat, Fine Young Cannibals and 60s underground rocker Iggy Pop, and huge mainstream artists such as The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. It was also not uncommon for certain KROQ dee-jays to play current hip-hop and soul/funk artists such as Arrested Development, Prince and Parliament Funkadelic.

Carroll, as a consultant, took the "Rock of the 80s" format to other stations, including 91X in San Diego, KOEU in Palm Springs, California, KMGN FM in Bakersfield, California, The Quake in San Francisco and KYYX in Seattle, among a few on the US West Coast in the 1980s.

By the late 1980s, the station started dipping in the ratings. New wave declined in popularity and electronic dance bands, such as Depeche Mode and New Order, started getting more airplay on the station. Listeners, confused about the diminished amount of Punk and New Wave heard on the station, started turning away, many to its only competitor, AOR station KLOS, which did not play either Punk nor New Wave music.

In 1986, KROQ was purchased at a then-record $45 million by Infinity Broadcasting. [24]

Throughout the 1990s, the station experienced similar popularity to its early 1980s heyday by incorporating alternative rock, grunge, punk pop, and Britpop into their playlist, which included artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against The Machine, Weezer, Green Day, The Offspring, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Blur, Gin Blossoms, Beck, Blind Melon, Everclear, 311 and others. Also continuing was the weekday morning Kevin & Bean Show. Sunday night featured "Rodney on the Roq," hosted by Rodney Bingenheimer, who often played very rare recordings and educated young listeners about Rock 'n Roll's origins and history. Following his show, very late at night, was the often controversial, Loveline, hosted by "The Poorman" Jim Trenton and Dr. Drew Pinsky. The show's purpose was to bring correct information regarding human sexuality and relationships to those 13 to 25 years of age. [25] KROQ also hosted numerous concert events such as Weenie Roast and Almost Acoustic Christmas. All of these things combined helped the station surge back to #1 in the ratings, for which it remained until the mid-2000s, when it slipped to the middle-of-the-pack, ratings-wise, for Los Angeles area radio stations.

In 1997, KROQ/Infinity merged with CBS, later changing its name to CBS Radio. Trip Reeb, a veteran radio program director, was brought on board. He made major changes, including terminating many long time DJs, streamlining and changing the playlist, and bringing back more "guitar-based" rock music, including staples of KNAC in Long Beach, formerly a heavy metal/alternative rock radio station, featuring such artists as Guns N' Roses, Metallica, The Cult, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. Gradually, the format switched from freeform album rock to alternative, which the station still follows today.

KROQ helped launch the careers of previously low-key Southern California bands, such as Suicidal Tendencies,[26][27] The Offspring, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oingo Boingo, Sublime, No Doubt, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Blink-182, System of a Down, Bad Religion and Social Distortion. They pride themselves on being "world famous" for their continuing discovery of up-and-coming artists and were and are often the first US station to promote new rock bands before their large-scale success.

Originally located at 117 S. Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, the station moved to 3500 W. Olive Avenue in Burbank in 1987 as part of the purchase agreement and to be closer to the music industry. In 2002, the station was moved to a facility at 5901 Venice Boulevard in the Crestview neighborhood in West Los Angeles.

Unlike most other (Class B, but with grandfathered greater than B facilities) FM stations in Los Angeles whose transmitters are atop Mount Wilson, KROQ's (Class B) transmitter is located on Tongva Peak in Glendale at an altitude of 2650 ft., which results in somewhat weaker signal coverage.

In 2004, KROQ began broadcasting in HD Radio. On February 20, 2006, KROQ added streaming music from the radio station to its website. On June 9, 2006, KROQ launched an HD sub-carrier, KROQ HD-2, which airs new wave and alternative tracks from the 1980s which were popular during KROQ's heyday (and is also branded "KROQ 2: Roq of the 80s"). This somewhat justified the dropping of the long-running Flashback Lunch, until then nearly the sole remnant of the new wave and 1990s modern rock days.

In February 2010, CBS Radio, which controls the live stream, blocked access for listeners outside of the United States.

Steve Jones came to KROQ from Indie 103.1 with a Sunday night show called "Jonesy's Jukebox", which ran from 7 to 9PM during 2010–2013 before moving to KLOS.[28]

In February 2015, KROQ severed ties with both Boyd R. Britton aka "Doc on the Roq" and Lisa May after deciding to drop news and traffic. The news came as a shock for longtime listeners as Doc on the Roq had been reporting news for the station for 27 years while Lisa May had been reporting traffic for the past 24 years. Fans took to Facebook to boycott the station for not renewing their contracts.[29]

Although considered one of the legendary radio stations in the country and still a strong revenue generator for parent company CBS, ratings for KROQ have been rather depressed over the last couple of years. In fact, competitor KYSR moved ahead of KROQ in 2015 including a 3.4 to 2.3 lead in the most recent August 2016 Nielsen ratings.[30]

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom.[31] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.[32][33]

On March 18, 2020, Kevin Ryder announced on Twitter that he, Allie MacKay, Jensen Karp, producer Dave Sanchez and contributor Jonathan Kantrowe, had all been fired from the morning show.[34] Former afternoon co-hosts Ted Stryker and Kevin Klein are now hosting mornings and Megan Holiday has moved from evenings to afternoons.

• An article about KPPC by former KPPC disc jockey Ted Alvy
• An article about KPPC Radio 106.7 FM
• An article about KPPC AM 1240
• KPPC REVISITED