KKHR 93.1 LOS ANGELES "Mark Hanson" September 21st 1985

In the late summer of 1983 station KNX-FM, which had been playing MOR and some current pop tunes, switched over to a total top-40 format.
They also changed calls to KKHR.

The format was well past its peak in 1983 when CBS shifted most of its FMs to CHR...most of those under consultant Mike Joseph, using his "Hot Hits" format. KKHR sounded a lot like the Joseph stations, but never actually was consulted by Joseph nor used the "Hot Hits" trademark.

KKHR "Hit Radio 93" was launched in late August, 1983, with Todd Parker at the mike, using the on-air name Jackson Armstrong, a.k.a. The Gorilla.
PD Ed Scarborough gave the station a ton more personality than the Joseph stations....a diverse playlist that somehow blended New Wave pop and rhythmic music.....and (once the reverb was dropped and the audio cleaned up six months or so in), an electrifying technical sound. Not to mention great jingles, and, by 1985, Charlie Van Dyke as the ID/promo voice.

The air staff included Lou Simon 6am-9am, Dave Donovan (killer voice talent Joe Cipriano) 9-12 noon, Christopher Lance 12 noon-3pm (replaced by The Slim One in 1985), "Jackson Armstrong" 3pm-6pm (after 1984), Dancin' Mark Hanson 6pm-12 midnight, and "Willie Sancho" overnights.

KKHR was born when KLOS was on the way down and KIIS was not yet entrenched as the market leader. KKHR was more entertaining than KIIS, with every bit as good a signal and, except for Rick Dees, it could be argued, better jocks. So why didn't it work? Simply put, CBS didn't support KKHR with a realistic promotional budget. At a time when KIIS was giving away a Porsche 944 every Friday with $25,000 in the glove box, KKHR was doing album and ticket giveaways...and not all the time (Slim often gave away cans of creamed corn (honest!) just to have something to give away). CBS wised up...a little....one Nissan 300ZX with $10,000 in the glove box....but far too late.

For a time, the station got respectable Arbitrons. But in the end, KIIS FM was king. KKHR threw in the towel in 1986, reverting back to an MOR format with a dash of AOR and changing its calls back to KNX-FM. (Although the FCC does not reissue three-letter calls, the station was able to do this because CBS still owned KNX-AM.)

Please welcome Mark Hanson in this remastered unscopped aircheck !

The Radiomania Team

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