FIRST OFF . . .

With 60 seconds of silence “out of respect and admiration” for Southern California’s classical music radio station, KFAC-FM passed into the ether at 1 p.m. Wednesday . . . replaced by the sounds of a heartbeat and the blaring beat of the Rolling Stones. Thus ended the career of the long-time classical station that today becomes “rock with a beat” KKBT. Listeners tuning into 92.3 FM after KFAC went off the air continued to hear the heartbeat and bits of rock music as teasers throughout the rest of the day. KKBT will start up full blast at 1 p.m. today, and the station’s morning man, Paul Rodriguez, will have his first day on the air Friday from 6-10 a.m. KFAC’s last hour included carefully scripted farewells and passing the classical baton to KUSC-FM. Only announcer Rich Capparela seemed to show any genuine emotion as he broke from the script to say that “while it’s too late to save KFAC, we should be able to draw a lesson from its passing. . . . Radio has become a bull market for investors and succumbed to the profit motive, but it’s not too late to stave off attacks on other fronts. Just this once, let L.A. not be a trend setter for the country.”