KABC-AM Retools Afternoon Schedule

Now that the Dodgers season is over, KABC-AM (790) is putting more drive into its afternoon drive-time programming while cutting back on sports.

The weekday changes, instituted Thursday, revolve around the troubled “Sportstalk” program hosted by Ed (Superfan) Bieler, which has not been as successful in its ratings as station officials had hoped.

Bieler, who had a four-hour show from 4 to 8 p.m. last year when the Dodgers ended their season, was cut back to a two-hour show, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Leon Kaplan, the self-proclaimed “Motor Mouth to the Stars” who currently hosts a Sunday show on KABC, has been given the 7 to 9 p.m. slot to dispense automotive advice. Talk-show host Ira Fistell, who had been on from 8 p.m. to midnight, will now be heard beginning at 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, “Dueling Bills,” the one-hour political commentary show featuring Bill Press and Bill Pearl, has been expanded by an hour, and will air from 3 to 5 p.m.

KABC also said Thursday that it is shaking up its weekend lineup:

* Steve Edwards, the co-host of “A.M. Los Angeles” on KABC Channel 7, has been signed to host a Sunday talk show from 10 a.m. to noon.

* Peter Tilden’s Saturday show, which aired from 3 to 5 p.m., has been moved to 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with “The Pet Show” moving to a 1 p.m. start and “The Food Show” to 3 p.m.

* Restaurant critic Elmer Dills’ Sunday show, which airs from 4 to 8 p.m., will now end at 7.

* Another new show, “Electronic Goodies and Gadgets with Steve Kruschen,” will debut Sunday from 7 to 8 p.m.

Michael Fox, operations director for KABC, denied that the changes in the weekday afternoon schedule were made in response to the disappointing showing of “Sportstalk.” He said that the conclusion of the Dodgers season allowed the station to add “some interesting personalities.”

“We have wanted to expand the ‘Dueling Bills’ to enable them to be more flexible,” Fox said. The show will add a weekly segment in which listeners could call in with “the most outrageous news story of the week,” he said.

“We also wanted to bring Leon Kaplan on because his Sunday talk show is so popular,” he said. “People have been clamoring for more Leon. He’s a down-to-earth individual that people really seem to like.”