Business Radio KBLA Will Debut Today

Having dropped its rap music format last month, KDAY-AM planned to turn into KBLA-AM (1580) today with round-the-clock business news.

Although business news will be the top priority for KBLA, the Century City-based station will also air general news stories, plus traffic and weather reports and some sports.

“Listeners will be able to get all the hard news,” said realtor Fred Sands, who purchased the station from Heritage Communications for $7.2 million last April. “It’s a full-service station but with a lot more business news. They’ll be able to get it all; what they won’t get are some of the minor stories that might be cute but really don’t have the impact.”

The 50,000-watt KBLA (for K-Business-L.A.) will air national news reports from ABC Network News and the Wall Street Journal news service, and will provide news-talk shows on various topics such as careers, personal finance and the state and federal deficit, said general manager Edward J. Kerby. It is targeted for business people 35 and over.

The station’s anchors will be familiar to radio listeners. KDAY newsman Lee Marshall will host “California Drive,” weekdays from 5:30 a.m.-9 a.m. with Hetti Lynne Hurtes; John Darin and Dick Spangler will co-anchor the “Business Day” segments from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily; and Chuck Ashman will host “Evening California Drive,” a talk program from 4 to 7 p.m.

The station will air a program from the Business Radio Network hosted by Don MacDonald and heard on 50 other affiliates from 7 to 10 p.m., said Darin, who also is KBLA’s program director.

“It’s amazing to me that in a city like L.A. this format is not already happening,” Sands said. “This is a city that’s obsessed with the business world. There are a lot of entrepreneurs in Los Angeles. Especially in these times, people are concerned more than ever about money.”

The station hopes to provide more in-depth business news reports and more frequent stock market updates than other all-news stations, Kerby said.

“I think people will turn to it for what they can’t get on KFWB,” said KFWB general manager Chris Claus. “Their radio station will serve a need that’s much more specific than what I can provide in our format, and indeed there will probably be a number of people who listen to business reports on our station that will tune to this other station from time to time for more analysis and more information.”