Radio Station in Anaheim Airs Vietnamese Show

Just weeks after a Garden Grove movie theater near Little Saigon exchanged mainstream Hollywood films for foreign pictures aimed at the Asian-American market, a five-day-a-week, call-in radio program has debuted to help Vietnamese immigrants adjust to life in the United States.

The Vietnamese-language “Living in America” airs from 9 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays on KORG-AM (1190) and, like other programs on the Anaheim-based station, is “brokered,” or purchased as a block of time by producers, who then find their own sponsors. Most other radio stations create their own programs, then sell commercial time directly to sponsors.

The show’s hosts are Hong-Van and Tung-Le, who have broadcasting experience in the United States, France and Vietnam. Most calls so far have dealt with domestic problems, but on Wednesday, Westminster Mayor Charles V. Smith will talk about redevelopment in Little Saigon and the possibility of the city getting its first Vietnamese City Council member; on Thursday, Police Chief James Cook is scheduled to discuss crime prevention and Neighborhood Watch programs. Translators will be on hand at both appearances.

“Living in America” is a production of the Vietnamese American Business Assn. The group’s founders are Van Vo, a Westminster businessman, and George Ruckman, a Vietnam War veteran.

Vietnamese-language programming is offered on KSCI Channel 18, and on a small radio station in the San Fernando Valley, whose signal does not extend to Orange County. There are more than 30 Vietnamese-language publications in Southern California, Vo said.