PEOPLE : KCBS Fires Program Director

The oldies station KCBS-FM (93.1) named a new program director Friday, a day after the fall Arbitron ratings ranked the CBS-owned station a soft No. 24 in Los Angeles.

The station drew a 1.4 share of the audience, about the same as last summer’s Arbitron rankings of 43 of the greater Los Angeles area’s roughly 80 stations.

Tommy Edwards, formerly program director for CBS station WODS-FM in Boston, replaced Dave Anthony, who came from KQQL-FM in Minneapolis two years ago, said KCBS General Manager Dave Van Dyke.

“We had been discussing for quite a while what we wanted to do in 1992, and what our plans were for the year,” Van Dyke said. “It was one of those things where we agreed that we disagreed about what was best for the station in the coming year.”

Anthony said he had hoped to make some changes this year at KCBS, including a wider play list, to distinguish the station from oldies competitor KRTH-FM (101.1), which tied for No. 6 in the fall Arbitrons.

“Ratings dictate what happens to you in this business,” Anthony said. “There were some things I wanted to accomplish last year but wasn’t able to because of internal and marketing obstacles.”

KCBS changed its call letters from KODJ last July when research revealed that KCBS was easier to recall. Van Dyke said KCBS has no plans to ditch its oldies format in 1992, but has doubled last year’s marketing budget to help bring KCBS-FM to the public’s attention.