Lesourd Leaves Disney’s L.A. Radio Stations

Nineteen months after being named president and general manager of the three Disney-owned radio stations in Los Angeles--KABC-AM (790), KTZN-AM (710) and KLOS-FM (95.5)--Maureen Lesourd has resigned, it was announced Wednesday. Her replacement is Bill Sommers, KLOS’ longtime general manager, who retired to Idaho last year and is now moving back here.

The announcement was made by John Hare, group president, ABC radio stations. The press release from ABC Inc. in New York was terse, noting that Lesourd has “resigned to pursue opportunities outside of Los Angeles.”

Staff of the three stations were told of the changeover by Hare in a 10-minute meeting, attended by Sommers but not by Lesourd, who was behind closed doors in her office at the ABC complex on South La Cienega Boulevard.

According to a ranking KABC employee who was at the meeting, Sommers, after making some jokes about retirement, said he was ready to return and would meet with station employees individually.

Neither Hare, Lesourd nor Sommers could be reached for immediate comment.

Lesourd’s tenure was turbulent, marked by major personnel moves at talk-station KABC, the departure of the Los Angeles Dodgers and two format changes at KTZN, which had been KMPC.

The decision that generated the most controversy was the removal last July of Michael Jackson from his weekday morning slot at KABC after 30 years there, and within two weeks of his being named Talk Show Host of the Year by the National Assn. of Radio Talk Show Hosts. Callers jammed KABC’s switchboard and there were even pickets outside.

Jackson, who now is heard weekends from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., was replaced by San Francisco host Ronn Owens, who airs simultaneously on Disney’s KGO-AM and KABC.

In February, Lesourd turned talk-station KMPC into KTZN, having previously realigned the lineup to make it more appealing to women. But its ratings remained essentially flat, ranking in the mid-30s in the market among listeners 12 and over, and in August the station dropped the format and became part of the Radio Disney children’s network.

Nor was there improvement in KABC’s ratings. In summer 1996, according to Arbitron, the station ranked ninth with an average 3.3% share of audience among listeners 12 and older. In the most recent survey, covering the summer of 1997, the station ranked 11th with a 3.1% share. In the key 25-to-54-year-old audience that advertisers target, the station went from a 17th-place tie and a 2.1% share to 19th place and 1.9%.

A worse situation prevailed at classic rock station KLOS. Among listeners 12 and older, it went from 2.5% and 15th place in summer ’96 to an 18th-place tie and 2% in summer ’97. Among listeners 25-54, the station dropped from a 3.3% share to 2.9%.

According to Paul Heine, editor of Friday Morning Quarterback in Cherry Hill, N.J., a trade publication that deals with rock formats, “when Bill [Sommers] was there, they were doing an active rock format, targeting younger men, playing more aggressive music. Now it’s a lot more classic, targeting an older audience and women.”

Sommers, a 36-year radio veteran, has been with KLOS since 1973, joining as a salesman. Later that year he was named general sales manager. He was promoted to vice president and general manager in 1978 and was named president and general manager in 1986.

KABC host Jackson, reached in Palm Springs, called Sommers “a gentleman, and a gentle man, who is radio through and through. Here is a man who knows the Los Angeles market and the Los Angeles audience.”

Asked whether he thought Lesourd’s departure would mean his return to Monday-Friday broadcasting, Jackson said: “Who knows? But I’d love it.”

Dave Cooke, KABC program director and a Lesourd appointee, said he had been assured he is keeping his job. Asked whether there will be any changes in the host lineup, he replied: “None anticipated.”