KABC Trims Elder’s Show, Denies Black Boycott Link

Talk-radio station KABC-AM (790) is revamping its weekday afternoon schedule today, cutting Larry Elder’s show in half to accommodate the arrival of Ed Tyll, most recently the host of a midday talk program in Orlando, Fla.

In the new lineup, Elder will air from 3 to 5 p.m. and Tyll will get the last portion of Elder’s former four-hour slot, 5 to 7 p.m.

KABC spokesman Bill Lennert denied that a continuing boycott of the station--sponsored by a South-Central Los Angeles group known as Talking Drum, which considers Elder, who is African American, to be anti-black--had anything to do with shortening the host’s program.

“He’s been on the air through the entire situation,” Lennert said of Elder. “If we had caved in to the pressure, he wouldn’t be here.”

Asked about cutting Elder back, he simply said: “We like the flow of this lineup.”

KABC’s ratings in the 3 to 7 p.m. period--which also included Dodgers baseball--have remained consistent for the last year, averaging about 2.8% of the audience. Overall, the station averaged about 3%.

Elder could not immediately be reached for comment.

Dave Cooke, KABC program director and operations manager, said of Tyll: “He is a news junkie with a knack for talking about the issues that are relevant to listeners.”

In May, Orlando station WTKS-FM suspended Tyll for five days for using an obscenity on the air. The station’s general manager, Jenny Sue Rhoades, called it an “unfortunate comment,” noting that the seven-second delay mechanism was not working.

“Ed does such a good job of making people mad,” she said. “People love to hate him.”

Tyll, a broadcaster for 20 years, began as a talk host in 1982. He has worked at talk stations in Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. He is a graduate of St. John’s University in New York with a degree in journalism.