Luna Takes a Morning Berth at KLAX

Humberto Luna, whose wild and irreverent style has made him one of the best-known Spanish-language radio personalities in Southern California, is jumping from KTNQ-AM (1020) to KLAX-FM (97.9), where he’s expected to make his debut this morning.

Luna, whose contract with KTNQ expires in August, presented KTNQ President and General Manager Richard Heftel with a letter of resignation Dec. 18, his last day on the air.

Hector Elizalde, Luna’s manager, called the departure amicable, saying “there’s been no harsh exchange. It’s been extremely professional.”

But the resignation letter made no mention of Luna’s intention to join a rival station, according to Heftel, who also manages KLVE-FM (107.5) and KSCA-FM (101.9), the only Spanish-language stations in the market that outperform KLAX.

“We’re reviewing our options,” Heftel added. “We’re looking into whether we want to enforce anything [contractually].”

According to published reports, Luna’s 1989 contract with KTNQ made him Spanish-language radio’s first $1-million man. And though his agreement with KLAX includes a raise, Elizalde says money was only one of his client’s concerns.

“There are decisions that are not only business decisions. You have to look at other ramifications,” he said. “It was a combination of things. Music was definitely something Humberto always wanted. FM, he certainly wanted that.

“It’s time now for him to seek other opportunities.”

Luna, 50, has had a daily morning show on KTNQ for more than 20 years, the longest unbroken streak of any radio personality in the market. But he grew disenchanted when the station abandoned its format of Mexican regional music for talk a few years ago. And while Luna once had the highest-rated Spanish-language show in the market, for the past two years he hasn’t even had the top-ranked show in his own office: KSCA’s Renan Almendarez Coello and KLVE’s Pepe Barreto, who broadcast from studios just down the hall from Luna’s, have daily audiences as much as three times larger.

Although Luna claims to have discovered Almendarez, and even brought him to KTNQ as his on-air sidekick 13 years ago, Heftel’s decision to give Almendarez the morning slot at KSCA undoubtedly played a major role in Luna’s decision to leave. Luna clearly coveted the high-profile FM signal--which Heftel Broadcasting began leasing from Golden West Broadcasting 23 months ago--and the station’s format of regional Mexican music, but the company’s decision to go with Almendarez quickly proved prescient as his show shot to the top of the Arbitron ratings in less than nine months.

At KLAX, Luna will return to the format he prefers, mixing music with jokes, pranks calls, skits and character sketches. And as host of KLAX’s morning drive-time show from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays, he’ll go head-to-head with Almendarez.

KLAX’s luring of Luna, which has been rumored for weeks, is just the latest--and certainly the boldest--of the station’s attempts to bring consistency to a time slot that has known mostly chaos the past year. Since KLAX moved the popular team of Juan Carlos Hidalgo and El Peladillo to the afternoon last January, the station has run a number of deejays through its morning show, the most recent being Lupita Del Castillo.

In October, the station hired Phil Jones as its fourth program director in 12 months, and Jones quickly moved to refine KLAX’s playlist of regional Mexican music, airing longer music blocks and fewer commercials, moves that have driven ratings up slightly.

“But the music alone can’t take you to No. 1,” says General Manager Eddie Cancela. “You need a morning drive guy, [and] Humberto’s the godfather of all the Spanish deejays.”