KABC Restores Elder’s Show to 4 Hours

In the first key programming changes under its new leadership, KABC-AM (790) restored Larry Elder to the full 3-to-7-p.m. weekday afternoon-drive lineup, beginning today, and dismissed Los Angeles newcomer Ed Tyll, who in November under the previous management had been given the better, more listener-intensive latter half of Elder’s show.

Tyll, a talk veteran who was told Friday night after he went off the air that he no longer had a job at KABC, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Elder, the controversial African American host whose right-of-center views have made him the target of an advertiser boycott led by a South-Central community group, was told Wednesday night of the restoration of two hours to his program. He began broadcasting on KABC in the summer of 1995.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Elder, the self-styled “Sage From South-Central,” who has also practiced law and headed his own business in Cleveland. “I’m overwhelmed [and] grateful to so many people who made it clear that I deserved to have more time.”

Indeed, Bill Sommers, KABC’s president and general manager, who came on board in early December to replace the embattled Maureen Lesourd at the trio of Disney-owned stations here, said Friday that it was Elder’s popularity among listeners who phoned the station on his behalf and among local advertisers, as well as the host’s recent bump-up in the Arbitron ratings, that accounted for the move--rather than anything done by Tyll.

In KABC’s official announcement, Dave Cooke, the station’s operations manager and program director, said: “I regret that we don’t have room on our schedule to allow Ed to continue with the station. He’s a pro and a very talented host, and I’m sure Ed will enjoy continued success wherever he goes in the future.”

Cooke also said that “we’re fortunate to have someone with Larry’s immense talents at KABC, and we’re confident that Larry’s full potential in the ratings has yet to be reached.”

Sommers, the longtime head of sister station KLOS-FM (95.5) until initially retiring in 1996, explained that Tyll had arrived just before Disney ordered the changeover of talk station KTZN-AM (710)--now KDIS--to children’s programming from the Radio Disney network. “We had all this talent left over,” he said. “Tyll, Stephanie Miller, Larry. . . .”

Sommers said he began talking to Cooke three weeks ago about returning Elder to a four-hour show. That was just after the release of the fall Arbitron numbers.

During the broadcast hours of 3 to 5 p.m., Elder drew a 3.7% share of the overall audience ages 12 and older, compared to 3.2% by the rival KFI-AM (640) afternoon-drive team of John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou. Elder also drew ahead of the KFI pair among listeners 35 to 54--3.6% to 3.2%. However, in the key demographic of 25 to 54, which advertisers target, the KFI team led Elder, 3.1% to 2.7%.

Indeed, Elder had sent out a batch of faxes noting that “this is the first time in five years that KABC afternoon-drive time has beaten those guys” in all but one demographic.

Even before the ratings increase, Sommers said, he had been hearing from advertisers about how much they liked Elder: “Having been able to make sales calls, I am very shocked at the amount of positive response from advertisers who say--because they all knew I was going to make changes--’I hope Larry is still part of what you’re going to keep, because we’d like to be [a sponsor].’ ”

Sommers said the boycott, which has reportedly cost KABC $3 million in advertising, was never a factor.