Grant, Liddy Join KRLA’s New Lineup

KRLA-AM (1110), one of Southern California’s pioneering rock ‘n’ roll radio stations, confirmed Wednesday that it is abandoning its longtime oldies format in favor of a talk lineup that will feature former KABC-AM (790) mainstay Michael Jackson and the syndicated programs of Don Imus, Dr. Toni Grant and ex-Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy.

The new lineup will premiere Nov. 30, with Jackson scheduled to occupy the 9 a.m.-noon weekday slot that he held for nearly 30 years at KABC. He was demoted to weekends last year, creating a furor among many longtime listeners.

But Jackson may not be with the station at the outset because he is still under contract at KABC, said Bob Moore, vice president and general manager of CBS-owned KRLA and KLSX-FM (97.1). He will join the lineup “no later than the beginning of the year,” Moore told a news conference at the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills. Guest hosts will be featured in the interim.

Jackson, who attended the session, told reporters he was ecstatic about the chance to return to a weekday morning show and wasn’t upset by KABC’s position.

“I signed a contract,” he said. “It was a very amicable parting. I think they are being very understanding and generous. They’re entitled to that.”

As for coming to KRLA, he called it an incredible opportunity to be able to “start a whole fresh chapter in my radio career.”

Moore said that after CBS took ownership of KRLA in April 1997, he began reexamining what format would best suit the outlet. The research showed two things clearly, he said: First, that the music that had been the backbone of KRLA for more than three decades was no longer viable on AM because it wasn’t as clear as on FM, and second, that “People wanted Michael Jackson Monday through Friday. This came back in every piece of research we did.”

The executive predicted that KRLA will provide stiff competition for talk rivals KABC, KFI-AM (640) and KIEV-AM (870), but he downplayed the conflict with sister station KLSX, a talk outlet that features Howard Stern in the morning. Moore said the stations are targeted at different demographic groups and shouldn’t overlap significantly.

The KRLA weekday lineup will be Imus from 5 to 9 a.m., Jackson from 9 a.m. to noon, radio psychologist Grant from noon to 3 p.m., Liddy from 3 to 7 p.m., Ron Barr with a sports talk show from 7 to 10 p.m. (although he will frequently be preempted by live broadcasts of the Los Angeles Kings and the California Angels) and Ed Tyll from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. (in a simulcast of the show he currently hosts for KLSX).

Imus, whose show originates in New York, will be moving to KRLA from KLAC-AM (570), an easy-listening station where he has failed to make a dent in the ratings. His syndicator blamed a bad fit.

“Imus will be a total success on KRLA. He was not promoted whatsoever on KLAC,” said Joel Hollander, president of Westwood One. “There was management turnover and nobody understood him there.”

Grant, who helped pioneer the radio psychology show at KABC beginning in 1975, spent seven years away from broadcasting until reviving her career in March 1997. Her syndicated show was carried locally for two months on KTZN-AM but was dropped when the station switched to a children’s format. At KRLA, she’ll be heard opposite the popular radio therapist Laura Schlessinger on KFI-AM.

Liddy, who spent 52 months in prison for his role in the Watergate burglary, has had a syndicated talk show for years but hasn’t been heard locally since a brief stint at KIEV in 1991.

KRLA’s weekend lineup will be announced Monday.