Coming In From the Cold, Frosty and Frank Land at KLSX

After being unceremoniously bounced off the air at KYSR-FM (98.7) last September, radio-talk personalities Frosty and Frank are back.

On Monday the duo of Frosty Stillwell and Frank Kramer will slip into the noon-to-3 p.m. spot at KLSX-FM (97.1), along with Heidi Hamilton, another KYSR alum. The trio, with a talk show targeted to connect with young adults, will provide a more compatible lead-in for Tom Leykis, who’s in the 3-to-8 p.m. spot on the station, according to KLSX program director Jack Silver.

“This comes on the heels of the ratings success we’re having with [Howard] Stern and Leykis,” said Silver. The station jumped to 14th place in the market from 21st in the most recent Arbitron rankings, averaging about 650,000 listeners a week. “Our station hasn’t made a change in three years, but we had this window now to make a change, and Frosty, Heidi and Frank are the final piece of our puzzle.”

Timing, it seems, opened that window. Jonathon Brandmeier, who has been KLSX’s noon host, was due to either renew or opt out of his contract in January 2001. And Stillwell and Kramer had been “on the beach,” riding out their KYSR contract, which kept them from going back on the air in Los Angeles until it expired. Citing disappointing ratings, the station abruptly fired Stillwell and Kramer a year ago, pairing the third member of the team, Jamie White, with Danny Bonaduce. Hamilton, a former traffic reporter at KYSR, later left the station.

“Johnny B. is very well-respected and has for years been No. 1 in mornings in Chicago,” said Silver. “When he moved out here four years ago, we put together a deal with our sister Infinity station in Chicago to have him on both. . . . We had hoped his power in Chicago would also happen in L.A., but it came a hair short.” Brandmeier, who Silver said decided not to renew with KLSX, will continue his Chicago broadcast on WCKG-FM.

Though Monday, the first day of the fall ratings period, is the official start of the “Frosty, Heidi & Frank” show, Silver said they did a test run earlier this summer--dropping them in unannounced at 3 a.m. “These guys are professionals and they had all worked together and we knew it,” he said. Still, he says, hearing the team actually playing off each other on the air sealed it in his mind.

* “Frosty, Heidi & Frank” can be heard on KLSX-FM (97.1) weekdays from noon to 3 p.m.