It’s been a smooth ride for KOST radio

Tonight will be 25 . . . along the KOST.

It’s not the signature weather report from the station at 103.5 FM, but a silver anniversary -- the “soft rock with less talk” outlet launched Nov. 15, 1982. Ever since, it’s kept competitors at bay by continually adding new music within its format and maintaining a grown-up environment that’s also safe for kids.

“It’s very unusual in this day and age to have that kind of longevity,” said Keith Berman, adult-contemporary editor of the trade magazine Radio & Records. “The jocks have created such a warm atmosphere, it’s a family. For a lot of people, it’s like an audio version of home.”

KOST’s adult-contemporary format, which at the beginning meant Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow, now relies on artists such as Celine Dion, Prince and Michael Buble.

Some things haven’t changed, though. Midday host Mike Sakellarides has been with the station from Day 1. Afternoon DJ Bryan Simmons launched KOST, when he worked overnights, and has remained except for a 2 1/2-year stint at sister station KBIG-FM (104.3).

Morning team Mark Wallengren and Kim Amidon have been on for 21 years. And on Dec. 27, Karen Sharp, host of the nightly request and dedication show “Lovesongs on the Coast,” will mark 20 years at the station.

“I’m the youngest kid on the block, believe it or not,” she said. “I think we’ve become a part of everyone’s family. People like having us around.”

“Family” is almost a mantra at the station. Although it targets listeners ages 25 to 54, a demographic prized by advertisers, it strives to stay appropriate for all ages -- from the jokes on the morning show to the lyrics in its songs. And that ethos becomes obvious every winter, when KOST switches to wall-to-wall Christmas music, as it has since 2001.

By updating its playlist and making sure the station is palatable for parents and kids, KOST breeds new generations of fans.

“There are some 18-year-olds who have listened to us their whole lives,” Amidon said, adding that her 11-year-old daughter likes Black-Eyed Peas siren Fergie as well as the Beatles. She can hear both on KOST.

For a station that has shown such longevity and consistency, the beginning came in a mad rush.

KOST was floundering as an easy-listening station -- “Or, as they say, ‘elevator music,’ ” Simmons said. It was in third place among the three “beautiful music” stations in the market, said Jhani Kaye, a KOST program director and consultant from 1982 to 2005.

Then-owner Cox Communications of Atlanta had just successfully flipped its WSB-FM in that city from beautiful music to adult contemporary and wanted the consultant responsible, Mary Catherine Sneed, to do the same for KOST. She brought Kaye from sister station KFI-AM (640), then playing Top 40 music, to be program director.

Simmons was hired from his previous station in Sacramento on a Tuesday and arrived in Los Angeles on Friday. The staff made practice runs throughout the weekend, then Simmons was on the air at 12:01 Monday morning.

Four minutes before the deadline, the staff had just finished recording enough music to program the station, said Kaye, now at KRTH-FM (101.1).

“It was a very exciting time,” he said. “We didn’t know if our music computer was going to work or not.”

The previous DJ signed off with a Rupert Holmes song, then Simmons signed on with America’s “You Can Do Magic.” “It seemed right,” Simmons said. “We were hoping to do something magical.”

If the format change succeeded, Kaye said, “we were hoping to get 10 years. That was wildly optimistic.”

Since then, KOST has remained the top-rated adult-contemporary station in the market, and its competitors at the time -- such as “Magic 106” and “K-Hits” -- have long since disappeared. Even its previous nemesis and now sister station, KBIG, was never able to beat KOST in the ratings.

When ownership changed hands -- from Cox to AMFM Inc. to Clear Channel Communications, all in 2000 -- none messed with KOST’s format or air staff, unusual for a new owner.

“There are some crown jewels of the city, and KOST is one of those. It has such a strong, dominant position, you just don’t change that,” said Greg Ashlock, L.A. market president for Clear Channel, the chain that also owns KBIG, KIIS-FM (102.7), KYSR-FM (98.7) and five others in L.A. “It’s always upbeat, it’s always positive. People want that escape, and they know they can get it there.”

Listeners can be proprietary about their favorite stations, a feeling compounded when one has been as long-lasting as KOST. That loyalty helps perpetuate the station’s success, making it hard for a competitor to peel away listeners.

“They have such a lock on that audience it has discouraged others from jumping in that lane,” Ashlock said.

Although KOST doesn’t get the same attention as younger-targeting stations such as the Top 40 KIIS or alternative outlet KROQ-FM (106.7), Ashlock called it “quietly dominant.”

In the most recent Arbitron ratings, charting listening habits in the summer, KOST finished fifth in the Los Angeles market, with a 3.7% share of the total audience -- tied with hip-hop station KPWR-FM (105.9) and just behind KROQ.

“It’s not that flash in the pan, shock the listener,” Amidon said. “Stations come and go, and we’re evolving. The reason it works is we play really great songs. A good song is a good song, whether they’re 2000s or 1970s.”

Wallengren challenged the notion that “consistent” equates with stodgy, or that “soft rock” is code for boring. “Call KOST 103 a guilty pleasure, call it whatever,” he said. “But I bet, of the 10 radio buttons in your car, one of them is there.”