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KAHZ

Coordinates: 34°01′48″N 117°43′35″W / 34.03000°N 117.72639°W / 34.03000; -117.72639
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
KAHZ
Repeater of KAZN, Pasadena
Broadcast areaPomona Valley
Frequency1600 kHz
BrandingKAZN AM 1300 中文廣播電臺
Programming
Language(s)Mandarin
Ownership
Owner
KALI, KALI-FM, KAZN, KBLA, KMRB
History
First air date
July 22, 1947; 77 years ago (1947-07-22)
Former call signs
  • KPMO (1947–1955)
  • KBUZ (1955)
  • KWOW (1955–1987)
  • KMNY (1987–2005)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID61814
ClassB
Power5,000 watts
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.am1300.com
KAHZ
Traditional ChineseKAZN AM 1300 中文廣播電臺
Simplified ChineseKAZN AM 1300 中文广播电台
Hanyu PinyinKAZN AM 1300 zhōng wén guǎng bō diàn tái

KAHZ (1600 AM) is a broadcast radio station in the United States. Licensed to Pomona, California, the station is owned by Multicultural Broadcasting and is a full-time simulcast of KAZN, a Chinese language station licensed in Pasadena.

The station first signed on in 1947 as KPMO. For nearly four decades, the station was owned by Dean H. Wickstrom and his family. KPMO began as a community radio station serving Pomona. In 1955, KPMO became KWOW. Throughout the 1960s, KWOW had a country music format. Then for much of the 1970s and 1980s, KWOW had an oldies format.

In 1986, the Wickstrom family sold KWOW to local investment advisor Edward "Buz" Schwartz. The station changed its call sign to KMNY in 1987 and was branded "Money Radio" after Schwartz's investment company. KMNY was reportedly the first 24-hour business news and talk station in the U.S. However, the station was controversial from the start, as Schwartz was under investigation by the state of California for securities fraud; the Federal Communications Commission fined KMNY in 1990 for multiple violations, including failures to disclose that guests purchased time on the station.

Multicultural Broadcasting purchased the station in 1998. Early in its ownership of KMNY, the station had a variety of its previous financial programming, music, and programming in Vietnamese and Cantonese. This time programming completely in Chinese, KMNY returned to business news full time in 2000. In 2005, KMNY became KAHZ and dropped its original programming to simulcast KAZN full time.

History

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As KPMO (1947–1955)

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Founded by Valley Broadcasting Company, whose partners included Dean H. Wickstrom, the station first signed on as KPMO on July 22, 1947, with 500 watts of power and was the first radio station based in Pomona.[2] It broadcast from a trailer in an orange grove.[3] An independent station not affiliated with any national network, KPMO included many programs sponsored by local organizations including community hospital Pomona Health Council, Mt. San Antonio College, and a Mexican-American arts group.[2]

As KWOW (1955–1987)

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After a brief time as KBUZ from September 23, the station picked up call sign KWOW beginning November 15, 1955.[4]

Around 1962, KWOW became a country music station branded "The Big 16 K-Wow".[3][5] After nearly a decade as a country station, KWOW changed to oldies around early 1972.[3]

In 1985, KWOW began broadcasting Cal State Fullerton Titans football and basketball games.[6] A 1986 Los Angeles Times column described its playlist as being "for aging flower children" and including hits from the early 1960s such as "You Better Move On" by Arthur Alexander and "Bristol Stomp" by The Dovells.[7]

After nearly four decades of ownership, the Wickstrom family sold KWOW to Edward "Buz" Schwartz, host of an investment talk show on KIEV in Glendale, for $1.75 million in October 1986.[8]

As KMNY (1987–2005)

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On March 12, 1987, KWOW changed its call sign to KMNY and its format to business news and talk, with the brand "Money Radio".[4][9] Operated by the Anaheim investment firm of the same name, "Money Radio" was reportedly the first station with a full-time business format.[9][10] The station broadcast from the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange upon its launch but stopped doing so after only a few weeks.[11]

However, "Money Radio" attracted controversy from its inception. Schwartz overstated the strength of the station's signal by claiming could be heard as far as Barstow and San Diego.[9] The California Department of Corporations was also investigating Schwartz for securities fraud, with his claims about KMNY's signal among the possible grounds.[9]

In 1990, KMNY was fined $10,000 by the Federal Communications Commission for failing to disclose that stockbrokers and investment advisors paid the station to be interview guests, among other violations of broadcasting law.[12]

In 1994, KMNY was the flagship station for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes minor league baseball team as it won the California League championship.[13]

Multicultural Broadcasting purchased KMNY for $7.55 million in September 1998.[14] KMNY's weekday schedule was changed so that Money Radio's financial talk ran from noon to 4, followed by a freeform music program from 4 to 8 p.m., Vietnamese programs from 8 p.m. to midnight, and Cantonese programs from midnight to noon.[15]

In a slight return to its previous format, KMNY changed its format to business news/talk in July 2000 albeit in Chinese, branded "Chinese News & Money Radio".[16]

As KAHZ (2005–present)

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KMNY changed its call sign to KAHZ on March 4, 2005.[4] In June 2005, KAHZ became a full simulcast of Multicultural Broadcasting's Mandarin Chinese station KAZN.[17] The simulcast continues as of 2021.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KAHZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b Federal Communications Commission Reports: Decisions, Reports, and Orders of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States, July 7, 1950 to June 28, 1951, Volume 15, Washington: Federal Communications Commission, 1965, pp. 583–587
  3. ^ a b c Fiorella, David. "KWOW AM: The Big 16". SoCalRadioHistory.com. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c https://fccdata.org/?facid=&call=KAHZ [bare URL]
  5. ^ "Our surveys for KWOW". Las Solanas Consulting. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Stewart, Larry (July 12, 1985). "After Years of Riding Cosell, Meredith Now Prefers Riding Horses". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  7. ^ McDougal, Dennis (April 6, 1986). "Radio in the afternoon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  8. ^ "Changing hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. Vol. 111, no. 14. October 6, 1986. p. 63. Retrieved May 2, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  9. ^ a b c d Weinstein, Steve (May 22, 1987). "Fraud probe, investor complaints: 'Money Radio' getting the business". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Tighe, John Charles (May 27, 1989). "KMNY Sends a Signal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  11. ^ Lippman, John; Bernstein, Sharon (September 15, 1991). "Business Radio Picks Up Static". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  12. ^ Bernstein, Sharon (July 24, 1990). "Radio Station Fined for Paid 'Interviews'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  13. ^ Stewart, Larry (August 19, 1994). "Putting Together a Tribute to Jim Healy Was Not an Easy Job". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  14. ^ "Media, Markets, & Money" (PDF). Radio Business Report. September 14, 1998. p. 16. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  15. ^ "KYPA drops gospel; adds Poorman's "Anti Radio"" (PDF). Los Angeles Radio Guide. Vol. 4, no. 1. 1998. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  16. ^ "AM 1600 [About]". KMNY. Archived from the original on June 25, 2001. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  17. ^ "KAZN AM 1300 & KAHZ AM 1600". Multicultural Broadcasting. Archived from the original on June 13, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  18. ^ "Our stations". Multicultural Broadcasting. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  19. ^ "KAZN 1300/KAHZ 1600 Station IDs Update as of 3/26/21". Los Angeles EAS. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19. Retrieved May 1, 2021 – via YouTube.
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34°01′48″N 117°43′35″W / 34.03000°N 117.72639°W / 34.03000; -117.72639

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