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Well yeehaw, Saul Levine is bringing country music back to the Los Angeles airwaves. The last indie L.A. broadcaster of any note has switched AM 540 from standards to the contemporary country format. No announcers yet on 540 Country, says Radio Ink, but that changes October 28 when former KZLA personalities Whitney Allen and Brian Douglas arrive.
"When KZLA went off the air, a lot of people wrote to us and said we were their only hope since we're the last independent station owner in the area," Levine said. "Country on KZLA left town because it wasn't making $40 to $50 million a year. We'll be happy with a fraction of that."
L.A. Radio.com had the news straight from Levine Wednesday. Levine recently won the rights to operate KKJZ, the Long Beach jazz station, and owns K-Mozart, He received a lot of love from LA Observed readers a few years ago when he picked up the old-time radio dramas dropped by KNX. The axing set off a bout of post-dramatic shock syndrome among LAO readers.
Also: Franklin Avenue observes that 540 has a weak signal in much of Los Angeles County.