Updates: Bill Handel and KVEN-Ventura

 

Getty Images: Vince Bucci

He's consuming a heart-healthy diet, so "nothing tastes good." The hospital's TV selection is "awful," he's finally getting his iPad so he can watch Netflix. He said he can't take a shower, so he has to get sponge baths from a nurse, who "arched her eyebrows when she saw my privates (remarking) 'you know Bill, that's not really impressive.'" And he feels fine, which means he's "bored silly." KFI morning host Bill Handel updated his listeners on how he's doing and why he'll be away for awhile.

The official diagnosis is endocarditis, which in Handel's case is related to his 2011 heart valve surgery. "(I have) an infection lodged in the valve, not uncommon." Because of the infection, he'll have open heart surgery to "carve out all that (infected) tissue...(earlier) they could have gone through the femoral artery, but they can't." Currently he's on a 24-hour penicillin drip.

Handel said he was reasonably healthy, working out regularly, saying he was asymptomatic. He said his angiogram showed "I have a heart, not a very big one, but I have one," and that he has "no plaque in my arteries, which is very interesting because I eat garbage...I seek the warning labels."

The surgery has yet to be scheduled ("it could be next week, next month") which means his return to his morning show is still undetermined. Handel said "if I do go under the knife, I'll have my surgeon do a play-by-play during the procedure (although) his English isn't very good." Wayne Resnick, guest host admonished Handel "don't do anything stupid." Handel said he'd call in every day, then changed his mind but promised to keep listeners aware of his progress.

For years, KVEN was the hometown station in Ventura. It offered a variety of different programming before settling on a news / talk format in 1980. One of their well-known alumni is Phil Hendrie, who developed his cast of characters while doing afternoon drive in1990. LARadio.com offers this recap of Hendrie's time at KVEN. 

For the most part "fed up" with the business of radio, Phil accepted the position for “$1,500 a month at the age of 38." At KVEN nothing was too wild and nothing out of bounds. "My program director (Rich Guilano) told me to prepare my show each day as if we weren't going to get a single phone call. We were interested in finding the theatrical boundaries, and then going a little beyond that."

Cumulus purchased KVEN along with seven other stations from McDonald Media group in 1999 for $41 million, the first stations Cumulus acquired on the West Coast.

The station flipped to an oldies format, renamed "1450 The Boomer," created by L.A. radio veteran Lee Marshall featuring Wolfman Jack and Dr. Demento. 2011 led to another format flip to sports, with KVEN being one of the first affiliates of the CBS Sports Radio network, plus offering the Los Angeles Dodgers and USC Football broadcasts. 

Apparently Cumulus sold the property where the KVEN towers are located, part of their strategy of selling as many as 250 tower sites to reduce company debt. Rather than build new towers or diplexing from an existing facility, Cumulus has decided to shut down KVEN and surrender the station's license. This leaves the market with one AM (KVTA) and a handful of FM stations and translators, plus a number of Los Angeles stations can be heard clearly in the Ventura / Oxnard area.

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