Quick short take: Awards and correcting an oops

Congratulations!: Two LA radio personalities will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards as part of this year's Golden Mike Awards, sponsored by the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California (RTNA). 
It's no surprise Pete Demetriou, who we've designated as the Dean of local radio journalists, is a recipient for this honor. Here's what's stated in the RTNA press release:

KNX’s Pete Demetriou has reported from the streets of Southern California for more than four decades, bringing virtually every big story from the Northridge earthquake to the 1992 LA Riots to the radio airwaves. When there’s breaking news, Demetriou is on the front lines. He’s won more than two dozen Golden Mikes.

Also receiving the honor, sadly posthumously, is KTLA's Sam Rubin. He was best known for his three decades offering entertainment news as well as red carpet coverage, but he also was heard on the local airwaves, including his time as a talk show host on KLSX and KMPC, plus providing updates on KNX and other LA stations:

Sam Rubin was the Entertainment Anchor for the KTLA Morning News for more than three decades. He interviewed virtually every big name in show business. Rubin was a founder of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and helped create the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Rubin hosted red carpet shows for events like the Academy Awards, as well as several entertainment programs. He passed away in 2024. Rubin will be honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award.

Others receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award include KABC sports anchor Rob Fukuzaki and KNBC investigative reporter Joel Grover.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented as a part of the 2025 Golden Mike Awards® show. Golden Mikes are presented annually by the RTNA, the non-profit organization representing broadcast news professionals in Southern California. It’s the 75th anniversary for the Golden Mikes. The awards honor the best in local broadcast journalism. 

The Golden Mikes will be presented on Saturday, March 29 at the Lowes Hollywood Hotel.

A FISH addendum: We commented on the farewell of The FISH 95.9 (KFSH) last Friday, prompted by the sale of the station by Salem Media to Educational Media Foundation (EMF). We offer two corrections.

First, the original station offering Contemporary Christian Music in Southern California and the US was Orange County's KYMS, which was prominently mentioned during the The FISH's farewell broadcast. The station switched formats from progressive rock to CCM in 1975, offering music from Maranatha! Music and other Christian labels, featuring the music of Amy Grant, Keith Green, Randy Stonehill, Steve Camp, Phil Keaggy, the Second Chapter of Acts, DC Talk, and other groups, plus various talk programs including "The Bible Answer Man" hosted by author Walter Martin.

Walter Martin, Arnie McClatchey

The station's general manager was former KEZY personalty Arnie McClatchey. “I became general manager of KYMS in Santa Ana and put on the first Contemporary Christian Music station in the nation," he said in a 1995 interview for Los Angeles Radio People from his home in El Paso. He eventually bought KYMS along with stations in Phoenix and Denver and kept them until 1983. "I took some time off and then I bought KELP/AM in El Paso in 1984, and I commuted from Southern California to El Paso for eight years until we moved here permanently in the early 1990s.”

The format continued until 1995 when the station was sold to Multicultural Broadcasting. The station, a 6,000 watt class-A FM station heard from Long Beach to Mission Viejo, is now "Radio Saigon" KALI-FM.

The second correction is the programming change of 95.9 FM. While KKLQ 100.3 FM offers the "K-LOVE" (not the same as Spanish KLVE-Los Angeles...you probably already knew that) format throughout most of Southern California, the La Mirada station has changed call letters to KAIA and offers the other EMF format known as "Air1," also a CCM format focusing more on worship bands and a bit more rock-oriented. Of note, Air1 originated in 1986 as K-LORD  (KLRD-Yucaipa) which eventually was acquired by EMF in 1999.

One more note: The KYMS call letters live on in North Idaho as the flagship station for a small "Today's Christian Country" network, streaming on the internet.

We'll let you know of updates to the blog, send your email to ayodaradio@gmail.com. Your information will be kept confidential.


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