Favorite AM Station and Format
 

Steve Sobol had written:
|
| Funny that you mention KCBS. When I'm in an AM mood I listen to KNX 1070. I
| generally have little use for talk radio (although John and Ken occasionally
| have something entertaining to say over on KFI), and when I'm down in
| Greater Los Angeles, all of the other stations' traffic only covers Los
| Angeles County and Orange County. KNX's "extended" traffic coverage also
| covers the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino counties), including
| I-15 through southern San Bernardino County up into the Cajon Pass, the
| route I take to get home.
|
| I think I'll give KCBS a try next time I'm down there. Will be interesting
| to listen to the difference between the two stations.

KCBS is somewhat different from KNX. KCBS is usually pretty rigid
on its newswheel, much more so than KNX. In the morning, I do not
need a clock. I can tell what time it is by listening to what
KCBS is doing. On the other hand, KCBS seems to have a somewhat
more evenly paced style (story lengths plus the pace of newsreading)
than KNX. KCBS voices can be a little quirkier than KNX, i.e. there
are some reporters and anchors on KCBS who, while quite professional,
don't have a stereotypical news-announcer sound. I actually find
that rather refreshing.

Until about a year ago, KCBS could be somewhat laid-back. The
lockout, for example, was famous for the very long pause between
"KCBS" and "All-News 74". The lockout is now just "KCBS". The
bumpers were changed, too (whereas KNX hardly has any at all other
than the traffic sounder).

I think both are high-quality operations - the differences are
stylistic, but the reporting and presentation are quite
professional in either case.

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