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blues
festival
Station
updates call letters to reflect current programming
By Miguel Lopez
Summer Forty-Niner
The KLON call letters
had been a part of the campus radio station since 1951 and
part of the jazz station since 1981, but on August 9, KLON-FM
(88.1) officially became KKJZ-FM.
According the assistant general manager of KKJZ, Sandie Frakes,
the change came almost without notice. The call letters KKJZ
became available from a jazz station in Portland and the FCC
approved the change.
“It came really quickly, it was a surprise when we saw that
these call letters were available to use,” Frakes said. “We
jumped on it. This name is going to be with us [as long as]
we play jazz, which hopefully is forever.”
Many other stations had call letters we would have liked to
have, but the FCC doesn’t allow multiple radio stations to
have the same call letters, Frakes said.
“We wanted the call letters to be able to better reflect the
music we play,” Frakes said.
“We wanted call letters that accurately reflect the best jazz
and blues radio programming in the country,” KKJZ General
Manager Judy Jankowski said.
The music format will remain the same. The different forms
of jazz, such as Latin jazz, afro-jazz and all aspects of
blues will still be the music KKJZ airs.
“The format is not going to change,” Frakes said. “We are
still going to be the same jazz and blues station we have
always been.”
“It was good that we changed because the call letters represents
our music better” Frakes said. “We broadcast worldwide as
a jazz station, but with the KKJZ name people right away know
its jazz.”
The name KLON was given to the university radio station, but
not until 1981 when the radio station started playing jazz
did KLON officially become the jazz station’s name.
Long Beach native and jazz fan, Nectali Diaz, does not think
that the name change will affect the listeners and their loyalty
to the station.
“I’m pretty sure they are going to play the same type of music,”
Diaz said. “I’ve always been a fan of KLON and going to be
one because they always play some of the best jazz.”
“It will take a little while before we start changing everything
that had KLON written on it, by the end of the year everything
should be KKJZ,” Frakes said. “The work order for the sign
outside has been submitted, so we are waiting for the logo
sign to change soon as well.”
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