KOST

For other uses, see Kost (disambiguation).

KOST

City of license	Los Angeles, California
Broadcast area	Greater Los Angeles
Branding	KOST 103.5
Slogan	Feel Good for the '80s, '90s, and Today (General) "Feel Good for the Holidays." (November- December)
Frequency	103.5 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date	1957
Format	Mainstream AC Christmas music (November-December) HD2: KFI Talk Radio
ERP	12,500 watts
HAAT	949 meters (3,114 ft)
Class	B
Facility ID	34424
Callsign meaning	KOaST (play on the word COAST, as in West Coast)
Former callsigns	KGLA (1957-1966) KADS (1966-1968)
Owner	iHeartMedia, Inc. (AMFM Broadcasting Licenses, LLC)
Sister stations	KBIG, KFI, KRRL, KIIS-FM, KLAC (AM), KEIB, KYSR
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	kost1035.com

KOST (103.5 FM, KOST 103.5) is a radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, with a Mainstream AC musical format. It is one of three Adult Contemporary-based formatted radio station in the Los Angeles/Orange County area, the others being sister station KBIG (Hot AC) and CBS-owned Smooth/Urban AC KTWV. The station is one of the top rated radio stations in Los Angeles and one of the top revenue billing radio stations in the United States. According to the radio industry website, RadioStats.Net, KOST's site is the most visited Adult Contemporary radio station website in America. KOST also has translators at 103.9 FM in Thousand Oaks, CA and at 105.5 in Ridgecrest, CA.

Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications until September 2014), KOST has studios co-located with its sister radio partners in Burbank, and has a transmitter atop Mount Wilson alongside most L.A. based television and radio stations.

KOST is often referred to as a "Superpower" Grandfathered Class B FM radio station. (See link below)

HD programming

KOST broadcasts in the HD (hybrid) format.

HD 2 KFI

History

KOST 103.5 logo used until 2013.

KOST was owned by radio icon Gordon McLendon in the 1960s, initially as KGLA, but later changed in November 1966 to KADS, when McLendon, with the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission, experimented with an all-advertisement format. One of its features was that listeners could purchase their own commercials on KADS, not unlike classified advertising in the newspaper. However, the format was not successful, and in March 1968, the station adopted the KOST-FM callsign, along with a substantially all-music format (i.e., no news bulletins), which was unusual if not unique given then-prevailing license obligations to broadcast at least some news. In 1973, Cox Communications purchased KOST and sister station KFI. KOST also aired a Beautiful Music format until November 15, 1982, when they switched to an all-hit Adult Contemporary format. Former Sacramento radio personality Bryan Simmons was KOST's first host when the station signed on with its new format.

On February 3, 1986, Mark Wallengren and Kim Amidon made their debut as KOST's new morning hosts. The "Mark and Kim" morning show was one of the longest running shows on Los Angeles radio.

In 1999, Cox Communications sold KOST and sister station KFI to AMFM, Inc., which was then purchased by Clear Channel Communications in 2000. Over the years, the station has had solid ratings. Until recently there had been little turnover among the airstaff. On November 29, 2007, morning show co-host Kim Amidon exited the station, followed by KOST's original midday host Mike Sakellarides and longtime traffic reporter Mike Nolan (who has since been rehired).

In October 2008, former San Diego radio personality Kristin Cruz joined Mark Wallengren as co-host of KOST's morning show. She was let go in May 2014. In 2009, the midday shift was voicetracked by former WLTW/New York personality Karen Carson. In February 2011, Karen Carson resigned and joined WWFS/New York. Both Christine Martindale and Ted Ziegenbusch filled in on the midday show until August 2011, when former KBIG midday host Kari Steele took over.

The radio station jingles were produced by JAM Creative Productions from 1985 until 2009 and had become an integrated element of KOST's stationality. They used jingles from Reelworld Productions, from 2009 through 2010. In 2011, KOST switched back to JAM Creative Productions for their jingles along with the classic musical signature sound that JAM created for the station.

On August 26, 2011, longtime KOST afternoon personality Bryan Simmons exited the station. Simmons had been on the station since 1982, with the exception of a two-year stint at KBIG from 2002 to 2004.

In December 2012, KOST radio personality Christine Martindale was among the layoffs of radio personalities in the Clear Channel Communications stations. On January 17, 2013, it was announced that Christine Martindale would join KKGO. Christine Martindale joined KKGO on February 4, 2013.

From November 2014 until February 2015, KOST's HD 3 signal relayed the syndicated Christian Rock station Air 1. But in early February, the station's HD 3 signal went dark and the HD signal of Air 1 moved to a subchannel on 92.3 KHHT.

Former KIIS-FM morning show and On Air with Ryan Seacrest co-host Ellen K took over the KOST morning show on October 19, 2015. Mark Wallengren, who had been part of the KOST morning show since 1985, will move to afternoons, replacing Bruce Scott.

Awards

In 2007, the station was nominated for the top 25 markets Adult Contemporary station of the year award by Radio & Records magazine. Other nominees included WMJX in Boston, WALK-FM in Long Island, New York, WLTW in New York City, WBEB in Philadelphia, and KEZK-FM in St. Louis.

External links

• KOST official website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KOST
• Radio-Locator information on KOST
• Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KOST
• List of "Superpower" Grandfathered FM stations