The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 138

FRIDAY. DECEMBER 1. 1989 F25 I ANCLLES TIMES Disney KOs KHJ-TV Now It's 'KCAL; California 9' of the history remains the same. "We have in our lobby a great fresco mural which RKO has had here forever, with lots of pictures of famous stars that have been involved with RKO," Byrne said. "That's history.

Somebody said, 'Oh, we have to paint that and I said, 'Not on your We can't preserve the good things in the history of KHJ in the call letters, but we can preserve something like the mural." city schools in the wake of Proposition 13. Over the years, such local television personalities as Baxter Ward, Hal Fishman, George Putnam, Larry Burrell, Nathan Roberts, Geoff Edwards and Meredith McRae have called KHJ home. Byrne said that he and others felt some uneasiness about obliterating the name of a station that had been part of Los Angeles for 38 years. The are history, Byrne conceded, but at least some other week. And even with all of that we managed to present a pretty good front." KHJ started "The Million Dollar Movie" and, with a couple of "Elvira" specials, was the first station in the city to broadcast in 3-D.

The station was home for "Groovy," "Boss City" and "The Real Don Steele Show" as well as the annual "Your Choice for the Oscars." "Government on the Line" enabled viewers to call in and talk directly to local and state politicians. A "Save Our Sports" telethon, Baker said, was instrumental in saving the sports programs at Los Angeles before the Disney sale was consummated, had been in trouble for more than 20 years because of a licensing dispute between its parent, RKO, and the Federal Communications Commission. Those problems had forced the station to air an unusually large amount of public-affairs programming, which contributed to its dismal ratings. "KHJ was known as such a rag for so many years, this change might make the people at the station feel good," said Rick Feld-man, station manager at KCOP Channel 13. "But odds are it doesn't mean anything in terms of adding viewership.

It didn't mean anything for KNXT to become KCBS in April, 1984. This is not going to change a thing. It's a non-issue." Byrne said that the station looked at lists of new call letters before settling on KCAL. Two radio stations in Redlands already were using those letters, however, so, Byrne said, KHJ paid them a "large undisclosed fee" for permission to use them too. "We thought KCAL was terrific," Byrne said.

"California is what we're all about." The thinking, Byrne continued, is that the new name will give the station a more local flavor. Since KTLA Channel 5 and KLAC-AM (570) already had Los Angeles in their names, "California 9" was the next best thing. "Southern Californians and Northern Californians all identify themselves as Californians," Byrne said. "It ties into the self-image we would like to have. I would hope that it would help people in all of Southern California in Riverside and San Bernardino and Orange County as well as L.A.

to identify with the station." The station first went on the air experimentally in 1931 as Don Lee Television's W6XAO. It became Television: A fresh image is cited as the reason. The change follows the departure of veteran staff members. By STEVE WEINSTE1N KHJ-TV, the station that brought Southern California viewers everything from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, to a live call-in show with local politicians to the Lakers' new Yugoslav center Vlade Divac reciting a station identification in his native tongue, lives no more. On Saturday, the Walt Disney first and only television station will change its name and call letters to "KCAL, California 9." "In our research, KHJ, after all these years on the air, had a non-entity image," said Blake Byrne, Channel 9's president and general manager.

"And we decided we would like to have a name that at least had the potential to create a positive image." Since Disney took control of KHJ-TV last December after buying the troubled station from RKO for $320 million, the station has seemingly been intent on severing all ties to the past. Longtime general manager Chuck Velona was ousted, as were veteran news director Stephanie Rank Brady, news anchors Wendy Gordon, Tom Lawrence and Lonnie Lardner and sportscaster Scott St. James. Walt Baker, Channel 9's vice president of programming, who had been with the station since 1967, resigned last month. Changing its name and logo apparently exorcises the last ghost from Los Angeles' perennially last-place VHF TV station, '5v Uteri mm rjlSSafli KHJ in 1951.

The call letters, one ex-employee said, stood for kindness, happiness and joy. The latter was often difficult to muster in the years before the sale to Disney. "We had to be more innovative than would normally be expected because of the lack of financial support that we had," former program director Baker said Thursday. "RKO was spending a ton of money on lawyers in a gigantic battle to save the license. At one point for more than a year we had at least one Washington attorney in the building at all times and I was flying to Washington every who's on TornGirr? Join host Ralph Emery and find out, on "Nashville Now." Tonight at Gil coo Lire ft 1989-1990 Texaco-Metropolitan Opera Radio Schedule 1989 CLASSICAL SAVE ON EVERY CLASSICAL RECORDING FROM THESE ARTISTS! i I MET MARATHON DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN (R.

Strauss). ILTRITTICO (Puccini) ILTABARRO SUOR ANGELICA GIANNI SCHICCHI LESCONTES D'HOFFMANN (Offenbach). DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER (Wagner) 1990 TU RAN DOT (Puccini) COSI FAN TUTTE (Mozart) PORGY AND BESS (Gershwin). LA GIOCONDA (Ponchielli) LA TRAVIATA (Verdi) SAMSON ET DALILA (Saint-Saens). R1GOLETTO (Verdi) FAUST (Gounod).

50TII ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION. MANON LESCAUT (Puccini). nm aiit 4 .5 BEETHOVEN Itzhak Perlman Daniel Birenboim BERLIN PHILHARMONIC 11.99 CD 6.99 CASS KERI TE KANAWA VERDI PUCCINI ARIAS 11.99 CD 6.99 CASS i fumm i rca Victor OWTAMS CLEOUUNE HENRY HAHCINI 35.97 4CD 20.97 4CASS DECEMBER 6 TOnaiNcl westwood 'M IUCODOED mm. II 11.99 CD 6.99 CASS III4 1 Tt I I I AnuAAnlU I 2 9 16 10:30 am 9:30 am 10:30 am 23 -December 30 10:30 am 10:00 am 10:00 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 9:30 am 10:30 am 9:00 am -January 6 January 13 January 20 January 27 3 -February 10 17 -February 24 March 3 March 10 March 17 March 24 March 31 April 7 April 14 April 21 All Times Local FM91.5 mm mr vi Mi tiiitM IP UJJUULL COMPACT DISCS $1199 each REG -JISW 11! DIE ENTFUHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL (Mozart). LA BOHEME (Puccini) DIE WALKURE (Wagner) DON GIOVANNI (Mozart) GOTTERDAMMERUNG (Wagner) New Production Tune in every week to the live "Saturday Afternoon at the Met" radio broadcasts.

Save this Guide. For a free illustrated Broadcast Guide, call toll-free 1-800 MET-1989. Please send your opera questions to Texaco Opera Quiz, Suite 1812, 101 Park New fork, NY 10178. JEFF BECK'S GUITAR SHOP WITH THWY BOZZB MO TONY HYMAS Including: Stand On ItBig BJockGuHar Shop Iwo RhMraDay In Tha Houm Tune in KUSC BEETHOVEN THE NINE SYMPHONIES Roger Norrington LONDON CLASSICAL PLAYERS 47.96 CD 6 CD STEPHANE GRAPPELU YO-YO MA "ANYTHING GOES" Millie of Cola Portar Pi 1' 11.99 CD 6.99 CASS i -mm. i RIGOLETTO PAVAROTTI NUCCI "ANDERSON CHAILLY JESSYE FRENI SHIC0FF ESTES OZAWA.

35.97 3 CD SALE ENDS ipnoon 23.98 2 CD RAY VAUGHAN CASSETTES AND SALE PRICES COCO 1HRU 125W. $(99 each me II III STEVIE DOUBLE TROUBLE INSTEP Including: CranflraTlgnlioM Wall 01 DanlaWhrttfa Pandit Tha Houm It Rocfcin' ill ilfi PRODUCT SUBJECT TO STOCK ON HAND. OPEN 9AM TO MIDNIGHT 365 DAYS A YEAR HHIl i rm il mi rl ff mi jrn PANORAMA CITY NOHTMRIDOB WEST HOLLYWOOD III? itm lUwtmw Cm muMlw )WMcm mi toatwlw SHERMAN OAKS BREA WEST COVIN A Created in the glorious time of King Louis the XIV Chambord has the deepest, richest black raspberry taste of any liqueur in the world. uiuna I iLTom Ma I.MIM KMII I II tH I mVMX I MMM UMMI CQlTcAlit''.