The station was founded in 1948 as KAGH. From 1950 to 1989, the station had call sign KWKW; it had a Spanish format for much of that time, including Spanish language broadcasts of Los Angeles Dodgers games. In 1988, the station was sold to NetworksAmerica; the following year, it converted to a multilingual Asian format in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese and became KAZN. Beginning in 1993, KAZN broadcast full time in Chinese.
Multicultural Broadcasting has owned KAZN since 1998. KAZN broadcasts talk and entertainment shows geared towards Mandarin speakers in the Los Angeles area. In the Pomona Valley, KAZN is simulcast on KAHZ.
History
As KAGH (1948–1950)
Founded as KAGH by Rose Bowl Broadcasters, a company headed by attorney Andrew G. Haley, the station signed on the air July 22, 1948 and was first licensed on August 6 that year as a 1,000-watt daytime-only station, with Pasadena its city of license.[1][2]Broadcasting-Telecasting magazine reported in August 1948 that KAGH had an "emphasis on public service as a community station."[2] KAGH also had an FM station, KAGH-FM, on 98.3 MHz.[2]
In 1949, Rose Bowl Broadcasters sold KAGH to the Southern California Broadcasting Company for $90,000.[3] By December 1949, KAGH was licensed to broadcast at night.[1]
As KWKW (1950–1989)
On February 16, 1950, KAGH changed its call sign to KWKW.[1]
Around the mid-1950s, KWKW began a full time Spanish format. In 1955, KWKW joined the Sombrero Network.[4] KWKW claimed to have had the first Spanish language broadcast of an American football game when it broadcast a game between Los Angeles State College and the University of Mexico.[5] Beginning in 1958, KWKW broadcast Los Angeles Dodgers games in Spanish right in the team's first season after moving from Brooklyn.[6]
In 1962, KWKW was sold for $1 million to Lotus Theatres, a company owned by Howard Kalmenson.[7][8] Beginning May 3, 1963, KWKW increased its daytime power to 5,000 watts.[1] KWKW continued its Spanish format upon purchase by Lotus.[9]
In 1988, KWKW was part of a swap where KFAC sold its 1330 AM frequency and transmitter site to Lotus for $8.75 million; Lotus then sold KWKW to NetworksAmerica.[10][11]
As KAZN (1989–present)
On January 18, 1989, KWKW officially changed its call sign to KAZN.[12][10] Co-founded by Dwight Case and George Fritzinger, NetworksAmerica converted KAZN into an Asian ethnic station branded "K-Asian" with programs in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.[13][10] In its first year, KAZN struggled to attract advertisers.[14]
In July 1991, Bang and Edward Kim purchased KAZN for $7.5 million.[15][16] Also that year, KAZN began broadcasting Los Angeles Dodgers games in Korean.[17]
Beginning in 1993, Edward Kim converted KAZN into an all-Chinese station.[18] On May 19 that year, KAZN carried the first Chinese broadcast of a Dodgers game in the U.S., a 5–2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.[19][20] KAZN initially broadcast in both Mandarin and Cantonese.[18]
In April 1998, KAZN was purchased by Multicultural Broadcasting for $12 million.[21] Multicultural Broadcasting also reformatted KAZN's programming to be completely in Mandarin and moved the Cantonese programming to KMRB.[22]
In June 2006, Arbitron ratings in Los Angeles and Orange counties found KAZN and KMRB to be the most popular non-English stations in the Los Angeles market.[23]
Operations and programming
Licensed to Pasadena as a Class B AM station, KAZN broadcasts from a six-tower transmitter in San Gabriel with 23,000 watts during the daytime and 4,200 watts at night.[24] Its studios are located on Green Street in Pasadena's Playhouse Village.[25]
^"Play-by-play in Spanish"(PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. Vol. 51, no. 14. October 1, 1956. p. 95. Retrieved April 30, 2021 – via World Radio History.
