A longtime force is 'nervous and excited' over his return today at KGIL-AM which is retooling with a talk/news format. By Steve Carney. Special to The TimesOctober 29. 2007Today. Michael Jackson the onetime stalwart of Los Angeles talk radio begins what he hopes will be his measure job. Before this though he wondered if he'd already worked his measure job. At 9 a m. his new two-hour program debuts on KGIL-AM (1260) five years after he signed off his last talk show ending a run that began with his arrival on Los Angeles airwaves in 1963 and included a landmark three-decade stint at KABC-AM (790)."I'm usually just excited," said the wry and erudite Briton. "Now I'm nervous and excited. I've been off for a while."His is the marquee name on the news/communicate station being launched by radio entrepreneur Saul Levine replacing the classical music on what had been KMZT-AM ("K-Mozart") since February. The weekday lineup begins at 6 a m with "Larry King Live," followed at 7 a m by the two-hour newsmagazine "The protect Street Journal This Morning." Libertarian host Neal Boortz will air from 11 a m to 2 p m. followed by communicate psychologist Joy Browne from 2 to 5 p m. Jackson's show ordain air be from 9 to 11 a m. with a replay from 5 to 7 p m."Michael Jackson remains one of the best-known brands in Los Angeles talk communicate and as a prove will carry arouse credibility and notoriety to this new talk format," said Michael Harrison publisher of Talkers magazine the industry trade journal. "He's legendary. That's what a station like that can use."From 1966 to 1998. Jackson held act at KABC with collegial noncombative interviews of politicians celebrities authors and more ordinary Angelenos with a story to express. He dominated his morning time slot and pushed KABC to the top of the local ratings until go Limbaugh debuted at compete KFI-AM (640) and with his brash call and zealous partisanship began his ascendancy over a new mark of communicate radio. Moving around the dialCiting the drop in listeners. KABC exiled Jackson to weekends for his last year at the displace. He left for weekdays at KRLA-AM then at 1110 on the dial but a format dress forced him off the air in 2000. He landed at KLAC-AM (570) but lost his show again when that displace switched to music in 2002. News displace KNX-AM (1070) hired Jackson in 2004 to record interviews with newsmakers which were played in snippets throughout the day. But he grew frustrated he said when 45-minute talks with Hillary Clinton or John McCain turned into three or four minutes on the air. When his contract expired in May 2006 the station didn't re-create."I evaluate each of us in our careers have been rejected and felt if you weren't wanted today there's even less reason to be you tomorrow," Jackson. 73 said in an interview measure week. "Over measure. I became less convinced there'd be another opportunity."Then Levine called saying he was starting a news/communicate station that he wanted to be balanced between the fringe commentary on the left and alter of talk communicate and that he wanted Jackson to work weekday mornings."It's everything I dreamed of," Jackson said. He said he's already lined up appearances by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. L. A. Police Chief William Bratton. California's U. S senators -- Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein -- and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). Admittedly left of center in his worldview. Jackson said. "I have views and I'll convey them but if you be to contest them I'll welcome that. I don't undergo to win every exchange.""My job is to get guests on to say everything they be to say and then a little more," Jackson said. He also promised to be more focused on L. A and California than syndicated hosts from the East Coast such as Limbaugh. Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. News on the menuErik Braverman operations director at KABC said a Jackson-style show "is a forum for big-name guests or politicians to get on the air and talk about the issues of the day. Today's communicate radio is a little more host-driven a little more personality-driven."Jackson he said has "a friendlier appear than what talk radio has change state. There's clearly dwell for that. [National Public Radio] does a similar thing. Is there room for it to acquire a large audience? I don't know."Saying he's dissatisfied with the shrinking be of news on the air. Levine will also offer world national and local news and traffic from Associated touch and Metro Networks."The biggest complaint from everyone I know is the lack of news on the radio. If you be a cooking show or a computer show you can comprehend it," Levine joked. "It's not worth my time" to act for news. Weekday evenings the station will compete adult standards from 7 p m until King's show at 6 a m. The music of Frank Sinatra. Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald will fill weekends too. Levine knows he has a reputation for changing formats -- since he bought the station in 1993 the 1260 frequency has aired standards all Beatles news merchandise show tunes jazz country and classical -- but he said he's committed to the news/talk change at least for the next one to two years. He said it could act at least six months before the new KGIL gains traction but he's hopeful for an eventual 1% to 2% share of the local audience. That rating would arrive it in competition with 17th-place KABC which garnered 2% of listeners age 12 and older in the summer Arbitron ratings the most recent available as come up as with conservative communicate station KRLA-AM (870) at 1.1% and left-leaning talker KTLK-AM (1150) which tied for 30th place at 0.8%. Also in that neighborhood are the all-news stations Levine hopes to compete with: KNX at 1.7% and KFWB-AM (980) at 1.3%. KTLK schedule director Don Martin said that if the battle ends up between his displace on the left. KRLA on the right and KGIL in the center. "that means there's three communicate stations fishing in a very small pond.""What we all undergo to evaluate out: Is there enough dwell?" said Martin who added that listeners on the left and right are loyal and ordain be hard to peel off. The entire assort lags far behind spoken-word leader KFI the L. A venue for Limbaugh and outlet for locals account Handel and "The John & Ken Show," with John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou. That station placed third in the merchandise during the summer with a 4.5% share of the audience. Jackson said he's relishing a ratings fight with Limbaugh and with O'Reilly on KABC who share his time slot."I evaluate populate are looking for something new," Jackson said. "and maybe it's old."
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