We have been repeatedly asked where former KKBT and KMEL DJ Theo Mizuhara is. Working with Theo was great. We know that Theodore's political affiliation is unknown; ethnicity is Asian American; and religious views are listed as Shinto. He originally started at KKBT doing overnights. Theo Mizuhara is a Cali-born Japanese-American. Theo was the most in-demand and biggest star at the station without question. Ross shared. The whole situation was a great lesson in not only racism but greed and betrayal and more even amongst our own. The NAACP organization at that time did not have the best reputation in Hollywood circles, and we were aware of that, but we didnt know where else to go. Plus, you actually can hear Theo and what he sort of sounds like on the air in the music video for Shanice since he's the radio DJ voice at the beginning of the video. If we hear anything, we will let you know. Radio Facts - Radio Facts He was good friends with the late Captain G (Greg Beasley), who was another jock at KKBT. people learn more about others, just like Yelp does for In April 2011, KHHT fired morning host Victor Zaragoza (now at KBLX San Francisco). Chancellor acquired stations from other groups that exited the market. On August 9, 2001, KCMG changed its call letters to KHHT, re-branded as "Hot 92.3", and shifted to more of an urban AC format. "[41] Jim de Castro, who was appointed as KFAC's general manager from Evergreen's WLUP in Chicago,[42] later admitted he won free use of that billboard for a month as the result of a golf bet. Paul remixed Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It", which had been a B-side song, and this remix was played first on KMEL. In November 2010, KHHT tweaked its direction again, shifting to a Gold-based rhythmic AC approach and reducing the number of currents. He's the most mysterious dude in radio, nobody's heard or seen him for a while and he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. On February 20, 2015, KHHT changed its call letters to KRRL to match the "Real" moniker. That voice has the kind comforting bass growl that soul men from Barry White to Isaac Hayes have used to entrance listeners for decades. The station's branding as "106 KMEL" remained in place for many years.[17]. Believe me, I know Theo personally and the guy in JJ's video isdefinitely not Theo - though close enough for some people who don'treally know Theo to think it might be him. The station's call letters changed to KFMS in November 1968, then KKEE in October 1972. KMEL also competes with Urban adult contemporary ("Urban AC") formatted KBLX (now owned by Bonneville). Report as inappropriate 3/14/2015 Big T. Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA 208 friends 89 Report as inappropriate to see possible family members, friends, co-workers, and associates found from multiple government records, social and public sources. Thats the beautiful thing about music, Theo, a somewhat shy man in his late 20s, says softly, with shadows hiding his face as he sits in a darkened office at the stations headquarters in Hollywood. Because the station broadcasts live via streaming audio from their website, it gives the genre a platform for possible worldwide exposure. Los Angeles, CA. KMEL suffered a setback in ratings between 2009 and 2010. THEY'RE LISTENING. Scan this QR code to download the app now. Other shows included Westside Radio, a weekly radio program dedicated to West Coast Hip-Hop (now airing on KDAY), and Street Soldiers, a weekly program dedicated to community issues and politics. The station went by the slogan "No Color Lines", proudly championing the diversity of the region. Ross shared. Hmmm is this guy the same DJ who used to play for SF based radio station,106.1 KMEL??? [60][61] After less than five months, on February 3, 1990, the station switched to rhythmic adult contemporary, while maintaining the "FM 92 The Beat" branding. Whatever. Racism in radio has gotten better over the years, but it was still bad in the 90s. So it's likemy stomach hurt.". When the switch was made at 5 p.m. on June 30, 2000, the formats and call letters did come along for the ride, with 92.3 becoming KCMG, "Mega 92.3", and 100.3 becoming KKBT, "100.3 The Beat". I always got a good laugh during his shows with his "game", advice, and settle clowning. [6] KFAC also slowly assembled an airstaff with unprecedented continuity and tenure, including, but not limited to: Thomas Cassidy,[7] Fred Crane,[8] Tom Dixon,[9] Dick Crawford,[10] Bill Carlson[11] and Carl Princi,[12] all six of which would be continuously employed by the station between 1953 and 1983. After Tupac got shot in 1996, DJ Quik got on the phone with Theodore DJ Theo Mizuhara and barely had the words to describe his feelings. I had come to realize how much power the press and organizations have but I planned to do things differently than the experiences I had with KKBT. Oddly, the three Black men that outlasted everyone, Micheal Mixxin Moore, Tre Black, and Captain G. are all deceased and died young. Navalny Where Is He Now? He switched to the Los Angeles outlet in 1993. 'Pac didn't get to jump on muchQuiksta production, though "Heartz of Men" stands out as one of the finest beats Makaveli ever rapped over. Lynell George is a Times staff writer. [77] The HD3 subchannel relayed KTLW in Lancaster, which carried Educational Media Foundation's Air1 format; the subchannel acted as a programming source to a network of analog translators throughout the southern portion of Los Angeles and Orange counties. [16] Because KFAC-FM made this move to Mount Wilson prior to the FCC enacting limits for power output by FM stations in 1962, it is formally classified as a "Superpower" FM by operating at a maximum power level, but with the antenna being placed well above the height limit. In the early 90s, Radio Facts CEO Kevin Ross was a DJ at KKBT in Los Angeles. The former outfielder spent five seasons in the Major Leagues. On February 5, 2015, iHeartMedia announced it was changing KHHT back to urban contemporary the following morning. After Manly and the station met several times, we were finally told that the situation had been resolved and KKBT would meet a list of demands, one of which was sponsoring the NAACPs breakfast meetings. By LYNELL GEORGE. * The other websites referenced on this site are owned and operated by their respective companies, and the associated trademarks and logos are the property of those companies. Mark McKay covered the mid-day slot, while Howard Hoffman took the afternoon drive time shift, Sonny Joe Fox covered evenings, Licia Torres hosted nights, and Mark Todd carried the overnight shift. It is currently one of the highest-rated stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the largest listening audience in the males 18-to-34 year-old demographic. He told me he was going to get a helicopter and fly it over the stations Summer Jam concert. One their worst moments was Theo Mizuhara as Programing Director and had balls big enough to rename the station 93.5 The Beat and picked up more syndicated shows such as Michael Baisden, Keith Sweat Hotel, Monique's radio show and Theo Mizuhara was the only live personality from 8pm . When asked about his growing popularity beyond the airwaves--record companies have hired him for production work and he has a recurring role on the Dangerous Minds TV series--Theo just laughs. He disbursed thousands of flyers while weaves and paper plates flew everywhere from the helicopter. This profile was gathered from multiple public and [15] Promoting her song "Slave to the Rhythm", Grace Jones visited the morning zoo in 1986, meeting Hall, London, and Engelman. The late Michael Mixxin Moore was brought in at the end of his career and he was considered a legend in the market. where is theo mizuhara now All of the former black male jocks felt the same way so that was nothing new to me. Much speculation led to 92.3 going active rock, possibly with the KMET calls. The station opted to bring in men who could emulate black culture instead of hiring black men, and thats not to take anything away from jocks like TheoMizuhara who I worked with. List of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia, List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KMEL&oldid=1144772489, Radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Urban contemporary radio stations in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2013, Articles needing additional references from December 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 15 March 2023, at 13:51. By using our site, you agree to our use of cookies. 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[69] However, KHHT was not a typical urban AC station; this station was one of the first urban AC's to play more old school/classic soul, the more mainstream-level R&B (barely-to-not playing neo-soul at all) and some rhythmic and Latino pop/R&B songs to cater to the Hispanic and Asian audiences that listen to R&B music in particular. [13], At the time KFAC-FM was established, it generally simulcast KFAC's programming, but began to deviate from this to participate in a series of pseudo-stereo concert broadcasts with KFAC from the Hollywood Bowl Amphitheatre, starting in 1953. My Lovin' (Your Never Gonna Get It) (Extended Mix) by En Vogue (1992) Hip-Hop / Rap / R&B. see all. Miller founded WERE and WERE-FM in Cleveland, and also owned WLEC and WLEC-FM in Sandusky, Ohio, and pledged to maintain KFAC's classical format. Apparently he was present at the Biggie shooting and it made him stay away from the music scene after that. Tre was out after that. Theo had a #successful #radio show on #LA's 92.3" Nobody has heard from him since. This same approach was also being used at sister stations KHJZ/Honolulu, KFBT/Fresno and WMOV-FM/Norfolk, Virginia, which are targeting Gen-Xers and concentrate on the latter two decades and play some currents in their presentation. Interview with DJ Theo @ thefunktionhouse. Psychedelic poster artist Victor Moscoso created the station's mascot: a camel wearing headphones. The FM station was originally licensed at 96.9 FM in 1946. Manly was very familiar with the racism problems at the station as our group was one of several black men who complained to the NAACPs Hollywood branch. My Lovin' (Theo's Cheaptrick Remix) by Theo Mizuhara (1992) Hip-Hop / Rap / R&B. George Michael is like that, too. Farmer went on to play college basketball at the University of Nebraska, where he became a star player. We know that Theodore is single at this point. In addition to its typical daytime mixture of hip hop and R&B, KMEL plays R&B and soul slow jams from roughly 10:00 pm to 1:00 am Monday through Thursday. All three stations saw good ratings numbers with this formula. This was mainly due in part to Arbitron phasing out the diary keeping approach to ratings for the PPMs. 1 = This station is a simulcast, in whole or in part. "And I can't help but to keep thinking about him. [51] KFAC's John Santana was hired by KKGO as a host,[52] and revived the Gas Company Evening Concert the following March, with former KFAC announcer Tom Dixon as host. List of "grandfathered" FM radio stations in the U.S. [53] Meanwhile, Evergreen tried to capitalize on the attention the week of KFAC's switch by running television ads locally on L.A. Law, the 1989 MTV Movie Awards, and The Arsenio Hall Show teasing the "new" format. [78] Winners were honored at the Radio Luncheon on April 17, 2007, during the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. sampled. Another station, WPGC-FM in Washington, D.C., would follow suit in July 2012). 4/9/2009. Manny F. San Francisco, CA; 1481 friends . His was the voice on the radio throughout the film Waiting to Exhale.. Sometimes Theodore goes by various nicknames including Theodore M Mizukara, Theo Mizuhara, Theodore M Mizuhara and Theodore Mark Mizuhara. "[10] Two on-air personalities hired in this era came from local college radio stations: Davey D from UC Berkeley's KALX and Kevvy Kev from Stanford's KZSU. KKBT's was the station chosen; it was sold to Radio One. Awards. The HD2 subchannel carries an all-news radio format, utilizing programming from the Black Information Network. It even plays Old School hip hop and soul during the midday mix show "The Twelve O'Clock Throwback Mix", "Funky Fridays" on Friday mornings, and mixed in general during their weekend playlist rotation. Ryan Haywood Where Is He Now? Previously cities included Oakland CA and San Mateo CA. While he was at the station, I dont think we spoke more than one sentence, and I was fired shortly after he started. [20], Chancellor Media (later AMFM Inc.) later purchased Evergreen Media (along with KMEL and KYLD), and AMFM was then swallowed up by Clear Channel Communications via a $24 billion deal in 1999. Finally, there was a meeting called, and the late Craig Wilbraham, who was white, declared the station employed a majority of black employees, but that was not true, and there were very few, if any, in management or decision-making positions.