A New KDAY

In another reverse of what had been an ongoing trend, another Spanish language radio station has actually flipped back to English.

KZAB 93.5 FM, which had been playing salsa music under the moniker "La Sabrosa", flipped at 12 noon today to an all-hip-hop format. (KZAB is licensed to Redondo Beach.)

The station is now referring to itself as KDAY -- call letters that will be familiar to Angeleno rap fans in the 1980s. The original 1580 AM KDAY has long been recognized as the nation's first all-hip-hop radio station.

The hip-hop format on KDAY, which launched in July 1983, is credited with breaking artists such as DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, LL Cool J and NWA. At the time, a 24-hour hip-hop station seemed ridiculous. A full time radio station dedicated to a tiny niche music format?

20 years later, of course, hip-hop KPWR "Power 106" dominates Los Angeles' radio wars. And another, KKBT "The Beat," has also been a market force for over a decade, thanks most recently to the strong Steve Harvey morning show.

It's too soon to tell whether this new 93.5 KDAY will live up to its famous namesake -- or if it will even get to keep the name (a radio station in Independence, Calif., actually operates under those call letters). I'm not even sure we need another all hip-hop station -- KPWR and KKBT do quite nicely, and on much more powerful signals. Perhaps a niche format would be better suited for the 93.5 frequency. Stay tuned.

Update: After listening to the station for a bit this evening, it appears the new 93.5 KDAY will focus (at least initially) primarily on classic hip-hop tracks. The majority of the playlist is comprised of classic tracks from the 80s and 90s. Perhaps that means the station has indeed carved out an interesting niche. But a station's sound also evolves in the days and weeks after a format switch, so we'll keep our ears out.

In other radio news, the latest Los Angeles market Arbitron trend numbers -- for the second part of the summer -- are out today and reported via Radio and Records here.