KECA was a historic Los Angeles radio station that operated on various frequencies over its 25-year life, most famously as the flagship outlet for the Blue Network (later ABC) on the West Coast. Its call letters stood for Earle C. Anthony, the pioneering automobile dealer and broadcaster who owned and operated the station from its inception until its sale in 1954.
1921–1928: The Anthony era begins
Earle C. Anthony, a Packard automobile distributor in Los Angeles, had already launched one of California’s earliest stations, KFI (1922). He wanted a second station to promote his dealerships.
March 1929: KECA signs on
KECA first went on the air experimentally in 1928, then officially on March 11, 1929, licensed to Earle C. Anthony Inc.
Original frequency: 1430 kHz (later moved several times under FRC/FCC re-allocations).
KECA was one of the first Los Angeles stations to be an NBC affiliate (sharing affiliation with KFI, which carried the Red Network while KECA carried the Blue Network).
1931 – Moved to 1390 kHz
1934 – Moved to 790 kHz (daytime) and **1430 kHz (nighttime) under NARBA shifts
By the mid-1930s KECA was the full-time Los Angeles affiliate of the NBC Blue Network (while sister station KFI carried the NBC Red Network).
1941–1942: Move to 790 kHz full-time
After the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), KECA settled permanently on 790 kHz with 5,000 watts, using a three-tower directional array in what is now the City of Industry.
1942–1945: The Blue Network becomes ABC
Because of FCC anti-duopoly rules, NBC was forced to sell the Blue Network in 1943. The Blue Network was renamed American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1945. KECA instantly became the key West Coast station of the new ABC radio network.
1940s–early 1950s: Programming highlights
Breakfast Club (Don McNeill)
Major league baseball (Dodgers and later Angels games in some seasons)
Dramatic anthologies (Lux Radio Theatre when it moved to ABC, Inner Sanctum, etc.)
Local personalities such as Dick Haynes, Ira Cook, and the all-night “Birdland” jazz shows.
It also carried ABC Radio News with commentators like Walter Winchell, Paul Harvey (early in his career), and Drew Pearson.
1949: KECA-TV Channel 7 signs on
Earle C. Anthony launched Los Angeles’ second television station, KECA-TV on channel 7 (today’s KABC-TV), making the radio station part of one of the earliest radio/TV combinations on the West Coast.
1954: Sale to ABC
Earle C. Anthony, now in his 70s, decided to retire from broadcasting.
On June 1, 1954, he sold both KECA radio (790 kHz) and KECA-TV (channel 7) to the American Broadcasting Company for $8 million (a huge sum at the time).
ABC immediately changed the radio station’s call letters from KECA to KABC on July 1, 1954, to match its corporate identity.
KECA radio effectively ceased to exist after 25 years.
