KPRO were the call letters of a

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

. It was at 1440 on the dial and later 1570. The station was founded in 1941, headquartered at 3401 Russell Street,

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

. It went off the air on August 3, 2018. It was said to be "a victim of declining AM radio listenership and vastly increasing value of property in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

."Richard Wagoner, "Radio: Riverside's KPRO Goes Off the Air After 61 Years, Station Sold to Build Homes," ''The Press-Enterprise,'' Riverside, August 7, 2018
/ref>

Ownership

Early

The station was founded by Willard E. (Bill) Gleeson."Radio Pioneer Willard Gleeson Dies at Age 92," ''The Desert Sun,'' Palm Springs, January 24, 1990, page A-5
/ref> In 1947 it was owned by the Broadcasting Corporation of America. In 1950 Gleeson, the company president, was sued by the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company of North Carolina, which claimed that payments on loans totaling $40,000 had not been made. The company said the firm, which also owned KREO in

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

, was "heavily in debt" for unpaid taxes and other liabilities. Gleeson sold all the stations he owned, except for KICO in

Calexico, California Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...

. 1958

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Rookie of the Year

Albie Pearson Albert Gregory ("Albie") Pearson (born September 12, 1934) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a centerfielder for the Washington Senators (1958–59), Baltimore Orioles (1959–60), a ...

was a disc jockey for the station in the winter of 1961–62. On June 1, 1965, entertainer

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

purchased the "San Bernardino-Riverside" station from Foster Broadcasting for $435,000. Principals were listed as Tom S. Foster, Tolbert Foster, W.E. Dyche Jr., Edgar Younger and John Blake. Dave Taylor was to continue as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Clark also bought the land and buildings (built in 1941) for an additional $150,000."Dick Clark to Purchase S.B. Radio Station," ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun,'' December 23, 1964, page B-3
/ref> The station was acquired by Shayle Ray and Milton Klein for about $2 million in March 1983."KPRO Will Stay Off Air Until Sold, Owner Says," ''The Sun,'' February 4, 1986, image 19
/ref>

Bankruptcy

The 1,000-watt station in Riverside was losing some $40,000 a month in 1984, and on February 29 of that year the 15-person staff had not been paid in two weeks. The owners, Milton Klein and Shayle Ray, were trying to negotiate a sale of KPRO and its sisters, KPRD-AM and KZNS-FM of

Barstow, California Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 census. Barstow is an important crossroads for the I ...

.Carl Yetzer, "KPRO Staff Hangs Tough Despite Getting No Paychecks in 2 Weeks," ''The Sun,'' February 29, 1984, pages B1 and B2 (images 13 and 29)
/ref>Dennis McDougal, "KPRO Is Still on the Air, Thanks to 'Deep Pockets,'" ''Los Angeles Times,'' March 17, 1984, images 73 and 76
/ref>Russ Stanton, "Company Files for Reorganization for KPRO-AM," ''The Sun,'' May 9, 1984, image 37
/ref> KZNS and KPRD left the airwaves in early March after more than 30 years of broadcasting, but KPRO was saved at the last minute by an unidentified San Bernardino businessman who bought into the partnership with enough cash to pay the employees and stay on the air. KPRO's

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

ratings were about one percent of all listeners in its market. Regular programming at the station, which had gone into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

, went off the air on May 15, 1984. It listed $2.5 million of debt.Russ Stanton, "KPRO Lists Debts of $2.5 Million," ''The Sun,'' May 23, 1984, image 23
/ref> It continued to broadcast

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

baseball and

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

basketball games to fulfill contractual obligations, and it went back on the air with other programing in mid-June, then in February again went on a sports-only schedule, with Pat Hasland hosting a call-in show, "Pro SportsTalk."

Final licensees

Ray and Helen Lapica, with Ollie Shervan, owned KACE, which changed its name to KHNY in 1976 and KMAY in 1978. They were followed as owners by Ronnie Olenick and Larry Lapica. In 1986, that company (under the name Riverside County Broadcasting) took over the KPRO call sign, which had been abandoned, and moved it to 1570 on the dial.Jackie Richard, "The Cowboy of the Air Is Too Busy Working to Ride Off Into the Sunset," ''The Sun,'' November 23, 1986, image 37
/ref>Dan Hawkins, "New KPRO Will Broadcast Angels," ''The Sun,'' March 6, 1987, image 43
/ref> In 1990 it was said that KPRO was "Established in 1941" and billed itself as "inspirational radio," with live

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

on Sundays. In 2018 the station was owned by Impact Radio, Inc., and featured programming from

CNN Radio CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by t ...

and

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...

. The station went off the air on August 3, 2018. The property was sold to a

land developer Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpose ...

. The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

cancelled KPRO's license on November 5, 2019, due to it having been silent for more than twelve months.

Formats

In 1944 the station received

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

programming. In 1945 KPRO's programs included Philco Hall of Fame, America's Town Meeting, Counterspy,

Gangbusters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...

, This Is Your F.B.I.,

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...

, Drew Pearson,

Tom Breneman Thomas Breneman Smith (June 18, 1900 – April 28, 1948) was an American radio personality. For most of his career, he was based in Southern California, in Los Angeles and Hollywood. His radio program was such a success that he established the ep ...

, ''

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The ...

'', Glamour Manor, Ladies Be Seated, John B. Kennedy, Baukhage Talking,

Ethel and Albert ''Ethel and Albert'' (aka ''The Private Lives of Ethel and Albert'') was a radio and television comedy series about a married couple, Ethel and Albert Arbuckle, living in the small town of Sandy Harbor. Created by Peg Lynch (1916–2015), who scr ...

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was an Italian-Canadian-American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and othe ...

The Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

, Cavalcade of Sports and The Ford Sunday Evening Hour. The station had a news and

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

format in 1983 and 1985. Before that it had a

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

format. After 1986 it specialized in religious programming.

Notable employees

Steve Julian Steve Julian (July 4, 1958 – April 24, 2016) was an American radio broadcaster who was the ''Morning Edition'' host for Southern California National Public Radio affiliate 89.3 KPCC in Pasadena, California. Julian was born in Pomona, California, ...

Larry Mantle Larry Mantle (born January 12, 1959) is a radio interview call-in show host in Southern California. He has been the host of ''AirTalk with Larry Mantle'' on NPR-member station KPCC (radio station), KPCC, 89.3 FM, since April 1, 1985. ''AirTalk' ...

Jill Leovy, "Host of KPCC's 'Morning Edition,' ''Los Angeles Times,'' April 25, 2016, page B-7
/ref>

References

External links

{{Los Angeles Radio

PRO Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...

Radio stations established in 1958 Mass media in Riverside, California Mass media in San Bernardino, California 1958 establishments in California Defunct radio stations in the United States Radio stations disestablished in 2019 2019 disestablishments in California Defunct religious radio stations in the United States