KCLU (AM)
| City | Santa Barbara, California |
|---|---|
| Branding | KCLU |
| Slogan | "NPR & Local News" |
| Frequency | 1340 (kHz) |
| First air date | 1947 |
| Format | Public radio |
| Power | 650 Watts |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 10327 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 34°25′7.00″N 119°41′10.00″W / 34.4186111°N 119.6861111°W |
| Callsign meaning | K California Lutheran University |
| Former callsigns | KIST (2005-2008)(2000-2003)(1998) KTLK (2003-2005) KXXT (1998-2000) KLDZ (1998) |
| Affiliations | NPR |
| Owner | California Lutheran University |
| Sister stations | K272DT, KCLU-FM |
| Webcast |
Listen Live AM Listen Live FM |
| Website | www.kclu.org |
KCLU is a radio station in Santa Barbara, California, broadcasting on 1340 kHz AM. It first began broadcasting under the call sign KIST. The station simulcasts a public radio format with FM sisters stations K272DT, KCLU-FM. They are part of five signals owned by California Lutheran University.
KCLU-AM is now a simulcast of KCLU-FM.
KIST signed on in 1947, under the ownership of Harry C. Butcher. For many years, especially in the 1960s and '70s, KIST was a premier Top-40 music station. In addition to playing the top music of the day, KIST also claimed one of the finest news broadcasting teams in the Santa Barbara area, winning awards from the Southern California Broadcasters Association for their coverage of the Sycamore Fire in 1977. Each on air "disc jockey", as well as many of the support staff, had two way mobile radios in their vehicles enabling them to "report from the scene".
Owned privately by J. Patrick "Pat" Wardlaw, some of KIST's staff from that era included Program Director Hal Bates, Music Director Dick Williams (since deceased), News Director Patrick C. Riley (whose car was incinerated in the Sycamore Fire), Morning Drive host Baron Ron Herron, Chief Engineer Doug Allan, reporter Ed Foley, and disc jockeys Tom Payne, Jack Kinney, Mike Hennie, Jim Cordes aka Jim Evans, Frank Catalano and Steve Dezormo (since deceased). One of the bumper-sticker mottos in that era was "Get KIST 1340!"
By the early-1990s, KIST had changed its format to oldies. KIST also broadcast in C-QUAM AM Stereo. Before adopting to its most recent format, KIST had changed its call sign first to KLDZ then to KXXT and was known as all-sports "XTRA Sports 1340." One of the station's on-air hosts was Jim Rome, a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara. On March 29, 2000 the call sign was changed back to KIST.
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