LA rumors are heating up again

Looks like Clear Channel, rumored to be shuffling formats in LA and San Diego, may be doing it after all.

A little background: The stations involved are KLAC-570 in LA, XETRA-690 in San Diego and KXTA-1150 in LA. KLAC plays adult standards, and the other two have a sports talk simulcast. CC is rumored to shift sports to the 570 frequency only, and move standards to 690. This leaves 1150 wide open for a new format, which has been rumored to be their 'progressive talk' format but could possibly be Spanish. I'm willing to bet progressive talk. The Spanish market in LA is pretty crowded. Plus, their San Diego station seems to be doing well in a rather conservative market.

Much of this hinges on the NBA. The NBA? Yes, CC wants to move Lakers broadcasts from 570 to 690, and currently programs Clippers games on 1150. CC needs approval from the NBA to broadcast games on what is essentially a foreign station (XETRA-690 is actually located in Mexico). NBA season starts in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

BTW: To add some credence to this rumor, there is a new link here, http://www.xtrasports570.com, that at least supports this rumor somewhat.

http://www.sdradio.net/today.shtml

National Baseketball starts regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Will the quest for XETRA-AM 690 to be the home of the LA Lakers be answered by then? Street buzz indicates that the annoucement of an out of market and country flagship will be announced soon. If so, then look for Xtra 570 to be the reality. LA's 1150 could go left, or to Spanish language. (Clear Channel has announced a new drive for Hispanic broadcasting on Sept. 16.) Stay Tuned.