KCHJ

KCHJ (1010 AM "El Gallito 1010") is a radio station that broadcasts a ranchera and Norteño oldies format to the Bakersfield, California, area. Licenced to Delano, California, the station is currently owned by Lotus Bakersfield Corporation.

History

KCHJ was an outlet for Country Western music in the 1960s and 1970s. It was owned by Charles H. Johnes (pronounced Jones) hence the call letters KCHJ. It was a clear channel station so it had listeners over a large geographical area in Central California, as Mr. "Jones" was fond of pointing out on the air. He was one of the disk jockeys, using the name Gable Herman. He was a pilot before he died. He died in an auto accident in 1968, and from 1968 until the station was sold in 1991, it was operated and managed by his widow, Jean Johnes. She died in 2009 at the age of 94. Tapes of his program were broadcast on the radio station for many years after he died. Other popular disk jockeys were Bill Lambert, Cousin Rich Allison, and Gilbert Oeste. Mr. Oeste broadcast a popular Spanish language program and there was also a program called Filipino Ling Ling Dai broadcast in Tagalog and other Filipino languages. There was a studio at the station which was located north west of Delano. A live program called "The Barn Dance" was broadcast on weekends and the public was invited to visit during the show.

The station was sold in 1991 and became a Spanish language outlet.

In 2000, KCHJ adopted the "El Gallito" format of classic ranchera and Norteño hits.

References

The Bakersfield Californian (newspaper) May 17, 1991, article by Richard Chon

External links

• (Spanish) El Gallito 1010 AM official website
• Query the FCC's AM station database for KCHJ
• Radio-Locator Information on KCHJ
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for KCHJ