double spotting, over-commercialism, and...talk exceeding five minutes except in rare instances." In 1948, Autry became a minority owner of KOWL, and the station began orienting its music and programming towards black listeners. Autry sold back his stake in KOWL to Croghan for $80,000 in October 1949. As KDAY (1956–1991) Early history (1956–1966) On May 1, 1956, KOWL changed its call sign to KDAY, a nod to its daytime-only broadcast hours. KDAY changed its format to mainstream pop music, as shown by surveys from the time. In January 1957, Radio California purchased KDAY and Corona TV station KCOA for $650,000. KDAY's studios and business offices moved from Santa Monica to Hollywood in April 1957. KDAY began carrying newscasts from the Los Angeles Herald-Express newsroom in July 1957. From 1958 to 1961, Earl McDaniel was a DJ at KDAY. where he was soon joined by Art Laboe. Alan Freed worked for KDAY for about a year beginning in 1960 after losing his job at WABC in New York City over the payola scandal. In April 1962, Rollins Broadcasting (later Continental Broadcasting of California) purchased KDAY for $850,000 in addition to a $150,000 non-compete clause. Rollins changed the music format to R&B. Adult standards, top 40, and return to R&B (1966–1983) Beginning July 22, 1966, KDAY changed its format to adult standards where DJs played songs by telephone requests; Mexican station XERB in Tijuana picked up KDAY's old R&B format around a week later. In the late 1960s, KDAY received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate at night. The studio and transmitter site were moved to a new facility on North Alvarado Street north of downtown Los Angeles. In early 1969, KDAY changed to top 40 and became a member of the ABC Radio Network. then to album-oriented rock (AOR) in 1971. During the Top 40 and AOR eras, the station was programmed by Bob Wilson, who would later launch the media magazine Radio & Records. KDAY reverted to soul/R&B in January 1974. In 1978, KDAY had the highest ratings among the four black radio stations in Los Angeles, ahead of KACE, KJLH, and KKTT. For a Billboard profile that year, KDAY program director J.J. Johnson said the station had an "uptempo approach" to music; the station's slogan at the time was "We got the funk!" Addition of hip hop (1983–1991) Facing tougher competition from FM stations like KJLH, KDAY