few days before he debuted in animated form in the Silly Symphony short The Wise Little Hen. CBS would eventually purchase a more-powerful West Coast flagship station, 50,000-watt KNX, and part company with KHJ. The station was purchased in the fall of 1927 by Don Lee, a local automobile dealer who also owned KFRC (610 AM) in San Francisco and eventually accumulated 21 radio stations. In 1949, the broadcasting company, including KHJ, merged with RKO General. On December 18, 1934, KHJ was one of four stations granted permission to increase power to 5,000 watts. In 1941, a major reorganization of the AM band by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, successor to the FRC), due to the implementation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, moved the station to 930 kHz, where it continues to operate. During Lee's ownership KHJ became the West Coast flagship station of the Mutual Broadcasting System, one of the "big four" radio networks (with CBS, NBC, and ABC) from the 1930s to the 1970s. George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Steve Allen appeared on KHJ, and at one point the station employed a 50-piece orchestra to accompany its musical guests. On a 1931 broadcast (a portion of which survives) KHJ introduced an up-and-coming singer, Bing Crosby. Pat Weaver (president of NBC, creator of The Today Show and The Tonight Show, and father of Sigourney Weaver) was a KHJ announcer. "Boss Radio" In April 1965, programming consultant Bill Drake crafted KHJ's top 40 format. Drake hired program director Ron Jacobs, who had created formats in Hawaii and California. The format, known as "Boss Radio", featured a restricted playlist and restrained commentary by announcers (although a few, such as Robert W. Morgan, Charlie Tuna, Humble Harve Miller, and The Real Don Steele, were allowed to develop on-air personas). Other DJs from this era (1965–1980) included Roger Christian, Gary Mack, Dave Diamond, Beau Weaver, John Leader, Sam Riddle, Johnny Williams, Frank Terry, Johnny Mitchell, Tommy Vance, Scotty Brink, Steve Clark, Bobby Tripp, Tom Maule, and Bill Wade. One defining characteristic of Boss Radio was the jingles by the Johnny Mann Singers. Drake's format spread throughout North America, bringing high ratings to KFRC in San Francisco, WFIL in Philadelphia, KGB in San Diego, WQXI in Atlanta, WRKO in Boston, and CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, Canada (serving Detroit). Drake and his business partner Gene Chenault brought many of their announcers from the