KFI adds ‘Monks and Merrill,’ shuffles weekday show lineup

KFI (640 AM) may be down, but its certainly not out. It is still considered one of the premiere talk outlets in the country, and the highest-rated AM station in Los Angeles, even if not as high as just a year ago.

Chris Merrill agrees. He’s been building his craft most recently at KTAR/Phoenix, and was recently selected to be paired with Michael Monks for a new early afternoon program, “Monks and Merrrill,” part of a program shuffle that puts John Kobylt back into afternoons and Tim Conway Jr. back into evenings.

Garrett Searight of BarrettMedia.Com told it this way, writing in his column that “the decision came down to one simple decision for Merrill: when KFI calls, you don’t say no.”

“Imagine you’ve been floating around, working your way up from high school baseball to college,” Merrill told Searight. “You get drafted, you’re doing A-league, Double-A, Triple-A, and you love your team. But then the Dodgers call. When the Dodgers call, you don’t say, ‘Yeah, but I really like what’s going on in El Paso.’ The Dodgers called.”

I agree. you just can’t say no to KFI!

Merrill is not new to the station, having done weekends and fill-ins previously. He’s being paired with Monks, who has been a reporter and weekend host of “Michael Monks Reports” since 2024. bEFORE landing at KFI, the Covington, Kentucky, native founded “The River City News” in 2011, and hosted a program called  “Cincinnati Edition” on WVXU/Cincinnati.

So as of Tuesday, Feb. 17 — Monday Is a holiday, you know — the KFI lineup is as follows: Amy King’s “Wake-Up Call,” 5-6 a.m.; “Bill Handel,” 6-9 a.m.; “Gary and Shannon, 9 a.m.-noon; “Monks and Merrill,” noon-3 p.m.; “John Kobylt,” 3-6 p.m.; “Tim Conway Jr.,” 6-10 p.m.. George Noory’s “Coast to Coast AM” continues in the overnight hours.

“The universe is back in order,” Kobylt told me regarding the changes. “Conway and I should never have been moved. I’m very much looking forward to the future.”

Conway appears happy as well, though I know for a while he enjoyed the afternoon shift so that he could do more with his family. Which does he like best? “Nights for sure,” he said. “More fun, less news.”

Now let’s see if the station adds to the news department and starts promoting itself again. Things may be looking up at the Amazing AM.

True legend

Saul Levine is an FM radio pioneer. Back in 1959, he launched Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters and put KBCA (now KKGO/105.1 FM) on the air. Now his station is the oldest independent FM station in Los Angeles, and is among the relative few remaining independent broadcasters in the entire country..

In addition to KKGO, he owns and operates KMZT (1230 AM) along with a handful of other stations outside of the city, and oversees the programming on his HD streams that share the signal with Go Country 105.

Levine is a true broadcaster at heart. He could have sold his stations and retired a millionaire years ago, but he loves radio and believes in it as an art form. Indeed, he has spent all of his years in radio presenting formats that he believes are underrepresented, such as country — he launched Go Country on 1260 first, quickly moving to 105.1 later, when the old KZLA (now KLLI, 93.9 FM) dropped the format in 2006 — and classical, which he now carries on 1260 as well as KKGO’s HD2 digital stream.

Trained as an attorney, Levine is very proud of his accomplishments, launching his FM station when FM was not doing well. But he believed in it. “I knew it would succeed … eventually,” he told me recently.

Levine, who I am told still uses the stairs in the building that houses his stations just south of UCLA — his law school alma mater — turned 100 on Feb. 12. I asked him if he had any thoughts on his amazing life.

“There’s an old saying that a birthday is just a number,” he said. “I have been blessed to have a lot of them. I have been lucky to enjoy my work and still be able to go to work every day, doing what I enjoy most — presenting the world’s greatest music to the wonderful people of Los Angeles.

“I am grateful to be an American and live in a nation that allowed my parents to escape persecution, and make a new life. Fate allowed me to acquire radio stations and broadcast the fine arts, jazz, classical, and country music.”

How does he do it? How does he maintain his energy, his drive, and his passion? “I have no formula,” he said, “except to work hard, engage in everything in moderation, and always look forward to tomorrow.”

There is so much more to Levine and his history with radio, one source can be found at blogs.telosalliance.com/saul-levine-fm-radio-pioneer. Well worth reading!

Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com