Levine Nabs Deal To Operate KKJZ/L.A.

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH has selected the new operator of its noncommercial Jazz KKJZ/LONG BEACH-LOS ANGELES, and the selection is provoking controversy. In an unusual move, commercial station owner SAUL LEVINE, who owns crosstown commercial Classical KMZT and Adult Standards KKGO-A, will operate KKJZ under a deal with terms yet to be finalized, taking the place of former operator PACIFIC PUBLIC RADIO.

LEVINE's KMZT was a jazz station (as KKGO) for many years until a format flip in 1989 to pick up the Classical format being abandoned by KFAC. LEVINE has assured listeners and staffers that KKJZ's format will remain "classic Jazz"; he won the contract in a THURSDAY night vote of the CAL STATE LONG BEACH FOUNDATION, the station's licensee.

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