KFI streams talk radio live from Los Angeles, broadcasting at 50,000 watts on 640 AM from a station that first went on air more than a century ago. You can stream it live and free right now on Radio Shuffle, wherever you are in the world.
Built On a Kitchen Table
KFI's origin story starts about as modestly as radio history gets. Packard car dealer and electrical engineer Earle C. Anthony built the station's original transmitter by hand on his own kitchen table, running it at just 50 watts from his home, according to Wikipedia's history of the station. KFI received its license on March 31, 1922, and made its first broadcast on April 16, 1922, featuring vaudeville performers, a tiny operation compared to what the station would eventually become.
From 50 Watts to 50,000
The growth from that kitchen-table transmitter was dramatic. In July 1931, KFI became the first station west of Chicago to broadcast at 50,000 watts, earning clear-channel Class A status on 640 kHz, a designation that gave it enormous nighttime reach across western North America largely free of interference. By the 1930s and 1940s, that reach made KFI an NBC affiliate carrying major national programming alongside events like the Rose Bowl and the World Series.
A Format That Kept Shifting Until Talk Stuck
KFI cycled through several identities before landing on the format it's known for today. It ran full-service radio through the 1950s, switched to Top 40 music in the mid-1970s under Cox Broadcasting, and moved into personality-driven programming through the 1980s before committing to talk radio in 1988. Early talk hosts included psychologist Toni Grant, and Rush Limbaugh held a slot at the station from 1988 to 2014, a 26-year run that overlapped with the format finally settling into place.
Towers That Kept Falling Down
KFI's transmission tower had a genuinely rough run in the 2000s. A small Cessna plane struck the tower in 2004, knocking it down, and a second tower collapsed during replacement construction in 2008. A third attempt finally succeeded, and that tower has carried the station's signal since August 2008.
Tune In
From a hand-built kitchen table transmitter in 1922 to a 50,000-watt clear-channel signal that has survived two collapsed towers, KFI has spent more than a century staying on the air over Los Angeles. Stream it free on Radio Shuffle to hear it live.