The Historic KNRY 1240 AM Acquired By Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc.

You probably never noticed KNRY's Cannery Row headquarters because there's not much to notice: a nondescript glass door, next to Cooper's Pub & Restaurant, with KNRY's call letters stenciled on it. 

There's a good chance many folks, including myself, never knew the station even existed in the first place. Who really listens to AM radio anymore on a regular basis?

However, the 209-foot radio tower, situated directly in Monterey Bay, is hard to miss. 

Longtime Los Angeles radio station operator Saul Levine hopes KNRY, which he purchased from IHR Radio last June, will begin to get some notice after the station transitions to KMZT 97.9 FM (k-Mozart), becoming the region's only all-classical music station, and sister station to KMZT AM Beverly Hills.

Levine, the only independent operator of a commercial radio station in L.A. (KKGO FM), told Radio Ink Magazine: "KNRY has a historic reputation operating out of the Cannery Row location surrounded by fine hotels, restaurants, the aquarium and remnants of the gigantic fishing industry that once thrived on Cannery Row. The future of radio, both FM and AM, is secure, if its owners and operators will strive to present needed programming on a local level, and make the investment in cutting-edge technology to keep pace with modern technology."

The longtime radio man also commented on KNRY's landmark tower standing tall in the middle of the Bay: "Sea water conductivity provides a radio signal to Monterey, Santa Cruz, Salinas, Carmel and outlying areas of San Jose."

For the remainder of December, as the transition to KMZT happens, programming will include classical holiday music, which may be good news for some or torture for others, depending on who you're talking to.

Levine also purchased KMZT 95.9 FM, Big Sur recently, which will serve as an additional k-Mozart sister station.

This past October, KRML celebrated its first year under new ownership and a new format. For the most part, locals have accepted and embraced the changes, mostly because the station wholeheartedly embraces the community. Hopefully, we'll feel the same way about KMZT—and Saul Levine—after its first year. 

I guess radio isn't dead after all.