 HOLLYWOOD (Top40 Charts) - The obituary to radio's once-hot "Jammin' Oldies" format can now be written. Clear Channel's Los Angeles outlet KCMG-FM (92.3) - which launched the format, a potpourri of R&B classics, soul and disco, to much fanfare in 1998 - switched to an urban AC sound Thursday evening. The station has applied for the call letters KHHT-FM and will go by the handle "Hot 92.3" effective immediately. KCMG found success early on with the "Jammin' Oldies" mix, which convinced Clear Channel to copy the format on stations across the country in markets such as New York and Washington. Most of those stations have long since swapped sounds. KCMG, which went by the name "Mega 92.3," was one of the format's last holdouts. Clear Channel execs said the flip to urban AC completed its strategy of owning a portfolio of AC stations in the market targeted toward adults 18 to 49 including KYSR-FM, KOST-FM and KBIG-FM. KCMG jocks George Lopez, Theo, Smokey Robinson and Sean Andre will remain, although in unspecified "different roles." KHHT will go without commercials and DJs for now. Seventy percent of KHHT's playlist will consist of oldies, while the other 30 percent will include newer artists such as acclaimed ingenues Alicia Keys and Jill Scott.
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