Somtimes they do a few weeks of stunting (remember the "Pole?") Sometimes they just switch at a dedicated time (the recent WUSW shift from talk to country in Buffalo is a recent example.)

And sometimes a format change can go horribly wrong. That's what happened to a station in Southern California, when it decided to switch to all oldies. They even rebranded the call letters to KCAR, a nod to Los Angeles' obsession with automobiles in the 60s. 

But somewhere along the way, it all went wrong. According to my favourite radio writer, Richard Wagoner, the station is off to a really bad start when they're just trying to play the hits. 

"It’s not been a smooth road for K-Car. At first, everything seemed fine, but in the first week it has alternately switched formats between oldies, classical, and even Christmas music.

"For a time it was off the air; as I write this, it is classical again after playing oldies earlier today. I’m assuming the station is suffering from technical problems."

I've never heard anything this weird before, but talk about being off to a less than smooth start! How could this happen?

Southern California’s new AM oldies radio station K-Car off to a rough start