San Diego Format Bop Flip Flop (revised Jan 7, 2010)

I originally published this report on radio station buyouts and mergers way back in November of 1998 when during such a short span of time, most of the San Diego radio stations were either bought up by another company or were added stations to their own cluster. Either way, it was a mess trying to get it straightened out in a five-year span.

Since then, some more ch-ch-changes have happened.

Let's see if we can figure out what has happened to San Diego radio since November 1993, five years of station sales to corporate giants, mergers, consolidations, format flips and flops, frequency shifts, foulups, bleeps and other programming blunders!

It was November 1993, about four months since two local area radio stations switched formats the previous July as 105.3 KCBQ switched from an oldies format from the 50's and 60's to an oldies rock format of the 70's and 80's; 92.5 XHRM, which was getting clobbered by urban newcomer Z-90 (three years old at the time) playing jams and R&B, switched to getting clobbered by alternative rocker 91X as it adopted the comic-strip moniker called The Flash. This period was just before the time the WWW took off on the consumer level.

Here is the format lineup as of November 1993.

• 540 a Mexican music format.
• 600 either still simulcasting sister station Q106 at 106.5 at the time or adopting a talk format, I forget
• 690 XTRA Sports, which was simulcasting its signal in Simi Valley on 670
• 760 KFMB, talk, Hudson and Bauer in the morning, Padres baseball, and more talk
• 910 KECR Family Radio, which was simulcasting its signal on KECR 93.3 in El Cajon at the time, which also hardly reached North County.
• 1000 KCEO talk, brokered programming
• 1130 KSDO news/talk, which had Rush Limbaugh there at the time
• 1170 KCBQ playing oldies music from the 50's and early 60's, then simulcasting a station from 960AM in Phoenix
• 1210 KPRZ inspirational talk
• 1240 KSON simulcasting country sister station 97.3
• 1320 K??? playing nostalgia music I think
• 1360 KPOP playing nostalgia music
• 1450 KOWA playing I guess country but switched to nostalgia later on
• 88.3 KSDS playing traditional jazz
• 89.5 KPBS public radio
• 90.3 Jammin Z-90 playing at the time urban-flavored dance, rap, hip-hop, and R&B
• 91.1 91X playing alternative rock and roll
• 92.1 KOWF playing country music
• 92.5 The Flash playing a softer version of alternative rock and roll
• 93.3 KECR Family Radio
• 94.1 KFSD playing classical music
• 94.9 KBEST 95 playing oldies music
• 95.9 KKOS playing AAA music
• 96.5 KYXY playing soft contemporary that may be too soft for edgier music fans to stomach
• 97.3 KSON country music simulcasting on 1240
• 98.1 KIFM playing pop jazz and new age
• 100.1 K??? playing some kind of music mix
• 100.7 KFMB B100 playing adult contemporary music with Jef and Jer in the morning
• 101.5 KGB playing classic rock with Dave, Shelley and Chainsaw in the morning
• 102.1 KIOZ playing hard rock and roll of today
• 102.9 KCLX playing classic rock
• 103.7 KJQY playing soft adult music
• 105.3 KCBQ playing 70's and 80's rock and roll oldies
• 106.5 KKLQ Q106 playing top 40/urban without the rap from the 80s and 90's
• 107.1 K??? playing at the time some talk format or adult music, I forget.

Now get ready to do the Format Bop, Flip Flop!

The following accounts are fictious and may be coincidental.

Mark who served in the Navy overseas since early 1994 recently came back to San Diego and turned on 105.3 expecting to hear some rock and roll from the 70's and 80's. He heard them alright...along with some really rude jocks such as Howard Stern and Bubba the Love Sponge, acid metal, and other screaming rockers. No more Royce Blake and the World Famous Goat Boy in the morning!

Susan who was a Q106 fan when she won a ride on the Star 100.7 roller coaster ride for some two months, was shocked that when she returned to earth in September to tune in Q106, instead of hearing a better mix of music and more of it, she heard Regional Mexicana music.

Brad of Encinitas who spent four years in Arizona recently returned to his home excited about tuning in his old 95.9 KKOS...all he got was a faint signal from Anaheim and some adjacent channel interference from Mix 95.7

Rolonda moved to New York in 1992 and moved back in 1998. Her favorte music is soul and r&b ballads. She used to listen to 92.5 when she left and she was pleased that when she returned, she thought it was still there as it was but only the name was different.

Peter was a metal rocker when he listened to it on 102.1 when he left San Diego in 1995. But when he came back, he mellowed out, but turned on 102.1 and found out that it mellowed out as well.

Walt Hollingsworth of Campo was flabberghasted when his favorite classical station on 94.1 switched to some kind of contemporary rubbish pop.

So what has been happening in San Diego radio for the past five years? Are you as confused as anyone. Let me see if I can straighten this whole mess out in about 10,000 bytes or less?

The AM side was relative mild when compared to all the changes that happened to the FM side of your radio dial. While most of the stations on the AM side were relatively stable, there were some changes there as well.

In 1984, there were limitations on the total number of radio stations that one company could own nationally and locally, as the ownership regulations were changed to allow one entity to own twelve AM stations, twelve FM stations and 12 television stations û an increase from 7 of each type a year earlier.

In 1992, congress allowed one company to own up to two AM and two FM stations in a specific market, so long as they did not account for more than 25% of the total listening audience. The national ownership limits were also raised to 18 AM and 18 FM stations. Then in 1995, FCC's relaxed the ownership caps, then in 1996, it went up to eight stations in a market with no more than 5 in the FM side or 4 in the AM side (either 3AM and 5FM or 4 of each). Under the provisions of the 1996 Act, a single company can have radio holdings in a market that are substantial enough to result in its control of up to 40 percent of the advertising revenue in that market

Let's go to 1994 when at the time any company can own up to ONE AM station and up to ONE FM station in the same market. Then a whole series of deregulations of radio bills in Congress passed that gave them the capability to own TWO AM and TWO FM in about 1995, then in 1996 it went up to eight stations in a market with no more than 5 in the FM side or 4 in the AM side (either 3AM and 5FM or 4 of each).

1994

In September 1994, KCLX 102.9, whose early attempt of imitating "KGB" with classic rock failed and seeing the success of Star's disco show, attempted to do a format based on one-decade...all 70's format as KKBH The Beach, which floudered in a low tidal wave of ratings for a year.

So far, not many format flips and flops that year.

1995

That year, a bill was passed that allowed corporate radio owners to own an unlimited amount of radio stations I guess, but limited the amount of stations in each market to from 2 to 4 stations depending on the size of the market. Anyway, Jacor Communications bought out Nobel Broadcasting, owner of 91X and XTRA Sports 690 this year, as well as purchasing KECR 93.3 in El Cajon. That year, it simulcasted one of its Florida stations, The Dove, there for about three months or so.

That year, a complex deal with the Mexican government and the U.S. government was reached that would allow one of the most complex frequency swaps between the two countries ever made. 95.9, KKOS, moved to 95.7 as KUPR as well as getting a stronger transmitter; the 95.9 frequency was given to Mexico for its Ensenada area. Before then, 95.9 was plagued by interference from XHKY at 95.7 in Tijuana, but it was allowed to move to its present location on 99.3, which was in use for a short time in El Cajon as a translator for the 94.9 frequency. XHATE, which had the 99.3 frequency in Tecate after that, moved to the present 95.3 location. Got that so far?

Also this year, Par Broadcasting struck up a deal with the previous owner of 102.1 and AM 1320 out of Oceanside to purchase those two stations there. At the end of the year, Par had talk on 600, KIOZ hard rock on 102.1, Q106 on 106.5 and a simulcast of that format on 1320.

In the fall of 1995, KCBQ 105.3 traded in the rock oldies format of the 70's and 80's and adopted a new format called Sets 105.3, playing music in sets of 2, 3, or 4 songs in a row all the time, while playing rock songs of the 90's as well as the 60s-80s.

The same year, Dave, Shelley and Chainsaw moved from KGB to Rock 102.1. Eventually, ownership changes and mergers will eventually move them over to 105.3 in the following year, then back to KGB the next! Weird, eh?

AM 540 in Tijuana began simulcasting an all-news format originating from Los Angeles on 1260 and on another 540 channel up in Hesperia (now dark as it moved to 1650 in 1997)

100.1 became K-LOVE playing contemporary religious songs.

SFX Broadcasting, owner of KYXY 96.5, purchased its rival on 103.7 and rechristened it as Rock Mix 103.7 playing a rather narrow selection of classic rock from the 70s through 1982 or whatever. It bombed.

1996

In March, KECR 93.3 became KHTS as Jacor switched the satellite feed from The Dove to simulcasting WFLZ 93.3 from Miami. Oddly enough, it was a better Top 40 mix than that of Q106 or Star 100.7 IMHO. In September, Jacor opened its local studio for that station sin the 91X/XTRA building and launched Channel 93.3 with a dance music format, though tamer than that of nearby dancer Groove Radio 103.1 in Los Angeles.

In the summer, KUPR 95.7 gave up on its "Music First" AAA format and let Mike Halloran run the station for about three months as 95-7. Meanwhile, Nationwide bought out the single KFSD 94.1 from Lotus Communications and the pair of KCEO 1000/KUPR 95.7 frequencies in separate deals over the past 2 years or sooner? That November, 95.7 became a country station playing 10,000-in-a-row, country songs that is, while KSON at 97.3 capitalized on that with an inside response by giving away "$10,000 in a Row!" Up north, KOWF 92.1 playing country at the time would adopt the former KFSD calls and format in early 1997 while 95.7 would get some "Magic" soul music the following Feb 1997.

Nationwide also bought out KGB 101.5 and KPOP 1360 from Brown Broadcasting. It sold the KCEO 1000 over to Astor, which already owns 1450AM and 92.1FM

Early this same year of 1996, Par Broadcasting and Compass reached a deal that would result in the donation of 1320AM to Palomar College's radio station, which was then only on cable, Compass would move Sets over to 102.1, becoming KXST, while Par moved KIOZ, Dave, Shelley, Chainsaw, and its hard rock format over to 105.3, as well as simulcasting Q106 on yet another AM frequency on KCBQ 1170.

That summer, 107.1 began playing alternative rock as Y107, also on Arcadia and Ventura also on 107.1!

Rock Mix 103.7 evolved into The Planet KPLN playing, guess what?, classic rock from the 60s-80's!

Also that year, Kidstar debuted on 1240, playing a radio format for kids, but when the network folded, KKDZ became KSON-AM again simulcasting country music on 1240. Meanwhile, Radio Aahs on 830 in Orange County playing kids music as well was just barely reaching San Diego during the day.

AM 540 gave up on all news and began an All-Beatles station, simulcasting with KBTL 1260 from San Fernando in Northern Los Angeles.

Jacor bought out Gannett's KSDO 1130 and K-whatever 102.9 (as well as KIIS 1150 and 102.7 in Los Angeles), bringing its San Diego total to five. In October 1996, Par Broadcasting of San Diego sold its four owned and operated radio stations to Jacor. The four stations are KIOZ (105.3), KKLQ (106.5), KCBQ (1170) and KOGO (600). Finally, Jacor bought the Nationwide stations KGB 101.5 and KPOP 1360, while selling off its KCBQ 1170 to another buyer in order to bring the number of local stations owned in San Diego back to eight (while LMAing the two Mexican stations as well.) Needless to say, the simulcast of Q106 disappearred off 1170 and was replaced with a talk format.

1997

Nationwide's 94.1 became The Eagle in January playing classic rock from the 60s and 70's while its 95.7 became Magic 95.7 playing soulful classics from yesterday and today. Earlier that month, 92.1 began playing classical music while adopting the KFSD calls and library soon afterwards. In April, XBACH 540 from Tijuana began broadcasting classical music on the AM side of the dial.

For a short while, Nationwide owned KGB 101.5 and KPOP 1360, but sold them to Jacor last year since the company wanted to concentrate on just two stations in a market with stations on 94.1 and 95.7

Meanwhile Astor Broadcasting bought KCEO AM 1000 last year to go with its sister stations KSPA 1450 and KOWF 92.1, but let Nationwide have the KUPR 95.7 station.

In April 1997, this gets good. Jacor moved Howard Stern from 91X, mainly because the Mexican government was offended by Stern's comments against the country, over to Rock 105.3, while bumping Dave, Shelley and Chainsaw back to their former home on KGB! 91X began their Brand X morning show. That's not all. Jacor also moved Rush Limbaugh over from the weaker 1130 station over to the stronger 600 channel and hired George Chamberlain over to 1130 from KCEO; Rush was repeated on 1130 during the evening drive time hours.

In May, Jeff and Jer moved back to Star 100.7 in the morning, bumping off Dave Smiley over to Q106 across Kearny Mesa, eventually swapping places on the morning dial. Around the time, 102.9 became KJOY (KJQY) playing soft contemporary favorites.

Radio Disney was launched early this year and KMPC became KDIS 710 in August. Radio Aahs folded later that year as it regrouped into filing a lawsuit against Disney, which they won a $20 million judgment for a charge on Disney for stealing trade secrets, whatever they are, it's just a kids station for pete's sake, whatever!

Has anybody kept track of all these changes so far? Neither did I.

1998

March 1998 marked the 20th anniversary of KYXY 96.5.

In January, 92.5 flushed the Flash, which floundered in the ratings in 1997, hired Mike Halloran and adopted the Independent Radio format, but in August, the owner thought that eight months of low ratings were enough, so he LMA'd his station XHRM over to Jacor, resulting in the letting go of all the staffers while Magic moved over from 95.7 over to 92.5; now you can see why 92.5's format was similar to the one XHRM had through June 1993. 95.7 became KMSX, the Mix 95.7 playing hits from the 80s, 90s and 70s.

Radio Disney showed up on KSON 1240 in March.

1999-2002

In 2000, Clear Channel merged with AM/FM inc., but since Clear Channel already ran eight stations, it couldn't absorb KYXY and KPLN from AM/FM, and the deal to sell some of the excess stations in other markets to HBC was not approved by the Department of Justice, so they sold these two plus some others to Infinity where applicable. They also sold KSDO 1130 to Chase Radio Partners since KFI 640 out of Los Angeles was declared to be "local" because of its strong clear channel (no capital letters) prescence in San Diego.

Also in 1999, Salem Broadcasting purchased KCBQ 1170 from another broadcaster.

In 2001, Clear Channel bought the marketing and programming rights to Tijuana's XHITZ 90.3 and XHCR 99.3 from Califormula Broadcasting (the Mexican owners are now XTRA Communicationes Inc, which owns 91X and XETRA 690).

In 2002, ESPN Radio 800 was launched.

In November 2002, 94.9 switches to alternative rock.

2003

In March, a new sports station on XPRS 1090 Tijuana is launched by John Lynch, who returned to radio broadcasting. Broadcast Company of the Americas was formed on XPRS.

In July, Radio Disney on 1240 disappears and is replaced with a Vietnamese Mandrian format programmed by Multicultural.

In March, Astor-owned KFSD-AM 1450 switches to 70's for two months, then is back to clasical in May 2003.

In May, AM 1130 is sold by Chase Radio Partners to Hi Favor, who takes it Spanish religion.

In November 2003, Astor sold KFSD-FM 92.1 to Jefferson Pilot, which made it into a simulcast of KSON-FM.

2004-January 2010

In 2005, KOOL 99.3 ceased to be as it flips to La Preciosa, a brand of Clear Channel. Sales and programming of that station too was divested to another company the following year.

In 2005, XEPE 1700's control went to BCA. It began simulcasting its Mighty 1090 sports talk format, then changed to a financial talk format, then a talk format.

In 2006, programming and sales control of XTRA 690 was transferred from Clear Channel to GLR Services Inc. in the last forced divesture so that Clear Channel will be at the limit of seven stations in San Diego plus one high powered station from Los Angeles.

In 2006, BCA took control of XHBCE 105.7 and simulcast XX Sports (formerly The Mighty 1090) on it. In 2008, it changed formats to Walrus FM oldies.

Sometime in 2008, KSON-AM was sold by Lincoln Financial to another broadcaster, and in early 2009, its calls changed to KNSN. XLNC moved from 90.7 to 104.9 FM.

In 2010, in a forced liquidation, sales and programming (but not the physical radio studios) of FCB controlled Z90, 91X, and 92.5 was transferred to the control of BCA.

Past San Diego Radio Clusters (Jan 7, 2010)

In 2001, Clear Channel San Diego took control of Z90 and 99.3 from Califormula, which divested programming interests of 91.7 and 97.7 about two years earlier. At its peak, Clear Channel owned and still owned 600, 1360, 101.5, 105.3, 93.3, 94.1, and 95.7, plus it once programmed 91.1, 92.5, and 690, as well as providing a joint sales agreement with 1130 (sold to Chase Radio Partners in 2000), plus 94.5 and 103.3 in Temecula, making it a grand total of 15 stations it progrmamed. Those were the darkest days of San Diego radio.

As of 2010, BCA has a cluster size of six stations with the absorbtion of the control of the three FCB stations.

Back in 1993 before there were any transfers of ownerships of radio stations, the pairings of the clusters were one AM and one FM. The pairings? 600-106.5, 690-91.1, 760-100.7, 910-93.3, 1000-95.7, 1130-102.9, 1170-105.3 1240-97.3, 1320-102.1, 1360-101.5, 1450-92.1,

Since then, we had when changes occurred, 600-1320-102.1-106.5 (Par, 1995), 96.5-103.7 (SFX, 1995)

91.1-93.3-690 (Jacor, 1996), 94.1-95.7-1000 (Nationwide, 1996), 600-1170-105.3-106.5 (Par, 1996), 91.1-93.3-102.9-690-1130 (Jacor, 1996), 94.1-95.7-101.5-1000-1360 (Nationwide, 1996), 92.1-1000-1450 (Astor, 1996), 94.1-95.7-101.5-1360 (Nationwide, 1996), 600-690-1130-1170-91.1-93.3-102.9-105.3-106.5 (Jacor, 1996), 94.1-95.7 (Nationwide, 1996), 600-690-1130-1360-91.1-93.3-101.5-102.9-105.3-106.5 (Jacor, 1996), 1240-94.9-97.3-98.1 (JPC, sometime on or before 1996), 90.3-99.3-104.5 (Calradio, sometime around 1996)

600-690-1130-1360-91.1-93.3-94.1-95.7-101.5-105.3 (Jacor, 1998), 102.9-106.5 (Heftel, 1998), 600-690-1130-1360-91.1-92.5-93.3-94.1-95.7-101.5-105.3 (Jacor, 1998)

90.3-91.7-97.7-99.3-104.5 (Calradio, sometime around 1999) 600-690-1130-1360-91.1-92.5-93.3-94.1-95.7-101.5-105.3 (Clear Channel, 1999), 1170-1210 (Salem, 1999)

90.3-90.7-99.3-104.5 (Calradio, about 2000) 600-640(LA)-690-1360-91.1-92.5-93.3-94.1-95.7-101.5-105.3 (Clear Channel, 2000), 96.5-103.7-1070(LA) (Infinity, then CBS, 2000)

90.7-104.5 (Calradio, 2001) 600-640(LA)-690-1360-90.3-91.1-92.5-93.3-94.1-95.7-99.3-101.5-105.3 (Clear Channel, 2001)

1240-92.1-94.9-97.3-98.1 (JPC, now LFG, 2003), 1000-1450 (Astor, 2003)

600-640(LA)-690-1360-93.3-94.1-95.7-99.3-101.5-105.3 (Clear Channel, 2005), 90.3-91.1-92.5 (FCB, 2005), 1090-1700 (BCA, 2005)

600-640(LA)-1360-93.3-94.1-95.7-101.5-105.3 (Clear Channel, 2006), 1090-1700-105.7 (BCA, 2006)

92.1-94.9-97.3-98.1 (LFG, 2008)

1090-1700-90.3-91.1,92.5-105.7 (BCA, 2010)