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| Broadcast area | Greater Los Angeles |
| Frequency | 100.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Positive, Encouraging 100.3 |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Subchannels |
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| Network | K-Love |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| History | |
First air date | July 1, 1957 (67 years ago) (1957-07-01) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | K-Love |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 70038 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 5,400 watts |
| HAAT | 889.0 meters (2,916.7 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°13′35″N118°04′01″W / 34.2264°N 118.0670°W /34.2264; -118.0670 |
| Translator(s) |
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| Repeater(s) |
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| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | positiveencouraging1003 |
KKLQ (100.3FM, "Positive, Encouraging 100.3") is a non-commercial radio station owned byEducational Media Foundation (EMF) and carries theChristian adult contemporary format of its nationally syndicated networkK-Love throughout theGreater Los Angeles area. Licensed toLos Angeles, California, KKLQ's transmitter is located atopMount Wilson and has abooster inSanta Clarita, KKLQ-FM2 at 100.3 MHz, to extend its coverage into the Santa Clarita Valley and other areas north of Los Angeles.
From 2008 to 2017, the station broadcast aclassic rock format (though it initially aired anadult album alternative format) under the brand100.3 The Sound as KSWD. In 2017, station ownerEntercom announced its merger withCBS Radio. In order to satisfyFederal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership caps, Entercom retained CBS Radio's pre-existing Los Angeles cluster but divested KSWD to EMF, who assumed control of the station on November 16, 2017, and flipped it to K-Love programming. The former broadcast studios of The Sound were located onWilshire Boulevard in theMiracle Mile district of Los Angeles.
KKLQ is not affiliated withKLVE, aSpanish-language radio station which has used the name "K-Love" in the Los Angeles market continuously since 1974 and holds thetrademark locally. Prior to assuming control of KKLQ, EMF reached an agreement withUnivision Radio (now known as Uforia Audio Network), owner of KLVE, that allows KKLQ to use the K-Love brand on-air as part of networked content, but requires local promotion to disambiguate itself from KLVE.
100.3 FM in Los Angeles signed on as KMLA at 8 a.m. on July 1, 1957.[2] The station broadcast good music and news, with no more than two commercials per half-hour.[3] (KMLA is now aRegional Mexican-formatted station inEl Rio, California, serving theOxnard-Ventura radio market.)
The KMLA Broadcasting Corporation, the original owner of the station, filed to sell it to KFOX, Inc., owner ofKFOX (1280 AM) inLong Beach, in November 1964.[4] The station changed its call letters to KVXN in January and again in April, after the sale was completed, to KFOX-FM, at which time it began simulcasting KFOX'scountry music format.[5]
In 1972, KFOX, Inc. traded its two Los Angeles stations and $3.45 million to the Industrial Broadcasting Company in exchange for KIKK AM and -FM inPasadena, Texas, nearHouston.[6] Industrial then split the KFOX stations apart; the AM went to the John Walton group, while KFOX-FM was sold to Cosmic Communications.[7] The new ownership changed the FM station's call letters to KIQQ ("K-100") in an attempt to capitalize on its frequency of 100.3 MHz. The following year, with the station'ssoft rock format failing to gain ratings or billing, KIQQ brought in deposedKHJ heavyweightsBill Drake andGene Chenault, who contracted to program and manage the station. In spite of bringing in former KHJ powerhouse jocks, includingRobert W. Morgan andThe Real Don Steele, certain management and programming decisions are believed to have led to the demise of Drake-Chenault's run at KIQQ. By 1975, Morgan and Steele were gone. Ultimately, the station cut costs drastically by airing a generic national format via satellite.
In the early 1980s, the station dropped its K-100 handle and kept to the calls as "KIQQ" with a live and local aggressive top-40 orcontemporary hit radio (CHR) format. The on-air lineup included Jeff Thomas, G.W. McCoy (engaged to actressHeather Locklear for a time), and Francesca Cappucci. "Play Hits for Cash" was a regular promotion. KIQQ simulcast theNBC television showFriday Night Videos and even hadWally George as a weekend call-in host. KIQQ also carriedAmerican Top 40 beginning in 1983 after competing CHR stationKIIS-FM lost the countdown program over the playing of network commercials; this move forced KIIS-FM to create its own chart show,Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.[8]
By the mid-1980s, CHR competition from KIIS-FM,KKHR, andKBZT proved too intense for KIQQ; KIIS-FM alone had a 10share in theArbitron book. On July 29, 1985, KIQQ flipped to a satellite-deliveredadult contemporary format as "100.3 K-Lite".[9] The format lasted for four years before the launch of another new format.
The callsignKIQQ-FM is now on aregional Mexican music station inNewberry Springs, California.
In November 1988,Outlet Communications sold KIQQ toWestwood One for $56 million.[10] The sale closed March 17, 1989, at midnightPacific Time, and KIQQ officially signed off at 5 a.m. after playing its final song, "(At) The End (Of A Rainbow)" byEarl Grant. The sign off was read by the Former American Top 40 hostKasey Kasem (It had only been three months sinceShadoe Stevens took over).[11][12] KQLZ—branding asPirate Radio—launched with theGuns N' Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle", adopting the title as its slogan.[13]Pirate Radio broadcast with no commercial interruptions for its first few days, adding one or two advertisements per hour thereafter.
Pirate Radio started as a "Rock 40" station that playedhard rock andheavy metal music mixed with upbeatpop music and somealternative rock in a manner similar tomainstream top 40 stations.[14] At first, KQLZ featured an eclectic range of music and proudly proclaimed it played everything fromMadonna toMetallica toMilli Vanilli.[15] A typical hour of music onPirate Radio in the spring of 1989 could include early crossoverhip hop artistTone Lōc,electronic music fromDepeche Mode, a pop musicballad byMartika, apop rock song byThe Bangles, and satiricalpunk rock by theDead Milkmen, all mixed with music from such rock acts asIron Maiden,Billy Squier, andWinger.
The station was programmed byScott Shannon, known within the radio business for his work atWHTZ (Z100) in New York City in the 1980s. Shannon left Z100 and moved to Los Angeles to compete against top-rated stationKIIS-FM, as well astop 40 crossover outletKPWR (Power 106). He developed thePirate Radio concept while launching WHTZ, drawing inspiration from Britishpirate radio stationRadio Caroline.[13] A later account fromWMMS program directorJohn Gorman (both WHTZ and WMMS then, and now, are under common ownership) claimed that Shannon wanted to brand WHTZ asPirate Radio when it launched, but was rebuffed by ownership who wanted WHTZ to be seen as a legitimate radio station; Z100 was his second choice.[16] In addition to Shannon hosting KQLZ'smorning drive program, other on-air personalities from the Rock 40 era included Shadow Steele in afternoon drive and Jimmy Page, formerly ofKCAQ inOxnard, in late nights.[15] Westwood One paid Shannon a yearly salary of $2.3 million, then an industry high.
The originalPirate Radio billboards featured a close-uphead shot of Shannon's face. Some of these billboards were soon defaced with"El Diablo" in spray paint. Local news media reported that some members of the area'sChicano,Hispanic, andLatino communities viewed Shannon's picture as acaricature of the devil.[17] Some media sources reported that the acts of vandalism were done intentionally by the radio station to generate free publicity. In 1990, the station adopted as itsmascot the "Party Pig", a cartoon pig wearing atrucker hat. This figure replaced Shannon's likeness on billboards and appeared on other promotional items such asT-shirts andbumper stickers.
One popular feature during KQLZ's first few months was "Flush and Win". The station invited listeners to call in and mention the Los Angeles-area radio station to which they listened before KQLZ signed on. After saying the competing station's moniker orcall letters, the sound of a toilet flushing could be heard; this was meant to insinuate that the listener dumped one's former station and switched toPirate Radio.[18]
Along with its local 100.3 FM broadcast in Los Angeles, KQLZ could also be heard via satellite transmission (SatCom 1R, transponder 3, channels 5 and 6). This service was used primarily for the delivery of the syndicated programPirate Radio U.S.A. to affiliates, but it also gave the station wide exposure outside of the local market. Employees of several radio stations around the country listened to and airchecked KQLZ's satellite signal. In 1989, Westwood One had planned to launch a 24-hour satellite version ofPirate Radio; however, a company representative stated that the debut of such a network was unlikely.[19]
After briefly registering successful ratings during its first six months asPirate Radio, KQLZ soon garnered ratings too low to bill advertising rates high enough to sustain operating costs. By late 1989, the station focused more on hard rock and heavy metal music (mostly metal in the more pop orientedglam metalgenre), putting it in direct competition with metal stationKNAC andalbum rock outletKLOS. Shannon and most of the original on-air personalities were dismissed on February 13, 1991; the next day, the station switched to a conventional album rock format, dropping pop and dance music.[20] The following month, Westwood One hired former KLOS program director Carey Curelop for the same position at KQLZ.[21]
KQLZ dropped thePirate Radio name on December 28, 1992 and adjusted its format to a hybrid of album rock andmodern rock. The station from this point forward was known as simply100.3 FM with the slogan "Southern California's Cutting Edge".[22]
ThePirate Radio U.S.A. syndicated program, which Shadow Steele had hosted until 1991[19][23] and which was thereafter helmed by several others, ceased broadcasting in October 1993.
On April 1, 1994, as anApril Fools' Dayradio stunt, Los Angeles modern rock stationKROQ-FM switched to KQLZ's "Rock 40" format, complete with originalPirate Radiobumpers, station legal IDs, airchecks, and playlists.[24] Shadow Steele returned to the airwaves for the event, broadcasting live from the KROQ-FM studio.[25]
In 2008, the KQLZ call letters were used for several years on aradio station in the Boise, Idaho, market that was an affiliate of the satellite-deliveredTrue Oldies Channel, a later Scott Shannon project.[26]
Since 2013, theKQLZ calls have been attached to aclassic rock station servingDickinson, North Dakota.
On March 29, 1993, Westwood One announced the sale of KQLZ toViacom for $40 million, significantly less than what the company had purchased the station for in 1989; this marked the end of its brief stint in radio station ownership.[27][28] Four days later, on April 2 at 3 p.m., 100.3 FM flipped tosoft adult contemporary with new call letters KXEZ, and adopted theEZ 100.3 branding.[29] Shannon, on the phone fromWPLJ in New York, returned to the station's airwaves briefly to give KQLZ a proper send-off, closing out the old format saying, "Goodbye, Pirate Radio".[30]
It was a return to the dial for the KXEZ call letters and format, which had resided at 98.7 MHz until that station re-branded asKYSR, "Star 98.7", in 1992. It was during this period that the station hired prostituteDivine Brown to be their television spokesperson soon after her arrest with actorHugh Grant.[31]
Today,KXEZ is aclassic country station nearDallas, Texas.
On August 29, 1996, at noon, KXEZ changed calls to KIBB and flipped to a dance-leaningrhythmic hot AC format, branded as "B100" ("The Rhythm of L.A."). The first song on KIBB was "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" byThe Gap Band.[32] The move was to go after listeners who had become disenfranchised with the increasinghip-hop content atKPWR. The move also came about based on the instant success ofWKTU in New York City, which debuted in February of that year. In 1997, Chancellor Media bought KIBB, added current songs to its playlist, and shifted directions torhythmic contemporary hits. The slogan changed to "L.A.'s Hot FM".
The KIBB call sign was assigned to anadult hits station servingWichita, Kansas, until May 2023, when it rebranded as Bob FM and took on theKBOB-FM call sign.
Despite the effort and a promotional campaign (one memorable ad featured a large billboard of aLatina woman dancing placed near a building on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles), KIBB couldn't make a dent in the ratings. After a little over a year and minor tweaks in its playlist and direction, KIBB's fate was sealed when Chancellor decided to drop the format at 5 p.m. on November 19, 1997 (after a couple of days of teasing a "major event" and playing "I'll Be Missing You" byPuff Daddy as the final song) for yet another short-lived fad:Rhythmic oldies asMega 100. The first song on "Mega" was "The Cisco Kid" byWar.[33] The call letters were changed to KCMG on January 30, 1998. The format, which drew instant ratings success in the market, was replicated on many stations across the country in the late 1990s (however, many of these stations would flip in the early 2000s due to poor ratings and promotion). Chancellor merged with Capstar in 1999, forming AMFM Inc.
Clear Channel Communications merged with AMFM in 2000. Because of the merger, Clear Channel exceeded the radio station ownership limits (5 FM stations, 3 AM stations) in Los Angeles. As a result, Clear Channel decided to keep the stronger92.3 FM frequency, as well as KCMG's intellectual property and call letters, and chose to sell the 100.3 FM frequency and the intellectual property of KKBT, which was on 92.3, toRadio One.
When the switch was made on June 30, 2000 at 5 p.m., 100.3 FM became KKBT, "100.3 The Beat", and 92.3 became KCMG, "Mega 92.3".[34][35][36] (In August 2001, as the "Jammin' Oldies" format was starting to fade in popularity, KCMG would morph into anurban adult contemporary direction and the station becameKHHT, "Hot 92.3", a direct competitor to KKBT.) Soon after the frequency swap, KKBT released their morning team of Dre andEd Lover, as well as afternoon drivers "TheBaka Boyz".
During the first four years under Radio One, KKBT enjoyed modest success as it battled KPWR for the R&B/hip-hop crown. KKBT heavily promotedSteve Harvey as its high-profile morning star and billed itself under the slogan of "Harvey & Hip-Hop". However, KKBT never overtook KPWR in the ratings. Harvey was also at odds with station management over the station's hip-hop content and refused to play questionable songs during his show until his departure from the station, when he went toKDAY.
By 2004, the station began showing signs of erosion in ratings, as it faced new competition. KDAY, which was formerly on1580 AM, signed on for the first time on FM at 93.5 and debuted its own hip-hop format that September, siphoning off a good number of KKBT listeners. In addition,KXOL-FM's flip toReggaeton in 2005 took many of The Beat'sHispanic listeners. KKBT went through a great deal of turmoil, with several popular air staffers leaving or being dismissed from 2002 through 2006.
On May 19, 2006, at Midnight, KKBT officially threw in the towel as a mainstream urban outlet and flipped to a hybridurban adult contemporary/urban talk format dubbed "Rhythm & Talk". According to the press release that was featured on the station's website: "The new format, which will engage 25- to 49-year-old adults, takes the best music of urban adult contemporary stations and adds compelling content delivered by proven national personalitiesTom Joyner,Ananda Lewis,Michael Baisden,Wendy Williams andFree."[37][38] Although it retained the "Beat" branding, thepeace sign, which was long a staple of "The Beat" in station logos, was discontinued.
However, the 'Rhythm and Talk' emphasis did not succeed in the ratings, and the station dropped Free and Lewis first from the lineup. Williams, which aired on tape delay after midnight on weekends, was dropped later, and theTom Joyner Morning Show was dropped when it could not compete with Steve Harvey on KDAY.[39] Other on-air staffers also left the station, but Baisden remained until the station's format flip in April 2008. Baisden later landed on KDAY, before being dropped by the station in July 2009.
KKBT was the last full-market hip hop/R&B station to use the Urban format as opposed to Rhythmic, not to mention the only one that covered the entire metro. However, much of its target audience tuned to other stations: Hispanics preferred KPWR andKXOL-FM;African Americans had KHHT,KJLH, and to a lesser extent,KTWV as options; in the meantime,KMVN debuted and targeted older listeners with dance pop from the 1980s to the present day. With that, ratings suffered and speculation grew about its future.Emmis Broadcasting reportedly was interested in the station, but decided not to buy it. Eventually, KKBT elected to go head-to-head with the urban AC formats of KHHT and long-timeCompton-based KJLH. The station also hired Cliff Winston away from KJLH for afternoon drive.
As of 2019, theKKBT call sign has resurfaced at anurban contemporary station inLeone, American Samoa, also branded as "The Beat."
In October 2006, the station began phasing out the "Beat" branding and promos would only reference the 100.3 frequency, and in December 2006, briefly touted "Majic", giving rise to speculation that Radio One would use the "Majic" brand, most notably found on sister stationsWMMJ in Washington, DC,WWIN-FM in Baltimore (instead spelled "Magic"), andKMJQ in Houston.[40]
However, on December 29, 2006, at 8 a.m., Radio One instead unveiledV 100.3. With that, an Urban heritage based era came to an end: the KKBT call-sign was no more after 16 years, and the "Beat" branding was erased as a piece of radio brand history, as KKBT was the very first radio station to carry the "Beat" moniker (althoughKDAY briefly revived the branding soon after). With the format flip, the call letters changed to KRBV.[41][42] (Ironically, KRBV and the moniker "V 100.3" were both used on an urban AC station, what is nowKJKK, in theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex in the mid- to late 1990s.) The imaging was similar in fashion toWRKS in New York City, perhaps a reason being that Barry Mayo, the former general manager for WRKS, was consulting Radio One and thus wanted to use similar imaging for KRBV.
The re-imaging and air-staff changes did not help the station's ratings, however. At a stockholders' meeting in 2007, some investors called for KRBV to be sold, but company officials said that they had no such plans. One possible reason for this is that KRBV was the only Radio One-owned-and-operated station in the three leading markets in the U.S.; at the time, they did not own stations in New York City or Chicago. Also, a sale of KRBV would come at a loss to Radio One compared to how much it originally paid for it, possibly because of the residual effects of the frequency swap with KCMG.
On March 24, 2008, Radio One announced that the station had been sold toBonneville International for$137.5 million. The transaction closed in the second quarter of 2008.[43] According to a spokesperson for Bonneville, the station would continue to be a music station, although there were rumors that the station would actually flip tonews/talk (similar tosister stationsKTAR-FM in Phoenix,KIRO-FM in Seattle, andWWWT in Washington, D.C.). On April 3, Bonneville confirmed it would flip the station toadult album alternative (AAA).[44] KRBV's air staffers bid farewell to their listeners on their final day, April 7.
On April 8, 2008, at Midnight, Bonneville took over the operations of KRBV, and dropped the station's urban AC format. The station then beganstunting asBruce Radio 100.3, playing all ofBruce Springsteen's hits in connection with his show that night at theHonda Center inAnaheim. After ten hours of playing "the Boss", followed by the song "I Love L.A." byRandy Newman, KRBV made the following announcement: "Hello, and welcome to what we hope will be a new beginning for Southern California and music fans everywhere." The station then became "100.3 The Sound" and the AAA format officially launched, with "Beautiful Day" byU2 being the first song played.[45][46]
The new station offered listeners a wide selection of rock music, stretching from the 1960s to "last week", according to Bonneville vice president of programming Greg Solk and executive VP Drew Horowitz. In an interview fromR&R the day of the launch, Bonneville president andchief executive officer Bruce Reese told the music trade publication, "It’s great to be back in L.A." He added that, "we are truly excited about our new station — 100.3 the Sound will be a music station that has absolute respect for the music and that features a broad playlist".
On May 14, 2008, new call letters KSWD were officially introduced. The rights to these call letters had to be purchased from an FM station inSeward, Alaska, who then switched to the call signKKNI-FM.
KSWD's new format and the "Sound" logo were loosely patterned after its then-sister station in Cincinnati,WSWD. But whereas KSWD's direction took a broader approach, WSWD focused mostly on 1990s and current fare (WSWD switched to a different format in 2009).[citation needed] KSWD was the fourth station in the Los Angeles radio market to program a Triple-A format;KNX-FM,KSCA andKACD/KBCD all have featured the format in past years. The last of those stations also used the positioning statement "World Class Rock for Southern California."[citation needed]
In May 2009, KSWD dropped current music and shifted toclassic rock, although its playlist included many more deep album tracks than their nearest competitors,KLOS andKCBS-FM. As a result, KSWD was pulled off of Mediabase's AAA reporting stations panel. RivalKLOS had already switched back to a harder-edged version of the same format.
On July 10, 2009, KSWD held "Finally a KMET Friday", an on-air event paying tribute to the defunct, pioneering Los Angeles rock stationKMET. The event featured on-air appearances by former KMET personalities, classic jingles, and much of the music programming from the era, including an airing ofBob Marley & The Wailers's "Live at the Roxy" concert. The event was spearheaded by KSWD personality Jeff Gonzer, who was an alumnus of KMET; the station's program director Dave Beasing stated that public response to the event was "absolutely overwhelming and proof of the emotional connection that a generation of Southern Californians had with KMET".[47] In 2013, KSWD held a second edition of the event, the "Mighty Met Weekend", from November 1 to November 3, 2013.[48]
On December 8, 2014, KSWD general manager Peter Burton and program director Dave Beasing announced thatMark Thompson would replace Joe Benson in morning drive at KSWD.[49] Benson would move to mid-days and current midday hostAndy Chanley would become part of Thompson's show. Thompson hosted his last show on KSWD on August 3, 2016, after which Chanley took his place as morning host.[50] From 1987 to 2012, Thompson co-hosted themorning show onKLOS withBrian Phelps.
On July 14, 2015, it was announced thatEntercom would swap four of its stations inDenver to Bonneville in exchange for KSWD, to comply with ownership limits related to Entercom's acquisition ofLincoln Financial Media's radio stations. Once the purchase was completed on July 17, Entercom began operating KSWD under a time-brokerage agreement, marking the company's entry into the Los Angeles market for the first time, while Bonneville began operating their new cluster in Denver that same day.[51] The swap to Entercom was consummated on November 24, 2015.
On May 21, 2016, LARadio.com announced that the recently rechristenedLos Angeles Rams of theNational Football League would air live games on KSWD, alongside AM stationKSPN.[52]
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On February 2, 2017, Entercom announced its intent to merge withCBS Radio.[53] The company was required to divest stations in order to comply with ownership limits, and on September 26, 2017, the company announced that it would divest KSWD,KSOQ-FM, andWGGI toEducational Media Foundation (EMF) for $57,750,000. KSWD was to be flipped to acontemporary Christian music format as part of EMF'sK-Love network.[54][55][56][57] The sale of the three stations to EMF was approved on November 2.[58]
Once the station was scheduled to switch to K-Love on November 16, 2017, it was also announced that Los Angeles Rams FM radio broadcasts would move toKCBS-FM, beginning with the team's next game on November 19.[59][60] As the station's final songs as a rock station, morning co-hostAndy Chanley played the side-two medley ofThe Beatles'Abbey Road, concluding with "The End". Shortly after a final sign-off by Chanley, KSWD switched to K-Love at 1:00 p.m.[61][62][63] At the same time as the flip, the station adopted the KKLQ call letters; the KSWD call letters were moved toKMPS, an Entercom-acquired station in Seattle that flipped to asoft AC format and branded itself as94.1 The Sound.[64][65]
EMF was required to reach an agreement withUnivision Radio (later known as Uforia Audio Network) in order to use the "K-Love" brand in the Los Angeles market.KLVE, a Univision-ownedSpanish-language AC outlet, has used the name K-Love continuously since 1974, and holdstrademark rights to that brand locally.[note 1] While terms of this agreement were not disclosed, KKLQ does not promote itself locally using the K-Love branding (instead using the brandPositive, Encouraging 100.3), and itsstation identification contains the positioning statement "The K-Love for Christian music" to distinguish it from KLVE.[68]
KKLQ broadcasts inHD Radio with both its HD1 and HD2 channels providing Artist Experience data including song titles, artists, and albums on compatible radios. Over the years, 100.3 FM has hosted a variety of formats on its HD sub-channels. The current HD sub-channel formats are: