KXSN (98.1
FM) is a
commercial radio station in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, branded ''Sunny 98.1''. Owned by
Audacy, Inc., the station airs a
classic hits radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
. The station's studios and offices are located in San Diego's Stonecrest area, off Granite Ridge Drive, and its
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
is off La Jolla Scenic Drive South in
La Jolla.
History
Middle of the road (1960–1974)
The station first
signed on the air on February 4, 1960, as KJLM. It was owned by E. Edward Jacobson and it operated at only 4,500 watts, a fraction of its current power. The station aired what it described as a "good music" format, a mix of
middle of the road (MOR) and
easy listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
music.
In 1968, Jacobson changed the station's
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...
to KDIG but remained as owner and president, and continued the MOR format.
The station changed hands in 1971, getting sold to West Coast Media.
Soft rock (1974–1987)
In 1974, the call letters were switched to KIFM and the format moved to what West Coast described as "mellow music", a mix of
soft rock
Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...
and
soft adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
. In the 1980s, KIFM experimented with a contemporary
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
program at night, called "Lights Out San Diego".
Smooth jazz (1987–2011)
In September 1987, as Lights Out San Diego gained in popularity, KIFM went with
smooth jazz around the clock as "Smooth Jazz 98.1".
In 1996, KIFM was bought by Jefferson-Pilot Broadcasting for $28.75 million. Jefferson-Pilot would be acquired by
Lincoln Financial Group. The media division became Lincoln Financial Media.
During smooth jazz's popularity, KIFM was one of the top rated stations in San Diego and was the 2005 winner of the
Marconi Award.
Rhythmic adult contemporary (2011–2013)
In the Summer of 2011, as the smooth jazz format began to age, KIFM shifted its format to smooth
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
, airing mostly pop artists with R&B roots, such as
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
,
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
,
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
and
Anita Baker, with only an occasional Smooth Jazz instrumental, and rebranded as "98.1 Smooth FM".
By the fall of that year, the station shifted to
Rhythmic AC, playing recent and older
R&B hits and
classic soul tracks. When the
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...
transmitter went on air, the original smooth jazz format moved to KIFM's HD2 subchannel.
Soft adult contemporary (2013–2016)
Without warning on August 19, 2013, at 10 am, KIFM flipped to
Soft AC as "Easy 98.1". The rebranding came after KIFM trailed San Diego's longtime AC leader
KYXY in the
Arbitron
Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...
ratings reports. The final song on "Smooth" was "
I Love You Always Forever" by
Donna Lewis, while the first song on "Easy" was "
Easy" by
The Commodores
Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer.
The members of the group met as m ...
. After the flip, the station's ratings improved dramatically, reaching No. 1 in several Arbitron ratings periods. At the same time, KYXY, like many stations that were originally Soft AC, has moved closer to a more
Hot AC format to attract younger listeners.
On December 8, 2014,
Entercom a media company, announced its acquisition of
Lincoln Financial Group's entire 15-station lineupwhich included KIFM, in a deal worth $106.5 million. As part of the agreement, Entercom would operate the stations under a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) until the sale received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC approved the merger on July 14, 2015, and the sale was officially completed on July 17, allowing Entercom to assume ownership of the stations.
Adult contemporary (2016–2017)
On April 21, 2016, at 5 pm, after playing "
Sundown" by
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...
, KIFM rebranded as "Sunny 98.1", and relaunched its
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
format, this time moving in a more contemporary direction. The first song on "Sunny" was "
Walking on Sunshine" by
Katrina & the Waves. Prior to the change, the station had led the San Diego market with a 6.2 share in the March 2016 Nielsen Audio PPM ratings, making for a rare situation where a radio station at the top of the market ratings changed formats (though it was speculated the station made the change due to low advertising revenues with the previous format). On April 28, 2016, KIFM changed callsigns to KXSN to match the "Sunny" moniker. Concurrently, the KIFM callsign was moved to a co-owned
sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...
station in
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
,
AM 1320 KCTC. Despite the call letter switch, the KXSN HD2 subchannel is referred to as "Smooth Jazz KIFM" as a tribute to the classic Smooth Jazz station.
Classic hits (2017–present)
On July 24, 2017, KXSN switched to
classic hits, and retained the "Sunny 98.1" branding. This returned the classic hits format to the market for the first time since 2000, when
KJQY became a hot AC station. It was the second time that the 98.1 FM frequency changed formats despite leading the market, this time with a 6.2
share in the June 2017
Nielsen Audio ratings. The change came because of the merger between station owner Entercom and
CBS Radio, then-owner of soon-to-be sister station
KYXY, as it would eliminate playlist overlap between the two stations. Entercom completed the acquisition of KYXY on November 17. In January 2018, KXSN's studios relocated from Mission Valley to Murphy Canyon.
In November 2018, KXSN-HD3 began carrying the LGBTQ-targeted "
Channel Q
Channel Q (stylized as CHANNEL Q) is an LGBT community, LGBT lifestyle talk radio, talk and electronic dance music, EDM top 40 radio network created, owned, and operated by Audacy, Inc. The network airs on the Audacy internet radio service, as ...
" network featuring a talk/dance music format originating from sister station
KQPS in Palm Springs.
In September 2020, Entercom began restructuring radio formats and regionalizing its programming offerings. As part of this plan, on January 20, 2021, KXSN began
voice-tracking talent from
KRTH in Los Angeles. Greg Simms hosts the station's morning show, while KRTH midday personality Lara Scott and evening host Larry Morgan will assume those same time slots on KXSN. Simms has previously worked in the San Diego market on
KFMB-FM in the 1990s and 2000s.
References
External links
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* (
Guide to reading History Cards)
{{Entercom
Audacy, Inc. radio stations
Classic hits radio stations in the United States
Metromedia
Radio stations established in 1960
XSN