KBZT

KBZT
City San Diego, California
Broadcast area Greater San Diego
Branding Alt 94.9
Slogan San Diego's Alternative
Frequency 94.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
First air date 1960 (as KLRO-FM)
Format Alternative rock
Language(s) English
ERP 26,500 watts
HAAT 209 meters (686 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 58816
Callsign meaning Sounds like "K-Best" (former branding)
Former callsigns KLRO (1960–1979)
KBZT (1979–1987)
KWLT (1987–1989)
KKYY (1989–1991)
KRMX (1991–1992)
KBZS (1992–1994)
Owner Entercom
(Entercom San Diego License, LLC)
Sister stations KWFN, KSON, KXSN, KYXY
Webcast Listen Live
Listen Live (HD2)
Listen Live (HD3)
Website alt949radio.com
bobsd.com (HD2)
glowsd.com (HD3)

KBZT (94.9 FM, "Alt 94.9") is a commercial radio station licensed to San Diego, California. Owned by Entercom, the station broadcasts an alternative rock format. Its studios are located in San Diego's Mission Valley neighborhood, and the transmitter is located in La Jolla.

KBZT broadcasts in HD Radio; it carries carries two additional formats on digital subchannels, including the reggae Bob Radio, and dance music Glow.

History

94.9 FM began as KLRO-FM in 1960 with a middle-of-the-road format.

In 1979, KLRO-FM flipped to gold-based adult contemporary, changed call letters to KBZT and changed monikers to "K-Best 95." In the mid-1980s, the station flipped to oldies. In 1987, after the station was sold to Sandusky Radio, the station adopted new call letters KWLT, flipped to soft rock, and changed monikers to "K-Lite 95", before changing again to "Y95" and the KKYY calls in 1989. As KWLT, the station launched the local careers of morning show hosts, Jeff Elliot and Jerry St. James, better known as Jeff and Jer (most recently on KYXY).

In 1991, Jeff and Jer moved to rival B100, with KKYY changing its name to "Mix 94.9", adopted new call letters KRMX, and added more gold based music, before reverting to back to oldies, again as "K-Best 95" on January 16, 1992, though with the call letters KBZS.[1] (The KBZT call letters and "K-Best" logo were featured on a station in Palm Springs, where it was briefly the number one station in that market. The call letters reverted to San Diego in 1994 after the Palm Springs station changed format to Spanish.)

In the mid-1990s, Sandusky sold the station to Anaheim Broadcasting, which in turn sold 94.9 to Jefferson-Pilot, making KBZT a sister station to country-formatted KSON-FM. On November 10, 2000, due to low ratings, KBZT switched to an "'80s Hits" format, just a day before KMSX dropped hot AC and adopted the same format.[2] On November 11, 2002, KBZT flipped to alternative rock, branded as "FM 94/9".[3] In 2006, Lincoln Financial Media bought KBZT and all the others that were owned by J-P, including KIFM and KSON.[4]

On December 8, 2014, Entercom announces that it was purchasing Lincoln Financial Group's entire 15-station lineup (including KBZT) in a $106.5 million deal, and would operate the outlets under a LMA deal until the sale was approved by the FCC.[5] The sale to Entercom was consummated on July 17, 2015.

On February 1, 2018, KBZT rebranded as "Alt 94.9", aligning itself with Entercom's similarly branded stations across the country. The rebranding also solidified its continued operation as a music station; Entercom's hiring of former XEPRS jock Dan Sileo led to speculation that either KBZT or KEGY would be flipped to a sports talk format to accompany Sileo, as well as Entercom's rights to the San Diego Padres (a deal which began on KBZT for the 2017 season). The team announced later that month that Padres broadcasts would move to KEGY,[6][7][8][9] which flipped from Top 40/CHR to the hot talk-driven The Machine on March 2, 2018 (but subsequently flipped again to the conventional sports talk format The Fan in April, in response to controversies surrounding the station's planned morning host Kevin Klein, who was coming from KBZT's San Francisco sister station KITS).[10][11][12]

Music direction

As of October 2007, FM 94/9 was one of at least five stations in the San Diego market at the time playing modern rock music. However, on its website, FM 94/9 purports to strive to be different from other radio stations by playing diverse music, broadcasting locally produced music and using a live and local airstaff. Shows on the station include:

  • The Local 94/9 – Hosted by local artists TJ, "Poor Pat", and Dan Brozo
  • Legends of Alternative – Hosted by Steve West

In April 2006, the Lincoln Financial Group completed a merger between themselves and the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation.[13] The media assets of the new merged company (including several San Diego area radio stations) are now called Lincoln Financial Media.

During the October 2007 wildfires in the San Diego area, KBZT became the temporary home of local public radio station KPBS-FM 89.5 after power to the KPBS-FM/TV transmitter on Mount San Miguel was interrupted on the morning of October 23.[14] Within three hours KBZT had agreed to air KPBS' wildfire coverage until a backup transmitter could be established from the station's studio tower on the San Diego State University campus, which occurred the next day.[15]

In January 2010, "The Mikey Show" moved from KIOZ to KBZT.

In June 2012, "Brunch with Bob and Friends" ended an eight-year run at the station, moving to KOPA Rez Rado 91.3.

On October 19, 2015, Chris Cantore became co-host of the morning show with Steve Woods. Cantore had previously hosted mornings at KPRI but lost his job in September 2015 when that station became part of the contemporary Christian K-Love network.[16]

On August 18, 2016, FM 949 announced that they would be the new home of the San Diego Padres beginning with the 2017 season.[17]

HD Radio

KBZT carries its alternative rock format on the standard analog and HD1 channels. On their HD2 sub-channel, KBZT carries a reggae format as "Bob Radio", which is named after Bob Marley.

On September 17, 2014, KBZT launched a Dance/EDM format, branded as "Glow", on its HD3 sub-channel. The station stream is also available online as well.[18]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1992/RR-1992-01-24.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2000/RR-2000-11-17.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2002/RR-2002-11-15.pdf
  4. ↑ "Lincoln Financial Media", December 15th, 2009
  5. ↑ "Entercom Acquires Lincoln Financial Media" from Radio Insight (December 8, 2014)
  6. ↑ "As Padres Move To KEGY, Format Flip Expected". Inside Radio. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  7. ↑ Acee, Kevin. "Padres announce new radio home, spring broadcast schedule". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  8. ↑ "San Diego Padres Make 97.3 KEGY Its New Home Ahead of Flip". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  9. ↑ Lin, Dennis. "Controversial radio host Dan Sileo will not be involved with Padres". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  10. ↑ "Former ALT 105 hosts of morning show Kevin Klein Live relocate to revive program in San Diego". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
  11. ↑ "KEGY (Energy 97.3)/San Diego Turns Off The Top 40, Rocks Out In Prep For New Format". All Access. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  12. ↑ Kenney, Kirk. "Padres flagship radio station goes all-sports and rebrands as 97.3 The Fan". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  13. ↑ April 2006 news release of the completed merger between Lincoln Financial Group and Jefferson-Pilot Corporation]
  14. ↑ SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features – KPBS-FM stays on air, with help
  15. ↑ KPBS > About Us > KPBS Pressroom
  16. ↑ http://www.radioinfo.com/ October 15, 2015
  17. ↑ KBZT FM 949 becomes the new home of the San Diego Padres Archived 2016-08-29 at the Wayback Machine. August 18, 2016
  18. ↑ "Lincoln Financial Media/San Diego Debuts Dance 'Glow' On HD, Internet" from All Access (September 17, 2014)

Coordinates: 32°50′17″N 117°15′00″W / 32.838°N 117.250°W / 32.838; -117.250

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