As we take more Final Listens to stations that were sold to religious broadcasters, displaced for spoken-word formats, or just shut down, a couple of things are likely to happen more often, particularly when viable stations are involved.
More of these articles are going to be about stations that sound pretty good, as opposed to already dispirited (or already jockless and stripped down). Such was the case with Beasley’s CHR WNKS (Kiss 95.1) Charlotte, N.C., and Alternative KXTE (X107.5) Las Vegas, whose sale to KLOVE was announced August 4.
There are also going to be more ironic moments. One Kiss 95.1 sweeper heard before the sale announcement declared “the hits don’t quit and neither do we.” Another proclaimed the station to be “30 years old and we’re still the life of the party.” (The frequency’s CHR heritage, although interrupted in the early ’90s, also includes CHR WROQ in the ’80s and legendary AM predecessor “Big WAYS.”)
KXTE’s sale had already been announced when I heard p.m. driver Paulie come out of Bush with “we ain’t never gonna come down.” Of course, KXTE’s outcome is happier; it is moving to the frequency of Hot AC sister KVGS. (It might have also been a reference to the appearance that Paulie was teasing at a local dispensary.)
After years as a successful CHR under PD John Reynolds, WNKS was plunged into a war of attrition in 2010 when iHeart’s Rhythmic CHR WIBT became Mainstream CHR WHQC (Channel 96.1), eventually landing Kiss Morning show Ace & T.J. Under PD/PM driver Cameron Moore, WNKS has a 4.6 to a 2.7 for WHQC, which can now be said to have truly played the long game.
Kiss morning team Mainey & LauRen will move to Classic Hits sister WKQC (K104.7) with the sale. They’re also a presence through the day — with one or both appearing in endorsement spots in most breaks.
Here’s Kiss 95.1 on July 31, just before 4 p.m. with Moore:
- Sombr, “Back to Friends”
- Olivia Rodrigo, “Drop Dead”
- David Guetta & Bebe Rexha, “I’m Good”
- Ariana Grande, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” — Cameron talks about Grande suing a hacker
- Dominic Fike, “Babydoll”
- Benson Boone, “Time of My Life”
- Justin Bieber, “Daisies”
- Kehlani, “Folded”
- Rihanna f/Calvin Harris, “We Found Love” — Cameron talks about the woman who left her stroller on the sidewalk to take a picture with Harry Styles
- Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”
- Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “Luther”
- Sabrina Carpenter, “House Tour”
- Teddy Swims, “Mr. Know It All” — the station is giving a flyaway to see Swims
- Olivia Dean, “So Easy (To Fall in Love)”
- Jack Harlow, “Lovin’ on Me” — “What happened to Jack Harlow?” asked Cameron. “He put out that album, then he crashed and burned,” she said, before adding that she still loved Jack Harlow and Bruno Mars
- Bruno Mars, “Risk It All”
- BigXthaPlug f/Bailey Zimmerman, “All the Way”
- French Montana, “Ever Since You Left Me”
- Tate McRae, “Sports Car”
- Fall Out Boy, “Dance, Dance”
KXTE was one of the most influential Alternative stations of the late ’90s. Its rocking version of the format went from outlier to standard-bearer over a few years, particularly on then-Infinity’s sister AORs that also carried Howard Stern. After reimaging as Alt 107.5 under Audacy, the station went hot talk, then returned to its original template in 2023.
Under PD/middayer Carlota, X107.5 is also doing a good job of updating the edginess of Alternative’s late-’90s station imaging. “Here’s your hourly legal BS” says one :00 ID. (“Now that the legal thing is done, back to the chaos,” says another.) Other sweepers include:
- “We don’t chase what’s popular, we wait for it to catch up.”
- “Some people peaked in high school. We found better music.”
- “Structure is overrated. Music is not.”
- The new music stager I heard began with “brand-new? Possibly!” — a seeming acknowledgment that in the streaming age, somebody will challenge anything positioned as “new music.”
X107.5 was giving away Guns n’ Roses tickets in its “Pick Paulie’s Pockets” contest. There were also Magic Mountain tickets as a qualifying prize for Sublime’s upcoming Reef Madness cruise.
Here’s X107.5 on August 4, just before 3 p.m. with Paulie:
- A Perfect Circle, “Judith”
- Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
- White Zombie, “Dragula”
- Bad Omens, “Dying to Love” — staged as “an Extreme Radio freshie infecting your ears”
- House of Pain, “Jump Around”
- Spacehog, “In the Meantime”
- Sublime, “What I Got”
- Linkin Park, “Crawling”
- System of a Down, “Chop Suey!”
- Bush, “Comedown”
- Edgehill, “Doubletake”
- Green Day, “Basket Case”
- Honestav f/MGK, “Crash First”
- Puddle of Mudd, “Blurry”
