Five months after Sinclair Communications pulled the plug on Alternative “96X” 96.7 KNOB Healdsburg/Santa Rosa CA after losing its lease of the station, the company has returned the format to the market.
Sinclair flipped CHR “Y100.9” KSXY Forestville to Alternative “The 101” on Friday, September 8. Positioned as “Modern Alternative”, KSXY is focusing mostly on currents and recurrents with a few pop crossovers. The previous on-air lineup remains in place with Dray Lopez in mornings, Ashlee Sleek hosting middays, Natalie in afternoons, and Will Styles at night.
Here’s how The 101 sounded in the 8pm hour on Monday:
Echosmith – Cool Kids
Sir Sly – High
Imagine Dragons – I Bet My Life
Capital Cities – Safe and Sound
Muse – Dig Down
M83 – Midnight City
Foster The People – Doing It For The Money
Cage The Elephant – Whole Wide World
Marian Hill – Down
Imagine Dragons – Believer
Chainsmokers – Honest
Oasis – Champagne Supernova
Judah and the Lion – Suit & Jacket
Adele – Rolling In The Deep
The Revivalists – Wish I Knew You
Alessia Cara – Here
Eric Jon Magnuson 
Since the airstaff remains in place–and considering how much current Alt was played by Y 100.9–perhaps this is more of a relaunch or overhaul. Either way, here’s Mr. Ross’s “First Listen” from 2015: https://radioinsight.com/blogs/109352/first-listen-ksxy-y100-9-santa-rosa.
Also, if this were a decade ago, the launch song should’ve been Over It’s “Siren on the 101”.
According to today’s RAMP (at https://t.e2ma.net/message/63qxfd/24w760), “[PD Dray] Lopez says KSXY had begun to filter more Alternative titles into the mix [after KNOB’s demise]. ‘We still play some of the Top 40 songs, which is why we are calling it “Modern Alternative,”‘ Lopez tells RAMP. ‘I’ll pick the songs that can cross over from Alternative to Top 40.'”