| City of license | Tijuana, Baja California |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Diego-Tijuana |
| Branding | "91X" |
| Slogan | "Local. Independent. Radio." |
| Frequency | 91.1 (MHz) |
| First air date | 1978 |
| Format | Modern Rock |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 146 meters |
| Class | C |
| Callsign meaning | E(X)TRA |
| Owner | Local Media of America (license and transmitter owned by a Mexican company) |
| Sister stations | XHITZ, XHRM |
| Webcast | Flash Player, PLS |
| Website | "91X" |
XETRA-FM (91.1 FM) — branded 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM — is an English language, Mexican-owned (border blaster) modern rock music station broadcasting from Tijuana, Baja California on 91.1 MHz. The studios are located in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego. The station is one of three outlets that are programmed by Local Media of America, who took over the operations of XETRA-FM from Broadcast Company of the Americas in 2010.
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91X was formed in 1978 and signed on with an AOR format. It remained until 1983. 91X broadcast studios were located at the 91X transmitter site on Mount San Antonio in Tijuana. Initially, programming was recorded at the San Diego Studios in the Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich building downtown and driven to the transmitter site several times a day. That proved not to be competitive. [1]. Disc jockeys then commuted from San Diego to Tijuana each shift. 91X was notorious for having DJs with no personality; they would simply announce the previous song, and the next song. On January 12, 1983 at 6PM, 91X followed in the footsteps of KROQ-FM and switched formats to "rock of the 80s" (modern rock). 91X played "Stairway to Heaven" (Led Zeppelin) as the final song of the AOR format. Immediately afterward , then 91X Executive Vice President and General Manager John Lynch made on air announcement of the format change and disc jockey Todd Ralston went right into "Sex (I'm A...)" by Berlin. Former 91X on-air personality Jim LaMarca recounts the transition:
During the 1980s and 1990s 91X was one of the top-rated alternative stations in America. [3]
In 1996, the U.S. marketing and operating rights to 91X were acquired by Jacor Communications. Jacor was acquired by Clear Channel Communications in 1999.
On December 1, 2005, Clear Channel Communications was forced to spin off the U.S. rights to program and sell advertising time on XETRA-FM, XHITZ-FM (90.3) and XHRM-FM (92.5). This was an effort to satisfy existing consolidation laws. Stations based in Tijuana, Baja California and operated by U.S. broadcasters are now considered as part of the San Diego radio market for ownership limit purposes. The Mexico-based stations put Clear Channel over the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limit of eight local broadcast outlets in San Diego. [4] Clear Channel operates seven stations in the San Diego market.
Finest City Broadcasting, a new company under the direction of former Clear Channel/San Diego VP/Market Manager Mike Glickenhaus, took over operations of the three stations. Glickenhaus left FCB in May 2007, and is not involved in radio as of December 2007.
In December 2009, Finest City, faced with massive debt and foreclosure, put the entire cluster up for sale. On January 7, 2010, Broadcasting Corporation of the Americas, whose owner John Lynch was also XETRA's VP/GM in its early days, emerged as the buyer in a foreclosure sale. John Lynch is the father of John Lynch (American football).
John Lynch, dba Noble Broadcast Consultants, also owned and operated XTRA AM 690 (69 XTRA Gold) which shared staff and facilities with 91X. In addition, the Sunday morning oldies format was programmed by AM Program Director Jim Lamarca. Clear Channel formerly owned the U.S. programming and sales rights to that station as well, and spun those rights off to a different operator.
When Howard Stern was on terrestrial radio, 91X was his original San Diego affiliate.
On December 27, 2007 Chris Cantore confirmed with SDRadio that he was let go from the alternative rocker after a decade of service.
On April 1, 2008 "The 91X Morning Show" debuted after a month-long marketing campaign that centered around the question "who is Mat Diablo?". On May 7, 2010 the 91X Morning Show was canceled due to poor ratings performance.
"Music In The Morning" is hosted by Oz Medina, who previously worked as 91X's Music Director & Afternoon Host from 1987-1993.
91X's current Program Director is Garrett "Capone", who also handles Afternoons on-air. 91X's Music Director is Christy Taylor, who handles Nights on-air.
91X carries the syndicated Loveline weeknights.
Until 2008, 91X aired Reggae Makossa, a program featuring reggae and roots music that now airs on Fusion Radio 102.5. The program was originally hosted by Makeda Dread and Demaja Le. Demaja Le left in 1998 to program Jazz 88.3. Makeda Dread still hosts the show in its new location. Despite the move, 91X still plays occasional reggae music, most notably daily around 4:20 pm to honor 420.
Under the rules and regulations of the Secretary of Communication and Transportation of Mexico, 91X (and other Baja California, Mexico-licensed stations) concludes its broadcast week with public affairs and other mandatory programming in the Spanish language Sunday evenings beginning at 10 p.m. Pacific time.
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