KXLI

For the television station in St. Cloud, Minnesota that previously used these calls, see KPXM-TV.
KXLI
City of license Moapa, Nevada
Broadcast area Las Vegas Valley
St. George, Utah
Branding 94.5 Exa FM
Frequency 94.5 MHz
Repeaters Sunrise Manor, Nevada (KXLI-FM1)
First air date December 13, 2006
Format CHR
Language(s) Spanish
ERP 93,000 watts
HAAT 637 meters
Class C
Facility ID 164097
Transmitter coordinates 36°38′7.00″N 114°07′18.00″W / 36.6352778°N 114.1216667°W
Callsign meaning K X JelLI (previous format)
Former callsigns KMOA (12/13/06-5/06/08)
KVBE (5/06/08-6/23/11)
Owner Radio Activo Broadcasting, LLC
(Radio Activo Broadcasting License, LLC)
Website exafm.com/lasvegas/

KXLI (94.5 FM) is a radio station serving the Moapa Valley, St. George, Utah and Las Vegas areas, but focused on Las Vegas as a rimshot station. Licensed to Moapa, Nevada, the station operates at 94.5 MHz with an ERP of 93 kW and broadcasts from a transmitter site near the Arizona border south of Bunkerville. The station also operates a co-channel booster, KXLI-FM1 in Sunrise Manor, Nevada, closer to Las Vegas.

This station is currently (as of October 2008) operating without live disc jockeys. KXLI had been broadcasting a Dance format as "Vibe 94.5" until June 2011, when the station launched a new interactive rock radio format known as Jelli until July 1, 2012, when it flipped to Spanish Top 40 and adopted the EXA brand.

History

94.5 signed on as KMOA under the branding Rehab Radio on May 2, 2008. Rehab Radio was a stunt format that aired while the station was testing the transmitter, playing Dance music. The call letters changed to KVBE on May 6, 2008 and the identity as 94.5 The Vibe was born on May 8, 2008. The launch was co-consulted by Dance radio veterans Trevor Simpson from the now defunct KNGY-Energy 92.7 in San Francisco, California, Joel Salkowitz from the now defunct WNYZ-Pulse 87.7 in New York City, New York, and Mark "Tic Tak" Allen of KUPL-98.7 FM in Portland, Oregon. The Vibe was programmed by industry veteran Rob Walker as a Dance Hits format, with imaging done by Mitch Craig. In November 2009, KVBE's signal repeater added crucial coverage within the Las Vegas area, since the primary coverage area does not clearly reach the city of Las Vegas in most places.[1]

Vibe logo introduced after D2 Media took over operations.

In March 2010, the station's operations were taken over by D2 Media, LLC and began reimaging itself on air (with Mitch Craig being phased out, replaced by St. John), launched a new website (with vibevegas.com being phased out, replaced by 945thevibe.com), and a new logo was unveiled. More mixshows and some of the world's top talent would be featured including: John Digweed, Carl Cox, Roger Sanchez, Manufactured Superstars, Eddie Halliwell, Markus Schulz, Armin Van Buuren, Jordan Stevens, Paul Oakenfold, DJ Vegas Vibe, DJ Maze, Matt Darey, Dave Onex, and Beaux Tech.

As of July 2010, while still claiming itself as a Dance station, KVBE's playlist format was refocused to a Rhythmic Top 40 which played Dance remixes of Top 40 tracks with barely any Dance tracks in rotation, but over time The Vibe began incorporating more Dance Hits into the format. The new format was under guidance by Michael Oaks (Mike O.), owner of Energy 98 and 2004 - 2005 program director of now defunct KNRJ-Energy 92.7 & 101.1 in Phoenix, Arizona and Mark "Tic Tak" Allen of KUPL-98.7 in Portland, OR. The station imaging by St. John was phased out, and Rich Van Slyke became the new voice of The Vibe until mid-April 2011 when Emma Clarke, the same person who voiced Pulse 87 in New York City, became the new voice of The Vibe.

On May 5, 2011, it was announced that 94.5 The Vibe will cease broadcasting in June due to financial difficulties, and would be replaced by a new format called Jelli. KVBE's parent company, Aurora Media, had signed a multi-year agreement in which the Jelli format will be on full-time. KYLI (then KHIJ), which operates from the same tower as KVBE, would also be part in the deal. KVBE would become the rock formatted version, while KYLI would be the pop format.[2] On June 23, 2011 KVBE changed their call letters to KXLI, and launched the Jelli branded rock format on June 30, 2011. The Vibe continues to broadcast online at myvibelv.com. Five days before the Jelli platform ceased operations on June 29, 2014, KYLI would later rebrand as "Pulse 96.7" and adopted the Pulse 87 Dance platform, which is being programmed by Pulse 87 owner and former KVBE consultant Salkowitz with former KVBE voice over imager Clarke handling the same duties.

The station was placed on sale on eBay during January 2012; the "Buy It Now" price for the station was $8,950,000, but when the auction closed on January 29, 2012, the winning bid was $305,100, a fraction of the asking price.[3][4] The owner of Aurora Media, Scott Mahalick, acquired the station for $22 million, but due to the economic crisis, estimated the station's current worth at $10 million.[4] Mahalick claims that this was the first time a radio station was sold on eBay;[4] however, at least one other station, a 6000-watt AM station in Texas, was put for auction in 2009.[5] Also, in 2007, another broadcasting property, television station WMKG-CA in Muskegon, Michigan, was auctioned on eBay.

On July 1, 2012 as a result of the sale, KXLI changed their format to Spanish CHR, branded as "94.5 Exa FM".[6] Aurora Media would soon sell the station to Radio Activo Broadcasting on August 2, 2012, at a purchase price of $3 million; it is unknown if the eBay sale is related to the transaction.

References

  1. ↑ "We can hear you now! Dance music on 94.5 FM" from Las Vegas Weekly (December 7, 2009)
  2. ↑ "Two Vegas Stations To Go Jelli" from Kurt Hanson.com
  3. ↑ eBay: FM Radio station 100,000 watt commercial radio station Moapa/Las Vegas NV
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Vegas, Inc.: "For sale on eBay: Las Vegas-area radio station", January 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ Radio-Info: "For Sale: A Texas radio station – on eBay!", October 30, 2009. The eBay entry for this station has since been long-deleted.
  6. ↑ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/58459/kxli-las-vegas-sold/

External links