I am of the Eastern European ilk and really enjoy the station.... San Diego also has also diverse communities: Chinese, Filipino, Mexican, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, and Caucasians (White).
I was thinking the same thing, that San Diego and LA have a similar ethnic diversity. I think if the The Wave format was duplicated here, it would be very popular. Maybe as successful like it is 100 miles north of here. San Diego is after fall a laid back version of LA with less of the problems LA has...and a much better place to live!
It was at some point syndicated to other radio stations where they used The Wave Branding when 94.7 FM was in the Smooth Jazz/NAC era. For Example the former WVAE Detroit now known as WMXD used the Wave Branding in 1987 and even used the KTWV Logo at the time in the Detroit area for their station. Note some of the stations that at one point used "The Wave" to model themselves after KTWV was owned by different outlets not related to Metromedia, Westinghouse, CBS Radio and Audacy at the time these other stations used it.
When was this format on 102.9? I moved to San Diego of August '96 when it was KKBH The Beach. I worked there, but I never heard anyone speak of smooth jazz nor "The Wave" branding having been on that dial position.
102.9 was a revolving door of call letters, station names and formats from 1984 to 1998.
In fact, here's an hour and a half of audio of "San Diego's Wave" (ignore the "KCWV Leavenworth" below---it's grouped together. The links will launch the San Diego airchecks:
Minor point---Gannett owned 102.9 at that point. Jacor didn't get the stations until '96 (in a swap with Gannett):
Thank you for that clarification. I had Gannett in my mind but didn't remember where it fit in. You're the best!
Yeah ran three times a day for many years. I’m a 29 black male and I’ve always been familiar with 94.7 The Wave at an early age because my grandmother would either listen to The Wave or KJLH in the 90’s. I remember when The Wave was playing Smooth Jazz and they always included some soft R&B like Anita Baker and Luther Vandross. I do listen to The Wave from time to time but more into KDAY, Real 92.3 and Power 106. I never really was a fan of The Wave until my early to mid 20’s when they started playing more contemporary music. I honestly never thought I’d see the day when I would hear Brandy “Have You Ever” but it does fit with the overall vibe of the station.
This is true...quite possibly because some contemporary Iranian/Persian tunes could (except for the Farsi lyrics) fit right in to the Wave programming.
Hot AC is a format that varies by station
radioinsight.com
I might be wrong but I think that KIFM 98.1 was the first to switch to "Smooth Jazz" after abandoning traditional jazz like KKJZ or KSDS or KCSM.
KIFM started doing “Lights Out Jazz” in the evenings in the early 80s and the music morphed into smooth jazz as that style gained popularity. KIFM adopted it as the 24-hour format in the fall of 1987, about a month ahead of KSWV’s debut.
You’re right about 92.3 being a true urban. It took almost a decade to bring the urban format back to LA. I remember when Real 92.3 was The Beat back in the 90’s.
Yet more than half of their listeners are not Black.
