Rick Carroll, who programmed KROQ, was 91X's consultant.
jacobsmedia.com
Might have been to differentiate themselves from Magic 91 (KMJC, 910 AM) in El Cajon, which had a moment between 1977 and 1979 before going religion in 1980.
You are correct. The A to X..YZ is the kickoff to a year long celebration. They apparently have a number of listener appreciation events lined up leading to the actual 40 year mark in January 2023.
Good to hear from Gene, K.M. and thanks for that.Well, I figure why not ask the guy who was there, so I reconnected with Gene Knight and asked him. His answer:
I can't remember for sure, but I think that since John Lynch was at B-100 before 91X, and Bobby Rich, also of B-100, was consulting, it just made sense to all of us to have the FM as part of our name. When we first named 91X-FM in 1978, AM radio was still a big factor in the SD market, so having FM in our name helped people find us (as a new station). I really don't recall much concern with Magic 91. Our main competitors when we signed on in September 1978 were KGB, B-100, and KPRI.
Gene also pointed out that their sister station, Beautiful Music XETRA/690, was one of the big AMs in San Diego at the time.
Hadn't talked with him for many, many years, but he was happy to hear from me and to answer the question.
Wasn’t my question, KM. We know what 44-year old memories are like. Nobody’s taking notes at the time. My entire point is logic. Given the recent and ongoing success of Magic 91 at that time, going with “91X” alone is taking a big chance in recall (which is what diaries were based on) and the easy fix is to add “FM”.
That is correct. The "FM" was emphasized since Magic 91 was on AM. If someone just wrote "91" down in a diary, it most likely would have credited to Magic 91 AM.Might have been to differentiate themselves from Magic 91 (KMJC, 910 AM) in El Cajon, which had a moment between 1977 and 1979 before going religion in 1980.
Magic's first book, spring 1977, had the station debut in third overall, behind KOGO (swollen with Padres numbers) and KGB-FM. Magic had a 6.6 to B-100's 5.6 and KCBQ's 5.5.
In the Spring 1979 book, Magic 91 and 91X were only 2/10ths of a point apart...a 4.6 and a 4.8, respectively, with 91X 6th overall and Magic 91 7th.
How San Diego radio boosted ratings in 1979
www.sandiegoreader.com
Seems amazing that even back in the day a relatively small signal like 910, which I remember as KDEO, could knockoff a KCBQ and cause 1170 to change formats, of course KCBQ would eventually go Country. I spent a lot of time in North SD County, and 910 was weak in places like Escondido and not even available in Oceanside (910's null toward KOXR Oxnard goes right through Oceanside - you literally hear both stations fighting it out). Not to mention no signal anywhere in North County at night. KCBQ and KGB were at least listenable.
Yeah, but San Diego was a town where the new kid almost always debuted big. In the case of KCBQ, it was a one-two punch---they were weakened by B-100, then along came Magic 91. As late as 1980, KGB was able to rebrand itself as 13K and do well for a year or two---and The Mighty 690 did very well when it first launched as a CHR on AM in the 80s.
Indeed, as I understand it at one point in the distant past, North County was being considered as a separate but supplemental market to San Diego as apparently for a short time the most listened to stations were Oceanside's 1320 KUDE and Escondido's KOWN 1450.
At the time, I was over 3,200 miles away from Saint Diego in Saint John... so don't remember.
