Even a Christian station has to pay AEP / PSO... and I can't imagine Spirit not hurting KXOJ's bottom line.
The Kross was a TERRIBLE signal, and I'd say they gave it a fair run on that stick. I suppose you could argue they could have / should have bought another stick to better cover the area, but perhaps nobody was selling at a price that would allow them to get a decent ROI.
Christian rock, especially what they were running, is just an extremely hard sell. It's not that you can't get listeners here; there are a ton of 12 - 24 yr olds who will listen, and many will bring along their parents, youth leaders, and pastors.
Selling that audience to potential advertisers, however, I'm sure would be a different story.
Imagine this: you walk into a business to sell ads. They say, "what station?" You say, "100.3." They try to tune it in; you're not there. You say, "but lots of kids listen." They say, "we sell mattresses... and besides, can you prove these numbers?"
You realize Arbitron doesn't really back up in black and white what you're saying because they average the 6-county survey area, most of which you don't reach.
You're left telling him you have lots of listeners on the internet, but the non-advertiser doesn't understand all that net-radio mumbo-jumbo, and shoos you out of your store.
And STILL AEP / PSO (and all the other utilities) keep knocking at your door.
I can't blame them for wanting to turn a little profit, to shore up their losses from The Kross. Any rational business man would, I would think. Retreat to fight again another day.
Who's to say The Kross won't return some day as an HD2 channel on KXOJ, covering areas 100.3 could only dream of reaching?