Entravision's new English-language dance station here in Los Angeles has launched a new website.
Nothing's there yet but the new logo, which has one of the weirdest color schemes I've ever seen for a radio station. Green? Not a color I'd pick.
But that's just the latest in a string of missteps for the new radio station. Three months after launch, 103.1 KDL still has no DJs, and its song repetition has gotten annoying. The on-air station IDs sound amateurish, and the few ads they run are for diet pills and other low-rent products. The station sounds like it belongs in market 102, not market 2.
On the flip side, I'm a sucker for the station's high energy dance music, most of which isn't heard on any other station here (or in most other cities, for that matter). And it's rare enough to see a Spanish language station flip to English. Actually, it has never happened on the FM dial in Los Angeles until now.
The 103.1 frequency, of course, has been unstable for decades. The station ran an ambitious alternative-meets-techno format in the early 90s as "Mars FM," before switching to an all-jazz "Jazz FM" format. Then it switched to adult contemporary, as "CD 103.1," before switching to "Groove Radio" in 1996. "Groove Radio" evolved into "Groove 103.1" before the station was sold to Clear Channel in 1998 and flipped to the AAA format "Channel 103.1." When Clear Channel was forced to divest the station to Entravision in 2000, the Spanish-lingo broadcaster flipped the frequency to the Spanish format "Super Estrella."
The Los Angeles market has been full of radio rumors but little change until KDL came on in January. The station's weak launch has kept local radio gossip boards buzzing, as critics and supporters have been very vocal. Things will be interesting as the station finally brings on DJs (former Groove Radio jock Tony B. will do a nighttime shift) and hopefully tweaks its on-air presentation.
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