Last Dance

Call Clear Channel "The Grinch Who Stole Dance Radio." As confirmed by Radio & Records and LARadio.com, the plug will be pulled Dec. 21 on short-lived L.A. dance outlet 103.1 KDL, known as "The New Party Station."

Clear Channel has entered a joint sales agreement with station owner Entravision, which means the behemoth won't own the 103.1 frequency -- but will more or less determine its fate from the manner that matters the most, its sales.

But as part of the terms of the arrangement, Clear Channel wanted -- and got-- Entravision to switch the format from a dance one (which chipped away at CC's KIIS-FM) to a rock format that might hurt Infinity's KROQ.

To that end, Mike Halloran -- briefly at old KROQ rival Y107 -- is programming the new rock outfit.

It's been a weird swirl of format changes through the years at 103.1. The station in the 1990s went from dance/alternative "MARS-FM" to jazz "JAZZ-FM" to adult contemporary "CD 103.1" to dance "Groove Radio."

Then Clear Channel bought the frequency and turned it into the Adult Album Alternative format "Channel 103.1." But when the corporate behemoth had to sell off a station, due to a market cap, Entravision bought 103.1 and turned it into Spanish-lingo "Super Estrella."

Then the company made an unheard of move: Last January, Entravision (which mostly operates Spanish stations) flipped 103.1 to the English-language dance format "103.1 KDL." It was a bizarre turn of events, catching many (particularly those who still missed the dance format "Groove Radio" on 103.1) by surprise.

Unfortunately, the format wasn't well executed. And like history repeating itself, Clear Channel swooped in for the second time and killed the dance format in favor of a rock-leaning one.

Why the 103.1 turmoil? It's frankly a weak signal. It barely stretches beyond the west side (a simulcast also hits portions of Orange County). Which is why the station, no matter what format, barely registers in the Arbitrons. That's enabled the frequency's myriad of owners to gamble with unique formats... but so far all of those gambles have failed.

Meanwhile, I doubt you'll see a dance station in L.A. again anytime soon.