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KBZT (94.9 FM broadcasting, "Alt 94-9") is a commercial radio station licensed to San Diego, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station broadcasts an alternative rock format. Its studios are located in San Diego's Stonecrest area, and the transmitter is located in La Jolla.
KBZT broadcasts in HD Radio; it carries two additional formats on digital subchannels. Its HD2 subchannel formerly carried the reggae-formatted Bob Radio. The HD2 subchannel has since been turned off. The HD3 subchannel carries an all-comedy channel.
In 1991, Jeff and Jer moved to rival B100, with KKYY changing its name to "Mix 94.9", adopted new call letters KRMX, and added more gold based music.
KWLT is now a classic rock station in Crossett, Arkansas; KKYY is now a classic country station in Whiting, Iowa; and KRMX is a country music station serving the Waco, Texas radio market.
In the mid-1990s, Sandusky sold the station to Anaheim Broadcasting, which in turn sold 94.9 to Jefferson-Pilot, making KBZT a sister station to country music KWFN.
On February 1, 2018, KBZT rebranded as "Alt 94-9", aligning itself with Entercom's similarly branded stations across the country. The rebranding also solidified its continued operation as a music station; Entercom's hiring of former XEPRS jock Dan Sileo led to speculation that either KBZT or KWFN would be flipped to a sports talk format to accompany Sileo, as well as Entercom's rights to the San Diego Padres (a deal which began on KBZT for the 2017 season). KBZT FM 949 becomes the new home of the San Diego Padres August 18, 2016 The team announced later that month that Padres broadcasts would move to KEGY, which flipped from Top 40/CHR to the hot talk-driven The Machine on March 2, 2018 (but subsequently flipped again to the conventional sports talk format The Fan in April, in response to controversies surrounding the station's planned morning host Kevin Klein, who was coming from KBZT's San Francisco sister station KITS).
During the October 2007 wildfires in the San Diego area, KBZT became the temporary home of local public radio station KPBS-FM 89.5 after power to the KPBS-FM/TV transmitter on Mount San Miguel was interrupted on the morning of October 23. Within three hours KBZT had agreed to air KPBS' wildfire coverage until a backup transmitter could be established from the station's studio tower on the San Diego State University campus, which occurred the next day.
In January 2010, "The Mikey Show" moved from KIOZ to KBZT. This program had been controversial while in syndication and was taken off air in March 2012 as a result.
In June 2012, "Brunch with Bob Marley and Friends" ended an eight-year run at the station, moving to KPRI.
On October 19, 2015, Chris Cantore became co-host of the morning show with Steve Woods. Cantore had previously hosted mornings at KPRI but lost his job in September 2015 when that station became part of the contemporary Christian K-Love network. Cantore left in early 2017, and later joined KFMB-FM; the morning slot was replaced with Dana and Jayson. Dana and Jayson, in turn, left KBZT on January 22, 2020, due to budget cuts at Entercom. Both personalities along with producer Brett Finn had made the transcontinental move from Long Island, New York to Denver to host and produce the morning drive program at KBZT.
In 2017, KBZT served as the flagship radio station for the San Diego Padres. Station management claimed that its younger male demographic lined up with the Padres' desire to attract a young fan base, as well as improve sound quality from its previous home on XEPRS-AM. The Padres then moved to a new Entercom all-sports radio station, KWFN, in 2018.
In September 2020, Entercom (now Audacy) made many changes to its alternative stations, including KBZT, in order to cut costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All local hosts besides afternoon DJ Jeremy Pritchard were dismissed and replaced with out-of-town hosts. The station's specialty programs (like "Local 94/9" and "Legends of Alternative") also ended at this time.
On their HD2 sub-channel, KBZT carried a reggae format as "Bob Radio", which is named after Bob Marley.
On September 17, 2014, KBZT launched a Dance/EDM format, branded as "Glow", on its HD3 sub-channel. The station stream was also available online as well. "Lincoln Financial Media/San Diego Debuts Dance 'Glow' On HD, Internet" from All Access (September 17, 2014)
In October 2021, the "Glow" format was dropped and replaced with the all-comedy format that formerly aired on KWFN-HD3.
In 2023, "Bob Radio" was dropped.
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