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KPWR (105.9 FM broadcasting) – branded as Power 106 – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Alex Meruelo's Meruelo Group, through licensee KPWR Radio Holdings LLC, and airs a rhythmic hot AC format. KPWR's studios are based in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, and the transmitter is on Mount Wilson. Meruelo acquired KPWR from Emmis Communications for $82.75 million in May 2017, officially bringing the station under common ownership with KDAY, KDEY-FM and KBEH on August 1, 2017.
In May 1984, Century Broadcasting sold KMGG and St. Louis' KSHE to the Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications.
At the time of KPWR's launch, it broadcast what it announced as "72,000 Watts of Music Power...Less Talk" (mentioned in on-air station identifications by Chuck Riley and Deborah Rath), a reference to its then-actual effective radiated power (ERP) of 72 Watt, allowing its signal to be heard in San Diego, Kern, and Santa Barbara counties). KPWR's ERP was reduced to 25 kW in 1993. 72,000 watts of music Power!KPWR Los Angeles!
KPWR picked up additional competition in May 2005 when KXOL-FM dropped its Spanish adult contemporary format for a Hispanic rhythmic, or hurban, format known as "Latino 96.3". The format is a crossover mix of reggaeton, dancehall, R&B, and hip hop targeting a bilingual audience. However, the abrupt switch violated a transmitter lease agreement that KXOL's parent company, Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), had with Emmis; the agreement required formal notification to Emmis of any change in format and expressly prohibited KXOL from programming to directly compete with KPWR. SBS switched formats anyway, and Emmis filed a lawsuit to force SBS to either drop the format switch or find a new transmitter. SBS announced that KXOL would move to another transmitter site a month later, and both parties settled the dispute sometime after. KXOL would eventually exit the format on May 16, 2014 to return to Spanish AC as "Mega 96.3" after nine years and moderate to underperformed ratings. KXOL Los Angeles Flips To Mega 96.3 from RadioInsight (May 16, 2014)
Shortly after the debut of Latino 96.3, KPWR replaced the majority of their non-Latino DJs with personalities of Latino descent who often pepper their broadcasts with Spanish words, in an effort to regain some of the audience lost to Latino 96.3. The staff at the time represented the multi-cultural population of Los Angeles: Krystal Bee (Latino), DJ E Man (Filipino), and Todd the Hater (Armenian) of #TheCruzShow.
On August 17, 2006, KPWR's country music sister station KZLA flipped directions to rhythmic adult contemporary as "Movin' 93.9". Most of the songs played on Movin' 93.9 consisted of rhythmic pop and dance hits from the 1980s and 1990s to the present day, along with classic disco and Latin freestyle tracks thrown in for balance. However, after almost a year in the format, KMVN shifted directions to Rhythmic Oldies. With the unique combination of both KPWR and KZLA, the move gave Emmis and Los Angeles its first rhythmic duopoly, as well as the second duopoly in California with this arrangement, the other being Clear Channel Communications siblings KMEL and KYLD in San Francisco. That arrangement ended on April 15, 2009, when KMVN flipped to a Spanish format under a LMA with Grupo Radio Centro of Mexico City. In May 2019, Meruelo bought KXOS from GRC, reuniting the station with KPWR after 10 years.
In June 2012, KPWR was added to the iHeartRadio and TuneIn streaming platforms.
During an on-air interview on KPWR on November 3, 2015, singer/actress Ariana Grande criticized DJs Eric D-lux and Justin Credible over questions that she claimed were sexist, telling them, "You need a little brushing up on equality." Ariana Grande Blasts DJs for Sexist Questions: 'You Need a Little Brushing Up on Equality' from Billboard (November 3, 2015)
After 32 years of ownership, Emmis announced on May 9, 2017 that it sold KPWR to The Meruelo Group for $82.75 million. The announcement comes after Emmis, who exits the nation's second-largest radio market, made a deal in April with its lenders to seek $80 million worth of divestments by January 2018 to amend its credit agreement. On August 1, 2017, Meruelo took ownership of KPWR, bringing it under common ownership with classic hip hop station KDAY and Riverside/San Bernardino-targeted urban contemporary KDEY-FM, both of which would relocate to KPWR's Burbank studios; KPWR would retain its rhythmic format, air staff, and management. "Emmis Sells Power 106 Los Angeles To Mereulo Group" from RadioInsight (May 9, 2017) Looking At The KPWR Deal RadioInsight – May 9, 2017 "Meruelo Takes Over KPWR; Sets New Management" from RadioInsight (July 6, 2017) The station continues to report to Mediabase and BDS as rhythmic contemporary, though the station has begun to lean more urban to take on KRRL. Since the sale, it has recovered in terms of ratings and audiences.
On October 28, 2022, KPWR shifted its playlist to a much more gold-based rhythmic playlist, positioned as "Today's Hits and Throwbacks", by adding more music from the 1990s and the early 2000s.
Leading up to June 19, 2024, in celebration of Juneteenth and , Power 106 temporarily rebranded itself as "Kendrick 106", and exclusively played Kendrick Lamar discography from 6 a.m. to midnight in commemoration of the concert.
As of 2012, approximately 60% of KPWR's listenership is Hispanic. "Part of a Rhythm Nation" from Radio-Info (November 12, 2012) and contributes to both Mediabase and BDS Rhythmic reporting panels. BDS monitored radio panel update In addition to playing hip hop and rhythmic pop, KPWR continued to embrace dance music tracks and even incorporated them into their daily and weekend mix shows, including the program Power Tools, produced by Gerry Meraz and hosted by Richard Vission. Power Tools is the station's longest-running program, debuting in 1992.
However, by early 2016, KPWR has drastically reduced the amount of rhythmic pop and EDM tracks in its playlist to focus primarily on hip hop and R&B again. This was due to competition received from urban contemporary rival "Real 92.3", which reignited the market's hip-hop radio war from the 1990s when the station was in competition with 92.3 The Beat. Up until 2017, KPWR had also slightly increased the number of throwbacks/recurrents in its playlist, but has since refocused towards current product to reduce overlap with classic hip hop outlet KDAY. Also, as of July 2019, KPWR is the official sister station to KLLI ("Cali 93.9"), with both stations airing a rhythmic contemporary format—the latter as a Hispanic rhythmic. The sale reunited KPWR with the 93.9 frequency under common ownership for the first time since 2012.
The program became a nationally syndicated morning show on August 20, 2007, after Big Boy signed a multi-year deal with ABC Radio Networks (later Citadel Media, now Westwood One) to syndicate the show, along with his weekend countdown show, which was formerly called "Big Boy's Hip Hop Spot". In the fall of 2008, the show began to air on KPWR's sister station WQHT but would drop the show in July 2009 due to low ratings. In 2010, after Citadel announced that they would no longer syndicate the program, Dial Global picked up the show. "Bye Bye Big Boy" from All Access (February 17, 2010) "Big Boy's Neighborhood Going Global ... Dial Global" from All Access (March 15, 2010)
On February 3, 2015, Big Boy, whose contract was to expire on February 28 of that year, exited KPWR after negotiations between the two parties broke down, leading KPWR owner Emmis Communications to file a lawsuit (and injunction) to keep him off the air and from taking a $3.5 million offer from iHeartMedia, who three days earlier registered a domain and social media accounts for rhythmic AC rival KRRL, who immediately flipped back to R&B/hip hop as "Real 92.3" on February 6, 2015. This move brought the R&B/hip hop format back to that frequency for the first time since iHeartMedia's predecessor Clear Channel sold "The Beat" R&B/hip hop format and intellectual property to Radio One, who then moved it to the 100.3 FM signal in 2000. (The Beat would later flip to urban AC in 2006.) Afternoon host J. Cruz would be moved to mornings after Big Boy's departure until his move to the station in April 2019. "Emmis And Big Boy Come To Legal Settlement" from RadioInsight (January 20, 2016)
On April 15, 2019, J. Cruz, co-host DJ Lechero and Jeff "The Sports Dude" Garcia exited KPWR, with J. Cruz joining KRRL as their new afternoon host. Cece Valencia took over the interim "LA's Hip Hop Morning Show" until a permanent host was found. "Cruz Show Departs Power 106 Mornings For Real 92.3 Afternoons" from RadioInsight (April 15, 2019) June 17 saw the launch of the station's new permanent morning show, previously led by actor Nick Cannon as "Nick Cannon Mornings", with Melissa Rios, Teddy Mora, and DJ Carisma joining him as contributors and co-hosts. On July 16, 2020, Cannon took an indefinite leave from radio over fallout from antisemitic statements he made on his podcast, ending his one-year tenure at KPWR. "Nick Cannon To Take Indefinite Leave From Radio Show" from RadioInsight (July 16, 2020) He returned to the station on February 25, 2021.
KPWR launched a Spanish-language HD2 sub-channel called "Power Dos" in August 2006. A press release from Emmis describes the new channel as a "bilingual and musically extended version" of KPWR. Power Dos left the air in 2008 due to a lack of interest.
On August 29, 2008, Emmis announced a programming partnership with WorldBand Media, using KPWR's HD3 signal to produce programming for the communities in three major cities including Los Angeles. This content began airing in mid-October 2008, and by mid-2009 moved to HD2, replacing Power Dos.http://www.hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=7 HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles
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