KLVJ (FM)
| City | Encinitas, California |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Diego County |
| Branding | K-Love 102.1 |
| Frequency | 102.1 MHz |
| First air date | January 20, 1962 (as KUDE-FM) April 1, 1996 as KXST with the Triple-A format |
| Format | Contemporary Christian music |
| ERP | 30,000 watts |
| HAAT | 192.7 meters |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 51503 |
| Callsign meaning | K-LoVe J |
| Former callsigns | KUDE-FM (1962-1977) KJFM (1977-1984) KEZL (1984-1986) KGMG (1/1986-10/1986) KGMG-FM (1986-1991) KIOZ (1991-1996) KXST (1996-2002) KPRI (2002-2015) |
| Affiliations | K-Love |
| Owner | Educational Media Foundation |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | klove.com |
KLVJ is a radio station licensed to Encinitas, California and serves San Diego County broadcasting a contemporary Christian music format as an affiliate of the K-Love network. KLVJ (then KPRI)'s studios were previously located in the Sorrento Valley district in north San Diego.
Until 2015, KPRI was locally owned by Compass Radio Group. Both had backgrounds in the corporate side of radio and desired to create a station that was commercially viable while successful at the same time. The station was first licensed as KXST to Oceanside, California, but is now licensed to Encinitas. From 1998 through 2015, the station broadcast an adult album alternative format. On September 28, 2015, it was announced that KPRI would be sold to the Educational Media Foundation, pending FCC approval, and the station began carrying programming from EMF's K-Love network later that day.
When it first went on the air in the 1950s at 106.5 FM, the station billed itself as "KPRI: Capri-by-the Sea," a middle-of the-road and jazz station with studios on 5th Avenue in San Diego. This early version of KPRI featured popular DJs like Rod Page and George Manning. KPRI continued with its MOR format, supplemented by a progressive rock show hosted by pioneering underground disc jockey Steve Brown (under the name "OB Jetty"). Finally, in May 1968, KPRI switched full-time to Progressive Rock. The lineup included Gabriel Wisdom, Fred Nurk, Dana Jones, and Joe Chandler. Peter Franklin (with British accent) was an early program director. Later additions to the air staff included Jerry Lubin, Adrian Bolt, The Kapusta Kid, and Barrance Q Zakar. Larry Himmel was a DJ there at that time. Jim Lanter (air name "Jim LaFawn") was the Program Director from 1971 to 1973. He later went to KLOS in L.A and died some time ago. In the early 1970s, Gerry Gazlay was the station's News Director. Larry Shushan owned the station until 1971, when it was sold to Southwestern Broadcasting. In 1973 KPRI hired Michael Harrison as PD. He installed a more mainstream AOR format which influenced many other stations around the country. Gazlay left KPRI to work as a newscaster at competitor KGB & KGB-FM in 1973. Gabriel Wisdom, Larry Himmel and Barrance Q Zakar also went to KGB. KGB-FM and KPRI battled for rating supremacy for all of the 1970s and into the 1980s. Eventually, KPRI could not compete with the ratings success of KGB-FM.
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