KQLZ (defunct)

"KQLZ", "Pirate Radio 100.3" was a United States, Los Angeles, California area FM radio station that broadcast from March 17, 1989 through April 2, 1993. The station was launched with much attention from both radio and music industry trade publications.

KQLZ was owned by Westwood One, one of the largest producers and distributors of radio programming in the U.S.A. KQLZ was one of three radio stations the company purchased in 1989 in an attempt to expand its business to include radio station ownership. Westwood One paid $56 Million USD in early 1989 for 100.3FM in Los Angeles, then known as "KIQQ-FM" with the branding "K-Lite". In addition, the company hired noted New York City based radio programmer and on air personality Scott Shannon as the new station's program director and morning drive time host. The station paid Shannon a then industry high yearly salary of $2.3 million USD.

After briefly registering successful ratings during the stations first six months, KQLZ soon experienced ratings too low to bill advertising rates high enough to sustain operation costs. Scott Shannon was fired on February 13, 1991, and the station tried various format adjustments to help raise advertising revenue. In 1993, Westwood One sold KQLZ at a loss for only $40 million USD, $16 million less than what the company paid four years earlier. For these reasons, KQLZ is often cited by many in the radio industry as one of the most high-profile failures in the history of commercial radio in the United States.

Contrary to its brand management based moniker, the original KQLZ on 100.3FM wasn't an actual pirate radio station. KQLZ was fully licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, a regulatory agency that oversees telecommunications and radio frequency communications in the United States.

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