95.1 went on the air in 1996, licensed to
Winslow, broadcasting from Mingus Mountain and covering areas of Northern Arizona. It was owned by Ted Tucker's Desert West Air Ranchers Corporation. Tucker moved the station in 2000 to the Crown King site (along with a change of city of license to Mayer, later changed again to Sun City West). It was sold in 2004 to Sun City Communications for $18.7 million. The new ownership flipped KFMR from a simulcast of Tucker's
KCDX to the Hispanic rhythmic ("hurban") format as
KVIB "Latino Vibe". As Latino Vibe, KVIB played a youth-oriented radio format playing both Spanish-language and English-language pop. The station's mix of music targeted the Valley's burgeoning young Latino population, particularly long-time residents who can speak English but prefer Spanish. On January 23, 2014, KVIB changed its format to
Spanish language adult contemporary, branded as "Solamente Éxitos" with a bilingual presentation. On August 13, 2014, at noon, 95.1 flipped to
Soft Adult Contemporary as
95.1 The Oasis, and nine days later, the station changed its
call sign to
KOAI. The last song of the Spanish AC format was "
Royals" by
Lorde with the first song on The Oasis being
Cool Change by the
Little River Band. The station played a
Christmas music format for the 2014 holiday season, the second station in Phoenix after
KESZ. On April 9, 2015, 95.1 gained an FM translator, K235CB 94.9 on South Mountain, (licensed to
Chandler), and also began simulcasting on the
HD2 digital subchannel of
KEXX. In May 2015, KOAI adjusted its
playlist to include more up-tempo selections from the 1990s through the present time, while still retaining a gold/soft AC-lean. On June 5, 2015, while it was still a soft AC station, KOAI picked up
Delilah's
syndicated evening radio show. Delilah continued on the station through two additional format changes, first to a mainstream
adult contemporary station, and then to
classic hits. Delilah was discontinued on August 25, 2017, with evenings featuring more music. On September 30, 2019, at 5PM, after playing "
Addicted to Love" by
Robert Palmer, KOAI changed its format from classic hits to a new format concept for
baby boomers developed by veteran radio programmer John Sebastian. It originally blended pop, rock, soul, and country from a seven-decade span and branded as "The Wow Factor". The first song on The Wow Factor was "
Ride My See-Saw" by
The Moody Blues. ==References==