San Diego-based XEPRS-AM "abruptly went off the air" Wednesday because the company responsible for transmitting the daily broadcasts "claimed the station operator, Broadcast Company of the Americas, was behind in its lease payments," according to Lori Weisberg of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. While the sports station "remained off the air Thursday, its three local shows streamed online and on the station’s mobile app." Interamericana de Radio Owner Andres Bichara -- whose company is the signal operator for the station -- said that it is "unlikely that the radio station will return to the air if it cannot come up with the money due for its lease payments." Months of non-payment "led Bichara to take the station off the air." He said, “They have had multiple warnings that they should pay. If they do not pay I cannot continue giving them the station for free" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/12). In San Diego, Tom Krasovic noted XEPRS-AM is the "highest-rated sports talk station" in the city and a "fixture in the market for the last 16 years." Ratings for XEPRS-AM -- the Padres’ flagship station from '04-'16 -- have declined since the Chargers left for L.A. in '17. There is "competition from two other stations" -- KLSD-AM (flagship for SDSU) and WKBC-FM (Padres). But XEPRS-AM "remains the highest-rated among the trio, with the gap between them widening recently" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/11).
