KORL-FM is an American commercial radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 located in Waianae, Hawaii, broadcasting to the Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

 area on 101.1 FM

FM broadcasting

FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

. KORL-FM airs a Smooth Jazz

Smooth jazz

Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....

 music format. The station is currently owned by Hochman Hawaii Three, Inc.. It also transmits on Oceanic Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...

 digital channel 883 for the entire state of Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

.

History

The station signed on in 1989 adopting an adult contemporary music format with the call letters of KLHI. By 1996, the format changed to a modern adult contemporary music later evolving to a modern rock

Modern rock

Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...

 music format. In 2005 The FCC

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 gave the station the green light to move the station and its city of license to Honolulu

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

. After the change was made, KLHI adopted the new call letters of KORL-FM and dropped the modern rock

Modern rock

Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...

 music format, moving it to a new frequency of 92.5 FM

FM broadcasting

FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

 and serving the Maui area.

At first after KORL's move-in in 2006, the station originally played multi-cultural programming during the day and smooth jazz at night and 24 hours on the weekends, but on June 9, 2008, KORL dropped all of its daytime multi-cultural programming and went with Smooth Jazz fulltime.

A Second Station

Prior to KORL-FM's move-in, another radio station broadcast on the same frequency called "Energy 101.1" (KXRG-LP). It aired nonstop dance music at around 2pm to 2am from Ala Moana to Pearlridge. Energy 101.1's frequency could not be heard from the windward areas such as Kaneohe and Kailua. KXRG later signed off so KORL-FM can occupy the frequency. KXRG looked to move to another signal because of its status as a low-power station and was off the air from 2007 to 2010, when it returned on a new signal, this time at 95.9.