It sold the existing 94.7 facility, which could be converted to commercial authorization, to Sapphire Broadcasting of Washington, D.C.,[8] The KNIS call letters and programming moved to 91.3 when the frequency change occurred in October 1989.

[9] The 94.7 frequency returned as a commercial station under the call sign KRWR in June 1990, using a Satellite Music Network–programmed adult contemporary format.

[10] The owner of Sapphire, Tom Gammon, immediately applied to the FCC proposing to move KRWR to Fair Oaks, California, in the Sacramento market.

In April 1992, it became KIZS "Kiss Country", which was managed by Americom Inc. under a local marketing agreement (LMA) alongside KODS (103.7 FM).

[15] The changeover to a new format was originally slated for May 1, but delays in hiring a team to run the news station gave the outgoing KTHX a temporary reprieve[16] until July 11, when the new KRNV-FM debuted.

[17] A month after The X disappeared at 101.7 MHz, the manager of KIZS announced his station was negotiating to take on its format and airstaff, leading to 800 phone calls in support of the idea.

[20] In December 1996, Sapphire Broadcasting sold KTHX to the Susquehanna Radio Corporation in a $14.95 million purchase, with the company intending to make the Fair Oaks move to place the frequency in the Sacramento market.

It assumed the smooth jazz format and call sign previously on 101.9 MHz, which was sold to Spanish-language radio company EXCL Communications.