on April 15, 2009, when KMVN flipped to a Spanish format under a LMA with Grupo Radio Centro of Mexico City. In May 2019, Meruelo bought KXOS from GRC, reuniting the station with KPWR after 10 years. In June 2012, KPWR was added to the iHeartRadio and TuneIn streaming platforms. During an on-air interview on KPWR on November 3, 2015, singer/actress Ariana Grande criticized DJs Eric D-lux and Justin Credible over questions that she claimed were sexist, telling them, "You need a little brushing up on equality." After 32 years of ownership, Emmis announced on May 9, 2017 that it sold KPWR to The Meruelo Group for $82.75 million. The announcement comes after Emmis, who exits the nation's second-largest radio market, made a deal in April with its lenders to seek $80 million worth of divestments by January 2018 to amend its credit agreement. On August 1, 2017, Meruelo took ownership of KPWR, bringing it under common ownership with classic hip hop station KDAY and Riverside/San Bernardino-targeted urban contemporary KDEY-FM, both of which would relocate to KPWR's Burbank studios; KPWR would retain its rhythmic format, air staff, and management. The station continues to report to Mediabase and BDS as rhythmic contemporary, though the station has begun to lean more urban to take on KRRL. Since the sale, it has recovered in terms of ratings and audiences. On October 28, 2022, KPWR shifted its playlist to a much gold based playlist, positioning as "Today's Hits and Throwbacks", adding more music from the 1990s and the early 2000s. Musical programming In its first seven years, KPWR's music selection focused on a mix of dance, house, freestyle, hip hop, and urban pop, while avoiding hard rock. This mix of music became known as crossover (later called rhythmic top 40), due to the way in which dance and urban music were presented to an audience that liked pop, and vice versa. This would become a major issue in the music trades after the station ascended to the top spot in the Los Angeles Arbitron ratings, where both Billboard and Radio & Records had debated as to what reporting panel it would place KPWR (as well as other stations that were using the same formula), which in turn resulted in Billboard launching a Crossover chart and Radio & Records creating a CHR P1A subcategory in 1987. By 1992-93, KPWR began to focus on a mix