Portland OR Radio: KXL Partners With KOIN-6 For News Coverage

Connoisseur Media’s FM News 101 KXL has struck an immediate news-sharing pact with Nexstar Media Group’s KOIN-6, Portland’s CBS affiliate, to put television journalists behind the radio station’s local coverage. 

Effective now, KOIN-6 reporters will help KXL-FM deliver breaking news and other major stories faster across Oregon and Southwest Washington. The two newsrooms will pool reporting, weather and community coverage and push that material across radio, television and digital platforms.

KXL Program Director Grant McHill said the deal widens the station’s ability to deliver “fast, accurate and essential news to the Pacific Northwest” by pairing KXL’s radio newsroom with KOIN-6’s reporting staff. 

Market Manager Mark Handwerger called the pairing a way to reach listeners and viewers “at home, in the car or on the go.” 

KOIN-6 News Director Rich Kurz framed it the same way: one news product, more screens and speakers. The timing is symbolic as well as operational. KXL is approaching its 100th anniversary on Dec. 13. KOIN-6 has been on Portland television for more than 75 years and markets its weather team as the market’s most accurate for 11 straight years, citing an independent national weather study. 

KXL (101.1 FM) is Connoisseur’s news/talk flagship in Portland, home of The Lars Larson Show and a cluster that also includes KINK, KUFO, KUPL, KBFF and sports outlet 750 The Game. 

Connoisseur completed its merger with former owner Alpha Media in September 2025. KOIN-6, based in downtown’s KOIN Center, is Nexstar’s CBS station and shares operations with CW outlet KRCW. KXL previously had a news-and-weather tie with NBC affiliate KGW. 

Station-to-station news alliances are common in midsize markets: radio gets video-side reporting depth and weather muscle; television gets extra distribution in cars and on audio apps. For Portland listeners, the practical change is simple—more KOIN-sourced stories, sooner, on KXL.