Play that funky music, just not on that Emmis antenna: KPWR files suit over non-compete contract.

For the owners of L.A.'s most popular hip-hop radio station, it was bad enough that an upstart competitor had claimed a share of the station's mostly young and Latino audience.

But what really irked executives of Emmis Communications Corp., owner of hip-hop mainstay KPWR-FM (105.9), was that its new competitor began using Emmis' own equipment to broadcast its Spanish-inflected mix of hip-hop and dance music--allegedly, Emmis maintains, in violation of a contract.

Spanish Broadcasting System Inc. has switched the format of KXOL-FM (96.3) from Spanish contemporary to a combination of American hip-hop, Spanish-language rap and, especially, a popular Caribbean dance format known as reggaeton.

In making the change, Miami-based Spanish Broadcasting System seeks to tap into the growing population of bilingual Latino teens and young adults who enjoy chart-topping English-language rappers and R&B artists, along with Hispanic dance music. The station is a hybrid both in musical styles and language; while predominantly in Spanish, the rechristened Latino 96.3 includes liberal amounts of spoken English and American rap.

Indianapolis-based Emmis, whose KPWR, known best as Power 106, is almost entirely in English but caters to a largely Latino audience, did not like what it heard.

Under a 2004 lease, Spanish Broadcasting agreed to pay! $11,500 a month to broadcast 96.3 from Emmis' tower on Flint Peak above Glendale. The lease stipulates that if Spanish Broadcasting wants to change the format of KXOL, it must notify Emmis 45 days in advance. If Emmis were to determine that the proposed new format would compete with its stations, it could end the lease.

Emmis contends that Latino 96.3's format does compete with Power 106 and has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to force the new station off the air. The suit also seeks at least $25 million in damages.

Spanish Broadcasting System counters that its revamped music mix does not constitute a format change under the terms of the lease, which defined the old station as "a Spanish language format."

Neither side would comment beyond perfunctory statements affirming their respective positions.

Genre hopping

The legal dispute clouds the launch of a station intended to appeal to the growing population of young Latinos who straddle two cultures, speak both languages and enjoy music that originates in the dance halls of Puerto Rico and has spread to the streets of New York and Los Angeles.

Reggaeton, in particular, is among the fastest-growing genres in urban radio. The sound originated in Puerto Rico and Panama and is a melange of reggae, dance music, rap and other Caribbean influences.

The genre's biggest stars, including Daddy Yankee, whose 2004 album "Barrio Fino" has sold 500,000 units in the United States, are played on mainstream L.A. stations, including KPWR, which ranks second in local listenership, according to Arbitron Inc. (Before the format change, KXOL ranked 22nd.)

The reggaeton genre also spawned a new Los Angeles-based record label, Machete, which is owned by Universal Music Group.

Rick Valenzuela, a partner in Rik-Raf Entertainment, which manages Latino rap acts in Southern California, said the new KXOL should find a ready audience among 18- to 35-year-olds who divide their listening time among Spanish- and English-language stations. "The audience has always been there," he said. "(Stations) just haven't been able to put it all together."

Valenzuela said Latino 96.3's playlist replicates those of KPWR and other outlets, but he expects the new station to find more of its own niche with the growth of Spanish-language rap music. Valenzuela said many of the reggaeton artists he has signed would prefer to play straight Latino rap but chose to ride the reggaeton wave as a means to break into recording.

Before Emmis responded with a lawsuit, Spanish Broadcasting executives had enthused about the new format. In a press release, the company said it aimed for Latino 96.3 to become "the" station for Hispanics in Los Angeles between the ages of 18 and 34 and to become a beacon of cultural pride.

If Emmis wins, it could either force KXOL off the air or compel it to return to its former "El Sol" Spanish contemporary format or a format that does not compete with Emmis' two local stations. Besides KPWR, the company owns country music station KZLA-FM (93.9).

KXOL could seek to lease a new broadcast tower but that could take time. Building a tower is difficult and costly, requiring a lengthy Federal Communications Commission approval.

In a letter to the FCC, Spanish Broadcasting claimed that the non-competition clause in the lease agreement with Emmis is essentially illegal. "By distorting and then enforcing the anticompetitive language in the lease agreement, Emmis is doing nothing less than exercising direct control over KXOL's programming policies," the letter said. "Licensee control is at the heart of the commission's regulation. It cannot allow this sort of bullying to compromise a licensee's responsibility."