KSEX Shuts Down, Future Uncertain

"I knew it was going to shut down Sunday night," KSEX owner Jon Belinkie told XBIZ. "The last deals I was trying to put together did not come through.”

Belinke also said that another development at the station — this time including an alleged theft — became a setback.

“Between Saturday and Monday, somebody who's part of the KSEX family with access broke in and stole stuff,” he said. "The deal falling through made it a fait accompli. The equipment being stolen was the last kick while you're down."

Belinkie told XBIZ that he is willing to sell KSEX completely or partially.

"We've got the sale of the domain, the sale of the equipment and the content is a valuable asset,” he said. “I really continue to believe this is a great niche business. It's unique."

The KSEX domain is still getting traffic, according to Belinkie.

"Even out of business, our Alexa rating is around 120,000," Belinkie said. "It's not a big leap for somebody to point the domain somewhere. We have a full slate of shows and talent that would love to have someplace to do their shows, but the second I flip that switch, I'm paying rent and hosting and bandwidth and payroll, insurance, garbage removal, maid service, water and power, the list goes on and on.

"At some point it has to stop being a money-losing enterprise and start paying for itself. In my view, that point was Jan. 31," he said.

KSEX started broadcasting over the Internet in San Diego in 2001.

The station later was taken over by Cyber-Synergism owner Mike Rick and moved to Burbank. Rick died in 2002 and Belinkie bought majority ownership of KSEX in 2006.

After buying out the minority ownership position of former program director Wayne "Wankus" Lewis, Belinkie became sole owner.

Belinkie said that his future involvement with KSEX is uncertain.

"At this point my association with KSEX is up in the air," Belinkie said. "I have a number of businesses and business interests, and KSEX was a very small component of that — albeit a fun one."