By May 1990, XHRM returned to their Urban direction and rebilled itself as "Hot 92.5." By that point, however, XHITZ had already made inroads by luring listeners to their station. XHRM later suffered a tragic setback when Rivas Marentes, the founding owner, died in a plane crash near Hermosillo that September. On June 29, 1993, the format changed to modern rock as "92.5 The Flash". In January 1998, due to low ratings, the station shifted towards a AAA format, and rebranded as "Independent Radio 92/5ive", though this resulted in lower ratings. On September 7, 1998, at 7 PM (after XETRA-FM became its sister station), KMCG ("Magic 95-7") and its R&B format were moved to the 92.5 frequency. The format would soon evolve to rhythmic oldies under program director Rick Thomas. An on-air slogan, "San Diego's Old School", highlighted the oldies aspect of the programming. Magic 92.5 went to #1 again in 2007 and remained there for several years.