KCLB-FM

KCLB-FM is a commercial rock (Active Rock) radio station in Coachella, California, broadcasting to the Palm Springs, California, area on 93.7 FM.

KCLB's studio headquarters are in Palm Springs, CA. KCLB's signal reaches as far west as Beaumont and far east as Blythe.

KCLB is owned by MCC Radio, LLC and is operated by the Desert Radio Group in Palm Springs, CA.^[1]

History

KCLB 93.7 on the FM dial first went on the air as KCHV in June 1960 as KCHV. The station began playing Album Rock in 1985, the first in the Coachella Valley market to do so, under the guidance of Cyrene Jagger as Program Director. Jagger achieved Radio & Records and FMQB reporting status later that year, developed the entire music library and began coordinating live concerts and special on air guests. Jagger remained as Program Director until 1989.

KCHV had a very Brief call letter change to KRCK in 1988, but there was an FCC error as they failed to recognize those call letters were already owned by someone else so the station returned to the call letters KCHV.

KCLB is the oldest radio station in the Palm Springs area. Their original call signs were KCMJ first went on the air in 1946 on 970 kHz based in Coachella but announced its location was in "Palm Springs" and was under several different music genre formats. It was an affiliate of CBS Radio from then to the late 1960s and became an affiliate of NBC Radio until the late 1980s.

KCLB (then was KCHV) on the FM dial was launched in 1985 and replaced the previous Spanish language radio station in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It had a few monikers, like "K-Club" and "La Onda del Valle" under a Spanish language format on the AM dial (1992–2000), and "The Rock" on its FM dial when adapted the call letters KCLB-FM in 1991.

KCHV/KCLB achieved its highest and most consistent success under OM/PD Bill Todd 1989–1991. Todd, who had worked at such stations as WIBG, WRKO, KHJ, WDAI, KMET, and had been one of ABC radio's National Program Directors to name a few took the station for irrelevance to prominence in less than a year. Led by Russell J and Cyrene Jagger in Mornings, John O Afternoons, Jimi "The Hitman" Hurley Nights, Jim King Mid-days and Overnights, Shawn The Trogg, Mitch (Jim Black) Michaels all night, the station developed an intensely loyal following and was always around the top of the ratings, beating out CHR Heavyweights KPSI FM and KC 92.7.

Other notable contributors of the time were Rhonda Todd (Music Director), DJ Martin, Christy Wild, Shana, Michael Parks, Angela Nixs, Don James, Jackson T, Satch Miata, Igor Smith, Guy Smith, Jill West, Bobby Blue, And Kate Willis. Following Bill Todd's departure the station stayed the course. In the 1990's, KCLB was programmed by JJ Jeffries and then Ron Stryker, who guided the rocker to number one in the ratings for the Coachella Valley. Jocks during this time included both Jeffries and Stryker, John O, Tony Montana, Jon Pergl, and Jones on weekdays, and The Night Manager (Steve Santogrossi) on weekends. Between 2003 and 2005 former Anchorage, Alaska radio personality & programmer Rick Sparks worked with legendary Operations Manager Gary DeMaroney and consultant Greg Ausham to slowly develop KCLB into an Active Rock station while keeping relevant classics in rotation. When General Manager Keith Martin decided to have Sparks work on one of KCLB's sister stations (KDGL, which was underperforming at the time), Antdog (also PD of KKUU) took over as Program Director in 2005 and changed the station moniker from "The Rock" To "93Seven KCLB Rocks" and gave the station a harder edge which performed poorly with the Palm Springs audience. Since then, the station has returned to a more mainstream position and is still trying its best to keep rockin'.

Notables to have been through since (Some of which remain), Jenn Brewski Patrick Tish, Mike Trash, Jace Edwards & Tank (Brian Greenberg), Oz (Oscar Gomez), Max Power (Russell J(89-93) under a Pseudonym), Kimberly Stone, Valerie Katz, Vickie Steele, Dave Tipton, Don Frey, and Hedi Von Seeke to name a few.

In June 1994, KCLB-FM had a one-hour segment which was a comedy schtick titled "Men are scum" on a talk radio program. Female call-in listeners described men in humorous yet controversial ways to generated some public attention on whether or not it is sexist and the segment made national headlines.

KCLB 970 switched call letters to KCHV in the 1980s, during which time a Christian station (now K-LOVE) in Santa Rosa used the call letters KCLB. KCHV switched back to KCLB in 1993 (after the Christian station changed to KLVR), then the Coachella station switched to KNWZ 970 in 2000. The radio station continually has a "Palm Springs/Desert Cities" theme to represent the entire California Desert region. They currently have a Rock format and go by "KCLB Rocks".

References

External links

• Official Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KCLB
• Radio-Locator information on KCLB
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KCLB